With his own witness
to the pouring out of the Spirit, the speaking in tongues, and the praising of
God, which would be an explicit reminder of Pentecost, Peter says “No one can
withhold the water for these people to be baptized, who have received the Holy
Spirit just as we did, can he?” (10:47) Peter uses the inclusive language
of “we.” We could here note that Paul
uses such language on a regular basis. We are also reminded of chapter
two’s informing us that “those who accepted his message were baptized, and that
day about three thousand people were added” (2:41).
Along with that, as
we hear the telling of this story and the words of Peter in the context of the
story of Israel, it is impossible to disconnect the concept of baptism from the
crossing of the Red Sea and the crossing of the Jordan River (both on dry
land). These are pivotal events within Israel’s story, and they are told
as tales of God’s faithfulness to His people. Also, the baptism in
chapter two would have been exclusively Jews, in Jerusalem, during a great
Sabbath, whereas that of chapter ten was a baptism of Gentiles. Thus,
because both Jews and Gentiles experience baptism, both stand before God in a
state of equality.
Baptism, when
connected to Jesus as Messiah of Israel, allows those that undergo the
experience to participate in that tale of God’s faithfulness, symbolically
crossing from a state of exile to a state of exodus. Because the baptism
that stems from a belief in Jesus is also rooted in the understanding that the
Resurrection of Jesus brought an end to the old age and ushered in the new age,
baptism becomes the picture of the believer’s deliverance from the exile of the
old age/creation, into the new age/creation. We could comfortably
presume, based on his writing, that such thoughts found a home in the mind of
Paul as well.
This series of events
caused no little consternation amongst the circumcised believers in Jerusalem
(11:2). Those that took issue with what Peter had done, accused him of
going to uncircumcised men and sharing a meal with them (11:3). These are
the same issues at work, against which Paul stridently speaks, in Galatians
two, though the setting was Antioch rather than Jerusalem. This is nothing
short of a clear disavowal of the covenant markers of Judaism, as Peter has, by
confirming the presence of the Holy Spirit in the uncircumcised and by
violating food laws (though Sabbath is not in view), has transgressed and
effectively repudiates the marks that had previously been the means by which
one was identified as a covenant member in good standing. Though they can
certainly be practiced, they are of no particular use or value, when set
against the new covenant marker of belief in Jesus as the crucified and
resurrected Messiah of Israel and Lord of all (the Gospel). Again, all
this is stressed, though it seems to not necessarily have any bearing on
Romans, because Paul will be more than aware of all of these things, and would
most likely heavily rely on Peter’s experience and telling of the experience in
formulating his positions about Gentile inclusion under the covenant and their
participation in the promises of Israel’s God.
Peter takes up the challenge that is presented to him, which
is also a challenge to the legitimacy of the Gospel message and to the
commission given to him and the rest of the disciples by Jesus. As if to
emphasize that this subject is quite crucial to the church of the Christ, Luke
has Peter retelling the whole of the story of his encounter with Cornelius (so
we get to read the story twice, back to back---by contrast, we read the story
of Paul’s “conversion” three times in Acts, all of which are offered
separately). Indeed, “Peter began and explained it to them point by
point” (11:4). He talks about the men that came to him, saying “The
Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation” (11:12a). He also
points out that six of the brothers that were with him, presumably all Jewish
believers in Jesus, went with him and also entered the house of the Gentile
Cornelius (11:12b).
No comments:
Post a Comment