Ep. 278. Acts 10 -11 | Even for the Gentiles

EPISODE 278

EVEN FOR THE GENTILES: ACTS 10-11

I suppose since almost everyone we know falls into the category of "Gentile," and since many of us grew up in church, the idea that the gospel was also "for the Gentiles" is as ordinary to us as believing the Bible is important. But, for the Jews, including the original apostles, the idea that the Gentiles were included in the redemptive work of the gospel was not only foreign but would have been repugnant. When Jesus said in Matthew 28 and Acts 1 that they were to go into "all nations" and go from "Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth," they thought he meant to bring the Jews from those places back into the fold of Israel.

This become clear to us in Acts 10 and 11 when Peter is the first to go to the Gentiles and remarks, "it is unlawful for a Jew to associate or visit someone of another nation." When Peter saw that the Gentiles also received the Spirit of God by faith, he was amazed. In chapter 11, Peter was forced to defend himself and his ministry to the Gentiles. We so often read the Bible from a twenty-first-century perspective and forget that Peter, while a faithful follower of Jesus, was also just a man and a Jewish man at that. He had an understanding of the Scripture that was not yet fully realized in Christ. He had, like the Jewish leaders of the day, overlooked the Old Testament texts that foreshadowed and predicted the Gentile inclusion in the gospel. These OT references to the Gentiles are everywhere and seen as early as Genesis 12 when God tells Abraham, "Through you ALL the nations of the earth will be blessed." (emphasis mine) And aren't we grateful to God that the Gentiles were allowed to be included in the blessing of the gospel by faith? Thank you, God, for your gracious gift.

ADDITIONAL READING: Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:8-9; John 5:36; Acts 1:8-9; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16