Paul vs. Cephas (I)

The letters of St. Paul give us a wrong impression that Peter was an apostle for the Jews and he himself was an apostle for the Gentiles.
I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (Galatians 2:7b).
This division of labour was not very rigid. Indeed, the Acts of the Apostles tells us that Peter was the first to preach to the Gentile. It was the story of Peter's vision in Joppa and the conversion of Cornelius in Caesarea (Acts 10:1-48). Around that time, Paul was converted in Damascus and bore witness for Jesus there. In face of the persecution from the Jews in Damascus, Paul returned to his native city Tarsus (Acts 9:1-30).
The martyrdom of St. Stephen was the first shot of persecutions of Greek-speaking Christians in Jerusalem. They fled to cities such as Cyprus and Antioch. At first, they bore witness for Jesus to the Jews there. Later, they also approached the Gentiles when the Jews did not listen to them (Acts 11:19-20). The Church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch to evangelize the Gentiles. Barnabas was successful and he came to Tarsus to seek out Paul (Acts 11:25). This was the beginning of Paul's missionary career among the Gentiles. Of course, this is the story according to Luke who joined Paul later after Paul had a vision in Troas (Acts 16: 9-10). Looking back, probably, the division of labour was officially endorsed during the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15).
Paul's letter to the Galatians gives us another perspective, viz. from a first-person account. Paul was converted on the road to Damascus. Looking back, Paul thought that God had set him apart to preach the Good News of Jesus to the Gentiles (Galatians 1:15-16). He stayed in Damascus to bear witness for Jesus and fled to Arabia after he received death threats from the Jews there. He remained in Arabia for a certain period of time. Then he returned again to Damascus and stayed there for three years before he paid a visit to Jerusalem, met Cephas and stayed with him for 15 days (Galatians 1:18). After 14 years, he visited Jerusalem again, this time together with Barnabas and Titus (Galatians 2:1). This probably was the Jerusalem Council as recorded in Acts 15.
Paul's work was challenged by the Judaizers who questioned his apostleship and taught the Gentiles Christians to observe the Law of Moses in order to be saved. This reasoning went directly against the Gospel of Jesus (Galatians 2:4-5). Titus was a good testing case. Even the apostles in Jerusalem did not compel Titus, who was a Greek, to be circumcised. This proved that the Judaizers were wrong in forcing Gentiles to observe the Law of Moses. This is the purpose of the whole epistle to the Galatians --- to prove that observing the Law of Moses does not contribute to one's salvation.
to them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you (Galatians 2:5).
I'll try to defend Cephas' action in Antioch tomorrow. In the meantime, let's keep in mind Paul's perseverance against opposition, even from within.

St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. Pray for us. Amen.