Peter and Cornelius
Doug uses the interaction between Peter and Cornelius as an "exceptionally clear" picture of progressional dialogue. He mentions the misunderstanding of the Jewish people believing that Gentile believers would need to become Jewish to fully follow Jesus. Does this sound familiar at all. We might not be talking in terms of Jewish and Gentiles, but maybe Republican and Democrat might be a bit more applicable.
If you need a summery of the story here it goes. You can read about in Acts 10 and 11. Cornelius is a Gentile who fears GOD. Cornelius goes to the temple and is involved in all the activities that he can, as a Gentile. An angel appears to Cornelius and tells him to send some people to Joppa and to bring Peter back with them. The men go and while they are on they're journey Peter had a vision, too. Peter's get a vision of a sheet that has all "unclean" animals on it. GOD told Peter to eat the animals, but Peter said that he would never do that because he didn't want to defile himself that way. Peter is awaken from his vision by the men that Cornelius sent. Peter goes with the men back to Cornelius and it is at Cornelius' house that we see the full extent of Peter's vision. Peter understands that the Gentiles are part of the story GOD had for the Jewish nation too. This is a big deal. Especially if you remember that many of the Jewish leaders expected the Gentile to convert to Judaism to follow Jesus. This proved that Gentiles could go before GOD through Jesus on their own.
The rest of the story is pretty cool. You should read it for yourself and tell me what you think. Here's a quote from the book that I really enjoy:
I realize that my life isn't quite at the juxtaposition that Peter's was, but I feel as if right now I'm in a period of rethinking everything I've thought about ministry. I'm certain that's a good thing. I'm glad several of you are on the journey with me.
If you need a summery of the story here it goes. You can read about in Acts 10 and 11. Cornelius is a Gentile who fears GOD. Cornelius goes to the temple and is involved in all the activities that he can, as a Gentile. An angel appears to Cornelius and tells him to send some people to Joppa and to bring Peter back with them. The men go and while they are on they're journey Peter had a vision, too. Peter's get a vision of a sheet that has all "unclean" animals on it. GOD told Peter to eat the animals, but Peter said that he would never do that because he didn't want to defile himself that way. Peter is awaken from his vision by the men that Cornelius sent. Peter goes with the men back to Cornelius and it is at Cornelius' house that we see the full extent of Peter's vision. Peter understands that the Gentiles are part of the story GOD had for the Jewish nation too. This is a big deal. Especially if you remember that many of the Jewish leaders expected the Gentile to convert to Judaism to follow Jesus. This proved that Gentiles could go before GOD through Jesus on their own.
The rest of the story is pretty cool. You should read it for yourself and tell me what you think. Here's a quote from the book that I really enjoy:
I don't think it's an overstatement to say Peter was forced to rethink all he had done to this point.
I realize that my life isn't quite at the juxtaposition that Peter's was, but I feel as if right now I'm in a period of rethinking everything I've thought about ministry. I'm certain that's a good thing. I'm glad several of you are on the journey with me.
1 comment:
i like that story. gentiles being marked clean and eligible. there's not much to say outside of that.
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