I have been making my way through the Book of Acts as of late. I’ve been doing so using a different translation. It’s been an interesting read so far..but I digress.
A few things have stood out to me as I’ve been reading the events of this book.
The first of which is Peter. Specifically Peter after the resurrection of Jesus. He’s unstoppable. At almost every opportunity, He tells about the Good News of Jesus, from the beggar in Acts 3, to his speech before the Sanhedrin, Peter literally is a changed man.
How did this happen? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Being filled with the Holy Spirit. Both events altered Peter’s life forever. He encountered The Living God, and was filed with The Spirit of God, and He was a machine. (You can see the before Peter in action in the Gospels— he stumbles over his words, He disowns Jesus and He even cuts off a man's ear.. ) But Peter is a different man in the Book of Acts because of The resurrection of Jesus Christ— because the resurrection changes everything— and because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Both.
I’ve also noticed the events surrounding Cornelius’ baptism. You can read about this starting here.
What I find particularly interesting about this event is Acts 11.
“Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. 2 But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him. 3 “You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.” (Acts 11:1-3)
The apostles and other believers didn't like the fact that Peter was preaching to the Gentiles… It wasn't sitting well with them… (long story short.. Jews didn't associate with Gentiles for all kinds of reasons.)
This brings us back to Peter— Post Resurrection Peter. He is ready to respond to the apostles and does so quite well:
4 Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. 5 “I was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me. 6 When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds. 7 And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’
8 “‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.’
9 “But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’ 10 This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.
11 “Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. 12 The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us. 13 He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, ‘Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. 14 He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’
15 “As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. 16 Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”
18 When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.” (NLT2)
Peter carefully explained to the crowd of believers that God had ordained all of this— with Cornelius and family— and who was he to stand in God’s way?
What really impressed me was verse 18- The others could have thrown up their hands and said “no way!”— “It’s us four and no more.”
But they didn’t. They recognized that God was at work, and they wanted in on what God was doing.
Where I am going with this? Well, sometimes we can get caught up in our own way of doing things, in the way we like things, that we might forget that our God can do whatever He wants, however He wants with whomever He wants. He doesn't always want things to be done the way they have always been done. We in the church must be open to new things— (It’s biblical after all)
It’s ok for us to change. Peter is proof. Before Jesus came back from the dead, Peter was a goof. After the resurrection, Peter was a house on fire.
How about you? Have you come face to face with the Resurrected Jesus? He alone has the power to change you, as He did Peter.
You never know, He might use you to take the Good News to someone who has never heard it before, like He did with Peter and Cornelius.
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