And when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong. 12 For, until some people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised. 13 And the rest of the Jews [also] acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all, “If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
There was tension within the early Christian community regarding the relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers. Paul reflects on a confrontation he had with Peter in Antioch. Kephas is Peter’s Aramaic name. Table fellowship was a concern in the early Christian community. Peter, who had previously shared meals with Gentile believers disregarding the Jewish dietary restrictions, began distancing himself from the Gentile believers after receiving pressure from certain Jewish Christians from Jerusalem who adhered strictly to Jewish dietary laws.
The other Jewish Christians in Antioch, including Barnabas, also began withdrawing from table fellowship with the Gentiles and Paul condemned their behavior as hypocritical. It affected the unity and equality among believers. Paul publicly confronted Peter about his inconsistent behavior. He accused Peter of compelling the Gentile believers to adhere to Jewish customs which undermined the Gospel message of salvation by faith in Christ alone, without the need for adherence to Jewish law. Peter was not being faithful to the core principles of the Gospel.
Almighty God, grant us the courage to confront error within our midst, and to uphold the truth of the Gospel. May we always strive for unity and equality among believers, guided by the principles of faith in Christ alone. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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