The Debate in Jerusalem

The evening air was cool as Luke sat with Paul in the courtyard of the house church in Antioch. Oil lamps cast flickering shadows on the walls as Paul, his face weathered from years of travel, began to recount the pivotal council in Jerusalem.

“You see, Luke, my friend,” Paul began, running his fingers through his graying beard, “when I arrived in Jerusalem with Barnabas, the tension was palpable. The very foundations of our mission to the Gentiles hung in the balance.”

Luke leaned forward, his physician’s mind eager to capture every detail. “Tell me about the initial confrontation with the elders.”

Paul’s eyes grew distant with memory. “Peter and James awaited us in the house of John Mark’s mother. I could see the concern etched on their faces – they had heard much about our work among the Gentiles, how we welcomed them without requiring circumcision or full adherence to Mosaic law.”

“And this troubled them?” Luke asked, though he knew the answer.

“Troubled?” Paul gave a rueful laugh. “Some of the Pharisees who had embraced the Way were practically in an uproar. They stood up in the assembly and declared, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.’ It was as if they wanted to rebuild the very walls that Christ had torn down.”

Luke watched as Paul rose and began to pace, his passion for the subject evident in every movement. “I stood before them all – Peter, James, John, and the entire council. I spoke of what I had witnessed: Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit, their lives transformed by faith alone.

Peter asked them, ‘Why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?’”

“What did Peter sound like?” Luke asked, making mental notes for his future writing.

“Ah, Peter,” Paul’s voice softened with respect despite their past disagreements. “He stood up and recounted his vision of the clean and unclean animals, his experience with Cornelius. ‘God, who knows the heart,’ he said, ‘showed that he accepted the Gentiles by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.’”

Paul paused, looking up at the stars now visible in the darkening sky. “But it was James’s support that truly turned the tide. As the Lord’s brother and leader of the Jerusalem church, his word carried immense weight. He cited the prophets – how God had always intended to build a dwelling for himself among all peoples.”

Luke nodded thoughtfully. “Yet there were still compromises to be made?”

“Yes,” Paul acknowledged. “James proposed what we now know as the Jerusalem decree – that Gentile believers abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood. These were concessions to help our Jewish brothers and sisters feel comfortable sharing fellowship with Gentile believers.”

“But you’ve encountered resistance since then,” Luke observed. “In Antioch…”

Paul’s face darkened at the memory. “Yes, even Peter wavered when certain men came from James. He had been eating with the Gentiles, but then began to draw back, fearing those who insisted on circumcision. I had to oppose him to his face, for he was clearly in the wrong.”

“Tell me, Paul,” Luke asked, “what do you believe our Jewish brothers and sisters need to understand most deeply about this new covenant?”

Paul sat again, his expression intense. “They need to understand that in Christ, we have died to the law. The law was our guardian until Christ came, but now faith has come. We are no longer under a guardian. The true circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by written code.”

“But this is difficult for many to accept,” Luke noted. “These are traditions passed down for generations.”

“Indeed,” Paul sighed. “They need to unlearn the idea that righteousness comes through the law. This is perhaps the hardest truth for them to grasp – that what they have held sacred for so long was always pointing toward Christ. The sacrificial system, the dietary laws, the festivals – all were shadows of the reality found in Christ.”

“What about the argument that abandoning these practices dishonors Moses and the prophets?”

Paul leaned forward earnestly. “This is crucial, Luke. We don’t dishonor Moses and the prophets – we fulfill their very purpose! Moses himself spoke of a prophet greater than himself who would come. The prophets foretold a new covenant written on hearts rather than stone. Our Jewish brothers and sisters must understand that embracing Christ doesn’t negate their heritage – it completes it.”

Luke watched as Paul stood again, this time moving to look out over the city. “Some accuse me of teaching Jews to turn away from Moses, to abandon circumcision and our customs. But this isn’t about abandonment – it’s about fulfillment. The law was our schoolmaster, bringing us to Christ. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”

“Yet you still observe many Jewish customs yourself,” Luke observed.

Paul turned back with a gentle smile. “To the Jews I become as a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law, I become like one under the law, though I myself am not under the law. To the Gentiles, I become a Gentile. All this I do for the sake of the gospel.”

“Tell me more about your confrontation with Peter in Antioch,” Luke prompted. “That must have been difficult, challenging someone of his stature.”

Paul’s expression grew solemn. “It was necessary. When Peter first came to Antioch, he had no hesitation about eating with the Gentile believers. But when certain men came from James, he began to draw back and separate himself, fearing those of the circumcision group. Other Jewish believers followed his example – even Barnabas was led astray.”

“What exactly did you say to him?”

