Monday: At Cornelius’s House
In Joppa, Peter stayed with a certain Simon, a tanner by trade (Acts 9:43). Meanwhile, in Caesarea, about twenty-five miles (40 kilometers) from Joppa, there lived a Roman centurion named Cornelius. He and his household were devout worshipers of God, though they had not yet formally adhered to Judaism, meaning that Cornelius was still an uncircumcised Gentile. In a God-given vision, he was instructed to send messengers to Joppa and invite Peter to visit him (Acts 10:1-8).
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Read Acts 10:9-16, Acts 10:28, Acts 10:34-35. What did Peter experience, and how did he interpret it?
It is important to know that Peter’s vision was not about food but about people. Yes, it was around noon, Peter was hungry, and the voice told him to kill and eat; yet, God used the vision, not to remove the distinction between clean and unclean animals but to teach Peter about the inclusive character of the gospel.
The vision was explicitly intended to break Peter’s resistance against Gentiles. Peter’s view was that if he entered Cornelius’s house and fellowshiped with him, he would defile himself and so become unfit to worship in the temple or to come before God’s presence. First-century Jews from Judea and the surrounding areas did not associate with uncircumcised Gentiles.
The problem was with the contemporary theology, which excluded the Gentiles from the commonwealth of Israel, even though this view had become a perversion of the whole point of Israel’s existence as a nation, which was to reach out to the world with a knowledge of the true God.
Because circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, uncircumcised Gentiles came to be segregated and treated with contempt. They could have no part whatsoever in the blessings of the covenant unless they accepted circumcision and became Jews. Such a concept, though, was incompatible with the universal scope of Jesus’ death, as the early believers, over time, were coming to understand.
| Read Titus 2:11, Galatians 3:26-28, and Ephesians 2:11-19. What do these texts teach us about the universality of the gospel message? What should they tell us about how wrong it is for Christians to harbor prejudice against any group based on ethnicity? |
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I remember a friend of mine telling me that his neighbour "would make a good Adventist because he was almost there already". That made me think that perhaps, in our own mind we have this ranking system about who would be good candidates for the Kingdom of God, and who would be better left out. It is quite possible for us to practice exclusivity in the same way that Peter did until he was confronted with Cornelius and his family.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3: 16
Help me understand this clearly,,for i also have my friends with good charaters, and iam always thinking of them making good adventists,,how wrong is that??
The issue is that we sometimes use that evaluation to exclude others. The Gospel is for "Whosoever", not just the good people.
Sure! We are not better than anyone, on the contrary, we haverá the responsability of taking Jesus to others!
"9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands." Rev. 7:9
"11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”Rev 10:11.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people." Rev. 14:6
Why did Peter ponder?
He was hungry.
Perfect vision at perfect time.
Instead, he pauses to ponder.
This vision did not make sense to Peter.
He knew Jesus is the fulfillment of the ceremonial yet he questioned the vision.
when a truth is revealed unto us it is important to test the validity of the truth.
It is only at the house of Cornelius, he begins to understand the truth behind the vision.
Peter opened his mouth and said, "GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY"
It is unlawful for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one another nation.
But God has SHOWN ME that I should not call any MAN common or unclean.
Impetuous Peter calm (this is the work of the Spirit) ponders the vision.
When we wait upon the Lord, He will lead us in to all truth.
He understood, the vision was not about food. It was about God's acceptance of all in Christ Jesus.
On the other hand Cornelious was a God fearing man that would make a good Christian. You are right though there was a barrier with Peter. It was ethnicity and not nescessarly being picky as it pertains to easy convert. Very good illistration in pointing out our comfort zone. We may not be ethicnic driven, but most of us like our comfort zones. Yes whosoever believe in Gods Son,, wheither or not they are the most unlike candidate or not we should share our faith with them also. Titus says all men. Titus 2:11. Galatians says: No matter whether you are Jew, Greek, slave, free, male , female, homeless, or CEO, all deserve to be given the Gospel Message. Galatians 3:26-28.
It is so comforting that the gospel is inclusive to all races and tribes. Surely God is fair to every human being
Jesus said, "Peter, When thou art converted. . " Here we see a "converted" Peter and Jesus is STILL working on his character - to love everyone equally. Praise God for this story! He's still working on me.