Acts 11:1–18
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Main Idea
We all must decide to stand in God’s way or kneel at His feet.
Matthew 20:1–16 ESV
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Today, we will observe a summary of what we have already learned over the past few weeks. However, we will see these events through the eyes of Jewish Christians. I once heard a pastor discuss leaders in the early church and the Reformation, encouraging us to let our heroes be who they were.” He was trying to say that these historical giants spoke and reacted to the cultural nuances in which they lived. We can’t view their words and actions through our 21st-century eyes and cultural norms. Such is the case of the people to whom Peter gave a report and whom we will step into the shoes of today.
Passage
Outline
I – Peter’s meeting (vv. 1-3)
II – Peter’s recap (vv. 4-15)
III – The Jew’s reaction (vv. 16-18)
I – Peter’s meeting
Acts 11:1–3 ESV
1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
A debrief meeting
When I worked for Samaritan’s Purse – Operation Christmas Child, most of my travel centered around facilitating meetings between Customs Agents & Government Officials and our volunteer teams. Our job was to establish relationships, identify importation procedures, gather other relevant intelligence, resolve challenges faced during the past season, and forge a long-term, sustainable importation plan.
To be a good financial steward, I would often hit 3-4 countries at a time, and when I was finished in one country and before moving to the next country, I would always craft a summary of the meeting details and action steps for my leadership. I would email them while I was traveling, and then we would debrief in person when I was back in the office.
That is what Peter is doing when he returns to Jerusalem from Caesarea. News of his visitation to Cornelius’ house and their heavenly encounter had traveled fast. Not only did the news get back to the Apostles and Jewish believers in Jerusalem, but word spread throughout the entire region of Judea. A debrief was needed. And, being that Jerusalem was essentially still the church’s HQ, that is where everyone gathered.
Everyone is a critic
Upon his return to Jerusalem, a meeting took place. The text doesn’t say whether or not the other eleven Apostles were present (it just says they heard the news). Still, we can be confident that, at minimum, Peter and the six brothers from Joppa were present with another group called The Circumcision Party.
Certainly, Peter was not surprised to face criticism. He even told Cornelius directly that it wasn’t lawful for him to be there and associate with him. So, when Peter faced opposition from his Jewish-Christian brothers, he spoke gently and wisely to them. But before we get to Peter’s response, we need to understand who these critics are.
The Circumcision Party
As the argument suggests, these were Jewish believers in Christ who believed that it was inappropriate for Peter to neglect the clear teaching of Jewish tradition and associate with uncircumcised Gentiles. They didn’t even mention the term Gentiles but hung their criticism on the term ‘uncircumcised men.’
Later in Acts (and in some of Paul’s writings), we see a zealous group called the Judiazers, who insist that any Gentile who converts to Christianity must also obey Jewish laws and customs, such as circumcision. Perhaps this was an early rendition of this future group, but I think it’s more likely that these Jewish believers are holding the ground of their traditions in good faith.
We need to understand that circumcision was not just a tradition to uphold. It was their covenantal sign as God’s people. It was at the core of their identity. If you were not circumcised, you were not of God’s people.
Genesis 17:1–5 ESV
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
Genesis 17:9–14 ESV
9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
Like Peter before his vision, he would have argued the same point. They carried the covenantal promises. They were given the prophecies of the coming Messiah. They were the ones who had been oppressed for thousands of years… waiting over 400 years in complete radio silence from God between Malachi and the events of the gospels. They were the tenants who had worked in the vineyard all day long in the scorching heat. Now, as you can imagine, it would be difficult to see Gentiles come into the faith without prerequisites… those who were outside God’s covenant people… who do not bear the external mark of this covenant… those who came to work in the vineyard in the final hour and are given the same thing as the workers who had been there the whole time. Can you blame them for questioning the situation?
This isn’t just prejudice talking. The details of this debrief were threatening their very identity. Now, everyone in this meeting has a decision to make: Are they going to white-knuckle grip their traditions (because the unlawful parts of their law came from the oral law of their leaders, not the written law of God’s word) and do things because that is the way they have always done them, or will they listen to the new information and discern what God is doing. Will they stand in the way of God’s work, or will they kneel and submit to His will?
What does that mean for you? We all have traditions. Another pastor I listened to recently said, “Those who say they have no traditions are the ones who have the most.” Whether those traditions come from our denomination or the teachings we sat under in the past… when faced with clear biblical truth or a clear move of God that conflicts with what we think we know, we have a decision to make. Will we stand in the way and fight for our traditions, or will we kneel and submit to the truth?
Peter saw the war in their hearts because he experienced it himself. So, he addressed the issue head-on.
II – Peter’s recap
Acts 11:4–16 ESV
4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
As I said earlier, Peter replied in gentleness and wisdom. He didn’t bluntly tell them they were wrong. He didn’t chastise them for their ugly prejudices. He didn’t pull the Apostle card and demand they do what he says. Instead, he patiently told them what God had shown Him and testified about what God had done. He laid it all out for them, step by step.
