(Click to read Acts 15)
(Click to read Acts 15)
Acts
15:1 (ESV)
But some men came
down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are
circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Having returned from
a dramatic but successful missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas
remain in Antioch and share the news of all the diverse peoples who
have received the message of the Kingdom of God and have now begun to
live and share together in the freedom and grace Jesus gave. Those
who received their message were people previously with and without
faith, pagans and devout, all classes and creeds and cultures.
But some of the old
community still resist the idea that the freedom of Jesus really can
be received by anyone, regardless of their background, without any
code of religious law applied to them. Circumcision was the oldest of
the requirements of covenant, the first and most ancient symbol that
one had dedicated their life to God. Paul and Barnabas had been
welcoming uncircumcised pagans into the fellowship, without any
requirement of body modification to represent their dedication to
God's Kingdom.
Paul and Barnabas
testify boldly that Jesus' freedom has been and should continue to be
offered freely to all people, with no conditions of religious code
attached to the invitation (vv8-21). They should not need to be
circumcised. They should not be required to keep the Law of Moses.
Their welcome into the family of God should be hindered by nothing
but their repentance of their old way of life, their participation in
the spirit of empire and control, and their belief in Jesus.
Paul describes the
demonstration of their repentance as abstinence from idolatry and
sexual immorality (v20). These are not restrictions to be placed on
new believers based on some religious code, as circumcision would be.
They are specific symbols that represented the lifestyle of the
corruption and control of the pagan witchcraft practiced in the
Gentile cities. If the new believers have left the spirit of the
world behind, they would leave the practices of their old temples as
well. This would be a demonstrated result of their faith, not a
requirement for inclusion.
This is not the
first time the church has been confronted with such a controversy. In
Acts 10, Peter is the first to share Jesus with a Gentile, a Roman
Centurion who receives the Holy Spirit. The first response of his
community is to condemn him for eating with and entering the home of
an uncircumcised Gentile. After hearing Peter's testimony of God's
grace to the Roman, they relent. Paul and Barnabas are later sent by
their church to go and preach the Good News to diverse communities,
whatever their religious background.
Here for the first
time, it is officially recorded by the early Christians that they
should not and will not apply a religious law as a requirement for
anyone to receive the Kingdom of God (vv22-29). The cost of the
Kingdom will require a change of lifestyle. These early communities
will live in resistance to the powers of their day, and therefore
must live separate and share in community. But it is not a religious
code that will be required for their faith in Jesus.
Entrance into the
Kingdom will be freedom from and out of religious bondage, not into
bondage to another code and hierarchy. Jesus sets people free.
All of this is
written down and carried by letter from the first church in Jerusalem
by Paul and Barnabas to their church in Antioch.
Acts 15:30-35
(ESV)
30 So
when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having
gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And
when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets,
encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And
after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the
brothers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and
Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the
Lord, with many others also.
+
Paul and Barnabas
Part Ways (Acts 15:36-41)
Luke did not give us
a hint as to why Barnabas' nephew, John (Mark), left the mission with
Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:13. He gives no further clue here.
The following is
from my notes on Acts 13:13:
John (Mark)
leaves them, but we are not told why. This parting of ways later
becomes very significant to Paul and Barnabas' relationship, so we
can assume their has been some sort of falling out between Paul and
young John (Mark). Even among brothers and sisters, citizens of the
Kingdom sharing in ministry together, offenses and broken
relationships can occur. We are still broken people, living by faith
in the promises of God. Until he returns, we can all make mistakes,
and from those mistakes offenses may come. The Good News is not that
we will never be hurt again, but that we may be redeemed to one
another in grace and forgiveness.
In Acts 15:36, Paul
suggests to Barnabas that they return to the communities that started
because of their first mission together. When Barnabas suggests
bringing his nephew “John called Mark” (v37), Paul sharply
disagrees (v39). Though Paul had advocated strongly for the church to
extend great grace to anyone anywhere who would join the Jesus
movement, no matter what their background or faith, his grace does
not extend to (John) Mark, with whom he holds offense for having
abandoned them (v39). Barnabas, called “the Encourager” (Acts
4:36) had demonstrated his name by advocating for Paul, helping him
join the community even after having murderously violent toward them
before believing in Jesus (Acts 9:26-30). Had it not been for the
grace and boldness of his friend, Barnabas, Paul may never have been
received by the church.
Barnabas once again
acts according to his name, siding with (John) Mark, the outsider,
and offering grace and forgiveness to someone who had failed. He is
doing for his nephew exactly what he had done for Paul.
It is a tragedy that
this disagreement should end in the separation of these two brothers
(v39), a tragedy that Paul should not recognize and demonstrate the
grace of Jesus in this circumstance.
It is a
demonstration of the Grace of God that he should still choose to
powerfully use both of these men as they each leave for separate
missions. Though he is still imperfect, still flawed, still
demonstrating the spirit of control and corruption and empire, God
continues to use Paul to grow his Kingdom on Earth.
It
is the Grace of God, and not our own works, that receives us into his
Kingdom. It is entirely by the Grace of God, and not our own
worthiness, in which we continue in it to abide.
+
v2
– Paul hated this teaching
v10
– The law is impossible to bear
The
elders in Jerusalem, including PETER, Jesus’ disciple, and JAMES,
Jesus’ brother, agree to send Paul and Barnabas as missionaries to
the Gentiles, believing that God wanted them also to be saved.
v39
– see 13:13 – This shows that even committed and maturing
Christians can have personal disputes.
(Click to read Acts 15)
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