Dwell in the Word: Acts 10:1-33

Contemplate these questions as you dwell in Acts 10:1-33:

1. The vision of the sheet with various animals descending serves as a significant turning point in the book of Acts. How does this vision symbolize the shift in the scope of the gospel message, moving beyond the boundaries of Jewish traditions and reaching out to the Gentiles? What does it reveal about God's inclusive plan for salvation?

2. The encounter between Peter and Cornelius highlights a pivotal moment in the early Christian community, emphasizing that salvation is not determined by nationality or heritage, but by faith in Jesus Christ. How does this event challenge traditional notions of who is considered part of God's people? In what ways does it broaden our understanding of God's grace and acceptance?

3. The transformation from exclusivity to inclusivity in the gospel message is a central theme in this passage. Reflecting on your own faith journey, how does this shift resonate with your understanding of salvation? How does it impact the way you view your fellow believers, regardless of their cultural or ethnic background? How can we, as modern-day followers of Christ, continue to embrace and embody this inclusive message?

Transcript:

 So, this is a rather well known portion of the book of acts. Once again, I can remember from my children's Bible. It was kind of like a comic book style of Bible from when I was a child. I can remember this story rather vividly. Uh, I'm guessing that is because the image of a sheet with four ropes at the corners with a whole bunch of animals being, uh, descended was It was sort of bizarre to me at seven or eight years old, and as I always think back on that image and think back on that story,  the normal thing that I think about is, OK, this means that I can eat pretty much any kind of meat.

I can eat shellfish. I don't have to watch my diet at all because I'm a program person.  God has allowed all that stuff to be eaten. And, and yes, that is what we see here. You know, when, when the voice tells Peter, rise Peter, kill and eat. Uh, and Peter says, no, I've always been a good Jew. I've never broken any of these rules.

And, and then the voice says, what God has made clean, do not call common. Yes, that opened up what, what could be eaten, right? Uh, what the ritual rules of the Jewish faith. Uh, were they no longer applied to Christians that is important. Obviously, uh, if you ever been to a church potluck, you know, we don't care about that stuff.

We don't keep track of that even at church, right?  So, that is important. But what is the big story here? And I, I sort of gave a hint and I'm sure you've seen it. Uh, as we read through it, what is going on here is a shift.  We're seeing a shift in the book of Acts. Now remember what the story is from Jerusalem and Judea to the Samaritans, to Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth.

And did that mean that the gospel was going to go to Jewish people that were at the ends of the earth? You know, maybe they thought that, um, a big part of what happens in the exiles of the Old Testament and going into the Greek world in the New Testament is this dispersion or it's known as the diaspora.

It's how there came to be Jewish people all over the place and synagogues all over the place that that the Gospels could be proclaimed that by the Apostles and other disciples. Uh, after, after Christ ascended, but that is not who is meant by the ends of the earth. It's not just to these Jewish people who are spread out among the Greek or the Roman Empire in the Greek world.

It is to all people, to Gentiles, people who would have been considered unclean and, and you read here, as we look at this, it says, you know, Peter says to. Cornelius, hey, I’m not supposed to be  hanging with you, but here I am, right?  Things are changing.  In Christ, the gospel is going out. The proclamation of the kingdom of God is going out.

The Jewish people were, were the place where the gospel was given seed, where the Messiah was taken care of, and where, and where the Word of God was protected. But now that Christ has come, now that the one who was promised to crush the head of the serpent has come through that Jewish line, The message is going to the ends of the earth and to even the unclean Gentiles.

And so, this story about the sheet lowering the animals and about, what is being eaten is not only saying, Hey, all these laws and all these rituals have been fulfilled in Christ. And you can eat, but it's also saying these people  that you would have seen as unclean, as you would have seen the dogs, seen as the dogs of, of the culture, they are now people that need to hear the gospel, people that will come to faith in Christ.

And we see that, that God is bringing Peter, who was all concerned about being clean and doing the right thing, now bringing him to this man named Cornelius. And Cornelius is working. Our God is working through Cornelius telling, uh, having this messenger tell him to go after Peter. And they're coming together.

Why? Because the message has gone to Jerusalem and Judea and to Samaria, it is now going to the ends of the earth. And we're going to see that here in the book of Acts, how the gospel goes out and we're going to see next time on Monday when we read, we're going to be seeing how the gospel is received by the Gentiles.

But we see this message here.  In the imagery that Paul sees in the vision, or Peter sees in the vision, and in Cornelius being spoken to by the messenger from God, that something is happening. And that something is going to be awesome for you and I. Because chances are, those of you listening to this, are not Hebrew folk.

You are Gentiles. If it was up to your nationality, you would not be. Uh, in the kingdom of God, you would not be someone who has faith, but that all changes with Christ.  Now we are a part of the family of God. We're a part of the kingdom of God, not by our nationality, but by faith in Jesus Christ. And so we trust in that good hope as we go out into the world, as we proclaim the gospel to our children, or as we talk with other folks.

We believe that. We believe that this has nothing to do with whether or not you are related to me, or whether or not I'm related to somebody else from the ancestry of the Bible. What we trust in is that we have become members of the family of God. by grace through faith because the Holy Spirit has worked within us to give us faith to trust in Christ alone for salvation.

And so may we continue to relish in that good news. And may we do that today, thinking about this story, about how this was the gateway for how you and I would come to faith nearly 2, 000 years later.  This Story is how the gospel is eventually coming to us and how the spirit is working to bring the people of God to faith.