“I confronted him publicly, because his error was public and affected the whole church. I said, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.’”

Luke pondered this. “And how did Peter receive this rebuke?”

“With humility,” Paul replied. “This is what makes Peter truly great – despite his prominence, he was willing to be corrected when he strayed from the truth of the gospel. He understood that this wasn’t about personal authority but about the integrity of our message.”

“Speaking of the message,” Luke said, “how do you explain to our Jewish brothers and sisters that their beloved temple and its rituals are no longer necessary?”

Paul’s response was measured. “This requires great sensitivity. The temple has been the center of Jewish worship for centuries. I explain that Christ himself is now our temple – the place where God meets with humanity. His body, broken for us, has become the final sacrifice. The temple curtain torn in two showed that access to God is now direct, through Christ alone.”

“And the priesthood?” Luke asked.

“Ah, this is beautiful,” Paul’s eyes lit up. “Christ is our high priest, but not after the order of Aaron. He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This is what our Jewish brothers and sisters must understand – Christ’s priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood, bringing a better covenant founded on better promises.”

Luke shifted position, considering his next question. “What about those who argue that accepting Gentiles without requiring full conversion to Judaism will dilute and eventually destroy Jewish identity?”

Paul shook his head firmly. “This fear comes from a misunderstanding of God’s purposes. In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. This doesn’t erase these distinctions – it transcends them. Jewish believers don’t cease being Jewish when they follow Christ, just as Gentiles don’t need to become Jewish to follow him.”

“Yet some accuse you of being an enemy of our people and our customs,” Luke noted.

“Yes, and nothing could be further from the truth,” Paul responded passionately. “I am a Hebrew of Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day, formerly a Pharisee zealous for the law. But what I once counted as gain, I now count as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

The night had deepened, and a cool breeze stirred the courtyard. Luke pulled his cloak closer. “Tell me about the moment you realized this truth – that the law, while holy and good, was not the path to righteousness.”

Paul was quiet for a long moment. “It was a gradual understanding that came after Damascus. As I studied the scriptures with new eyes, I saw how the law itself pointed to its own insufficiency. David spoke of blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered – not through sacrifices, but through faith. Abraham was credited with righteousness before circumcision was given. The prophets spoke of a new covenant where God’s law would be written on hearts.”

“And how do you help others see this truth?”

“I show them from their own scriptures,” Paul explained. “I take them to Genesis and show how Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness – before the law, before circumcision. I show them how the promise to Abraham came through faith, not law. The law, which came 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God.”

Luke nodded thoughtfully. “Yet for many, these practices are not just religious obligations but markers of identity. How do you address this?”

“This is crucial to understand,” Paul leaned forward. “Our true identity is found in Christ. The physical markers – circumcision, dietary laws, Sabbath observance – were shadows pointing to spiritual realities. Circumcision of the heart, feeding on Christ himself, finding our rest in him. Our Jewish brothers and sisters need to see that in Christ, they don’t lose their identity – they find its fulfillment.”

“And what of the argument that we make void the law through faith?” Luke asked.

Paul’s response was immediate and forceful. “On the contrary, we establish the law! We show its true purpose – to lead us to Christ. The law was our guardian, our tutor, showing us our need for a savior. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”

The night had grown late, but Luke had one more question. “What gives you hope that our Jewish brothers and sisters will come to understand these truths?”

Paul’s face softened with compassion. “The same grace that opened my eyes on the Damascus road continues to work. Remember, I was once the chief of zealots, believing I was serving God by persecuting the church. If God could reveal his Son to me, he can reveal him to anyone.”

He continued, his voice full of conviction. “And the scriptures themselves promise that a time will come when all Israel will be saved. A hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. But God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.”

Luke nodded, beginning to gather his writing materials. “Your words give much to consider, Paul. The way forward you describe is both radical and deeply rooted in our scriptures.”

“Yes,” Paul agreed, rising to his feet. “And remember this, Luke, as you record these things: the gospel I preach is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ himself.”

As they prepared to retire for the night, Paul added one final thought. “The mystery now revealed is that through the gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. This is the wisdom of God, hidden for ages but now made known through the church.”

Luke gathered his scrolls, knowing he had witnessed something profound – not just a recounting of events, but a glimpse into the very heart of the gospel that was reshaping the world. As he bid Paul goodnight, he could hear the old apostle murmuring words from the prophet Isaiah: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news…”

The conversation ended, but its implications would echo through the centuries, challenging each generation to understand anew the relationship between law and grace, between old covenant and new, between the shadows and the reality to which they pointed. In Paul’s wrestling with these profound truths, Luke recognized the continuing struggle of all who sought to understand how the ancient faith of Israel found its fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.