April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
WORD OF FAITH
Rethinking His message
'For the Lamb...will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.' - Revelation 7:17
Every biblical author worked from an agenda, an idea which had been spinning around in his or her head long before stylus was put to papyrus. Almost always, something has happened in the community for which they write - something which needs an answer or at least a little clarification. If there is no problem, there is no Scripture.
One of the major problems Luke addresses in his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles is, "Where did all these Gentiles come from?" A movement which began in the early 30s as 100-percent Jewish has, by the mid-80s, become almost 100-percent Gentile.
Has this been a mistake? Had Jesus intended this drastic switch from the beginning, but played it close to the vest, sharing His plans with only a chosen few?
It's clear that some first-century Jewish critics of Christianity believed the change from a Jewish to a Gentile movement had been Jesus' idea from the start of His ministry, a way of leading faithful Jews down a road to the extinction of their religion. For them, it was part of a huge anti-Jewish conspiracy.
That's not it
Luke disagrees. He acknowledges the switch in membership, but contends this change is because Jesus' reform of Judaism was rejected by mainstream Jews.
Contradicting Paul's own appraisal of his ministry in the first chapters of Galatians, Luke, throughout Acts, has the Apostle always proclaim the faith first to Jews. Only after their rejection does he turn to non-Jews. We hear this Lucan methodology clearly in Sunday's Acts (13:14, 43-52) passage.
Having arrived in Pisidian Antioch on their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas first go to the local synagogue and speak about Jesus of Nazareth. Though the pair was originally well received, eventually they encounter opposition from the synagogue's leading members.
At this point, Paul delivers Luke's thesis: "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles."
The rest is history. This dramatic change in evangelization led our Revelations (7:9,14b-17) author to speak of a "great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race and people, and tongue" standing before God's heavenly throne. No longer is salvation limited to one group. Everyone can participate in the faith of Jesus.
Good shepherding
This switch from a Jewish community to a Gentile community also helps us understand what John (10:27-30) is trying to convey when he speaks about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. At this point in salvation history, it's the risen Jesus who is shepherding His people. It's the risen Jesus' voice presenting us with the will of the Father.
The historical Jesus was limited by His culture and religion. Eventually, His earliest followers discovered that the risen Jesus was free of both those elements. They didn't give up evangelizing when their own people rejected their message; they simply rethought the basics of Jesus' reform and adapted His message, making it understandable to a people He had never historically addressed.
It takes insight and faith to hear what the Good Shepherd is telling us in the first third of the 21st century. Perhaps that's why Paul, in I Corinthians 14, reminds us that prophets are an essential element in every Christian community.[[In-content Ad]]
250 X 250 AD
250 X 250 AD
Events
250 X 250 AD
Comments:
You must login to comment.