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1 The apostles and the believers in Judea heard that some who were not Jewish had accepted God’s teaching too. 2 But when Peter came to Jerusalem, some people argued with him. 3 They said, "You went into the homes of people who are not circumcised and ate with them!" 4 So Peter explained the whole story to them. 5 He said, "I was in the city of Joppa, and while I was praying, I had a vision. I saw something that looked like a big sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners. It came very close to me. 6 I looked inside it and saw animals, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds. 7 I heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' 8 But I said, 'No, Lord! I have never eaten anything that is unholy or unclean.' 9 But the voice from heaven spoke again, 'God has made these things clean, so don’t call them unholy.' 10 This happened three times. Then the whole thing was taken back to heaven. 11 Right then three men who were sent to me from Caesarea came to the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them without doubting. These six believers here also went with me, and we entered the house of Cornelius. 13 He told us about the angel he saw standing in his house. The angel said to him, 'Send some men to Joppa and invite Simon Peter to come. 14 By the words he will say to you, you and all your family will be saved.' 15 When I began my speech, the Holy Spirit came on them just as he came on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the words of the Lord. He said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 Since God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I stop the work of God?" ~ Acts 11:1-17
Today, we transition into Acts 11 where we find Peter recounting what God had done for Cornelius and his family and friends in the previous chapter. In doing so, Peter silenced his prejudiced Jewish friends by reminding them of what God had done. Biblical faith always rests on what God has done. We go wrong when we put more emphasis on what we do rather than on what God has done or is doing. Many years ago a man hired an experienced guide to lead him on a hike into the Swiss Alps. After many hours of hiking they came to a high and remote mountain pass. The man was daunted when he saw that the path had almost been washed away. To the left was a sheer rock cliff, to his right a precipice that dropped nearly a thousand feet. Looking down, the man quickly got dizzy. He felt as if he were to fall. The fear jolted him. Just then his guide shouted, “Do not look down or you are a dead man. Keep your eyes on me, and where I put my feet. Walk in my steps.” The man did as he was instructed and soon he passed from danger to safety.
When we take our eyes of the Lord, we find ourselves at the mercy of our fears. As Peter had learned before on the Sea of Galilee, when he cried out to the Lord, it was immediate that the Lord reached out His hand and took hold of him. The Lord is closer to us than we are ourselves. He has promised to always be with us. Due to this we do well to always defer to Him. He will always have our best at heart and we can always count on Him.
When Peter arrived in Jerusalem he gave a report to his legalistic friends about God's work in Caesarea among the Gentile believers there. To their dismay, the Jewish believers learned of how Gentile believers had received the gift of the Holy Spirit. No one knows what lies ahead for any of us. Sooner or later in our every day lives, we face conflicts of many kinds. For Peter here the conflict was with his more conservative brethren in the faith. We all come to dangerous passes like this where the way ahead seems to be washed away. In that moment we can panic or we can fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ while marking His steps before us. This is why Peter made this presentation to his Jewish brethren in Jerusalem as he did. He understood that if he followed the Lord, he would find that the Lord Jesus Himself would intercept any conflict which would come into his life and use it for his good and for the Lord's glory.
In v.1-4 of today's passage we read, "1 The apostles and the believers in Judea heard that some who were not Jewish had accepted God’s teaching too. 2 But when Peter came to Jerusalem, some people argued with him. 3 They said, 'You went into the homes of people who are not circumcised and ate with them!' 4 So Peter explained the whole story to them."
Cornelius and his family and friends had heard from Peter the Gospel which at its heart is the cross of the Messiah where He had atoned for all of mankind's sin. When Peter arrived in Jerusalem, the prejudice of his fellow Jewish Christians showed its face. Legalism aims to fix someone’s behavior without ever focusing on their heart. Legalism places emphasis on dependence of the self rather than the Savior. Legalism states that through our moral behaviors and our obedience to God’s Law we can achieve our salvation. Legalism leads to a primary emphasis on behavior modification and rarely focuses on heart transformation. Once unbiblical legalism creeps into a group of believers, arrogance and selfish pride will be obvious. And, those who do not follow their teaching are left beaten and battered by the roadside.
Having been confronted by the Lord Himself through the sheet vision, Peter was not surprised by the reaction of these legalistic Jews. He had been in their shoes. The problem with the legalistic Jews was that the Gentiles had not obeyed God like they had. These dogs had never performed before God to gain His acceptance. They had not been circumcised which was an object lesson that God gave to Abraham to remind him that He was unconditionally committed to him. It was then that Peter continued recounting the events as they had unfolded in Caesarea at Cornelius' house. The Lord had taught Peter so that he could teach the brethren about grace.
In v.5-17 of today's passage we read, "5 He said, 'I was in the city of Joppa, and while I was praying, I had a vision. I saw something that looked like a big sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners. It came very close to me. 6 I looked inside it and saw animals, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds.' 7 I heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' 8 But I said, 'No, Lord! I have never eaten anything that is unholy or unclean.' 9 But the voice from heaven spoke again, 'God has made these things clean, so don’t call them unholy.' 10 This happened three times. Then the whole thing was taken back to heaven. 11 Right then three men who were sent to me from Caesarea came to the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them without doubting. These six believers here also went with me, and we entered the house of Cornelius. 13 He told us about the angel he saw standing in his house. The angel said to him, 'Send some men to Joppa and invite Simon Peter to come. 14 By the words he will say to you, you and all your family will be saved.' 15 When I began my speech, the Holy Spirit came on them just as he came on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the words of the Lord. He said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 Since God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I stop the work of God?"
The veracity of any story can be determined in its consistency as it is shared over and over again. So, Peter recounted for his legalistic friends in Jerusalem what God had done for the Gentile Centurion, Cornelius, his family and his friends. There had been six other guys who had come from Jerusalem who were present at Cornelius' house, as well. Had they not been there they would not have been able to corroborate Peter's story. Better yet, there had to be someone in the hearing of Peter as he recounted this story who remembered the words of the Lord Jesus in Acts 1 where He said to His disciples the Holy Spirit would come and baptize them. This, by the way, is how truth is verified. Truth is verified by the Scriptures, what God has said about a given subject, and, its consistency as it is told throughout the years. If a teaching does not correspond with what God has said on the subject in His Word, we must reject it.
I am discovering that the Scriptures reveal themselves to be the Word of God in the same way creation reveals itself to be the world of God. God’s glory shines out from the meaning of the words found in the Bible, and authenticates their divine origin the same way that God’s glory shines out from His creation and authenticates its divine origin. And, the main subject of the Bible is the Lord Jesus Himself. He is shrouded in the Old Testament but through careful searching, He is reveled to him who seeks. God confirms that the world is His by revealing His glory through it. In addition, the Lord Jesus is the Son of God by God revealing His glory through Him. And, the gospel is the gospel of God by revealing His glory through it, in the same way, the whole Bible authenticates itself by shining with the glory of the One who inspired it.
