The Council of Jerusalem

First Reading: Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29

Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.” Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. … The apostles and elders, in agreement with the while church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers. This is the letter delivered by them: “The apostles and the elders, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings. Since we have heard that some of our number who went out without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth: ‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.'”

Gospel: John 14: 23-29

Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling in him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be trounbled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling in him.”

Obedience is the life of love for God. The sacrifice Jesus offered to the Father for our redemption was His life lived in perfect obedience to the will of the Father, even unto death. Because Adam was disobedient, sin and death entered our world. Because Jesus was perfectly obedient, even unto death, sin and death are conquered. Jesus loves the Father, and He manifested that love in His life of perfect obedience. Just so, Jesus says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word.”

If we keep His word, Jesus promises that the Father will love us, and that He and the Father will make their dwelling in us. In the prologue to his Gospel, John the Evangelist writes that “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” Now, that Word become flesh promises that He and the Father will dwell in us. They will live in us. We will become living temples of God. How will this be? The Father will send the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name. He will be our Advocate, our guide in the way of salvation. He will teach us everything and remind us of all that Jesus taught us, recommending to us how to live a life of obedience, and encouraging us to live such a life. And in that life of obedience, we will find Gospel joy.

Joy is the child of hope, and hope is the child of truth. Because we have the truth of Jesus, we have hope in His promises. And because we have hope in the promises of Jesus, we are empowered to live lives of true Gospel joy. Joyful that sin and death no longer have us in their chains. Joyful that, whatever this world throws at us, we can keep our strength and our faith that, in the end, “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Rom 8:28). And how do we love God? By living lives of perfect obedience to the will of the Father in imitation of Jesus.

Jesus says, “Peace I leave you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” Jesus does not give the peace that the world gives. Now, make no mistake, the peace that the world gives is a good thing. The peace the world gives is the absence of hostility and the presence of harmony between neighbors and nations. That is a good thing! But the peace that Jesus gives is sharing in the fullness of His grace, sharing even in the divine nature. St. Athanasius of Alexandria said, way back in the fourth century, “God became man so that man might become God.” This “becoming God,” what the Church Fathers called theosis (literally “making divine”) is what is meant by sharing in the divine nature. The divine nature, of course, is love. The Father is the Lover. The Son is the Beloved. And the love they share is so real, we give it a name, the Holy Spirit. The Church Fathers spoke of the Persons of the Holy Trinity being caught up in an eternal dance of divine love. We, too, will join that dance! We will be caught up in the eternal dance of divine love. Heaven will not consist of sitting on a cloud and playing a harp. Neither will it mean all our desires being fulfilled. It means God’s plan of redemption being fulfilled in our return to the life of God from which we sprang when He created us. Our destiny is greater than that of even Adam and Eve in the Garden. We will not live in a garden. We will live in the dance – the eternal dance of divine love of the Holy and Blessed Trinity!

One manifestation of the Holy Spirit sent by the Father through Jesus is found in our first reading. There was a great debate among the early Christians that represented the first great challenge to the Church. Some Jews who had become Christians, especially those who had been among the Pharisees, insisted that Gentiles who converted to Christ had to be circumcised and taught to live according to the Law of Moses. In effect, they argued that one had to first become a Jew in order to become a Christian. Paul and Barnabas, who were living and preaching in Antioch, disputed this. They insisted that Christ’s sacrifice superseded the Mosaic law, and that the law had no more hold on those baptized in Christ. The local church in Antioch could not resolve the conflict, so they sent Paul and Barnabas and others who represented what historians call “the Judaizers,” to Jerusalem, the mother church of Christianity, to consult with the apostles.

The apostles gathered in what we now call the Council of Jerusalem to consider the matter. The two sides presented their arguments. Finally, Peter himself stood up and gave his thoughts on the matter. Peter reminded the Council Fathers that God had instructed him to proclaim the gospel to Cornelius and his family, Gentiles who loved God but were not Jews. God gave the Holy Spirit to Cornelius and his family, and Peter baptized them. God did not demand that they first become Jews in order to become Christians. Peter then asked the Council Fathers why they would want to put upon the Gentiles a burden that they themselves were not able to carry. No. Christ came to free us from the law by the grace He won on the cross. There is no need for Gentiles to be circumcised or to follow the Mosaic law. James was the leader of the Jewish Christians. He also spoke up and agreed with Peter.

So the Council Fathers in Jerusalem sent Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch, along with Silas and Barsabbas, with a letter to the Church in that city, telling them, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us …” not to place on them any unnecessary burden. They asked the Gentile Christians in Antioch to refrain from eating meat that had been offered to idols, to refrain from eating meat that had not been fully drained of blood, and to refrain from unlawful marriage – meaning marriages to close relatives. These requests were made so that Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians could share one table together without causing offense.

The Council of Jerusalem has served as a model for the Church in the 21 official Ecumenical Councils, from the First Council of Nicaea in 325 to the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, as well as innumerable local councils gathered to resolve matters in local churches. Each time a Council met, the Church spoke with authority in teaching the faithful the way of salvation as guided by the Holy Spirit: “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us…”

The Holy Spirit will guide each of us, as well, in how we are to live the life of Gospel joy. So that, when we stand before Christ as our Judge, we will hear Him say to us, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. … Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Mt 25:21, 34).

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.