The Gospel is for ALL (Part 2)
The Gospel is for ALL (Part 2)
a commentary on Acts 10 (Interpretation)
Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning everyone and welcome back to Biblit!
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This week we are talking all about the amazing conversion of Cornelius, which ultimately shows God’s glorious purpose is to share the gospel to ALL people.
Let’s jump into some deeper conversations around Acts 10.
Remarkable Prayer
Just like Saul and Ananias had similar visions that revealed God’s mighty hand at work, so Peter and Cornelius have similar visions too!
However, this time, Peter’s vision in particular was a little more cryptic.
But what was God getting at here? The reality is that Peter’s vision was two-fold. It was a way to show that these unclean animals and ritual cleanliness had been fulfilled through Christ. There was no reason to avoid people because of this anymore.
You see, these kinds of food restrictions and laws of cleanliness were some of the reasons Israel was set apart or holy to the communities and countries surrounding them. It is what distinguished them as God’s people.
However, Jesus revealed God’s actual plan: the gospel message is for all people!
Furthermore, what God established as his perfect law, the “holy” jews decided to add to, creating their own traditional laws. This system became more and more corrupt so that eventually these added laws just helped themselves become more wealthy and live lives of comfort.
Jesus Himself called them out on this in Mark 7:
“You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up your tradition!” (Mark 7:9 CSB).
Furthermore, Jesus already said this too:
“Listen to me, all of you, and understand: Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” (Mark 7:14-15 CSB).
For years these traditions isolated the Jews from the gentiles. And even now, after Jesus had come and ascended back to Heaven, this isolation was just as strong.
See, the true reality of the vision Peter saw was that the unclean animals symbolized God’s cleansing of the unclean gentiles.
That the gospel which saved Peter is not just for the Jews, it is for any and all people!
And so what did Peter do when a group of gentiles came knocking? He gave them lodging! This is hospitality at its finest. We may look at this and say, “oh, Peter, that’s nice I guess.” But the reality is, this is a huge moment for Peter where we see him drop the discriminations of century long tradition and invite these gentiles in to lodge with him, and most likely eat with him!
Sharing food was a declaration of friendship and covenant, this is why Jesus shared so many meals together. I think sharing food in this way is just part of God’s original design for food. And so to see Peter share food with a gentile is a huge step for him!
But of course, we also know Peter still had more to learn. And it finally all clicks for him once he gets to Caesarea to preach the gospel.
Peter’s Gospel Message
When Peter arrives in Caesarea to share the gospel with the gentiles, he lays out a really cool structure I wanted to break down:
First, he proclaims that he finally understands God truly shows no partiality across ethnic lines.
Something that should have clicked already, for it says in the law of Moses:
“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving him food and clothing.” (Deuteronomy 10:17-18 CSB).
Second, Peter affirms that God welcomes from every nation people who fear him.
Here he’s saying God shows mercy to those who humble themselves before Him, whether they are a Jew or a Gentile!
Third, he shifts the focus to Jesus, whom he declares is Lord of all.
Not Lord of Jews, but Lord of ALL.
Fourth, Peter kind of quickly summarizes all the amazing things Jesus did in His earthly ministry, which he was a witness to.
In other words, Peter witnessed the amazing things he personally had seen Jesus do.
Fifth, he centers the message on the cross, the resurrection, and the return of Jesus.
Or Jesus’s most important work of all and how through this work sin is destroyed and we are forgiven.
Finally, he mentions the prophets most likely leading to the fulfillments that Jesus brought to fruition, but gets cut off when the Holy Spirit comes onto the Gentiles in the middle of the sermon.
Gentiles Encounter Jesus
Finally, we see these gentiles receive the Holy Spirit! This passage actually parallels the Jerusalem Pentecost pretty well: we see gentiles speaking in tongues and praising God, onlookers stood in amazement, and new believers were baptized!
The last two cool points here are in the phrases used for the Holy Spirit coming down. In fact, that phrase right there: “came down” is the same one we see when the Spirit came upon the Samaritans.
Then again, it is described as the Holy Spirit being “poured out” on these gentiles. Another call back to Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Jews.
Thus these gentiles are now children of Abraham too.
But not through the traditional circumcision. They are made children through faith in Jesus Christ’s grace alone!