Saints Peter and Paul by the Rev’d Stuart Ansell

Matthew 16:13-19 
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 
Saints Peter and Paul share a feast day because on June 29th around AD 258 under the Valerian persecution, what were believed to be the remains of the two apostles were both moved temporarily to prevent them from falling into the hands of the persecutors. Both Peter and Paul are thought to have been martyred in Rome by the Emperor Nero, on the same day in the year 64. Other traditions claim that Peter was martyred in the year 64 and Paul three years later, in AD 67. They had both been imprisoned in the famous Mamertine Prison of Rome and both are said to have foreseen their approaching death, although neither death is recorded in the pages of the Bible. Saint Peter is traditionally thought to have been crucified upside down, but Saint Paul, being a Roman citizen, had the privilege of opting for decapitation by the sword. 
The present Church of St Peter on Vatican Hill in Rome is said to have been built on the site of Peter's burial, replacing earlier churches built on the same site going back to the time of the Emperor Constantine. Excavations under the church suggest that this belief is actually older than Constantine. 
Peter and Paul were as different as chalk and cheese. Peter was a married fisherman, in business with his brother Andrew and with James and John, the sons of Zebedee. When Peter's confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah was dragged out of him at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus gave him the nickname of "rock" and stated that it was upon the rock of Peter's faith that the Church would be built (today's reading). 
Peter was poorly educated, impulsive and often got it wrong when he was with Jesus. He frequently seemed to speak for the other disciples in denying that Jesus' coming death would happen (Matthew 16:22), in telling Jesus at the last supper that Jesus would never wash his feet (John 13:8) but then asking for the whole of himself to be washed, and in deserting Jesus in his hour of need, then denying three times that he knew Jesus. (Luke 22:61). 
Paul was just the opposite. He remained single throughout his life and was a well educated Pharisee and a Roman citizen. From the time of his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul never looked back or flinched in his service to the Lord, no matter how trying his circumstances. Paul travelled around most of what was then the Roman Empire establishing Christian communities, and his many letters to those Christian communities form the bulk of the writings of the New Testament and the earliest writings after the death of Jesus. 
Both Peter and Paul took the Church to the Gentiles. Peter had a dream at Joppa in which he was told by God to eat food which he had always considered "unclean", according to strict Jewish practices. This persuaded him that Gentiles should be admitted to the Church, although we're not told of any missionary journeys which he undertook and his name seems to be associated mainly with Antioch and Rome. 
It was Paul who really spread the gospel, by undertaking three missionary journeys and founding innumerable churches in the places he visited. Before his missionary journeys began, Paul went to Jerusalem taking with him a collection from the Gentile Churches as a gesture of solidarity and to help out with the terrible famine conditions in Jerusalem. Along with the other elders in Jerusalem, Peter accepted the gift, and the two men discussed together the mission to the Gentiles. 
Peter was the acknowledged head of the Church in Jerusalem, but despite this fact he and Paul didn't always hit it off. On one occasion Paul publicly denounced Peter for kowtowing to the Jewish Christians and refusing to eat with Gentiles, despite his dream. And when the big split came over the issue of circumcision, Peter and James were on one side of the divide while Paul was on the other (Acts 15). However, in true Christian fashion they were able to patch up their differences and Paul carried the day, thus truly opening up the Church to become a world-wide institution. 
It's encouraging to know that even in the very earliest days of the Church, things didn't always run smoothly. If the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and the leader of the Gentile Church could disagree so violently such a relatively short time after Jesus died, our own disagreements don't sound quite so bad. Perhaps the fact to remember is that they sorted out their differences. 
Perhaps it's significant that we in the Church of England often have ordinations at Petertide, for Peter and Paul show us that priests can come from entirely different walks of life and can approach the gospel in entirely different ways. They show us too that we won't always agree, but that the way to sort out our differences is to face them openly. 
Today both Peter and Paul are recognised as the earliest leaders of the Christian Church and it seems entirely fitting that both Peter and Paul should share this day together.