Easter Week 5

Psalm: Psalm 148

Acts: Acts 11:1-18

Gospel: John 13:31-35

Epistle: Revelation 21:1-6

In our reading from Acts this week we see a shift in the thinking of the early church away from the idea that salvation was purely for the Jews (and those who were Proselytes--people who were Jewish in practice and followers of God, but not Jewish by birth) to a more inclusive view that included Gentiles as well. An example of this is the first Gentile convert in the book of Acts: the Ethiopian eunuch in 8:25-39. As an aside, there are some interesting dynamics at play within the book of Acts and in church history concerning the actual identity of the first Gentile convert. Luke, the author of Acts, is a bit vague on the identity of the Ethiopian eunuch and whether he was a Gentile. Perhaps this vagueness is because the primary actor is Philip, one of the Seven chosen to help the poor in Acts 6, rather than the Apostle Peter. I think it is clear that the eunuch was a Gentile and Acts doesn’t try to hide it, rather the narrative presents it as a one-off, or a precursor, to what happens in chapters 10-11 with Peter and Cornelius and the subject of our reading today.

Today we have the back half of the story after Cornelius and his household have met Peter, been converted to following Jesus, and most importantly received Holy Spirit. It is this last point that convinces the elders in Jerusalem that indeed God is accepting Gentiles into his Church:

Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life. (11:17-18)

In the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, the Holy Spirit was not given, or at least the text doesn’t mention it. This seems to be the difference between the eunuch and Cornelius and why Cornelius’ conversion lead to a broadening of the church’s beliefs about Gentiles, and the eunuch’s conversion didn’t bring any change to policy and belief.

We cannot underestimate the change that was occurring in the early church. I do use the word “occurring” here purposefully; it was, and is, an ongoing process. This issue came up again after Paul’s first missionary journey and the Jerusalem council had to decide again that Gentiles could join the church and were not required to undergo circumcision and follow the Law of Moses. (It is interesting also here that James the brother of Jesus makes the final call, not Peter.) Indeed, Christianity today still struggle with questions surrounding the relationship between Jews, Gentiles, the Law, and the new Covenant of Grace under Jesus. But even though we still struggle with these issues, the fact is that Gentiles are allowed in the Church and the councils of Acts chs. 11 and 15, set the groundwork for Paul’s missionary work to the Gentiles and thus the line of faith that stretches to us in North America today. So this decision, and the conversion of the eunuch and Cornelius, were major moments in the life of the church.

As I mentioned last week, the readings in the Lectionary do not necessarily relate to each other and they weren’t designed to do so. It does a disservice to the texts to try and force connections where there may not be any. This actually makes the Lectionary a harder beast to tackle during Ordinary Time because we naturally want to look for connections, and compare and contrast when reading any type of texts back to back. So the difficulty becomes trying to let each text speak for itself.

Well, I know this week is a bit short but sometimes that is ok. The reading from Revelation this week is interesting and a hopeful vision of the New Creation, but again it brings up many questions and it isn’t always clear what John is trying to say. But I do hope you read all four passages this week and spend time in the Word.

Grace and Peace.