Take a moment to read Acts 10:1-33 before reading the devotional below.
Today’s passage involves two dramatic visions, in which the Holy Spirit leads Cornelius and Peter to find each other. Cornelius is an officer in the Roman army, occupier of the Jewish land. The Roman Empire was taking over almost all of the known world at that time, and Roman officers were there to maintain control of the land. Some of the Roman officers had interacted with Jesus and there were some who had come to faith in the Messiah. Cornelius is described here as a “God-fearing man” who was faithful in prayer. An angel appears and sends him to Joppa to go get Peter.
Meanwhile, Peter is praying and he falls into a trance. God introduces the first multi-media presentation by lowering a white sheet and flashing through a supernatural PowerPoint with animals that had been forbidden for the Jewish people to eat. Prior to that vision, the law forbid Peter from associating with Gentiles or eating their food. But God’s slideshow reveals that these foods can now be considered “clean.” With all of this undeniable supernatural intervention, Peter begins to see that God is reaching the Gentiles too.
God is for you no matter where you come from. He supernaturally communicated that message to Peter in order to make sure that the early church was not limited to the Jews. Some have claimed that God is racist or exclusive due to the parts of Scripture that forbid the Jews from intermingling with foreigners. But that was a spiritual problem, not a racial one. Foreign cultures brought foreign gods with them, and this derailed the relationship between God and the Jewish people time after time. Jesus created a pathway to God that all people could access, and the Jewish people who had faith in Jesus as the Messiah could unite with any Gentiles who shared that faith. Today we stand as one united, global church and we can rejoice in God’s goodness and mercy to all people.