Peter: What Can We Learn From Peter's Life?Sample

"God Shows No Partiality"

In Jesus’s time, Jews generally kept themselves separate from Gentiles. A Gentile was anyone who was not ethnically Jewish. The Law of Moses did not forbid Jewish people from associating with Gentiles. This was a man-made law that had been added to the Law of Moses to keep the Jews as pure as possible. There was concern that eating with Gentiles or otherwise spending time with them would lead to what the Law called “uncleanliness”. Anyone who was unclean was not permitted to worship in the Temple until certain cleanliness rituals had been followed. Uncleanliness was strictly avoided as much as possible.

Because of this, Peter was perplexed by the vision from God commanding him to eat animals that the Law of Moses said were unclean. He was a believer in Jesus, but still very much a Law-abiding Jew. The vast majority of the early church at this time was the same, but the Holy Spirit wanted this to change. He wanted the whole world to hear the Good News about Jesus, so He sent visions to both Peter and Cornelius to bring Jewish and Gentile worlds together in His Kingdom.

Despite the stir it would cause in his culture, Peter invited the Gentile emissaries of Cornelius to be his guests and agreed to step foot into Cornelius’s Gentile home. There he witnessed the Holy Spirit give His approval of Gentile believers by pouring Himself out on them for the first time. Peter could not deny the truth that God wanted the Good News to spread beyond ethnic borders. There were those who would criticize Peter for his actions, but when he explained the actions of the Holy Spirit, they agreed that the Gospel was for Gentiles as well.

Peter’s willingness to step outside cultural norms opened the door to a new era in the church. Other Jewish missionaries to the Gentiles would follow in his footsteps. Peter demonstrated a desire to be obedient even if it meant confronting and challenging long-held traditions. While Jesus did not come to do away with the Law of Moses, He did want His people to start thinking differently in order to see the fullness of His Kingdom come.

Reflection:

How might God be asking you to reach across cultural borders to extend His Kingdom?

What traditions in your life might be holding you back from experiencing the fullness of God?