“Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. “
Colossians 3:11
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JANUARY 22, 2025
We resume this week’s story as Peter, some other believers, and Cornelius’s messengers journey to a divine appointment with Cornelius.
“Peter went down and said to the men, ‘I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?’ The men replied, ‘We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.’ Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. ‘Stand up,’ he said, ‘I am only a man myself.’
While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: ‘You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?’
Cornelius answered: ‘Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.’
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.”
Peter and Cornelius, two leaders with different backgrounds, ethnicities, and allegiances are brought together by God. Each had an encounter with God while seeking Him in prayer and humbly submitted to His voice. Now God has something more for each of them, starting with Peter.
Today, likely for the first time in his life, Peter enters the home of a Gentile. He applies God’s lesson from the vision even to the people he previously considered “unclean.” No longer does he need to fear contact with Gentiles (or their food) since God can make them clean. After hearing about Cornelius’s vision and seeing his household’s eagerness to hear a message from God, Peter is reminded of the profound truth “that God does not show favoritism.”
As Peter humbly submits, God draws him into a deeper and fuller understanding of His will and His ways. God orchestrates the events of Peter’s and Cornelius’s lives to lead them to a moment of revelation for each of them. This divine appointment has already changed Peter as he sees that God truly accepts people from every nation.
Stay tuned tomorrow when we see even more proof that the message of salvation through Jesus Christ is for everyone!
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- What people, groups, or nations have you been avoiding?
- What barriers do you see in bringing the gospel to these people?
- How can the truth that there is no favoritism with God help you engage with them?
- Take some time to humble yourself before God and submit to follow Him to the divine appointments He is arranging for you.
Church Reading Plan: Genesis 23; Matthew 22