Context: St Peter relays what happened while praying in Joppa. A vision commanded Peter to eat certain food that as a Jew rendered him unclean – A voice insisted he eat, which he did after protesting. Visitors later arrived from Caesarea, a pagan town and naval port built by Herod to honor Augustus Caesar. They summoned Peter to go to Caesarea and speak to the man who sent them. When Peter went and spoke to the uncircumcised pagan man, the Holy Spirit fell upon all in the household, as it had fallen on the Apostles at Pentecost. Seeing this, Peter baptized them all, receiving them into the Church.
Who will Restore all of Israel?
Today’s reading focuses on Peter’s retelling of the reception of the Holy Spirit by the Roman Centurion Cornelius, a god fearer. As a god fearer, Cornelius believed in the God of Abraham, though remained uncircumcised. The Holy Spirit thus signaled the beginning of the Restoration of all of Israel as foretold by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah -and Daniel who describes it as the action of a figure like a Son of Man. Dan 7:13-14.
Historical Background
In 721 BC the Assyrians besieged Israel, conquering the 10 Northern Tribes and dispersing them throughout their empire into Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
Later, in 586 BC, the Babylonian Empire conquered the two remaining Southern tribes of Israel and exiled Judah and Benjamin to Babylon, modern day Iraq. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple. In 538 BC, the Persian King Cyrus, having defeated the Babylonians, permitted the two Southern tribes to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.
What about the 10 Northern Tribes dispersed into foreign lands? They had not been heard of since the Assyrian dispersion 750 years before Simon Peter went to Caesarea, excepting a few who returned to Samaria.
The Restoration of all of Israel would seem unattainable due to the dispersed 10 Northern Tribes.
The Difficulty in Restoring of All of Israel
The unbroken chain of prophesies of a Restoration of All of Israel, had perhaps become a source of doubt or ridicule over time. After over seven centuries of intermarriage with the local pagan populations, 20 generations having passed, no individual in the dispersion lands could trace himself to his ancestors of 721BC.
How then could a Son of Man fulfill the prophesies?
Originally Israel had been separated from all the nations by having its own land and a God given Law. To preserve and protect the chosen people, contact with other peoples was forbidden by purity laws that forbid them from eating certain foods, and from physical contact with non-Israelites. In short, God was raising Israel protected from pagan influence, as a parent today rears a child away from neighbors who do not share the family values. As the child matures and enters into adulthood, the expectation becomes that such a child, with firmly held family values, would influence those around him.
Israel instead, repeatedly succumbed to those around her, falling into idolatry and disobedience – in short, commingled with pagans they came to even tolerate and worship false gods, instead of the God who brought them out of Egypt.
Yet, much to the surprise of everyone who heard Peter that day in Jerusalem, the Messiah’s plan of Restoration became understood.
Messiah’s Plan for Restoration Is Also the Plan for Us
Today’s reading finally interprets the rationale behind the Great Apostolic Commission statement of Matthew 28: 19-20 by Jesus before His ascension.
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
God’s Restoration Plan? Simple. Convert the entire world and in so doing, all the Israelites and their descendants would necessarily be included and thus restored.
Today’s reading explains that the constraints of the prior covenant were lifted, so that without the need for circumcision and purity laws of the Mosaic covenant, the entire world could become part of Christ’s Church and Kingdom through a new covenant entered through Baptism.
By falling on Cornelius, the Holy Spirit was not signaling, as some believe, that Baptism was not necessary. Rather, it demonstrated to Saint Peter that he needed to Baptize this man and his companions, precisely because the Holy Spirit had selected Cornelius for salvation. The gentiles were now part of the plan for the complete Restoration of Israel.
We, as descendants of these earlier Gentiles and Jews, like Cornelius, have been given access to the same Baptism for our own salvation within the Church. St Paul sees our participation in this Restoration as creating the “Israel of God.” cf. Gal 6:16
[Readings: Acts 11:1-18; John 10:1-10]
