6th Sunday of Easter
ACTS 15:1-29
Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.
So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. When they finished speaking, James replied,
“Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’ Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter:
“The apostles and the elders, brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
We have reproduced the full text. In the Sunday Eucharist reading, only two excerpts will be read, the beginning and the end. The theme is the central argument of this book, especially in its first part.
We are in the year 48 or 49. The Church has already suffered its first persecutions: Stephen has been stoned (36-37 AD), and James the brother of John has been beheaded (43-44 AD). The Church extends beyond Palestine, and the gospel has already been preached to the pagans, who accept the faith.
At this moment, a crucial issue arises: whether the pagans must convert to Judaism and fulfill the Law of Moses in order to belong to the Church. Paul and Barnabas encountered this problem in Antioch, and they bring it to the Apostles in Jerusalem. This meeting is usually called the Council of Jerusalem, and it is of utmost importance. From it will come the definitive formulation: Christians are not a branch, a sect of Judaism. The pagans enter the Church of Jesus, not the Law of Moses.
The profound meaning of the issue is definitive: Jesus does not simply complete the Law of Moses. The terms are reversed: it is not that the Old Law reaches its fulfillment, continues in force, and extends to the whole world. It is that the prehistory has ended, that the transitory disappears before the definitive. It is the Jews who must convert to Jesus, not the pagans who must convert to Judaism.
Thus, Christianity has less roots in the Old Testament than in the novelty of Jesus, The Word. Sometimes we do not take this into account sufficiently: we must not understand Jesus from the Old Testament; we must understand the Old Testament from Jesus. With reason, John will be able to say in the Gospel and in the letters: “No one has ever seen God, but the Son has made Him known to us.”
Therefore, this text narrates the birth of a different consciousness in the Church. That first community becomes aware of what it is. The promoters are Paul and Barnabas, who are not from the original group of The Twelve. Peter manages to make the Assembly listen to them. James gives the definitive push, and it is the Assembly in full that accepts. It is very impressive to see how that first community functioned, how the apostles exercised authority and teaching.
But we must make some considerations that specific phrases in the text suggest.
Then there arose no small dissension and dispute between Paul and Barnabas and them; and they determined that Paul and Barnabas and some of their own number should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.
The first communities are not as idyllic as they are sometimes presented to us. Disagreements, heated discussions… And the way to solve them is to go to the community of Jerusalem. Why? Because there are the Witnesses, the source of the Tradition. This is the guarantee of credibility, of fidelity to Jesus (as it will be the guarantee of the credibility of the gospels, written by collecting the preaching of witnesses, to be proclaimed in communities in which there are still witnesses. Before a collective of witnesses, the facts cannot be falsified).
So, being sent by the church, … When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders…
The church of Antioch sends, the church of Jerusalem receives. Blessed times in which the protagonist is the community.
But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
There are “sects” in the community of Jerusalem. The Pharisees who join the movement of Jesus continue to think like Pharisees, very observant of the Law. Converting is not changing one’s way of thinking overnight. It is initiating a path of conversion. And these Pharisees who follow Jesus still have a long path of conversion ahead of them.
Then the apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them:
To solve a problem, a meeting. Why is it necessary to meet? Isn’t Peter there, the “Vicar of Christ”? Doesn’t Peter have the same powers, the same assistance of the Holy Spirit as the current Popes? Why do the Apostles need to ask anything to the elders? It reminds me of the same situation of John XXIII when he convened Vatican II. And the comments that arose: Why a council? Isn’t the pope infallible?…
And there is a long discussion, which indicates that there are passionately different opinions. Can one disagree with the Head of the Church?
But, attention, Peter is going to speak. And I want to imagine what he is going to say, before hearing it. He is undoubtedly going to say the following: “Having heard your opinions, brothers, We, by the authority that Christ himself has entrusted to us, decide, define, and order that …”. But Peter did not say that:
«Brothers, you know that from the earliest days God chose me from among you so that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the Good News and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Why then are you now putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? We believe, however, that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they are.»
The whole assembly became silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they recounted all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.
Surprising: Peter gives his opinion. And the matter is not settled; simply, an authoritative opinion has been heard – Peter’s authority is undeniable, but he does not exercise it with power – and the discussions (which seem to be heated and somewhat chaotic) cease to listen to Paul and Barnabas.
The whole assembly became silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they recounted all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.
