Opposition from the Circumcision Party

Even though the Jewish Scriptures—the Old Testament—foresaw a day when the gentiles would be brought into the people of God (Isa. 66:18–21; Mic. 4:1–5), many early Jewish Christians had some trouble with accepting gentiles as part of the fold of Christ. We see this in today’s passage, which records initial responses in the church to the conversion of the gentiles.

Not long after Cornelius and his friends and family came to faith in Jesus, news that the gentiles had believed the gospel spread throughout Judea (Acts 11:1). So when Peter went to Jerusalem, he faced criticism from the “circumcision party” (v. 2). This may not be the best translation, for Peter’s critics were likely not some kind of group that came together in a considered theological opposition to Peter. The same word translated “circumcision party” is used in Acts 10:45 simply for Jews who believed in Jesus. Likely, Peter’s critics were various Jewish Christians and not an organized body.

Why did they criticize Peter? Because he “went to uncircumcised men and ate with them” (11:3). We have noted in earlier studies that many first-century Jews avoided close contact with gentiles because they were trying to avoid the possibility of ceremonial defilement. The various Jewish parties disagreed on how much contact was allowable, but almost all of them saw eating with gentiles as taboo because that would potentially put them in closer proximity to unclean things such as food than would happen if a Jew and a gentile were just passing one another in the street. Peter’s critics were scandalized by his willingness to eat with gentiles before making sure that he would avoid ceremonial defilement.

This attitude is understandable, if not excusable. For many centuries, the Jews had been seeking to maintain ritual purity by avoiding too much contact with gentiles. The Mosaic law did not forbid eating with gentiles, so the Jews’ application of the law was not entirely correct. Still, that misunderstanding shaped their practice considerably. Even Peter was not wholly immune. While Peter ate with Cornelius, Paul would later rebuke him for avoiding table fellowship with gentile Christians at Antioch (Gal. 2:11–14).

Thus, the church in its infancy experienced what we may call “growing pains” as it strove to deal with the incorporation of gentiles into the church. It would take some time before it would become clear what exactly was required of the gentiles.