ACTS 11 1 18 PETER THE CRITICS IN

ACTS 11: 1 -18 PETER & THE CRITICS IN JERUSALEM 1

RECAP • Amazing circumstances under which Peter met Cornelius • Peter’s Gospel message to Cornelius, his relatives and friends • All of them believed and were baptised Þ Clearly showing that the Gospel is meant for the Gentiles too! 2

THE CONTENTION (WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM? ) • Jews were brought up to view themselves as holy or set apart from other people • They were not supposed to interact or associate with others, or risk making themselves unholy or unclean Þ But aren’t these Jews believers in Christ? • They thought that the Messiah and God’s salvation plan was only for Jews • They had not yet understood an important aspect of the Gospel (a mystery to them) 3

WHAT DID THEY SAY TO PETER? “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them” • What were they really saying? 4 1. Did you, Peter, an apostle and Jew, visit uncircumcised men, and more so, eat with them? 2. Do you not know that it is unlawful? 3. Why did you do that? Explain yourself!

PETER’S RESPONSE • He could have lied and denied the accusation • He could have given excuses to defend himself • But he didn’t. 1. He knew it was ”unlawful” (he told them it’s “unlawful for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him” Acts 10: 28) 2. He didn’t answer them directly 3. He recounted what happened “in orderly sequence” (same phrase used by Luke in 1: 3) so that the Jews would know the truth and come to their own conclusions 5

JESUS FACED SIMILAR CRITICISMS 6 LEVI’S (MATTHEW'S) HOUSE ZACCHEUS’ HOUSE And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners? ” Luke: 29 -30 ASB When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house. ” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. ” Luke 9: 5 -7 ASB

PETER’S VISION – WHAT WAS IT ABOUT? • Not about food or what Jews are allowed to eat now • It was about people • “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality…” Acts 10: 34 Þ God wanted Peter to understand this important aspect of the Gospel 7

CONCEPT OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN • Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 – instituted laws on clean/unclean animals to eat • To show that the Israelites were a holy people set apart unto the Lord • “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy. ’ ” This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten. ” Leviticus 1: 44 -47 ASB 8

WHAT HAS CHANGED? • What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy • Word used for cleansed is similar to that used by Jesus on the lepers whom He healed • Not inherent in animals or things which make them unclean • What was formerly unclean can be made clean (and holy) Þ Nothing changed. But the Jews thought that they’re clean because of their Abrahamic heritage, while others are unclean because of their Gentile heritage Þ This thinking had to be corrected 9

SUPPORTING REFERENCES - “UNCLEAN” FOOD? ROMANS 14: 14 MATTHEW 5: 16 -17 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? ” Þ These passages refer specifically to food, but just as how the vision to Peter was also about food, the principle with regards to what is clean or not, is applicable. 10

SUPPORTING REFERENCES ISAIAH’S VISION Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. ” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven. ” Isaiah: 5 -7 ASB Þ What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy (or common) 11

PETER’S LATER MESSAGE – CONSISTENT CONCEPT But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses. ” The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are. ” All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. Acts 5: 5 -12 ASB 12

SUPPORTING REFERENCES - SALVATION FOR THE GENTILES IN O. T. ACTS 13: 47 LUKE: 29 -33 For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH. ’ When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel. And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. • Paul and Simeon quoted from Isaiah 49: 6 that the Messiah will be a light for the Gentiles 13

INSTRUCTION GIVEN THREE TIMES • Thrice = confirmation & certainty • Events repeated thrice: • Peter denied Jesus • Jesus asked and instructed Peter • Jesus prayed in Gethsemane • Pilate asked to release Jesus • Paul asked for thorn to be removed • God called Samuel 14

OTHER NOTE-WORTHY POINTS • Clear instructions given to Peter by the Spirit • 6 witnesses accompanied Peter • Peter did not mention Cornelius by name • All in the household saved (similar to the jailer in Acts 16: 31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. ”) Þ It is beyond any doubt that the Gospel is also for Gentiles Þ It explains an important aspect of the Gospel – to cleanse what was formerly unclean 15

SUMMARY • Luke wanted readers to know that the Gospel is meant not just for Jews, but for the Gentiles too (Eph 3: 3 -7 says that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. . . ) • This episode was a precursor to the spread of the Gospel to Gentiles in Antioch and subsequently for Paul’s ministry to other parts of the world of Gentiles Þ It is not due to one’s race or inherent characteristics that one is saved, but on the sacrificial work by Jesus at God’s direction Þ In fact, we are all unclean and saved only through the “cleansing” work of the Gospel 16

CONCLUSION What God has cleansed, no longer consider unclean. 17