ACTS: Breaking down the walls of prejudice.
Acts 10:23b The next morning, Peter and some of his friends from Joppa, accompanied these men back to Caesarea. 24 Cornelius was waiting for them to arrive having gathered many of his friends and relatives to hear what Peter might say. 25 As Peter approached, Cornelius fell to the floor and began to worship at his feet. 26 Peter helped him up saying, "I am nothing more than another man, I do not deserve any honor." 27 As they talked, Cornelius brought Peter into another room where all of the people were waiting. 28 He said, "All of you know that it is not lawful for me, a Jew, to be friends with a foreigner or enter his house, but God showed me clearly that I should not consider any man unclean or unholy. 29 "I have come readily without fear or question." Then turning to Cornelius he asked, "Why have you summoned me here?"
30 Cornelius said to Peter, "About this time four days ago I was praying in the mid afternoon and I saw a vision of an angel. 31 He said, "Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and has remembered your gifts to others in your community. 32 “I want you to summon a man named Simon Peter to come to you. You will find him staying in Joppa with Simon the tanner who lives by the sea.” 33 So I sent my servants to find you and ask you to come here and you have come. Thank you. I have gathered my friends to hear what the LORD has commanded you to speak to us."
A quick side note about giving away some of our possessions for the benefit of others. The angel said to Cornelius, “God has remembered your gifts.” God sees what we do with the possessions He has entrusted to us. He is pleased when we use what we have in a generous fashion to help others who have needs at the moment.
Back to Cornelius. Did you notice the expectancy in this man? After he received the visit from the angel, he acted. He talked the vision over with some of his servants so they knew what had happened and why he was sending them on a journey to Joppa. He sent them with the expectation they would find Peter and bring him back to his home. He was expecting Peter to come and expecting God to speak through him.
During the four days it took the servants to locate Peter and bring him back to the house, Cornelius gathered his family and friends, expecting God to say something important to them all through the mouth of Peter. And similar to the father in the story of the prodigal son, Cornelius was waiting for his servants and Peter to return from Joppa.
Did his family and friends trust as well? Or were they skeptical as they waited and wondered about their friend Cornelius? Had he lost his mind, thinking he had heard from God? Or should they be expecting God to do great things as well? We don’t know how they were responding to the situation, but they were gathered in the house. Maybe Cornelius had invited them over for dinner so they could not pass up a free meal. Either way, they were about to experience something very real and completely divine.
What about us? What is our level of expectation? Do we approach each day with a fresh hope and expectation that Jesus will meet us in the midst of our experiences? Or do we wake up and go through the motions of a mundane life?
As Peter arrived Cornelius bowed down before him and fawned over him. Peter lifted him up and reminded Cornelius that we are all humans and God is the only one who deserves worship and honor.
Then we see something else in Cornelius’ personality, he is teachable. He is very open to what God desires to do. He says to Peter, “Whatever God wants you to speak, do so. We are gathered to listen.” I believe God desires us all to be teachable people, to be open to new ideas, and new ways of experiencing the truth.
Clearly, Scriptures are our guide, our rule of thumb, and the norm by which all things are measured. But far too often we become locked into our interpretation of Scripture and cannot seem to listen to what others are being taught from the Holy Spirit. Without a rule of thumb to come back to, we have an ever-changing ebb and flow of our beliefs. But when we lock into a certain rigidity we can easily miss out on things God might want to do in our lives. An example of this was the way the Pharisees missed the coming of the Messiah even though Jesus demonstrated His power with undeniable miracles.
At the same time that our Scriptures are the standard of faith, we should always be open to a deeper understanding of the message of Jesus in those writings. We have much to learn from our brothers and sisters in Christ who have grown up with different traditions. There is plenty of diversity in the interpretation of the things Jesus taught and I wish to be one who remains open to the Holy Spirit, lest I drift off into the attitude and rigidity of the Pharisees.
My goal is not to expand my thinking beyond the teachings of Jesus, just to fully and deeply understand what He taught us and allow the Holy Spirit to continue to “teach us everything we need to know and remind us of everything Jesus has taught us.” (John 14:26 EBV)
To Peter, at this moment of change in his life, he is beginning to understand that he is no longer restricted by the rules of being a Jew, but stepping out in the love of Jesus, he can now love and interact with all humans. He can now visit with gentiles and eat food once prohibited. This change had to cause him some rethinking of his understanding of the Scriptures.
Acts 10:34 So Peter began to teach them. "I am overwhelmed by what God is now teaching me. I truly understand that God does not play favorites of any kind. 35 He loves all people from every nation who honor Him and does the right thing.
But what is the “right thing” for each of us to do? Micah, the prophet, said, “Let's be reasonable, the LORD is not pleased with sacrifices of thousands of animals and barrels of oil. He does not want us to sacrifice our first-born child so that our sins can be forgiven. He wants us to demonstrate a changed life, like He has shown us. This is what is good, and what the LORD requires of us, to act with justice, to love with forgiveness, and to always walk in humility before God.” (Micah 6:7,8 EBV)
Peter continued with his teaching to the people gathered in the home of Cornelius.
Acts 10:36 “God sent His Son Jesus, the Christ, the Lord of all, to come to earth, and speak to the sons of Israel 37 “and you all know the stories of what has been going on in Jerusalem and in Judea these past few years. It all began in Galilee about the time that John was going about the land baptizing people and encouraging them to repent. 38 “And I am sure you know of the Nazarene, Jesus, and how God placed the Holy Spirit upon Him and gave Him great power. He went about doing good things for people, and healed many, maybe even some of you and your family. God was truly with Him. 39 "We all have been able to see the things He did throughout the land of the Jews and in the city Jerusalem. And we know that it was there where they put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. 40 "But three days later, God brought Him back from the dead and some of us had the opportunity to see Him alive. 41 "Those of us whom God chose to experience this event had time to sit and talk and eat with Him after He rose from the dead. 42 "He commanded us to preach the truth that Jesus is the Messiah, sent by the LORD, and He is the Judge of all who are living and those who have died as well. 43 "He is the One the prophets have born witness to and we know that in His name all who believe will have forgiveness of their sins."
44 While Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit started falling upon the listeners. 45 Those who came with Peter were surprised to see the gift of the Holy Spirit come upon the Gentiles as well. 46 Once again, the gift of tongues was poured out and they lifted their praise to God Almighty. 47 Peter said, "Bring some water so that these people who have received the Holy Spirit can be baptized also." 48 And Peter and the disciples baptized Cornelius' friends and relatives in the name of Jesus the Messiah. And they all asked Peter to remain in Caesarea for a few more days.
Peter was now on a new journey in his understanding of God and His ways. For years he had been taught to be prejudice towards other people who were not from Israel. Now God was turning that belief upside down with the blanket full of “unclean animals” to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and his friends. God has no boundaries. His love extends to all peoples. And as His children, our love needs to do the same.
As any change in life takes time, the first step of that change is the realization of the truth. When Peter realized that God was not partial, the message of Jesus the Messiah was now free to expand to the Gentiles. The door was officially opened so that Saul could come onto the scene and share the love of Jesus with the people of Europe and as Jesus’ commanded “to the ends of the earth.”
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