Salvation Is Jesus

Acts 10

Breaking Down Prejudices

The wonderful story of God breaking down prejudices is told in Acts Chapter 10. God directly communicates with a Roman Centurion named Cornelius, and with the Apostle Peter arranging for Peter to go and meet Cornelius. 

Preparing Peter’s Heart

Cornelius had sent a couple of servants to retrieve Peter, as directed by God. Just before the servants arrived at the house Peter was staying at, Peter had a vision.

Verses 10-13:

He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

Up until the point of Jesus, the Jews had lived under the Law of the Old Testament. In the law there were many requirements to make oneself “ceremonially clean”.  This included certain dietary restrictions. Ceremonial Cleanliness: It turns out that the dietary and other ceremonial laws that God had placed on the Jewish nation actually make for a very healthy population. Even before people knew about microscopic organisms, bacteria, God had protected his people by setting up laws that greatly increased healthy living, including washing instructions and dietary restrictions. Jesus Christ is the completion of the Old Testament law, making clean whoever puts their faith in him, whether Jew or Gentile. God was preparing Peter to accept things that the Jews considered “unclean” (like eating with Gentiles) to be declared “clean” by God.

God’s plan for the Jewish nation was to bless all peoples of earth, through the Jew. But over the years, most of the people had come to believe that they were chosen by God because they were special and tried to exclude the world from God’s blessing, believing it was for them only. Jesus had already made reference to the fact that God does not exclude the gentile from blessing when he was telling the Pharisees that they would be judged by the Queen of the South and the ancient city of Nineveh (both gentiles). And even more directly, one of Jesus’ last commands as recorded in Matthew 28:19-20 was,

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…

Jesus had never required a gentile to convert to Judaism, be circumcised, or become part of the Jewish nation.

God Does Not Show Favoritism

But bad habits and false ideas are hard to break, and so God drives the point into our hearts once again through verses: 27-48, where we find Peter arriving at Cornelius’ house:

Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Peter explains what he has learned about God’s plan to use the Jews to bless “all men from every nation” through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s also interesting to not that God chose to use Peter to preach the message of Jesus Christ, when he could have told Cornelius directly through the visiting angel. Though we may not know exactly why, it is clear God has chosen to use his children, both Jew and Gentile to spread the Gospel of Christ to all peoples of all nations.

God’s Ambassadors

Just like a human father might have his young son help with a home construction project, so God includes us in His work. It may not be the quickest or most efficient method of completing work (have you ever seen how long it takes for a 5 year old to hammer a nail into a piece of wood?), but it helps the child grow and become more mature, and strengthens the relationship. We are God’s children, working with Him to build an everlasting kingdom.  God could do it all on his own more efficiently, just like a human father could build a back yard shed more quickly without having to look out for and train his young son. But God chooses to have us work with him, strengthening our character, our relationships with other people, and our relationship to Him.