The Value in Exile, The Great Commission (Part 2)

Having looked at some of the specific language within the Great Commission, we can zoom out and look at part of the greater context. To do so, I will start by briefly sharing the story of Eleazar as depicted in 2 Maccabees. In exile, and under the persecution of Antiochus IV, Eleazar underwent threat of his family being killed or losing his own life if he did not eat pork. He refused. He had pork shoved into his mouth in order to be forced to eat it, after which he promptly spat it out. As a result, he lost his life after being tortured and flogged to death.

The story of Eleazar is significant because those listening to Jesus' words of the Great Commission would have known the story of Eleazar significantly well. They saw him as a hero, a martyr, and an example of zeal in maintaining the Jewish customs despite threat. The people of Israel prided themselves in being distinctly different culturally and out of concern of purity, stayed away from anything or anyone they deemed as impure. Strong separations marked the people of Israel and the longing of their hearts, while desiring the restoration of their own kingdom (Acts 1).

All of this is in the backdrop of Jesus' words. Here in the Great Commission, Jesus tells his listeners that they are going to be heading toward other "ethnos." They would not be set apart, but deeply intertwined. They would have to intermingle and wrestle with the concepts of "impurity" as followers of Jesus and partakers in the New Covenant. Generations of thought and behavioral shaping would now be confronted and overturned in this new mandate from Jesus.

I don't believe the disciples listening to Jesus fully grasped the magnitude of Jesus' words upon hearing them even though it certainly made them uncomfortable. As a result, Jesus would have to continue to teach them by the Spirit who would lead them into all of truth (John 16:13). In fact, through the scattering and exile brought forth by persecution, they would undoubtedly have to confront Jesus' call and command while literally being forced in different spaces, places, and people. It is almost as if God knew that it would be natural for His people to fall back to old ways and separate itself out from the other "ethnos," and therefore made it near impossible for them to avoid.

Israel did maintain a way to interact with the other "ethnos," however. It involved the "ethnos" coming to them, becoming like them and taking on Jewish customs, etc. This person, or stranger, would be considered a "proselyte," from where we get the term, "to proselytize." By and large, Israel's approach to other "ethnos" was ethnocentric.

With this backdrop in mind, you can also see the large backdrop behind all of the book of Acts and even Paul's letters. One of the first major discussions and disagreements within the Apostles dealt with the conflict of the "ethnos" and the conflicting custom of circumcision (Acts 15). Paul persistently speaks of the dynamic between the Jews and Gentiles under the New Covenant, and has various conflicts needing to be addressed and overcome (i.e. meet sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8).

We see in the New Testament a marked hinged between the Old Covenant ways and approach and the Great Commission (loosely reiterated in Acts 1). It would move from being predominately separationists to immersive agents; from being ethnocentric to eccentric; from expecting others to become like them to them becoming like others for the sake of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9). I call it the Great Inversion. Here is a brief chart to see the comparison:

We will unpack even further the significance of this for us today in the next post. However, in the meantime, consider the Church in America today and compare it to the above chart. Determine where you see it falls and determine what this topic can continue teach us today.