1The Disarming TruthApril 27, 2008 (John 14:15-21; Acts 17:16-31)In the Easter season we spend considerable time reflecting on the event of Jesus’death and resurrection as recorded in the Gospels but spend little if any time trying tounderstand how Paul handled this event. The Gospel accounts after all are variousattempts to communicate the significance of Jesus life, death and resurrection. Paul too,in his letters to the church, is trying to communicate the significance of Jesus, particularlyof his death and resurrection. So how is the event of Jesus’ resurrection actually lived outand communicated in the synagogues, marketplaces and among philosophers as we readabout here in the book of Acts?We tend to only take notice of Paul when we are looking to the Bible for answerson moral issues. In this way Paul always seems like a bit of a downer. We often feel likehe is looking over shoulder like a strict parent whenever we try to change the way we aredoing church or practicing our lifestyle. We’re not sure if Paul wants us to drink. We’renot always sure what Paul thinks of the role of women. We’ve recently wrestled withhow Paul understands the issue of homosexuality. When we approach Paul in this wayhe always comes off as some rigid authority that we always have ask permission from before we do anything.It is so ironic that the Paul who is known so boldly on the one hand asoverthrowing the law and ushering in grace can, on the other hand, be seen as such astrict and demanding judge and implementer of law. I am beginning to recognize that tounderstand Jesus we may need to pay just as much attention to Paul as we do the Gospels.Or to put it differently it is just as necessary for us to understand the gospel according to

2Paul as it necessary for us to understand the gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.Paul himself is clear that Jesus has entrusted him with the gospel and it so it is upto us if we want to take him seriously on that. And what is the gospel according to Paul?Simply put the gospel is,

Christ crucified and is resurrected

. In his first letter to theCorinthians Paul says bluntly, “For I resolved to nothing while I was with you exceptJesus Christ and him crucified.” And at the end of the book Paul is equally as clear, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” In as much asPaul is fixed so intensely on the death and resurrection of Jesus he seems to care little for the historical circumstances around it. In fact you get the impression that he is notinterested in talking about any of the details of Jesus’ life even though he would havecertainly been aware of them having spent time with Jesus’ disciples. Paul does notexpand on the parables Jesus told, he does not recount the miracles Jesus performed.With Paul there something in the reality of Jesus’ resurrection that points him beyondJesus’ historical existence and makes the gospel

a present living reality

as opposed to justa historical account. For Paul it is the resurrection that seems to be a present and allencompassing reality. So why is it that Paul seems to exclude the details of Jesus life andwhat does that tell us about his gospel message?In order how Paul came to expressing the gospel in this way it is important to getsome background into his experience. Paul never met Jesus before the crucifixion. Paulonly met the resurrected Jesus and it seemed like from that first encounter Paul did not believe that repentance required that someone following their religious law and so he didnot require Gentiles to be circumcised. Paul encountered Jesus right were he was

3regardless of Paul’s religious rituals or status. This view of the gospel led to conflictamong some of the Jewish Christians who wanted the new Gentile Christians continue tofollow their Jewish customs. In response to this conflict the church leaders gathered andheld a council in order to decide what is an appropriate expression of faith for theGentiles. In the midst of this council Peter stands up and says to everyone that there is noneed for the Gentiles to be circumcised because they are made pure through faithreceiving the Holy Spirit already as they are. By the end of this meeting they agreed thatthe Gentiles should only follow the commands of abstaining from food sacrificed to idols,from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. We are not given therationale for why these practices were chosen but I think it is fair to say that it was a brokered compromise trying to satisfy opposing views of what is required of a Christian.The decision did not accept the whole of Jewish law as the early Jewish Christiancommunity received it but neither did it reject it outright.It is one of those strange decisions that I think we often make in the church. Weseem to be more comfortable ignoring some biblical statements on morality whileholding tenaciously to others, even if there doesn’t appear to be a clear reason or constancy for our choices. And like many negotiated compromises between passionate parties this one appeared to be fragile. The evidence for this doesn’t come from the book of Acts, we find out about it rather in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. After having agreedto the council’s decision in Jerusalem Paul encounters Peter in Antioch. It was Peter,remember, who made the impassioned speech to allow the Gentiles more freedom. Peter arrives at Antioch ahead of another group coming from Jerusalem. When Peter arrives hemingles freely with the Gentiles. However, when the group of Jewish-Christians arrives