Have You Seen This Man?

So here is my promised challenge to Mr. A.J. “Know-It-All” Jacobs. (I know you are on a book tour Mr. Jacobs, but you need to get your priorities straight - get cracking on this so I don't end up looking like a total schlemiel!)

He should read the passage (from Acts 15) below and tell us what it means. The scene is the famous council of Jerusalem with James (whose name was of course Yackov until King James decided he needed a namesake in the NT) the brother of Jesus presiding.

This big group of Jews is trying to decide what to require the of the non-Jewish people who were starting to hang out with Paul, Barnabas and other Jews in the area. Some men from Judea showed up and started saying that salvation depended on being circumcised. A great debate ensued and "the brothers" decided Paul and Barnabas should go back to Jerusalem and get the final word from all the apostles and elders who had first hand knowledge of Jesus.

19"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."

The traditional Christian understanding of this passage is that it put in writing the idea that "Jesus nailed 'em Laws to the Cross" to quote my Texan Evangelical brethren. The only difficulty with this understanding is that when they get to verse 21 they haven't the foggiest what to make of it.

I am betting that Mr. "Know-It -All" Jacobs will get it. Anyone care to take that bet or take a shot at its interpretation? A final hint to any Christians who want to finally get the meaning here - the word synagogue appears 23 times in the book of Acts alone.