Acts 15:1-6

Acts 15:1-6

Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers,

“Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice,

you cannot be saved.”

Because there arose no little dissension and debate

by Paul and Barnabas with them,

it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others

should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbyters

about this question. 

They were sent on their journey by the Church,

and passed through Phoenicia and Samaria

telling of the conversion of the Gentiles,

and brought great joy to all the brethren.

When they arrived in Jerusalem,

they were welcomed by the Church,

as well as by the Apostles and the presbyters,

and they reported what God had done with them.

But some from the party of the Pharisees who had become believers

stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them

and direct them to observe the Mosaic law.”

The Apostles and the presbyters met together to see about this matter.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I thank you and praise you today for sending your Son to inaugurate the New Covenant and for sending your Spirit to sanctify your New Covenant people. Grant me today the wisdom of your Word and the charity of your Spirit.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles: In the First Reading, some believers go from Judea down to Antioch to demand that the Gentiles, who have come to believe in Jesus Christ, be circumcised and follow the prescriptions of the Law of Moses. Otherwise, according to this “circumcision party” or “party of the Pharisees,” the new Gentile Christians cannot be saved. Some have proposed that John Mark abandoned the mission with Paul and Barnabas when they started proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles and did not require them to be circumcised. Luke told us that Mark went directly to Jerusalem, and not back to Antioch. So he was likely the one who told the Church in Jerusalem what Paul and Barnabas were preaching. Some disciples, then, went to Antioch without a mandate from the apostles and “were instructing the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.’” (Acts 15:1). The Church in Antioch was the first church to have a large number of Gentile disciples (see Acts 11:20-21). Because of this, questions about whether circumcised Jewish Christians could have table fellowship with non-circumcised Gentile Christians arose.

2. Meeting with the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem: At the heart of the debate that followed were deep questions such as: Was the sign of circumcision (Genesis 17:10-14), the sign of entry into God’s covenant people, fulfilled and surpassed by the Sacrament of Baptism, the sign of entry into the New People of God? Do the obligations of the Law of Moses remain in effect for all peoples, or were they only binding on the Jewish people? Was the observance of the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 28) brought to fulfillment by Jesus in the New Law of the New Covenant? If so, how was it fulfilled? Does someone have to fulfill first the social, ritual, and cultural obligations connected with the Old Covenant to enjoy the fruits of the New Covenant? The Church in Antioch tried unsuccessfully to resolve the dispute and decided to send Paul and Barnabas with some others up to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles and the elders (presbyters) about the matter. This meeting became known as the Council of Jerusalem and took place around A.D. 49, some two decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Just as there was debate in Antioch, there will be debate in Jerusalem. At one point, Simon Peter will stand up and resolve the matter. We will learn about his decision in tomorrow’s First Reading.

3. Circumcision and Baptism: Paul will take up the relationship between the old rite of Jewish circumcision and the new rite of Christian Baptism in his letters to the Colossians (2:11-13) and the Philippians (3:3). He will take up the relationship of the Old Law of Moses to the New Law of Christ in his Letter to the Galatians and his Letter to the Romans. Already in the Law of Moses, there was the imperative to “circumcise your hearts” (Deuteronomy 10:16). Scripture tells us that God himself, and not man, will accomplish this circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 30:6). “If literal circumcision of the flesh was a sign of covenant dedication and membership in the people of God, ‘circumcision of the heart’ meant an interior disposition that truly matched the meaning of the external sign” (Hamm, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 199). Paul, in Philippians 3:3, Christianizes the Hebrew understanding of circumcision to refer to the New Covenant through Baptism into the body of Christ. Baptism truly entails stripping off the carnal body – the old self with its practices. Baptism is truly a death to self (Hamm, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 199-200).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I am comforted to know that from the early days of Christianity until the present, there have been and will be contentious debates and discussions. I pray that all the members of the Church may always be united to you, the true vine, and guided to all truth by the Holy Spirit. Do not let me be discouraged in times of confusion.

Living the Word of God: How do I view the past and current debates in the Church? Am I polarized and look at the debates in purely political terms, like liberals vs. conservatives and progressives vs. traditionalists? How can I be more like the members of the early Church at the Council of Jerusalem? How can I better dialogue with others, seek to understand the authentic values others hold, and seek the truth in love?