Peter, John, Paul, and James.  The four pillars of the fledgling church.  They were like the glue that held together all the other stones, the new Christians, that had been laid on the foundation.  Laid on the corner stone, the Rock--Jesus.  The Christ.

They were as different as night and day.  Peter--boisterous, emotional.  Action first, think later.  Weak one day, strong as an ox the next.  But totally invested in being what Jesus wanted him to be.  His faults were very visible, but he was committed to feeding the sheep that Jesus had left behind.  Never again would he fail his Lord.  He eventually would be crucified upside down defending the faith. You wouldn't expect anything less of him.  He was a force to be reckoned with.

John.  Quiet, kind.  A man who loved others--he loved Jesus completely.  A man you could count on.  Dependable to a fault.  A peacemaker.  The man you would want beside you if you had to go to war.  The right hand man of Jesus.  He called himself, "The one who Jesus loved."

Paul.  Defender of the Jewish faith--until Jesus struck him blind on the road to Damascus.  Until Jesus asked him why he was "Kicking against the thorns."  Asking, "Why was so hard for Paul to identify Jesus as the Messiah?  Paul was the Biblical scholar.  An academician.  Able to bring the Old law and the New freedom together.  A man who stepped down off his high horse and went to the Gentiles with the gospel.  Never again looking back, he poured his soul out reaching souls.

And James.  Principled.  Determined.  Able to hold men true to the course set ahead of them.  A man that men would follow.  Steady.  A defender of the faith.

The four of them were not best friends.  They were brothers in Christ dedicated to the gospel and willing to die for it.  Which three of them did.  John being the only one who wasn't--he was exiled to Patmos.  I think they recognized the strengths that each of them brought to the work they were called to do.  They supported each other, chastised each other, took strength from each other and changed the world by spreading the story of Jesus.  The greatest story ever told.  The gospel of Christ.