BRUCE C WEARNE writes about a passage in Acts recording the ongoing debates faced by the apostles over the acceptance of the Gentiles…
And some, originating from Judea, came down to engage in [a] teaching [programme] to the brothers and sisters [that insisted], “You cannot have deliverance without being circumcised in the customary Mosaic way.” And so there was intense disagreement and debate over this with Paul and Barnabas fully engaged in it. And it was resolved [by the Antioch assembly] that Paul and Barnabas, with some others as well, would go up to the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem to [meet to] consider this question. So they were sent on their way [again] by the [Antioch] assembly, and in travelling through Phoenicia and Samaria [they continued] to give their [thorough and comprehensive] account of the turn around of the nations, bringing great happiness to all the brothers and sisters.
And having arrived in Jerusalem, they received a welcome from the Assembly, from the apostles and the elders, submitting their report of what God had done with them. But some believers, from among the Pharisee faction, came forth with the insistence that “It is necessary that they be circumcised and required to adhere to Moses’ law.” – Acts 15:1-5/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne.
MUCH UNSAID: Bruce C Wearne says that while we read about Peter, James and John, Stephen and Philip, Luke doesn’t tell us about what most of the disciples (some of which are pictured here at the entrance to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris) did. PICTURE: Sander Klaver/www.freeimages.com
IN A NUTSHELL
Now Paul and Barnabas had to confront the ideology that to follow Christ meant becoming a Jew just like Jesus was. This threatened to split the church.
Throughout Acts we come to point where we would like to know things Luke hasn’t told us. In Lystra, for example, we hear of the stoning of Paul; but what happened to Barnabas? Luke doesn’t tell us.
But then, Luke doesn’t tell us what most of the founding 12 apostles did. We read about Peter, James and John. Of the seven overseers of the food distribution, we only read about Stephen and Philip. They had proclaimed the Good News, presumably like the other Hellenistic believers who had fled Jerusalem with the persecution in which Paul had immersed himself.
We then hear about the work of Paul and Barnabas. But there is much we have not been told. Maybe Luke’s first readers knew some of those things already. Maybe Luke decided some things were not germaine to his story. Luke may not have known everything that was going on in those times, but he does tell his story in a certain order, with certain emphases.
As we get into his story we realise he is linking things together. Saul and Barnabas, sent out from Antioch, returned with all the news. The church was overjoyed. The Holy Spirit had blessed their work. A network of churches had begun to emerge across the region. Jews and Gentiles were joining together praising God for the salvation brought by Jesus, the Rabbi of Nazareth, Israel’s Messiah, the Hope of All Ages. And Jewish believers began to embrace the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets, just as Peter had done at Cornelius’ house in Caesarea, by embracing Gentile believers.
But not all found it possible to do so. The ethnic issue did not go away. The apostles had first-hand experience of Jesus, they had been taught by Him and were the ones to serve the churches. They experienced the Spirit’s outpouring at Pentecost. Peter was deeply impressed that the Saviour Himself had eaten with His disciples while they still disbelieved; there was no ground for refusing to eat with Gentiles who did believe. To do so would suggest that Jesus’ work was incomplete, that somehow, despite His resurrection, it needed a “top up” to come into effect. Luke tells us how Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch with the wonderful news that many had believed…
But waiting for them was a commission of inquiry claiming to come from Jerusalem and telling them, and the young churches, that what they had achieved was flawed. This commission claimed to defend the law of Moses.
OPEN BOOK – HINTS FROM THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS: HOW MANY TIMES DID IT HAVE TO BE SAID?
BRUCE C WEARNE writes about a passage in Acts recording the ongoing debates faced by the apostles over the acceptance of the Gentiles…
And some, originating from Judea, came down to engage in [a] teaching [programme] to the brothers and sisters [that insisted], “You cannot have deliverance without being circumcised in the customary Mosaic way.” And so there was intense disagreement and debate over this with Paul and Barnabas fully engaged in it. And it was resolved [by the Antioch assembly] that Paul and Barnabas, with some others as well, would go up to the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem to [meet to] consider this question. So they were sent on their way [again] by the [Antioch] assembly, and in travelling through Phoenicia and Samaria [they continued] to give their [thorough and comprehensive] account of the turn around of the nations, bringing great happiness to all the brothers and sisters.
And having arrived in Jerusalem, they received a welcome from the Assembly, from the apostles and the elders, submitting their report of what God had done with them. But some believers, from among the Pharisee faction, came forth with the insistence that “It is necessary that they be circumcised and required to adhere to Moses’ law.” – Acts 15:1-5/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne.
MUCH UNSAID: Bruce C Wearne says that while we read about Peter, James and John, Stephen and Philip, Luke doesn’t tell us about what most of the disciples (some of which are pictured here at the entrance to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris) did. PICTURE: Sander Klaver/www.freeimages.com
IN A NUTSHELL
Now Paul and Barnabas had to confront the ideology that to follow Christ meant becoming a Jew just like Jesus was. This threatened to split the church.
Throughout Acts we come to point where we would like to know things Luke hasn’t told us. In Lystra, for example, we hear of the stoning of Paul; but what happened to Barnabas? Luke doesn’t tell us.
But then, Luke doesn’t tell us what most of the founding 12 apostles did. We read about Peter, James and John. Of the seven overseers of the food distribution, we only read about Stephen and Philip. They had proclaimed the Good News, presumably like the other Hellenistic believers who had fled Jerusalem with the persecution in which Paul had immersed himself.
We then hear about the work of Paul and Barnabas. But there is much we have not been told. Maybe Luke’s first readers knew some of those things already. Maybe Luke decided some things were not germaine to his story. Luke may not have known everything that was going on in those times, but he does tell his story in a certain order, with certain emphases.
As we get into his story we realise he is linking things together. Saul and Barnabas, sent out from Antioch, returned with all the news. The church was overjoyed. The Holy Spirit had blessed their work. A network of churches had begun to emerge across the region. Jews and Gentiles were joining together praising God for the salvation brought by Jesus, the Rabbi of Nazareth, Israel’s Messiah, the Hope of All Ages. And Jewish believers began to embrace the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets, just as Peter had done at Cornelius’ house in Caesarea, by embracing Gentile believers.
But not all found it possible to do so. The ethnic issue did not go away. The apostles had first-hand experience of Jesus, they had been taught by Him and were the ones to serve the churches. They experienced the Spirit’s outpouring at Pentecost. Peter was deeply impressed that the Saviour Himself had eaten with His disciples while they still disbelieved; there was no ground for refusing to eat with Gentiles who did believe. To do so would suggest that Jesus’ work was incomplete, that somehow, despite His resurrection, it needed a “top up” to come into effect. Luke tells us how Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch with the wonderful news that many had believed…
But waiting for them was a commission of inquiry claiming to come from Jerusalem and telling them, and the young churches, that what they had achieved was flawed. This commission claimed to defend the law of Moses.
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