David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 15:1-11

But 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.” ² 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. ³ 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. ⁴ 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. ⁵ 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.”

⁶ The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. ⁷ 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. ⁸ And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, ⁹ and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ 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? ¹¹ But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

Who are those guys? Can you do that? I can’t do that. No one can track over solid rock. Who are those guys??? This is – as best I remember it – lines from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Paul Newman and Robert Redford make quite a pair of outlaws – almost lovable. They are watching someone track them while they’re on the lam. The tracker is so good that he’s able to follow their trail over solid rock. Not many people can do that.

Peter speaks of something no one had been able to do – nor will anyone be able to do in the future. He speaks of putting “a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear.” He is speaking of the impossibility of fulfilling the Law of God – whether it’s the moral Law, the ceremonial law, or especially the laws intended to protect the law from being broken. 

In Jesus’ day the Jews had built a fence round the Old Testament Law. They had devised 713 laws regulating appropriate behavior – many around observance of the Sabbath. Limits of how far one could travel, how much they could carry, and regulations about planting, plowing, reaping, gathering, threshing/extraction, winnowing, sorting/purification, grinding, sifting, kneading/amalgamation,  and cooking/baking. The idea was that if you didn’t do any of those things you would surely not break the third commandment, “Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy.”

Another way in which they protected the Law of God had to do with not taking God’s name in vain. They determined that if they never spoke the sacred holy name of God “YHWH” (יהוה‎ in Hebrew), they would surely not take his name in vain. When they came to that name of God, they would substitute the word for Lord, Adonai (אֲדֹנָי in Hebrew). So, in theory they would never take the name of the Lord (YHWH) in vain because they would never speak it at all.

All these laws were oppressive and untenable. There is no peace in such efforts to appease or obey God by such limitations. God’s call is much higher. Jesus summarized it this way You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). This is from Deuteronomy 6, which is called the Shama, for the Hebrew word for Hear, “Shama Israel…,” or “Hear Israel…”

The Old Testament prophet Micah summarized it this way: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

We’ll never do this perfectly, but we have been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ – along with all others who believe in him. A life of mercy and justice rather than mere ritualistic external obedience is testimony to the Holy Spirit’s work in us. There are many things we cannot do, but God can do great things through those who believe in him.