Message #537

[Martin]

It is not ONLY a metaphor for that, though I agree it was given him at that point in order for him to realise that the Gentiles were acceptable (and thanks for pinning it down - it was a bit late for me to be unduly bothered!). It was also God reiterating something which Jesus had pointed out, namely that it is not what goes in that makes someone unclean but what comes out of them, AND canceling the limitations in the Pentateuch (again, I can't be bothered to find chapter & verse!) which stipulate which foods are 'clean and which are not.Paul goes on at a later date to point out that all things can be eaten - even food which has been used as an offering to a god - but not if doing so causes a problem for someone else.

I think, in its context, the Acts passage is intended to be only about the Gentiles but it's too minor a point to worry about.  I think Jesus' remarks are intended to make people think about the actions of the heart, and I agree that Jesus is contradicting the law - which is interesting because, if he made those remarks, then he did so before he was crucified, that is, before he had made any once for all sacrifice which, so say, removed the obligation to follow the law.