As our church plant continues to plug away in the amazing book of Acts, after the murdering of Stephen the story explodes in many directions. Persecution is breaking out on the emerging church. The author of Acts follows three key people and corresponding movements of the Gospel:
1) Philip (Acts 8) who shares the Good News about Jesus the Messiah with a leader from Ethiopia who carries the news to Northern Africa.
2)Then Saul who is met on the road by Jesus in Acts 9, who goes from killer to convert to chosen instrument to take the Good News to all the non-Jewish nations (and later becomes the Apostle Paul).
3) Then Peter (Acts 9:32 – chapter 10) who was part of the inner circle with Jesus, and has already created a stir in Jerusalem with his healings, prison escapes and preaching. We honed in on Peter as that is our spot is in the story.
Peter had followed God devoutly all his life in all the Jewish traditions, and over the time of Jesus’ ministry had followed Him with devotion as well. Peter was a leader in the burgeoning church and understood that Jesus was His Messiah…and the Messiah for the entire Jewish Nation.
The piece that Peter hadn’t put together was that Jesus was the Savior and Lord for the whole world! From Acts 9:32 on through the end of chapter 10, we find the compelling interplay of God’s work in the lives of Peter and an Italian soldier by the name of Cornelius.
Cornelius has an angelic visitation which results deploying a couple of men to go find Peter and bring him back to share a message from God. In the meantime, God showed Peter an important vision:
…he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”
“No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.”
But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.
Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate, they asked if a man named Simon Peter was staying there.
Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you.Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.”
So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?”
They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.” …
So after a night’s hospitality at Peter’s house they hit the road and arrive at Cornelius’ home with a house full of anticipation! To see get a sense of the rift that was between the Jews and the rest of the world, listen to one of Peter’s comments at Cornelius’ house:
Peter told them, “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. (Emphasis Added)
So there was a huge chasm between the Jews and the rest of the world, but the Jewish Messiah–Jesus–became the bridge for the whole world to have a relationship with God!
Peter acknowledges this:
And He [God] ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name.” (10:42-43)
Jesus was the Savior and Lord for the whole world! What amazing news! This is something to rejoice in and share with the whole world this Easter season!
On Sunday, as we illustrated the sheet with an unclean animal in the middle of reading this story. It was fun…and visual… a peek into Peter’s IMPORTANT VISION to take the Good News about Jesus to everyone in every nation! You can see some of the fun below 🙂