Acts 11:1-18

Acts 11:1-18

The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea

heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.

So when Peter went up to Jerusalem

the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,

‘You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.”

Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,

“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa

when in a trance I had a vision,

something resembling a large sheet coming down,

lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.

Looking intently into it,

I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,

the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.

I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’

But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir,

because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

But a second time a voice from heaven answered,

‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’

This happened three times,

and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.

Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,

who had been sent to me from Caesarea.

The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.

These six brothers also went with me,

and we entered the man’s house.

He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,

‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,

who will speak words to you

by which you and all your household will be saved.’

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them

as it had upon us at the beginning,

and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,

‘John baptized with water

but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us

when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,

who was I to be able to hinder God?”

When they heard this,

they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,

“God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you call all men and women, from every nation, race, people, and tongue, into your family and Kingdom. I am blessed to be a part of that family and kingdom. Help me to be a docile child and respond to the promptings of your Holy Spirit today.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Eating with Gentiles? In the First Reading, we hear Peter defend his actions in a confrontation with some Jewish Christians, known as the “circumcision party.” “Luke later relates that the circumcision party consisted of Pharisees who had become disciples of Jesus while continuing to advocate strict adherence to the Deuteronomic Law (Acts 15:5). The circumcision party criticizes Peter not for preaching to Gentiles and baptizing them, but for visiting and eating with them (cf. Acts 11:3)” (Pimentel, Witnesses to the Messiah, 104). Peter explained to them why he had baptized the Gentile Cornelius and his household and had eaten a meal with them. Although the early Church rejoiced that the Gentiles had accepted the Word of God, they were concerned that Peter’s table fellowship with the Gentiles went against the ritual purity protected by the Levitical regulations in the Book of Deuteronomy. Whether the ritual and purity laws of Moses were binding on Gentile Christians was a major problem for the early Church, and the question would be dealt with at length at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).

2. The Proof of the Spirit: During his public ministry, Jesus said that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). But after his Ascension, Jesus sent out his apostles to the Gentiles to lead them into the one flock, which he redeemed through his sacrifice. United to Christ the Good Shepherd by love and exercising the authority granted them by Christ, the apostles acted as good shepherds. And Jesus continues to shepherd his Church at the right hand of the Father and through the apostles’ successors. Peter acted as a good shepherd and defended his actions by recounting the details of his encounter with the Gentile Cornelius. He told the circumcision party everything that happened from his vision in Joppa to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles (Acts 11:5-16). Peter saw the gift of the Holy Spirit as “the definitive proof that the mission to the uncircumcised, including fellowship with them, is in accordance with the will of God. … The Holy Spirit both compels and legitimates the abolition of separation between the Jewish and Gentile disciples” (Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 104-105).

3. Peter as a Good Shepherd: Good shepherds are docile to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Peter was praying when he saw the vision of the large sheet with animals of all kinds. A heavenly voice declared that the animals were all clean. From this vision, Peter eventually realized that “the distinction between clean and unclean foods symbolizes the far more important distinction between Jews as clean and Gentiles as unclean – a distinction that has now been removed in Christ” (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, 171). Peter obeyed God’s command and entered the house of the Gentile Cornelius, who was eager to hear the words of salvation. Seeing the action of the Holy Spirit and the desire of Cornelius for salvation in Christ, Peter saw no reason not to baptize Cornelius and his family. Peter exercised his authority as a good shepherd: first, he sought to feed the flock of Christ, bring them into unity, and lead them to life-giving waters; second, he cared for the flock without reserve and followed God's commands faithfully and prudently; lastly, he did not fear to expose himself to danger for the good of the flock even when people might not have understood his actions. As a priest of God and overseer (bishop) of God’s flock, Peter shared in Christ’s priesthood. He knew the Father through the Son, and he knew his sheep by name. Collaborating with God’s grace, he sought to be a shepherd and priest who was worthy of faith and trust. Knowing his limitations and failings as a sheep in God's flock, he understood his brothers’ misery and was a priest who was merciful.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you sent out your apostles to the ends of the earth to gather your brothers and sisters into God’s family and kingdom. Help me to overcome any walls of separation and be an apostle of unity, peace, and reconciliation today. 

Living the Word of God: How can I be a “good shepherd” today? How can I be an “apostle of unity and peace” today? What courageous action is God inspiring me to do today? How can I feed my brothers and sisters today with the Word of God and Bread of Life?