THE SPREAD IN ASIA MINOR AND EUROPE
THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF PAUL AND HIS COMPANIONS (25)
Read and Pray: "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'" (Mk 16:15)
THREE EMPHATIC ORDERS
In Matthew 28:19-20a, the resurrected Christ said to His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” Nations refers to the Gentiles. The disciples were tasked with making Gentiles disciples, baptizing them into the Triune God. The Lord’s command in Matthew 28:19 is quite emphatic.
As Mark 16:15 states, the Lord, after the resurrection and before the ascension, commanded the eleven, saying, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” In this verse, creation mainly refers to different peoples, although it includes more than that. Like in Matthew 28:19, here the Lord orders His disciples to preach the gospel to all peoples, to all nations.
After the resurrection and before the ascension, the Lord spoke to the disciples again, implying that the gospel should be preached to all nations. In Luke 24:47, He told them that “in His name, repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” If we consider these three orders at the end of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we see how categorical, definitive, emphatic, and absolute they are.
THE MIXTURE SITUATION IN JERUSALEM
Regarding the situation of mixture in Jerusalem, Peter and John remained silent. There is no record that they did anything to diminish this mixture; rather, according to Luke’s account in Acts, only Paul took on the responsibility of addressing the issue. It seems that Peter and John were not concerned about it. If they had been, they should have spoken to James, saying categorically, “James, before you were saved, we heard a word and had a vision about the end of the Old Testament economy.”
According to the New Testament, James in Acts 21 was the Lord’s earthly brother. Along with the other brothers of the Lord, he was saved shortly after or just before His resurrection. He may have been present when one or more of these orders recorded at the end of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were given. He should have known that the Lord had commanded His disciples to preach the gospel to all nations.
Why did the disciples, including James, apparently disregard the Lord’s word about preaching the gospel to all nations and give so much regard to the Old Testament? Both the revelation given to the disciples and the Lord’s command were clear, definitive, emphatic, and absolute. Therefore, all the disciples should have had a clear understanding of God’s economy. But in the prevailing situation in Jerusalem, none of them were concerned with the Lord’s command. Instead, they were in favor of mixing the Old Testament dispensation with God’s New Testament economy.
Acts 21:19 says that Paul, after greeting James and all the elders, “reported in detail the things God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.” When they heard it, they glorified God (v. 20). Then James took the lead in saying to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed, and all are zealous for the law” (v. 20). It was shameful for James to have said this. If I were Peter, hearing this, I would have felt deeply ashamed.
In the early chapters of Acts, Peter was bold. He and John were firm in facing the opposition of the Sanhedrin. However, in chapters 15 to 21, Peter seems to have lost his boldness. According to Paul’s words in Galatians 2, Peter even used hypocrisy regarding this mixture. How lamentable the situation in Jerusalem was in Acts 21! We all need to be impressed by the picture of this situation. But we should not blame Peter, for in principle, we are today in the same situation.
It is correct to say that since Acts 15, Paul had been deeply troubled in his spirit about the situation in Jerusalem. Because of his heavy burden regarding this, on his third missionary journey, he could not forget Jerusalem. In 19:21, he proposed in his spirit to go there. His purpose was not only to care lovingly for the needs of the poor saints in Jerusalem but also to have fellowship with James and the others regarding the mixture there.
Apparently, he wanted to go to Jerusalem to bring financial help from the Gentile believers to those in Judea. In truth, in his spirit and heart, he was concerned about the terrible situation in Jerusalem, which was the origin of the Lord’s work on earth. According to Paul’s understanding, this source had been polluted. Therefore, he had no peace to continue with the Lord’s work.
He knew that, despite how much work he was doing among the Gentiles, the polluted current from Jerusalem would flow there. Realizing this, he proposed in his spirit to return to the source, with the intention of trying to clean up the situation, to rid it of pollution. It was also his desire to proceed from there to Rome and even to Spain, for the advancement of the gospel, in order to carry out God’s New Testament economy.
Enjoy more: Hymn 173
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