Commentary on Acts of the Apostles · Matthew Henry

056 - Acts 156-21

·41 min·2 clips

Peter asks why anyone would "tempt ye God" by adding a yoke the fathers could not bear.

1. Commentary on Acts of the Apostles episode 056 covers Acts 15:6-21 and the Jerusalem council on Gentile believers. 2. Matthew Henry is the named commentator, and the recording is identified as a LibriVox public-domain reading. 3. The episode asks whether Gentiles must take on circumcision and the ceremonial law to belong to the church. 4. The apostles and elders come together “to consider this matter” and hear “much disputing” before Peter rises. 5. Peter reminds the assembly that God chose him so Gentiles should hear “the word of the gospel and believe.” 6. He says God “knoweth the hearts” and bore witness to the Gentiles by giving them the Holy Ghost “even as he did unto us.” 7. Peter warns against putting “a yoke upon the neck of the disciples” that “neither our fathers nor we were able to bear.” 8. Barnabas and Paul then speak of the “miracles and wonders” God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 9. The crowd keeps silence and gives audience to their narrative, which the commentary treats as evidence harder to dispute than arguments alone. 10. James answers after they have held their peace and addresses the council as “Men and brethren.” 11. He identifies Peter as “Simeon” and says God first visited the Gentiles “to take out of them a people for his name.” 12. James quotes the prophets and cites Amos 9:11-12 about rebuilding “the tabernacle of David” that is fallen. 13. He says the rebuilt tabernacle is linked to “the residue of men” seeking the Lord and “all the Gentiles” being called by God’s name. 14. The commentary stresses that James treats this as the Lord’s own work and says, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” 15. James’s practical ruling is “that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned to God.” 16. He still recommends abstaining from “pollutions of idols,” “fornication,” “things strangled,” and “blood.” 17. The commentary explains that Moses is read “in the synagogues every Sabbath day,” so Jews have long been trained in the law. 18. That long practice is used to argue for patience, moderation, and careful accommodation rather than forcing change abruptly. 19. Listeners who follow Acts, church debates, or Bible commentary will hear a close reading of Acts 15:6-21. 20. Listeners wanting a fast-paced story without extended scriptural exposition may skip this episode.

As heard by us

Grace, custom, and restraint shape the argument.

This passage reads the law as a burden, especially where food rules and ritual purity are concerned, and it makes a clear case that Gentile believers should not be saddled with the law of Moses.

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Why you'd press play

You want a careful argument for grace that does not flatten the law's weight.

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