1 1-3 The news traveled fast and in no time the leaders and friends back in Jerusalem heard about it—heard that the non-Jewish “outsiders” were now “in.” When Peter got back to Jerusalem, some of his old associates, concerned about circumcision, called him on the carpet: “What do you think you’re doing rubbing shoulders with that crowd, eating what is prohibited and ruining our good name?”
4-6 So Peter, starting from the beginning, laid it out for them step-by-step: “Recently I was in the town of Joppa praying. I fell into a trance and saw a vision: Something like a huge blanket, lowered by ropes at its four corners, came down out of heaven and settled on the ground in front of me. Milling around on the blanket were farm animals, wild animals, reptiles, birds—you name it, it was there. Fascinated, I took it all in.
7-10 “Then I heard a voice: ‘Go to it, Peter—kill and eat.’ I said, ‘Oh, no, Master. I’ve never so much as tasted food that wasn’t kosher.’ The voice spoke again: ‘If God says it’s okay, it’s okay.’ This happened three times, and then the blanket was pulled back up into the sky.
11-14 “Just then three men showed up at the house where I was staying, sent from Caesarea to get me. The Spirit told me to go with them, no questions asked. So I went with them, I and six friends, to the man who had sent for me. He told us how he had seen an angel right in his own house, real as his next-door neighbor, saying, ‘Send to Joppa and get Simon, the one they call Peter. He’ll tell you something that will save your life—in fact, you and everyone you care for.’
15-17 “So I started in, talking. Before I’d spoken half a dozen sentences, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did on us the first time. I remembered Jesus’ words: ‘John baptized with water; you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So I ask you: If God gave the same exact gift to them as to us when we believed in the Master Jesus Christ, how could I object to God?”
18 Hearing it all laid out like that, they quieted down. And then, as it sank in, they started praising God. “It’s really happened! God has broken through to the other nations, opened them up to Life!”
People questioned Peter's act that why he entered into Cornelius' house to share the Gospel message with him and his households. Their traditions and experiences limited their understanding of the works of the Holy Spirit in world's missions. Peter did not fight back but simply witness to them how the Holy Spirit worked in him through a trance and in Cornelius through an angel's words that had been also witnessed by some other brothers and sisters. The pouring out of the gift of the Holy Spirit was the determining factor for them to believe that the Holy Spirit was also given to Gentiles without the necessity of obeying Moses' Law. People's misunderstanding was finally corrected and began to praise the Lord for His works in Gentiles.
Peter's was the pioneer one used by the Holy Spirit to advance the Gospel to the Gentiles, and the Holy Spirit also used his experience to correct the misunderstanding of the early church regarding the world's missions. My dear Holy Spirit, the church needs to experience You and Your works that we can follow your way and accomplish your mission. Give us an obedient heart and listening ears that we can follow and bring much greater blessings to people we are going to serve.
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