By Megan Meier
The Word
“‘ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?’ 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’” Acts 11:17-18 ESV
“10 And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.’” Luke 2:10 ESV
“‘19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…’” Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
Reflection
As Pastor Chris said at last Sunday’s message, it’s easy to dislike those who wanted to exclude the Gentiles and see them as stuffy traditionalists (it’s a huge reminder of church hurt). But we must see how they got this way. The Law of Moses was in effect for about 1,500 years until Jesus’ birth. God through Moses forbade intermarriage to the Canaanites because they would influence His children to turn away from God (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). They also had many rules regarding foods that were “unclean” that the Gentiles ate, thus the Jews did not eat with them (Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14:1-21). Over the millennia, the Pharisees added hundreds more rules. Those rules weren’t intended to be seen as equivalent to God’s Law, but they were “fences” to keep the Jews away from sin.
As the centuries passed, those fences were seen as Law. In a modern interpretation, the Messianic Jews’ situation is like Moses telling the Hebrews to avoid street drugs as they are inarguably bad, but over the centuries “fences” are added to prevent the Hebrews from going near them by forbidding all forms of medication and shunning those who use them no matter how sick they are (as an oncology nurse, super-cringe). There was no internet to argue against the Pharisees, so they had no choice but to accept the Pharisees word (Acts 10:28). Until Jesus.
When the angel announced Jesus’ birth, the good news of great joy wasn’t for Jews exclusively, but for all humankind. During His ministry, He took down a lot of “fences” (Matthew 12:1-13, Mark 7:1-13 to name a couple) as they were not the point (something the Pharisees completely missed). At Jesus’ ascension, His Last Command wasn’t to gatekeep the Good News, but to leave their comfort zones and witness to cultures different from their own.
At the time of Peter’s speech in Acts, he had been witnessing for at least ten years and was considered a great leader to the followers of The Way. The Messianic Jews accepted Peter’s testimony, but unlearning ingrained traditions that no longer serve takes time and focused effort.
Application
The Mosaic Law was intended to set the Hebrews apart from their pagan neighbors so they wouldn’t be influenced by their ways. It was not intended to gatekeep the Lord. Jesus came to upend a lot of “rules” that weren’t helping and made a lot of authority figures angry. God is not afraid of or angry with questions. You have them, and so will those whom you witness to. They will ask some pretty difficult questions. To prepare to SALT the earth, we have to LEARN:
· Listen: listen to God in dedicated prayer
· Eager: stay curious and willing to discover something new in God’s Word and with the person and/or group you are you’re witnessing to
· Assert: stay rooted in God’s Word
· Research: dig deep into God’s Word, study the exegesis (What was happening then? What did it mean for them?) and the hermeneutics (How does this apply to us now?)
· Now: no better time than today
Then start with SALTing in your comfort zone: with your workplace, your friends, your neighbors, or your gym.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You that You are for ALL humankind. Help me to know You and Your Word deeply so I can witness to others. In Your Name I pray, amen.
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