Jesus Was Jewish

ACTS IN 90 DAYS

A reading for Tuesday, July 28, 2020: Acts 15:1-21.

"The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles."

Up to this point in the history of our faith, the followers of Jesus were primarily seen as Jewish. After all, Jesus was Jewish and so it made sense that anyone placing their trust in a Jewish savior be Jewish. Right?

But God was doing a new thing. Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem with reports of Gentile conversion. The testimony was too powerful to ignore and soon Simeon Peter stood to address the assembly. We will welcome Gentile believers without the fullness of Jewish custom.

The point was, and still is, that God does things beyond the control of our systems and even our expectations. If God intended to save Gentiles, said Peter, then how could they remain opposed.

Even today, if something is of God then who are we to oppose it. We might start with asking the simple question... What is God doing here? Who are we to welcome? What is the next major shift in our faith?

Those early Jewish believers likely did not expect such a change or even want it. But God was moving out ahead of them, and the world has never been the same since. Thanks be to God!