They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
Summary: God’s plan for the salvation of the world he created had to be carried out in two parts. The first part involved Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. The second part was telling people about Jesus.
God wants us all saved. All of us. Jesus said so.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3: 16-17)
The challenge is getting the Word out to all people. All of them! To do that, Jesus implemented a strategy that had been planned since the foundation of the world.
God doesn’t explain the plan like a developer explains how a new commercial development will be built. Instead, he shows us his plan through the events recorded in his Word.
What do we see?
When we look back through the lens of history, we can see the outline of God’s plan. The plan had two parts. In the first part, Jesus had to be born a man and then killed as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. After that, he was raised from the dead, and after a period of time, he left Earth and returned to heaven.
The second part was different. People had to know about Jesus and what he did for us. Jesus’ disciples were unsure of what to do, and frankly, they were terrified. So Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to the disciples, also called apostles, and with the power of the Holy Spirit in them, they turned into Super Apostles!
These apostles, along with other believers, began to spread the word about Jesus to other Jews. But God wanted the Gentiles to know about Jesus, too. Paul was a rabid supporter of what he thought God wanted him to do, but when he was confronted by Jesus, Paul changed course.
God’s plan for telling people about Jesus depended on people who knew Jesus telling those who didn’t know Jesus about him. That’s it. That is the whole plan. Because of the division between Jews and Gentiles, God needed two teams to tackle the second part of the plan. So Paul and Barnabas agreed they would go to the Gentiles while the disciples focused on the Jews.
Application: Trust God’s plan.
Food for Thought: How did the message to the “circumcised” differ from the message to the Gentiles?
How did the message to the “circumcised” differ from the message to the Gentiles?
When it was shared could be one way. I’m not sure but I thought It wasn’t freely told to or available to the Gentiles until after Jesus’s Resurrection. I’m not sure why but even the disciples were told not to share it to the Gentiles yet. I could be wrong Matthew 10:5,6?
Thanks Tim!
Great observation! Rich provides an excellent explanation below.
I would only add that Matthew 10:5-6 is intended as a directive for a particular point in time prior to Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Thanks for the devotional brother.
And T, yes, I believe that while Jesus was on earth the primary focus was clearly the Jews, but there were times (like with the Samaritan woman at the well, the Syrophoenician woman or the Roman centurion) that Jesus showed His disciples that the plan was to reach everyone. And of course, that was what He told them (Acts 1: 8; Matthew 28: 19). And even Paul regularly started with the Jews (Romans 1: 16) and in almost every city in Acts on his missions he went to the synagogues first).
But the gospel message was the same. The message may have been delivered differently in that the Jews had the OT foundation and the law. At Mars Hill (Acts 17) Paul used items in the culture to set up the gospel message, while with the Jews he often reasoned from the OT foundation.
But the message of Jesus’ death in place if our sins (we are sinners who need to repent and trust in Jesus), burial, and bodily resurrection was the same (1 Corinthians 15: 3 – 5).
Thanks Rich!
I appreciate your thoughts on Tim’s question. Excellent!!
It is interesting to me that the OT foundation provided both a basis for understanding Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and at the same time became a kind of barrier to accepting Jesus (See John 9:28).
Also The Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath, and her child and another one in the OT I can’t remember at the moment.
True!
🙂
Good point T. Naanan the Aramean is another popular example
Great example of someone who had some skin in the game!
🙂