Last time[1] when considering Acts 10, we saw that this chapter represented a turning point in Luke’s narrative of the
story of the early church. The whole story is repeated in Acts
11, because Peter will go back to Jerusalem
to give an explanation of what has happened. We see here that the gospel
is going beyond the boundaries of
Jerusalem and Judea (i.e. the territory of Judaism),
and beyond the boundaries of Samaria (the territory of half cast Jews), to the ends of the earth, to the territories of the gentiles.
At that
time I alluded to one of the key issues
addressed here, but did not take time to explain the transition from
the Old Testament food laws (cf. Leviticus 11 ; Deuteronomy 14)[2] to the New
Testament abolishment of these laws.
The key
character in our story is Peter, to whom Jesus had given the keys of the
kingdom (Acts 16:19). Peter is indeed the first apostle to the
gentiles. We have already seen that he had opened the kingdom to Jews on the
day of Pentecost, and then to the Samaritans, and now to the gentiles. The transition happens here in this chapter. Peter, who is at this time in Joppa (10:6) receives a vision from the Lord,
whilst praying at the 6th hour – 12 o’clock noon. In this vision he
is called to eat all sorts of animals, which according to the law would have
been forbidden. Hence his reply in 10:14 - “By no means Lord… I have never
eaten anything that is common or
unclean”. However, the LORD insists a second time, and note what He says to
Peter, “What God has made clean do not call common.“ [v.15]
So, at the first level of understanding, God is saying something to Peter about changed rules of eating. He is saying 3 times [v.16] i.e. insistently, “Peter, don’t question me, eat!” The question arises, is God going against
His own Word in the OT? Or is there
something more that we need to understand? In order to determine this, we first need to look at some other passages in the
Scriptures.
The
clearest instruction on this matter comes from the mouth of our Lord Jesus in Mark 7:1- 23, where He is confronting
the Pharisees on the subject of what is truly “unclean” and “clean”. The
Pharisees were complaining that the disciples were eating with unwashed hands,
another matter unthinkable for Jews – but clearly, this is not something that
Jesus was too concerned about. He is far
more concerned about another matter. He shows them that the
expression of true faith is not
primarily a matter of handwashing or not cooking a meal on the Sabbath, or of eating and drinking only specific things. Jesus was more concerned about the matters
of the heart. By the heart the Bible means, the seat of our mind,
will and emotions. Then He makes this
very important announcement in Mark 7:15, “Nothing
outside a man can make him
unclean by going into him. Rather it is
what comes out of a man, i.e. from the inside. He explains in v.19 that this means. The heart, the
inner disposition, the will is the source of that which makes a person unclean. Then to reinforce this again,
Jesus says to His disciples, “Are you
without understanding….so dull? Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from
the outside can make him unclean? For it doesn’t go into His heart but into his
stomach, and then out of his body.”
Now
notice what else is said in v.19.
Jesus declared all foods clean! That means that you can eat pork,
crayfish, crocodile steaks and even broccoli and Brussel sprouts with
thanksgiving. That means that you can go into a foreign culture, and eat Mopani
worms and other foods such as Peter had to do when he went to these gentiles,
and eat that which was set before him, with thanksgiving, and without asking
many questions!
Does that
mean that Jesus has set aside the dietary laws of the OT? Yes it does! In fact
there are many things that God sets aside under the new covenant because they
are not essential to the gospel. The main thing that He sets aside under the
new covenant (and this was prophesied in the OT) is the way in which God’s
people were redeemed and cleansed from their guilty consciences. In the OT He
accepted the sacrifices of bulls and sheep as sacrifices for sin offerings. In
the NT that is not valid. Only by looking to Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world (John 1: 29)
are we redeemed.
In the
same way, He sets aside circumcision. The
symbol of belonging to the New Covenant
people is not circumcision, but baptism, by which Jesus means believers’
baptism i.e. the baptism of those that have themselves actively believed, and
not infant baptism.
Furthermore,
we do not observe Passover, nor any of the Jewish feasts, do we? What feasts
then do we observe? Those that
have to do with the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ – the gospel of Christ.
Here is a challenge : Is your
Christmas , Easter , Ascension day , Pentecost focus
gospel centred ? Otherwise you’re back to the way
of the Pharisees who put more focus on outward displays than the heart.
A word of
clarification: The emphasis of the O.T.
is not, as some would believe, on outward ceremonies. The O.T. like the N.T. primarily focuses on God-centered thinking and
behaviour. The 10 commandments, the moral law of God,
have to do with God-centered living. However the sinfulness and deviousness of the
human heart turns everything into second
hand religion, focussing on religious
observance rather than on the heart of
true worship. The
default of the sinful human heart is to
divorce worship from God , so that we
worship created things rather than the Creator who is forever to be praised and
blessed (Romans 1:25) . The truth is that at the end of the law is Jesus.
