Our Scripture meditation is based on Acts 11:1-3, the start of the first reading for next week.
[1] Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. [2] So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, [3] “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
This brief passage causes a range of responses from Gentiles, from surprise to consternation to offense. It could also inspire hope toward God.
Biblically speaking, if a person is not Jewish, that person is a Gentile. A vast majority of readers of these meditations are Gentiles. We want to know why the Jewish Christians in Peter’s day had an issue with our ancestors receiving the word of God.
The reason is found in the culture and faith of the “circumcision party.” In the Apostles’ era, the Jews were required to live totally separate from Gentiles. In fact, Jews were told they were ceremonially unclean if they had contact with Gentiles. This meant they had to go through purification rituals and wait a prescribed period of time before they could enter the temple.
It is clear a number of the Jewish Christians had not yet learned that there was no longer any division among God’s people. As the Apostle Paul would later write, “[28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:28–29)
This brief passage can inspire hope because, against such stacked odds, God ensured the word of God came to Gentiles. Since God broke through with the Gospel such ethnic and cultural barriers in the early church, our Lord can do so today. We have churches finding ways to share the Gospel with neighbors or who Muslim and Mormon, Hindu and Agnostic. They are examples of God doing again what He did in the Book of Acts.
Until next week, the Lord bless and guide.
Kevin Wilson 360 