Life and Work of St. Paul #233321

Of the twelve men whom Jesus chose to be His companions and heralds during the brief years of His earthly ministry, two alone can be said to have stamped upon the infant Church the impress of their own individuality. These two were John and Simon. Our Lord Himself, by the titles which He gave them, indicated the distinctions of their character, and the pre-eminence of their gifts. John was called a Son of Thunder; Simon was to be known to all ages as Kephas, or Peter, the Apostle of the Foundation stone. To Peter was granted the honour of authoritatively admitting the first uncircumcised Gentile, on equal terms, into the brotherhood of Christ, and he has ever been regarded as the main pillar of the early Church. John, on the other hand, is the Apostle of Love, the chosen Evangelist of those whose inward adoration rises above the level of outward forms. Peter as the first to recognise the Eternal Christ, John as the chosen friend of the living Jesus, are the two of that first order of Apostles whose names appear to human eyes to shine with the brightest lustre upon those twelve precious stones which are the foundations of the New Jerusalem.