© Copyright 2007-2008 The Straight Path
From: AliSavMuh7
Date: 8/15/2002 5:47 PM Eastern Daylight lime


ThnksbetoGod: Thus the crucified and risen Messiah addresses His disciples:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…" (Matthew 28: 18,19)


AliSayMuh7: I have a few comments to make concerning the "great commission" that Jesus allegedly gave to his disciples before his departure
(Mt. 28:19, Mk 16:15, & Acts 1:8).

It appears from the book of Acts that the apostles of Jesus were completely ignorant of the “great commission” to the gentiles up until the time
Peter preached the Gospel to a gentile named Cornelius (Acts 10). According to Peter, it was unlawful for a Jew to keep company or visit
someone who was from another nation (Acts 10:28), but he said that God had showed him (by vision of the animals on the sheet – Acts 10:9-
16) that he should not call any man “common” or “unclean”. If Peter’s statement in Acts 10:28 is true and he believed that it was unlawful for
him to keep company or visit someone who was from another nation, how could anyone possibly believe that he was commissioned by Jesus
to go to other nations and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles?

We also must consider the reaction of the Jewish believers when the gentiles first received the holy spirit. While Peter was preaching the
Gospel to the house of Cornelius, the holy spirit came down on the gentiles who were listening to him, and the Jewish believers were amazed
that the gift of the holy spirit had been given to those who were not Jews (Acts 10:44-45). The reason that the Jewish believers were so amazed
was because they believed that only a Jew could receive the gift of the holy spirit. They did not believe that the holy spirit would ever be
given to the uncircumcised (i.e. gentiles) because they were considered by the Jews to be unclean.

When Peter returned to Jerusalem, the apostles and the believers heard that a group of gentiles had accepted the Gospel, but they were upset
with Peter because he had went to the home of “the uncircumcised” and ate with them. If Jesus had really commissioned his apostles to preach
the Gospel to the gentiles, the Jewish believers would not have been so upset with Peter for visiting and eating with them. After Peter
explained the story to them, the Jewish believers stopped arguing and praised God by saying, “Then God has also granted repentance unto life
to the gentiles” (Acts 11:1-8).

It is clear that before Peter received his vision, the Jews believed that the gentiles had not been granted repentance unto life and they had no
concern for them whatsoever. Up until Peter received his vision, their only concern was for those who were already Jews, either by birth or
conversion. Galatians 2:7-9 tells us that the apostles recognized that Paul was given the work of preaching the Gospel to the gentiles, but they
continued to adhere to Jesus’ command to preach only to the Jews (Mt. 10:6). The apostles agreed that they should only go to the Jewish people
and that Paul and Barnabas should go to the gentiles (v. 9).