What does
it mean when Jesus said, “I have not come to abolish the law and the
prophets … but to fulfil them?” Precisely this, that the law in itself was an
incomplete (temporary) revelation ,
until the Son of God appeared, making everything clear , including the
matter of eating and drinking. The same principle can be
determined from 1 Corinthians 8
The second level of understanding of this passage has to do with Peter’s mission to the
gentiles.There is obviously a connection between the eating of
‘unclean food ‘ and the association between Jews and ‘unclean gentiles‘. Remember, that
Jews as a rule never ate with gentiles. Again, it must be stressed that this
was not the OT teaching. The OT affirms
time and again that all nations were in God’s purpose. There was a place for
non- Jews to be integrated into the faith of Israel, as proven by Jesus’ own
genealogy (Rahab and Ruth – the
gentile women of Matt 1:5) . Rather, this
had become an extra biblical habit among the Jews. It had become a form of apartheid or racism,… fallen- human-
being- thinking, if you like. This is a lesson
about racism. It's one thing to have nice little theories about the
gospel and its relationship to Gentiles when you’re in Jerusalem. It is quite another thing to actually go to the house of a
Gentile and eat his food. And that's what Peter is being asked to do, and
that's why he's protesting so much.
The Gospel
is for EVERYONE! There is no longer Jew
nor Gentile, slave nor free[3], because
we are all one in Jesus Christ, and there is only one way of salvation: By grace
alone, through faith alone in
Jesus Christ alone; and whoever that person is we're all one in Jesus
Christ. That was a hard lesson for Peter
and many modern Christians. Peter, though he had made some progress in his thinking along the way as we have seen was now
instructed to break that habit by God’s command. And old habits die hard! Paul had to rebuke
him later in Galatians 2:11ff, for going back on this command, because he
acted hypocritically.
God, in
Christ, had demolished the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile. Jesus has declared racism over and done with. The
gospel changes everything. You can read all about that in Ephesians 2:11-22. That too
changed under the New covenant. Under the Old Covenant, Israel developed
as a separate nation, but under the New Covenant, which was anticipated
by the OT, the church would be comprised of every nation, tribe and tongue. Heaven
will be the final reality, when all
nations shall assemble before the throne to praise the Lord ( Rev
7:9ff) . So then the eating of
“unclean food “ with “unclean people”
points us to new realities of the kingdom. That is
precisely what Peter declares in 10:28
when he confessed before Cornelius and
the assembled gentiles : “” You
yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit
anyone of another nation, but God has
shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. THIS IS THE
DEEP TRUTH BEHIND THIS PASSAGE !
At face value it may be about food, and by their abstinence from certain food Israel distinguished
themselves from the other nations, but the distinction really led to so much more – namely racial pride and segregation. The whole thing had to be undone!
The Jews, of whom Peter was one, had
made several wrong conclusions about the food laws. One conclusion that they
had drawn was that because they didn't eat pork, they were better than other
people. We meet vegetarians like that, too. They believe that simply refraining
from eating certain things made them superior.
In our
day there is a renewed emphasis by number of people who have declared
themselves to be vegetarians, and who think that by doing so they hold
the moral high ground. Some maintain that the eating of meat is
ethically wrong, because cruelty is done to animals. There are some Christians
who suggest that the symptoms of the fall is man's domination over creation
rather than his empathy with it. They
would point out that prior to the fall, nothing is said about eating meat, and that man was created to
be vegetarian. Be that as it may. We now live in a fallen
world where anyone of us scarcely
know what it means to eat in a balanced
way, and we all die because of this. But
the supreme theological fact is not that
death is caused by incorrect eating or drinking . The wages of sin is death!
Isn’t it
amazing how food has become such a dividing wall in society? Halaal, kosher, vegetarian, Banting and
thousands of other diets. People become great evangelists and crusaders for
food and drink! The statistics however remain brutal. One out of one dies, diet or no diet!
All these emphases in their own right
and without gospel focus are ultimately misplaced , for they do not
focus on the gospel which truly gives life.
So, we
should have no arguments with people who are vegetarians, if that's the choice
that they make. But the imposition of
that on the conscience of others, we do have problems with, because it imposes
something on the conscience of Jesus. Jesus ate the Passover lamb, and one of
the last things recorded of Jesus is that He ate fish with the disciples on the
edge of the Sea of Galilee, in His resurrection body!
The
biggest point concerning food and related
matters is this, and Paul said it
clearly : “The kingdom of God is not matter of eating and drinking but of
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17). We should be passionate
about that. Those are gospel matters, and the development of these in our lives
are more important than food or drink. Amen !
[1] 12th February 2017 : Acts 10 : “The
Gospel To the Ends of the Earth “
[2] Context : Moses giving instruction to the
people of God on the plains of Moab, just before they cross over the River
Jordan and into the promised land. It had little to do
with hygiene. It had to do with
separating Israel from the Canaanites. It was separating Israel from the
surrounding nations.
[3] Gal 3:28
1 comment:
I really enjoy reading your blogs...please them coming!
Post a Comment