And now, once again, having heard the opinions, the Pope will undoubtedly decide…
When they finished speaking, James took the floor and said, «Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first intervened to take from among the Gentiles a people for his Name. … Therefore, I have come to the opinion that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but write to them to abstain from what has been polluted by idols, from impurity, from animals that have been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient times Moses has had his preachers in every city and is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.»
James!, the “brother of the Lord”, who will remain in the future as the head of the community of Jerusalem. And he also gives his opinion. In summary: the Pope and the Bishop of the church of Jerusalem are present, and both give their opinions before the community. Do they consider that the judgment, the final decision, corresponds to the assembly, to the community?
Then the apostles and elders, in agreement with the whole Church, decided to choose some men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; and these were Judas, called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers.
The apostles and elders decide, in agreement with the whole Church. They decide two things: to send a message to the church of Antioch and to choose (not appoint, not simply name) two messengers to send to Antioch.
On the other hand, the message is a compromise between the intransigence of the Pharisees and the absolute freedom that Paul and Barnabas request. Christians coming from paganism do not have to be circumcised, but they must clearly stay away from anything that smacks of idol worship.
And this way of making decisions leaves them so satisfied, they feel with such evidence that they have acted according to the spirit of Jesus, that they can affirm:
we have decided with the Holy Spirit and we …
The community seeks the inspiration of the spirit, and has acted with all sincerity and with a total desire to act according to the Spirit of Jesus.
And they part with the least imposing formula imaginable:
You will do well to keep away from these things.
All this contains lessons that can be very useful to us:
1.- In the early churches, the first subject, the protagonist, is the community. It is the community that makes decisions, even though the leaders, even apostles, even Peter, are present in it.
2.- Peter is a respected person, he has “authority”, but he does not exercise it as power, he does not impose, he does not decide. This will be a constant in Peter’s actions as presented in Acts. As far as I know, in all that is narrated in the book, Peter only makes one decision: to enter the house of pagans, baptize them, and eat with them foods prohibited by The Law (cp 10). But upon returning to Jerusalem, the community reproaches him, he has to give explanations, and he does.
3.- The hierarchical forms and their ways of acting that exist today in the church may be convenient, necessary, timely… they may be; but they cannot claim to be a continuation of what we see in the churches of Acts. They were not established as such by Jesus himself, but have resulted in this way in response to the needs of the times. I repeat, perhaps they are correct, perhaps we can even say that they have been inspired by the Spirit, but they are not an institution that proceeds from Jesus himself, since the first Church functioned in a different way. Perhaps the most significant of our differences with them is the protagonism of the entire community, the constant reference to the gathering of this community to make decisions, and the way in which “the pillars of the Church” exercise their authority.
4.- It would be completely naive to pretend that our Church and our churches functioned according to the models we see in Acts. Communities so numerous, living in a world so different, cannot adopt the concrete ways of those communities, small, dispersed, facing problems that are not ours. But we do have the obligation to look at those communities, at their ways of proceeding and solving problems, to discover where the Spirit of Jesus is pointing, and to do everything possible to adjust to that spirit, and for our current forms not to be sacralized but to be willing to change according to that same Spirit.
APOCALYPSE 21, 9‑23
Then one of the seven Angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.”
He transported me in spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the Holy City of Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Its radiance was like that of a very precious stone, like crystalline jasper. It had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and on the gates twelve Angels and names inscribed, which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel; on the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; on the west three gates. The wall of the city rests on twelve stones, which bear the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
The one who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is a square: its length is equal to its width. He measured the city with the rod, and it was 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall, and it was 144 cubits ‑ by human measure, which is that of the Angel ‑. The material of this wall is jasper and the city is of pure gold, similar to pure glass. The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl; and the plaza of the city is of pure gold, transparent as crystal. But I saw no Sanctuary in it; because the Lord, the Almighty God, and the Lamb are its Sanctuary. The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
The vision of John represents the definitive Church, the definitive triumphant humanity with the triumph of God, under the image of a fabulous and perfect city. It is a gift from God, an impregnable and magnificent city, full of symbolic elements. There is no temple, the entire city is a temple. It needs no light, because God is there.
It is a vision to dream about. The Church that we see now, all of humanity, is moving towards triumph in God, towards His presence, by the power of His grace. It is a hopeful end, when all evil, darkness, and sin have been definitively defeated.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.