On Being a Jewish Christian - Reflections on Acts 16:9-15, Easter 6, Year C

by John C. Holbert on Tuesday, April 1, 2025

          In Acts 16, Luke is struggling with the crucial issue of the new Christian movement’s relationship to the ethos of Judaism. Paul is of course a Jew who has now accepted Jesus as the Messiah long expected. The Jerusalem council, reported in Acts 15, has been convinced that God has included Gentiles in the Christian way, the way of salvation, without the necessity of circumcision or the following of long-held food practices. But the question still remains: if the door is now open to Gentile inclusion, was the door then closed to Jewish Christians? If Jews wish to retain their Jewish practices, were they then to be excluded from the Christian communities as bearing dual allegiances? In short, can circumcised, kosher-following Jews find their way into emerging Christianity, once it has been shown that Gentiles, with no knowledge of or interest in the ethos of Judaism, are welcome in the community of the saved in Christ?

         This appears to be an important concern for Luke, due to his tale of the circumcision of Timothy, a Jew of mixed race, having a Greek father and a Jewish mother. We must be careful here: we finally cannot know whether the historical Paul is speaking here, or whether Luke, the writer of the book, is expressing his concern. The fact that the story is told at all speaks clearly that the concern is an important one for the early Christian communities. Two considerations are important for the story: Luke wants his readers to see Timothy as a Jew, one who has been prevented from being circumcised by his Greek father, who has full authority in the household. We cannot know whether in this ancient time that one was termed a Jew through having a Jewish mother, though that became the norm later, but the reason that Luke brings up Timothy’s mixed heritage is that Timothy is known as a Jew.

         The second consideration for the story is that circumcision of the Jew Timothy must be seen merely as an expression of cultural ethos for Jews, and not a necessity for salvation in Christ. If circumcision becomes a requirement for Christian membership, then the entire focus on Gentile inclusion over the preceding chapters becomes mute—why waste such valuable narrative time? Indeed, the issue of Gentile inclusion in the Christian community consumes fully 20% of Luke’s second volume; thus, it is obviously a crucial component of Luke’s record of the new Christian community. 

         Why then is it reported that Paul circumcises Timothy at all? At Acts 21:21 James will accuse Paul quite sharply of “teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs (ethe).” This tale of Paul and Timothy is Luke’s way of saying that James is quite wrong in his accusation. That is certainly one important reason the story is relayed. But two other rationales may be offered for the story. It provides evidence of what was and was not decided by that famous Jerusalem council. To be open to Gentile Christians does not preclude the welcome inclusion of Jewish Christians. Note that Timothy before his circumcision was already a follower of the Way; his circumcision is thus a cultural act, not one needed for salvation or for membership in the new community.

         And one more thing. Paul demonstrates, according to Luke, that he has by no means abandoned his deep commitments to his Judaism. He circumcises Timothy, because he still sees that act as a valuable part of the long traditions of Judaism, though he no longer sees it as a necessary act for full inclusion in the Christian Way. Luke here is advancing an idea that Paul’s own letters make especially poignant. Roman 9-11 is a deeply felt reflection on the fate of his Jewish brothers and sisters, who have rejected Jesus as Messiah, and thus have placed themselves outside of the new community of love, inaugurated, according to Paul, by the death and resurrection of that same Messiah. Paul is always and forever in his life and ministry thinking of his Jewish friends and how he might still convince them that Jesus has died for them, as he has died for Paul.

         Paul’s deep convictions, according to Luke, now take him to Europe to continue his work there, leaving Troas, heading for Samothrace (a rugged island in the Aegean Sea, just off the coast of Macedonia), on the way to Philippi, a colony of Roman soldiers near the coast. He goes there because of a vision of a “certain Macedonian man, standing and exhorting him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia! Help us!’ (Acts 16:9). Without explanation, the narrative suddenly becomes plural: “When he saw the vision, we sought at once to go to Macedonia” (Acts 16:10). This “we” has long been imagined to refer to Luke himself, as Paul’s companion in ministry, though there can be no final proof of that supposition. Nevertheless, from this time, Luke’s narrative refers to “we”. 

         Upon arrival in Phillipi, Paul seeks a community of worshippers, and comes upon a group of women, among whom is Lydia, a dealer in purple dyes from the city of Thyatira, on the coast of what is now Turkey. Whether she is Gentile or Jew is not made clear, but she is attracted to the teachings of the local synagogue, and responds to the teaching of Paul, who baptises her and her household. She then graciously invites Paul and his companions to lodge with her, suggesting that she is a woman of means with a house large enough to accomodate multiple travelers. This tiny story describes the initial success of Paul’s European ministry and bodes well for his future work. Now that all are welcome in the growing movement of Christians, Jew and Gentile alike, the larger work may begin and portends a bright future. Luke has carefully and with genuine artistry paved the way for the unfolding tales of Paul’s ministry that will culminate in his final trip to the center of the world, Rome itself.