Acts 11:1-18--Peter Reports to the Church

Acts 11:1-18
English Standard Version
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Peter Reports to the Church
11 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

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How would the believers who were saved at Pentecost who were all Jews from other nations respond to the news that the Holy Spirit had also been given to the Gentiles?  Verse one tells us that this is a thing that all the brothers (this includes those who were Jews, but not saved because they too were "brothers" of the Jewish believers) heard about throughout all Judea and Jerusalem--a far distance away from Caesarea.

Now some who claimed to be fellow believers had already broken themselves off into their own faction called "the party of circumcision" and they tried to make the gospel out to be incomplete if the requirements of the Law and the traditions of the Pharisees were not added to it.  Later in the Bible it will be clear that this "party" was heavily influenced by the Pharisees and outside of Jerusalem and Judea, this group will be called the Judaizers because they will try to tell the Gentiles that they must become Jewish before they can receive the Holy Spirit and become a Christian.  If you want to study more about this argument in the early Church, read the book of Galatians.  The topic is covered in depth there as the Judaizers were stirring up all kinds of trouble in the region of Galatia that led Paul to write his epistle to them.

There is an "accusation" made against Peter and his companions that they went with uncircumcised men and ate with them.  It is true that they did this, but there is no law against this in the Old Testament.  The only cross-references you'll probably see to this in a study Bible will be the accusations that the Pharisees made against Jesus that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and the passage from the book of Galatians where Peter needs to be corrected by Paul because he forgot this very lesson that the Lord was teaching to him and he acted one way when was around only Gentile believers, but as soon as James, the half-brother of Jesus, and other Jews from Jerusalem show up, Peter stopped associating with the Gentile Christians and started to only eat Kosher food, and so on.  The question is this passage though is not one of dietary concerns, but of circumcision, even though many times you will hear an incomplete reading of Chapters 10 and 11 that tries to make this about how it's okay for you to eat ham and bacon (be careful about when a pastor or teacher skips over a large portion of text that clearly explains the meaning of the portion that he is teaching from and tries to ascribe some other meaning to the passage).

We've already read the story to see and hear exactly what God said and that the point of the vision was "Do not call unclean that which I have made clean."  We then see that Peter and the Jews finally realized the extent of what God was trying to say when the Holy Spirit came upon.  However, these others that were now criticizing had neither received the vision nor participated in the work nor seen the fruitfulness of the labors.  That sounds a lot like some of the church business meetings that I've been to in the recent past.  People that are more concerned about upsetting the status quo and "we've never done it that way before" and "you're going to upset people and make them want to leave" or "people are going to stop giving money to the church if you keep preaching the Word of God like that."  How was it so hard for these Jewish believers to understand that only God can give someone the Holy Spirit and if like we say (or at least used to say) in marriage ceremonies, "What God has joined, let no man tear asunder."  The ink on the marriage certificate between God and these Gentile believers is still wet, and the Jews are accusing God of bigamy because they were married to Him first (that's essentially what's going on here, though they are bringing the accusation against Peter since he was involved in it and things don't go so well when you bring accusations against God--just read the book of Job).  The Jews were unwilling to see the saved Gentiles as children of Abraham as those who shared a common salvation that came by grace through faith and that it had nothing to do with paternity or pedigree.  Paul explains that in the book of Romans 9-11 if you'd like to read the argument for yourself.

Back to the story at hand though.  Peter relays the vision to them including his original misunderstanding and God's correction of Peter's interpretation and that God had to say it three times to Peter for Peter to begin to understand.  Peter tells how the men from Caesarea were sent to him and that the Spirit told Peter to go with them, making no distinction.  Peter also takes six brothers with him and they all entered the house of Cornelius together.

It was not until they arrived there that they heard the purpose of why the Spirit had sent them, for it was Cornelius who told them that an angel told him to call for Peter because, "He will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household."  Remember that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."  Right in the middle of the passage I referenced from Romans a minute ago is Romans 10:14-17:
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​14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Peter was there to give them the gospel message so that they would hear and believe.  There was no doubt in the mind of Cornelius, his family or God that they were ready ready to believe.  They just needed to hear the message preached so they could say, "Yes!  That's it!  That's what I believe!"  God also wanted Peter and the other six brothers there to be witnesses to their receiving of the Holy Spirit and to be there to exhort them to follow in believer's baptism.

Peter adds something here that was in his mind that we were not privied to earlier.  The Holy Spirit brought to the mind of Peter the words of Jesus who told the disciples that John the Baptist baptized with water, but He would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  John the Baptist also said the same thing about himself and Jesus in Matthew 3:11.  Then Peter asks the question that shuts the mouths of the critics (for now), "If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?”  In today's day and age we'd call this a "mic drop" as everything has been said that needs to be said and you can just drop the microphone and walk away from the debate.  Peter shines the spotlight in the correct place by telling them that their issue with God and His election.  There was no good reason for God to elect Abraham from all the nations--God did it as part of His sovereign plan, to accomplish His good and perfect covenant, for His good pleasure and to bring more glory and honor unto Himself.  He made this election to redeem a remnant of the Gentiles for all the same reasons.

When they heard this they responded correctly by worshiping God for who He is and what He had done.  They realized that God was the one who had granted both repentance and eternal life to the Gentiles.  As mentioned before, this will continue to be a sticking point throughout the New Testament and even as the lesson will be learned here in Jerusalem and Judea, the trouble-makers will hope that they can created division in the places further away saying that Paul and the apostles in Jerusalem were preaching a different gospel--claiming that the Church in Jerusalem required circumcision and adherence to the Law in order to be saved.  We'll come to the Jerusalem Council in a few chapters where that issue was settled by the apostles, but it is still an issue to this day because people can't believe that salvation is a gift of God that comes by grace through faith and that it is not of works.  The Law brings death, but the Spirit brings life.  The Law showed us that were were at enmity with God, but the New Covenant made peace between God and man through the reconciliation that comes through Jesus Christ.


2 Corinthians 5:18-20
English Standard Version
​18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.