Yes. Why would Peter be listed behind James if he was the Vicar of Christ and James was not the Vicar of Christ? shouldn’t the Vicar of Christ be listed first indicating his primacy over the others?
"And when
James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. "(
Galatians 2:9 ESV)
I’m going to go out on a limb here and assert that Peter is mentioned in a way that’s first and foremost, in context in Galatians 2. When Paul mentions an apostle who’s the very paradigm case of ministry to the circumcised in Gal 2:6 and 2:7, whom does he mention? Not James or John, but ‘Peter’.
Nevertheless, when he lists the apostles, he does so in a seemingly peculiar way. Why James first? Why Peter second?
I’ll go back to the context of the “Council of Jerusalem” in Acts 15. The presiding apostle at that council was James – he was the ‘bishop’ there. So, it’s fitting that he should preside over the council. (After all, if a member of the SCOTUS walks into a courtroom, does he automatically preside? Of course not! The presiding judge does, although the SCOTUS member is accorded a certain amount of respect. And, if the SCOTUS member actually
testifies in the case, you better believe that their testimony is greatly respected!)
So… just as James, as ‘bishop’ of Jerusalem, presides over the council there, I would argue that Paul mentions him first
because he’s talking about being in Jerusalem in the context of Galatians 2.
Now… after the presiding bishop, whom does Paul mention first? John? Nope…
Peter.
So, I think there’s a certain sort of consistency that we find in these narratives in Galatians and Acts: presiding bishop receives a certain deference, in the context of his church (cum ‘diocese’), and Peter (cum ‘pope’) is first mentioned thereafter.