Tension and anticipation must have been running high at the "Jerusalem Council." In a way, Paul's first missionary journey and Peter's episode with Cornelius all prepare us for dealing with the issue of whether or new converts must also embrace Jewish identity markers (food laws, Sabbath, circumcision, etc.). Interestingly, Jesus must not have made it a point during his public ministry (if we don't include Acts as his ministry :) ) to sort this out since it was apparently such a widespread and contentious issue. To be sure, Jesus showed how he and his people are forming the "new temple" of God where God's Spirit dwells, and by implication making the temple redundant and trust in him the new identity marker over Torah observance. Some scholars have pointed on that this shows evidence for a 1st century date for the Gospels since issues that were nearly irrelevant in the 2nd century, to be sure 3rd century, are addressed in them, whereas other issues more pertinent to the early Church are not. But that's a post for another day...
