0411 REWRITING THE RULES

REWRITING THE RULES: GENTILES!!

The door had been opened for Gentiles to enter the kingdom of heaven alongside Jewish believers. Praise the Lord! But every matter needs to be established at the testimony of two or three witnesses. So if the community of faith is going to include Gentiles, such a momentous change needs initial confirmation by being scrutinized and approved. That’s the positive side of this new development.

The negative side of it is that when Peter returned to Jerusalem, word had already reached the Jewish believers that Peter, the one on whose testimony Jesus is building his kingdom, has just changed one of the basic rules: He entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!

Peter goes through the whole story again. His vision, the three visitors, the Holy Spirit falling on all those in the house. He concludes with, “since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?” It was a valid question. If God himself confirmed this exception, why continue to insist on keeping the old? Is this new wine, meant for new wine skins?

“When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”” (V. 18) And so a new era was both launched and approved. It would yet need to be refined, as we may see in a later chapter.

And so, the page is turned. The door is opened. The circle is enlarged. The family has a new addition. And the next thing you know, we find the first Gentile-majority church! Believers were scattered by the persecution which Saul initiated, and they went back to their homes, or perhaps on to new places where the persecution of believers had not yet come. And when they scattered, some went to Antioch of Syria (now in southeast Turkey). Some of the believers were preaching only to Jews. But others, from Cyprus and Cyrene, began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. 

The message about Jesus comes across differently to a Gentile, you know. Most of them were not already familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures, the Law of Moses, the prophecies concerning Christ, the Roman occupation, the Messianic expectation, and so much more. So, the question will soon become, do we try to catch them up on all that they have missed, so that they can appreciate the Messianic fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth? More on that later. 

In any case, “The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. [When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith.] And many people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)”

And now, rather than being (Jewish) believers, these who belong to the church at Antioch are given a new name: Christians. Christ followers. Little Christs. Amen.