THE REVOLUTION OF GRACE

I was reading through the book of Acts the other day and came across chapter 10:9; where Peter goes up on to a roof top to pray. His prayer time, however, gets interrupted by his hunger. After organizing something to eat he then goes into a trance and gets a vision of many of the foodstuffs that are forbidden to him under the Mosaic law, accompanied by commands to “get up and kill and eat” and not to “call anything impure that God has made clean”.

In the ensuing verses Peter is challenged to adjust his attitude towards the Gentiles;
He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean".

The interesting thing here is the nature of the creatures that were deemed unclean under the law. It is a curious list including pigs, serpents, shellfish, camels, and donkeys. Philip Yancey points out in his book “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” that although many of the forbidden foods can be explained away by reasons of hygiene or cultural practice, others cannot, while anthropologist Mary Douglas notes that all of the forbidden creatures sport an anomaly, an abnormality in comparison to other animals; i.e fish have scales and fins but shellfish do not therefore they are an “abnormal” fish, most land animals walk on all fours but snakes crawl on their belly therefore they are forbidden, most domesticated grazing animals tend to have cloven hooves, yet because camels do not they are forbidden, and the donkey (of course) is an “inferior” horse.

From this perspective “unclean” actually means “abnormal”, and under Jewish law the abnormal is to be avoided at all cost. This prejudice is reflected in the Old Testament attitude to women, the infirm and non-jews. That is why Peter states “it is against the law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him”.

The Jews interpreted the Laws of Moses through a lens that magnified their “superiority” over other races. It wasn’t enough that they had God’s favour and promises, they determined to strive towards a physical perfection rejecting anything that could be perceived as abnormal.

Enter Jesus into the picture. He associates with the poor, the infirm, he visits the sick and the demonized, he encourages and empowers women. By embracing the imperfect, the abnormal he makes the revolutionary statement that the abnormal is no longer necessarily unclean. He is bringing the revolutionary concept of grace into the equation of our salvation by focusing on the “heart” instead of the “appearance”.

Furthermore, “acceptance” isn’t determined by the achievement of perfection in the heart, but by the determination to strive for it. What a difference! What a blessing! What a God!

After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."