Did you know that the Bible is written in the culture of the Hebrew people?

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the Hebrew patriarchs. Moses, the receiver of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, was Hebrew. So were the judges, the kings, the prophets, and the psalmists, as were Jesus, the 12 disciples, and Saul of Tarsus.

In the Bible all non-Hebrews are called Gentiles. The magi were the first Gentiles to search for the king of the Jews (Matthew 2: 1-12). On Jan. 6 Christians celebrate this event. The holiday is called Epiphany, and it is remembered as the manifestation of the Christ (the Messiah) to the Gentiles.

The Church was born on the Day of Pentecost, a Hebrew holy day. From that day and for several years thereafter all members of the Christian Church were Hebrews. They had accepted Jesus as their messiah and lord. In terms of ethnicity they were Hebrews. In terms of religion they were Christians.

When we read the 10th chapter of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we encounter a big surprise. Here we meet a man named Cornelius. He was a centurion, an officer in the Roman army, commander of the Italian regiment and a Gentile. Nevertheless, he and his family, servants and some of his soldiers were devout worshipers of the God of the Hebrews. He had a vision, and he sent for Simon Peter.

When Simon Peter and some other Hebrew Christians arrived at the home of Cornelius, Simon Peter was given the opportunity to preach to the Gentiles. He began by telling them that he had come to learn that God shows no partiality. He is God of all people, both Hebrews and Gentiles. Then Simon Peter preached the good news about Jesus to the Gentiles, and as he was speaking to them the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles, just as previously the Holy Spirit had come upon the Hebrews (Acts 2).

This astonished the Hebrew Christians who had accompanied Simon Peter to the home of Cornelius (Acts 10: 45). Subsequently, Simon Peter commanded that the Gentile believers be baptized and admitted into the Christian Church.

The leaders of the Christian Church in Jerusalem heard about what happened, and Simon Peter had to give them an account of his activities with the Gentiles (Acts 11: 1-18). His report was well received, for the leaders came to the conclusion that “to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life.”

Later, at the first great council of the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 15), Saul of Tarsus (Paul) and Barnabas gave a report of their activity among the Gentile believers, and both Simon Peter and James, the brother of our Lord, voiced their approval of admitting Gentile believers into the Christian Church.

In his letters, Paul would refer to this as a “mystery” (Ephesians 3:1-7), “that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel.”

Today we take it as common knowledge that the Christian Church is made up of believers from every race, nationality, ethnic group, social class and economic condition. The surprise is gone, but the lesson remains with us. We have captured this truth in a well-known hymn:

“In Christ there is no East or West,

In Him no South or North;

But one great fellowship of love

Throughout the whole wide earth.”

The Rev. Richard H. Petersen is a retired pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church.

 

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