Pentecost MONDAY
Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles records that St. Peter said: “The Lord commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it was he who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets give testimony, that by his name all receive remission of sins who believe in him.” While he was speaking the Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the word. The faithful of the circumcision were astonished that the grace of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on Gentiles. Peter said: “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptised, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The early chapters of the book of Acts have recorded the preaching of the Gospel by the early Church in Jerusalem. It had then been extended among the Samaritans by Philip and also to an Ethiopian eunuch. St. Peter had now been commanded to preach to Gentiles as well as Jews and Samaritans. He had been staying in Joppa with Simon the tanner when he had a remarkable vision in which he had been commanded by God to eat food that was unclean by the standards of Jewish law. He had naturally refused to do this, but had been told that what God had cleansed man could not call common. A man called Cornelius, a Roman soldier and a Gentile but a God fearing man (one who attended the synagogue but did not formally convert to Judaism by being circumcised and observing the Jewish Law) had also had a vision which had led him to send messengers to Peter. Peter had responded by visiting Cornelius in his home and preaching the Gospel to him. The purpose of Jewish Law was to keep the faithful separate from Gentiles. It was often necessary for a religiously observant Jew to have some contact with Gentiles, but it was normally expected that they would exercise some caution in their dealings with them. Peter’s experience of going to the home of an uncircumcised man and preaching the Gospel to him showed the truth of his vision that what God had cleansed could not be called common.
Abraham had been promised by God that in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Hence, the prophets looked forward to a future time when the nations currently sunk in idolatry would come to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel. St. Peter’s experience of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon Gentiles as well as Jews demonstrated to him that this time had now come.
They could hardly be refused baptism if they had already received the Holy Spirit. The Gentiles would not come to Jerusalem but rather the followers of Jesus would go out to preach among all nations the good news of salvation through his life, death and resurrection.
The Gospel of St. John (which we heard today) states: “God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son: that whosever believeth in him may not perish, but have life everlasting. For God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him.” The one who believes in him is not judged, but the one who does not believe is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This judgement takes place because light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light, for their works were evil. “For every one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved; but he that doth truth cometh to the light, that his works may be manifest because they are done in God.”
These famous words clearly summarise the central gospel proclamation. God sent his only begotten Son into the world so that all who believed in him would not perish in their sins but have eternal life. The Son was not sent into the world to judge it but to save it. Light is a good thing, but it also shows the darkness. Hence, those who do not respond in faith when the truth about God and themselves has been clearly presented to them find themselves in an even worse state than before, for they have preferred to remain in darkness rather than come to the light.
It is important to emphasise that the so called Johannine dualism is ethical and eschatological rather than metaphysical. It was only later that it was distorted by the Gnostics into a radical rejection of the material world as evil. God had created the world and it was very good, but the human race had succumbed to pride and brought judgement upon themselves. Salvation came not by rejecting the created order as evil, but by recognising the radical dependence of the human race on the creator who had made man in his own image and offered redemption from the slavery of sin through Christ. Salvation did not come from esoteric or secret knowledge, but through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
St. Augustine states: “The physician cometh that, as far as in him lieth, he may heal the sick man. He is his own destroyer who will not keep the commandments of the physician… If thou willest not to be saved through him, thou wilt be condemned of thyself… But, my brethren, is there one man whom God findest that his works are good? No, not one. God findeth all works to be bad… There are many who have loved their sins: there are many who have confessed their sin; and he that confesseth and denounceth his sin, is working already with God. God denounceth thy sins, and if thou denounce them likewise, then dost thou join thyself with God in his act. The man and the sinner are two different things. God made man, and man made the sinner. Put away thy work, and God will save his. Thou art behoven to hate in thyself thine own work, and to love God’s work. When thine own works begin to displease thee, then is it that thou beginneth to do well, because thou denounceth thine own evil works. The first thing to do, if thou wouldest do good works, is to acknowledge thine evil ones.”
Let us pray for grace to think, will and do that which is good in our own time and place.
by the Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD (Cantab), Old Roman Apostolate UK
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