God does not show favoritism but accepts from every
nation the one who fears him and do what is right (Acts 10:34,35).
Here we
see the progression from Christianity
for Jews only to Gentiles tolerated to Gentiles actively engaged. Before Peter’s dream of clean and
unclean animals, he would never have considered that non-Jews could be included
in the gospel message. Without the dream, he would have rejected those sent by
Cornelius, and without Cornelius he would not have understood the dream.
Word of
Cornelius’s conversion got back to Jerusalem before Peter did, so when he got
home he had some ‘splainin’ to do. After he told the full story, the Jerusalem
Christians, who had not appreciated Peter’s Gentile connection, were appeased.
Following
Stephen’s execution but prior to Peter’s Caesarea experience, many Jewish
Christians had been persecuted by non-Christian Jews and run out of Jerusalem.
Naturally, when they arrived in a new city, they would share the message of
Christ with their new Jewish friends and as a result many believed in his name.
Only
after Peter returned from Caesarea did Christians actively seek ways to deliver
the gospel to Gentiles. We read in 11:20 that Christians from Cyprus (in the
Mediterranean) and Cyrene (modern day Libya) brought the message of Christ to
Antioch (modern day Turkey, just north of the Syrian border) targeting the
Gentile population.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Give thanks for whoever
brought the gospel to you. Ask where you can take it next.
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