Memorize: Taking gospel to Cornelius
Key Verses: 2, 5, 11-13, 34-35, 43, 47
God has to get a special message to Peter, and he has to do it in a life-changing way. You see, Peter is one of the disciples who could get stuck in the Jewish trappings. He could end up enforcing the Jewish ceremonial customs on these new Believers. He himself could get caught up in thinking that Jesus’ message was not enough, that Believers needed to keep the ceremonial laws of the Jews as well as believe in Jesus. So God sends Peter to a god-fearing Gentile, an important Roman soldier.
So God sends an angel to the recipient: one copy to Cornelius and one to Peter. Cornelius’ message connects him to Peter and Peter’s message connects him to the Truth. And the Truth is that all the old barriers to a relationship with God have been dropped, that God has made a new way through Jesus to begin and maintain that relationship with the Living God. For Peter eating ‘unclean’ animals was not an option. As a good Jew, Peter would never eat such things because the LORD had said they were ‘unclean.’ But now the LORD says He has cleaned them; they are now on the menu. And then just to make sure Peter gets the message, when the escorts from Cornelius arrive, the LORD tells Peter to go with them, another thing Peter would not have done on his own.
What I want us to notice is that Peter delivers Jesus to Cornelius. The message is a simple message that connects what Cornelius knows about God to the fulfillment in Jesus. And something happens that immediately signals to Peter that the Holy Spirit has arrived. This sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence is picked up by those who came with Peter as witnesses. They speak in languages they have not learned, just like what happened on the Day of Pentecost at the birth of the Church.
REVIEW: Acts 1-10 HOLY SPIRIT.
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