This is where we have a repeat telling – a summary – of what we have already learned. As we could easily fall into the trap of skimming over familiar verses, but remember… under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke is giving the same information for the third time (first, we are told of the visions, then it is recapped at Cornelius’ house, and now again to the believers in Jerusalem). Repetition means emphasis, so let’s not neglect what God has for us here. If Luke emphasizes the order, let’s look at the familiarity from that perspective. How is Peter reassuring the others in how he tells the story?
S.H.O.L.C.
Seek: Prayer first
Is there any other place we could begin? Peter didn’t seem to think so. That is where all this began… on a rooftop in Joppa, praying.
If we don’t take the time to seek the counsel of our Heavenly Father (who is also the one who is sovereignly working out all things according to the counsel of His will), then we have gotten the order wrong from the very beginning. Like a child looking to his coach from the field for direction on how to perform the next play, we need to be seeking direction from the one who holds the playbook.
Hear: God partially reveals His will
As we seek God in prayer, He answers, but as we have already discussed, it is rarely a direct and complete answer. Instead, in a way that causes us to lean on and rely on Him to a greater degree, He gives us the next puzzle piece. He gives us just enough light to take the next step. He wants us to take those steps of faith despite having all the answers.
For Peter, that was the vision. God revealed his plans for the Gentiles via a heavenly sheet with a full buffet inside of it. And, though the vision was hard to comprehend, God’s command was clear: What God has made clean, do not call unclean.” That applies to the dietary laws and God’s ultimate plan of redemption.
Observe: God works in our daily lives
For Peter, this was seeing the three Gentiles approaching and being willing to follow them back to Caesarea, discerning some level of connectivity between God’s revelation and his present circumstances.
For us, we might use the analogy of God opening and closing doors. If we are prayerfully seeking direction for our lives, we should expect to see it play out somehow. We need to observe what God is doing in our present circumstances. What is he doing in my daily life that would help me discern his answer so far?
Listen: Others confirm God’s work
Scripture tells us that a matter is established by the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses. Peter was not the sole witness to this event. Six other believers served as eyewitnesses. We should expect to rely on godly friends and family members… even those within the church who know us… to bear witness and help discern what God is doing.
This reminds me of when our family was commissioned to come here as the church-planting family. We spent time with the Elders of ABF, and during that time, one of the Elders explained how to discern someone’s call to ministry. In this process, the Elders look for two pieces of evidence: internal and external. First, do you have the inward call of God to ministry, and are you capable of executing that ministry? Can you explain that call to ministry effectively and demonstrate that you have the knowledge base and capability to fulfill that call?
Secondly, do others in the church see that calling and ability in you? Are there external witnesses you can testify to seeing the internal call in you? This can apply to any circumstance because we all have people in our lives who can serve as witnesses to help confirm what God is doing.
Confirm: The matter is confirmed by the Word
Finally (and with a new piece of information in the story), the matter is confirmed when Peter remembers the word of the Lord. He remembered the words of Jesus spoken to him in Acts 1:5:
Acts 1:5 ESV
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Peter connected his prayer, revelation, circumstance, and co-witnesses to what God did in front of his very eyes. The Holy Spirit came upon uncircumcised Gentiles, just like He came upon them in Acts 2 and the Samaritans in Acts 8… just as Jesus said would happen.
The whole ordeal was confirmed through the Word. It came full circle back to scripture. The author of Hebrews confirms this for us when he writes:
Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
We can always depend on this progression when seeking answers, guidance, or clarity from God. SHOLC. Seek. Hear. Observe. Listen [to others]. Confirm [through scripture].
Now that the people had been fully debriefed, they had a decision to make.
III – The Jew’s reaction
Acts 11:17–18 ESV
17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Peter makes his final point
Peter concludes his testimony of recent events by drawing a conclusion. Given everything I just shared with you… if God has truly given to the Gentiles – without distinction and without circumcision – the same gift He has given us… How can I stand in the way?
And by asking that question to himself, Peter is also asking everyone in the room. Are you going to stand, or are you going to kneel? Will you resist God’s work or submit to His will?
The people had a decision to make
The tension at this point is palpable because the same people loudly criticizing Peter’s fellowship with the uncircumcised have now fallen silent. What will they do? Will they dig in their heels and defend their historical identity, or will they recognize this new move of God?
After silent contemplation and inward strife, they all seemed to have come to the same conclusion. In a unanimous display of faith, they knelt to God’s will and praised Him, receiving His work of repentance among the Gentiles without prerequisites or distinction.
As one commentator says:
“The gospel never changes. But we can become unchangeable, inflexible, and thus unusable.”
–Acts—The Church Afire
Or, we can align our hearts with God’s. We can choose to SHOLC and leave behind misconceptions and inaccurate traditions for the truth.