The very first Christian controversy revolved around who could be received into to the Church and how. The first Christians did not see themselves as belonging to a new religion. They were deeply religious Jews, who recognized Christ as the fulfillment of the Jewish tradition, both the Mosaic Law and the prophets. The first question was whether Gentiles, that is to say non-Jews, could be received into the fold.
We see in the reading from The Acts of the Apostles for this Sunday that Peter recognizes the power of the Holy Spirit working among Gentile believers as well, so he orders that they too be allowed to receive baptism, which is the first step of being initiated into the body of Christ. But as the New Testament narrative unfolds, we see that the question arising from this decision is not quite so easily solved. That question is whether and to what extent the Gentiles have to observe the Mosaic Law.
The Mosaic Law, also known as the Torah, was the ancient Jewish law code that the Israelites received from God through Moses. The Law organized both major and minor aspects of life, setting the Jewish people aside as very clearly different from the people around them. They were not to live like other nations, whose cultures had been deeply tainted by human sin. Instead, the Israelites were to live their lives focused on God and thereby show to all the nations the greatness of the One True God.
By doing so, the Israelites were also preparing for the coming of the Messiah, who would bring them liberation. The coming of Christ was the fulfillment of the Messianic expectations. What is more, as we saw, the followers of Christ soon came to understand that Christ's gift of spiritual liberation was not just for the Jewish people, but for the whole human race.
Initially, since the first Christians were all Jews following the Mosaic Law, the expectation was that all converts to Christ would have to embrace the fullness of the Mosaic Law as well. But an alternative perspective, championed especially by the Apostle Paul, was that Gentiles would need to follow only the teachings of Christ, not the Mosaic Law, to become disciplines. Christ had of course affirmed various aspects of the Law, its moral core, but not every single element. In some cases, as with revenge and forgiveness, he even gave stricter rules than the Law itself.
The controversy about whether or not Gentiles have to embrace the fullness of the Mosaic Law became quite heated in the early Church, leading to some confrontations in the leadership. But in time, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Pauline side prevailed, ensuring that Gentile converts did not have to embrace all aspects of observant Jewish life in order to follow Christ.
But what does it mean to follow Christ? In the Gospel reading for this Sunday, Christ says: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you." We are to love each other with the divine love with which God himself loves each of us. In some ways, this commandment might seem both hard and easy.
On the one hand, the words of Christ might seem hard because how could we possibly live up to the standards of God? But the answer is that we should not try to love through our own strength but through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. When we are truly united with Christ, it is his love that loves through our hearts.
On the other hand, the commandment of Christ might seem easy. After all, all we need to do is love, right? As St. Augustine famously said, "Love and do what you will." Doesn't that sound like something from the 60's, like a Hippie era mantra for life?
We see the answer as we explore the dynamics of divine love. First of all, to be able to be conduits of God's divine love, we need to stay grounded in the Church established by Christ, embracing all the graces offered to us through the various aspects of the Church, especially through the sacraments and the treasury of prayers and spiritual practices.
What is more, if we truly love, we will by the very nature of the act stay away from destructive behavior. Love excludes murder, stealing, lying, betrayal, gossip, and all the other sins as well. Truly loving means not sinning. So yes, if we truly love, we can do what we will, because our only desire will be to do good.
||
The readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter Sunday, Cycle B are:
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
1 Jn 4:7-10
Jn 15:9-17
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: St. Peter's Church in Jaffa in the Holy Land, which stands on the site of the house of Cornelius, where St. Peter had his vision instructing him to accept Gentiles into the Church by Zoltan Abraham (c) 2016.