The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (153 page)

14:1 Iconium:
A city of southern Galatia, more than 80 miles southeast of Pisidian Antioch. 
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14:3 signs and wonders:
Miracles are God's way of authenticating the divine mission of his true apostles (2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:4).
See note on Acts 5:12
. 
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14:4 the apostles:
Barnabas and Paul (14:14). This is the first time Luke applies the apostolic title to men other than the original Twelve chosen by Jesus (Lk 6:13). 
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14:8 Lystra:
A Roman colony of retired army veterans in southern Galatia, more than 100 miles from Pisidian Antioch. Neither this settlement nor the colony in Philippi had a Jewish synagogue (16:12-13). 
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14:11-18
The crowd's reaction is based on a local legend preserved by the Roman poet Ovid. It was said that Greek deities once before had made a disguised visit to this region, but the natives had refused them hospitality and turned them away. Only a single devout couple had taken them in. In thanksgiving, the gods had turned the home of the couple into a beautiful temple, and in anger, they had destroyed the dwellings of the rest. Amazed by the healing of the cripple, the crowd thought the gods were revisiting them disguised as Paul and Barnabas (14:12) and hoped to avoid the tragic mistake of their ancestors. 
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14:11 in Lycaonian:
The foreign dialect of the crowd explains why Paul and Barnabas did not immediately realize the gravity of the misunderstanding. 
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14:14 tore their garments:
A sign of protest and extreme distress (Jud 14:16; Mk 14:63). 
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14:15 We also are men:
Peter similarly refused divine honor in 10:26.
these vain things:
A traditional Jewish critique of idolatry (1 Sam 12:21). Though for centuries God permitted the pagans to stumble in the darkness of mythology and false worship, the time to enlighten all nations has come with the gospel, which urges them to turn away from lifeless idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thess 1:9). Paul preaches this same message to Athens in 17:29-31. 
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14:17 witness:
From the foundation of the world, God has made his deity and goodness known through the beauty and blessings of the natural order (Rom 1:20). This natural revelation was to prepare the human family for the supernatural revelation of the gospel (CCC 32, 1147). 
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14:19 they stoned Paul:
What began as a deification of Paul (14:11) nearly ended with his death (2 Cor 11:25). Unlike the Jews, who staged executions outside the city gates (7:58), the heathen mob stoned Paul in the city streets, only afterward dragging him out. 
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14:20 Derbe:
More than 60 miles from Lystra in southeastern Galatia. 
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14:22 many tribulations:
Paul urges believers to brace themselves for the suffering and persecution that come with being a Christian (2 Tim 3:12). Far from being signs of God's disapproval, earthly afflictions open the way to heavenly glory (Mt 5:10; Rom 8:17). 
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14:23 appointed:
The Greek expression means "to stretch forth hands" and alludes to the rite of priestly ordination (1 Tim 4:14; Tit 1:5). The installation of
elders
provided guidance and stability to missionary communities while Paul continued to travel. Acts portrays this as a hierarchical procedure, not a democratic one, i.e., it is Paul and Barnabas who ordain the elders, not the lay assembly. See word study:
Elders
at Jas 5:14. 
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14:26 sailed to Antioch:
Paul's first missionary journey ends where it began, in the Syrian city of Antioch (13:1-3). 
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15:1-29
The Council of Jerusalem (ca.
A.D.
49) is a defining moment in Christian history. It was convened to examine the status of Gentile believers crowding into the Church. Some insisted they must be circumcised to complete their Christian initiation (15:5), but the Council rejected the push to add circumcision to the saving grace of Christ (15:10-11). This decisive break with the national religion of Israel makes the Jerusalem Council the theological center of Acts: it shows that the Church is
(1)
a covenant community distinct from Judaism and
(2)
a catholic community that embraces all nations. 
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15:1 you cannot be saved:
For centuries, circumcision was the rite of initiation into the covenant family of Abraham (Gen 17:9-14) and the Mosaic religion of Israel (Lev 12:3). It was a badge of Jewish identity that entitled one to share in the blessings of the Old Covenant. The absolute necessity of circumcision in Jewish tradition implied that any male who was uncircumcised was destined for destruction (
Jubilees
15:26). 
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15:2 appointed to go up:
The local Church in Antioch looks to the apostolic Church in Jerusalem for doctrinal guidance. 
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15:5 the law of Moses:
Circumcision was the first of many ceremonial precepts mandated by the Torah. Accepting it meant accepting the entire "yoke" (15:10) of the Mosaic covenant with all its animal sacrifices, dietary laws, ritual washings, Sabbath restrictions, etc. (Gal 5:1-3). 
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15:7-11
Peter quells the debate with a decisive pronouncement: Jews and Gentiles alike are saved, not by the flint knife of circumcision, but by faith in Christ alone. He argues this from the precedent of Acts 10:44-48, where the Spirit first came upon the Gentiles as a sign that God accepts them into the Church just as they are (15:8-9). To insist on circumcision after this event is to fight against the revealed will of God (15:10). 
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15:11 we believe:
Peter speaks as the head and spokesman of the apostolic Church. He formulates a
doctrinal
judgment about the means of salvation, whereas James takes the floor after him to suggest a
pastoral
plan for inculturating the gospel in mixed communities where Jewish and Gentile believers live side by side (15:13-21). 
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15:13 James:
A close relative of Jesus (Gal 1:19) who became the leader of the Jerusalem Church after Peter first fled the city and began to travel.
See note on Acts 12:17
. 
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15:14 Symeon:
The original Semitic name of Peter transliterated into Greek (Heb.
Shime'on,
Gen 29:33). It is used of him only here and in the Greek text of 2 Pet 1:1. 
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15:16-18
James sees confirmation of Gentile conversions in the Greek OT. • The opening line of his extended quotation alludes to Jer 12:15; the bulk of it comes from Amos 9:11-12; and the final line alludes to Is 45:21. They all envision Yahweh gathering the Gentiles into his covenant family in the messianic age. See essay:
Kingdom Restoration.
 
