Today we continue one of the most important passages in the Book of Acts. It is so important that the passage we are reading today is recounted twice more in the following chapters (Acts 11:1-18 and Acts 15:7-11).
What happens in this pivotal passage?
Peter discovers that God is creating a new widely diverse and wildly inclusive family that transcends all human barriers.
For centuries Jews have avoided all contact with Gentiles. “Those people,” the Gentiles are unclean and there is no way that “they” can be part of what God is doing in the world.
God began to break open Peter’s understanding through the vision we read about in Acts 10:10-16.
It is only when Peter journeys to the home of Cornelius and witnesses them receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit that he truly begins to understand how God is creating a new community made up of all kinds of people
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Peter discovers that in the kingdom of God there is no “them.” “They” are also the children of God.
