Day Eleven

Day Eleven. January 20. Acts 11:1-18

Surprise! We are back in Acts for one brief day. We need some back story here, in order to understand our next section in Galatians. In this passage, Peter defends his decision to enter a Gentile home and tells the amazing tale of Cornelius, the God-fearing Gentile who “prayed regularly to God.” (See Acts 10:1-8 to learn more about this amazing man who yearned for God!) Well, God answered his prayers BIG time by sending Peter to share with Cornelius the news that Jesus came to save sinners. Even non-Jewish sinners! It’s a vibrant story, isn’t it?

I find it interesting that Jesus and Peter often find themselves in situations with three repetitions. Peter denied Jesus three times, for example. And in John 21, Jesus asked Peter if Peter loved Him – three times. Now, in our story today, Peter is three times told to accept as “clean” what he formerly had seen as “unclean.” This prepared Peter for the arrival of three men from Cornelius’s household and their request that Peter come to Cornelius’s house.

Notice that this seismic shift in perspective required angelic intervention and visions. Jewish people just did not associate with Gentiles. Even though Jesus demonstrated His love for Gentiles and Samaritans during his earthly ministry, healing a child of a Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30 and Matthew 15:21-28) and talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, the disciples were not sharing the gospel outside of their own people group. God so loved the world, that He sent angelic messengers and visions to Peter to convince him otherwise. WOW. God loved us that much! And Peter had learned so many valuable lessons from the Lord, that he knew better than to argue after that third dropping of the large sheet. Off he went to share the gospel and watch as the Holy Spirit fell on those first Gentile converts. None of whom, of course, were circumcised or in any way knew how to follow Jewish law. Let’s remember this story, as we read about a confrontation between Peter and Paul in tomorrow’s reading.

My verse: Acts 11:18 “When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, ‘We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

My response: God specifically told Peter and the other Jewish believers to welcome Gentiles to their midst, with nary a word about circumcision – a new thing was happening that was so different it had to be accompanied by visions and assurances. But this opened up the gospel to me, Lord. Thank You for wanting all your sheep to come to You. Even Gentile sheep like me.