During this Easter season, our daily Scriptures continue to show just how much the Apostles “pushed the envelope” of societal norms, particularly as they pertained to certain Jewish laws.
Remember this was a time of upheaval. The events of the Passion were still fresh on the minds of many, especially Peter and his band of brothers who were converting many to this new religion of Christianity. And although they – like Jesus – did this within the framework of their Jewish faith, there was without question a new spirit, a new revelation that salvation was for everyone.
It is something we need to remember today.
In a nutshell: God created everything, so nothing and nobody can be considered “unclean” by their very nature. The essence of sin comes not from the outside (the things we eat or the people we associate with) but from the inside of our hearts.
Today’s first reading – complete with the vision of a floating tablecloth from heaven, filled with all kinds of “4-footed beasts,” birds and reptiles ready to be cooked and consumed – addresses not one, but two of the “taboos” of that time.
Looking back to the books of the Torah, it’s not hard to find restrictions of a dietary and social nature. For one, you were prohibited from eating pork because the pig was considered unclean. For another, you were not supposed to enter the home of a Gentile for fear that you could be scandalized by their unclean nature.
Jesus often ate with the tax collectors and sinners; he had no problem accepting a drink of water from the Samaritan woman at the well (even though they were thought be no better than dogs); and he often preached the values of doing good unto others, no matter who the “others” were.
Still, here we are in the Acts of the Apostles and Peter has caused his own scandal by having dinner with the Gentile, Cornelius. The questions raised about that and the prohibitions against eating certain animals are addressed head-on by Peter and his vision.
It has been referred to as a “theology of creation,” stressing that everything – and everyone – that God creates is good. That includes both the animals and kinds of people considered to be unclean. As Christians, we fast from certain foods at certain times (meat on Lenten Fridays, for example) as part of the spiritual preparation for the great feast of Easter … not because the meat is unclean.
When it comes to people, as Christians, we also owe the “benefit of the doubt” to everyone we meet. No matter who they are, where they are from, the color of their skin or the way in which they worship (or not) … we must recognize that all are created in God’s image. If they reveal themselves as sinful or evil – and many do – we must recognize that it was not God who made them evil; that evil came from within their own hearts (just as sin comes from our hearts).
That is the essence of free will. We are all created with the capacity to love. But we are also given the free will to hate. Thus we have the great spiritual battles that take place within each of us on a daily basis.
So, if Peter’s message (and the message from Christ before him) seem to abolish some of those Old Testament laws, then how are we to view that part of Scripture that we believe is divinely inspired and should be treated as an authoritative reference? Did Jesus come to wipe away all those old rules?
Not entirely. We can and do acknowledge that many rules handed down by Moses were meant to gather a people and provide a framework for living in a world of cultures that were often hostile to the Hebrews’ very existence. There was the constant threat that the Hebrew people would eventually let their traditions vanish while adapting to whatever culture they happened to be a part of. Following the laws – all 600-plus – was one way for the faithful to avoid that fate.
Looking at it from the Christian perspective, everything that happened from Adam to Abraham, Moses to Isaiah, was part of the spiritual formation of a people … preparing them for the coming of the Lord, Himself.
Jesus did not abolish the law. He fulfills it.
“The Law has not been abolished, but rather man is invited to rediscover it in the person of his Master who is its perfect fulfillment.” (Catechism / CCC 2053).
In terms of today’s reading on dietary rules, the Catechism explains “Jesus perfects the dietary law, so important in Jewish daily life, by revealing its pedagogical meaning through a divine interpretation: ‘Whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him . . .’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts. . . .” (CCC 582).
This radical rethinking of the scandal at the dinner table was so important for that first generation of Christianity (and for today’s world, as well). The ability to get to heaven, once considered impossible if you were born in a certain land, had skin of a certain color or worshiped God in a certain way … was flipped upside down.
Suddenly, salvation was at hand and freely offered to anyone created by God who freely chooses to follow Him with his heart, mind and soul, living the virtues and following the 2 great commandments – Love the Lord God with all your heart … and … love your neighbor as yourself.
The Apostles spent the rest of their lives sharing that good news. The Church they helped develop and spread, far and wide, continues that mission today.
