Pastor John,
I have been sitting here thinking about the Council meeting in Jerusalem, and what things it might have entailed.
Onlookers to the meeting that day might have described it as something akin to, “judging between perfection”.
I have been trying to determine what the burden was that had been placed on the Jews that day? What was it that God was requiring of them, exactly. And what would He hold them accountable for? How did God see it?
After giving it some thought, it seems to me that the entire burden that the Jews in that room were facing, on that day, was the same burden that God’s people face everyday – that is, they were responsible for being in a condition (spiritually) to recognize the word of the Lord when it came. In this case, it was coming through Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus.
God wasn’t asking them to “do” anything that day, nor was He asking them to change anything, not physically. They would have left there that day worshiping God the exact same way they always had, and God would have accepted it as much as He ever did. But what they did have to do was recognize the word of the Lord that had come to the Apostle Paul. And since they were not present on the day that the Lord spoke to Paul, and they themselves had no such revelation from God, their only hope, and their responsibility, was to be in such a spiritual condition as to recognize God in such a radical circumstance as the unveiling of Paul’s Gospel for the uncircumcised. But that would have been impossible for faithful Jews to do, unless they were subdued by the Holy Spirit that God had poured out on them at Pentecost.
Everybody in that room was right. They were the best of the best among all people on Earth. None of them were fabricating their testimony. Both sides had witnessed Jesus’ judgment on the Gentiles (Peter and many other Jews heard Jesus call them “dogs” and refuse to minister to them, citing that He was “ONLY sent to the lost sheep in Israel”. (The apostle Paul had heard Jesus speak of mercy and love toward the Gentiles, and forgiveness of sins.) And both sides knew God’s Law and the scriptures better than anyone on the planet. The only question was, “Had God done something new with Paul?”
Wow! I am looking forward to the new version of the “Council.” Your description of this new work makes the first writing sound like a piece of fiction, it being more of a reflection of the religion of Christianity.
It also sounds very difficult. There is no right or wrong anymore – only Jesus!
Thanks,
Jerry