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15:20 write to them:
James sets forth a pastoral initiative to promote fellowship and preempt foreseeable friction between Jewish and Gentile believers coming together in the Church. The result is an apostolic letter from Jerusalem to the Churches in Syria and Cilicia that requires Gentile converts to observe a minimal code of religious purity— abstinence from idol foods, sexual immorality, and the consumption of blood in meat or by itself (15:23-29). The Jews abhorred these practices as cultural expressions of idolatry. James is saying that even though the Gentiles are exempt from the ritual observances of
Judaism
(circumcision), they are still expected to break away from the ritual observances of
pagan
ism. Allusions to this decree appear in 1 Cor 8-10, 1 Thess 4:3, and Rev 2:14, 20. See essay:
Paul, Idol Food, and the Jerusalem Council
at 1 Cor 8. • The decree is shaped by the laws of Lev 17-18 that govern the conduct of Gentile sojourners living in the company of Israel. They were forbidden to eat meat consecrated to idols instead of to Yahweh (Lev 17:7-9), to consume blood (Lev 17:10-12), to eat meat not properly drained of blood (Lev 17:13-14), and to engage in various forms of sexual immorality, such as incest, adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality (Lev 18:6-23). Though several such laws are enjoined on the foreigner in the Torah, only these four prohibitions are applied equally to Israelites and sojourners and threaten to cut violators off from the covenant. • According to the Council of Florence in 1442, the apostolic decree was only a temporary measure to facilitate unity among Jews and Gentiles in the early Church. The binding force of its food restrictions was relaxed once the ethnic circumstances that made them necessary passed away. 
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15:22 Judas . . . Silas:
The Jerusalem delegation sent to deliver the Apostolic Decree to the Church of Antioch (15:30). Silas is also known as "Silvanus" (2 Cor 1:19) and became a trusted member of Paul's missionary team (15:40). 
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Kingdom Restoration

I
N
Acts 15 the apostles and elders convened a council in Jerusalem to rule on the status of Gentiles in the Church. After much debate, Peter insisted that Gentile believers need not be circumcised for salvation (Acts 15:11). Then James, to lend scriptural support to this decision, made a startling announcement that the vision of Amos 9:11-12 was taking shape before their eyes: In gathering the Gentiles into the Church, the Lord was rebuilding "the dwelling of David, which has fallen" (Acts 15:16). For many modern readers, the meaning of this prophecy is not immediately clear. What is the dwelling of David? How and when did it fall? In what way is God rebuilding it? These questions lead us back several millennia to the days of David and Solomon in the Old Testament. Once the questions are answered, we will see the unfolding drama of Acts in a whole new light.

The Dwelling of David
 The dwelling (tent) of David refers to the kingdom of David pitched in the land of Israel around 1000
B.C.
It began with King David himself, whose achievements surpassed that of every other judge and king before him: he unified the family of Israel after years of intertribal fighting; he silenced the threats of Israel's enemies; and he transferred the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, making it the spiritual and political capital of his growing empire (2 Sam 1-6). Even more importantly, God swore a solemn covenant oath to make David's family a royal dynasty and to establish his throne for all time (2 Sam 7:8-17; Ps 89:3-4). This was provisionally played out in the life of David's son, Solomon, who succeeded him on the throne and built a glorious Temple for the Lord (1 Kings 1-8). What is striking about the Davidic empire inherited by Solomon is that, for the first time in history, the covenant family of Yahweh stretched to international dimensions. Following the lead of his father (2 Sam 8), Solomon extended his rule not only over the twelve tribes of Israel, but even over neighboring nations in the region (1 Kings 4:2024). With this unprecedented development, Gentiles such as the Queen of Sheba traveled great distances to learn the wisdom of God from the king of Israel (1 Kings 10:1-13). Space was made in the Temple so that pious Gentiles could come and give praise to Yahweh (1 Kings 8:41-43). It is even possible that the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, much of which is traditionally attributed to Solomon, was written to instruct these Gentile nations in the ways of righteousness (Prov 1:1; Eccles 1:1; Songs 1:1). Yet for all its greatness, this golden age was not to last. Over time Solomon allowed the attractions of power, pleasure, and prestige to drag him away from the Lord. By 930
B.C.
, only decades after Yahweh first pitched the Davidic kingdom in Israel, it all came crashing down—the tribes of Israel split apart; the Gentiles broke away; the glory departed. Though descendants from David's line continued to rule the southern kingdom of Judah until its demise in the sixth century
B.C.
, the tent of David had already fallen.