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Critics of Peter: The apostles and believers in Judea learn that Gentiles in Caesarea received the gospel from Peter. When Peter returns to Jerusalem, some confront him for doing wrong (in their minds). They criticize him for associating with the uncircumcised, specifically for eating with them.
Peter’s Defense, The Vision: Peter teaches his critics in detail of the vision he had in Joppa. During a trance, he saw a large sheet descending from the sky, filled with various unclean animals according to the Mosaic Law. A voice from Heaven instructed him to eat these animals, but Peter refused, attesting that he had never eaten anything unholy or unclean. The voice rebuked Peter that what God has cleansed should not be considered unholy. This conversation repeated two times before the sheet was drawn back into the heavens.
Peter’s Defense to the Skeptical Jews continues: The Spirit Fell on the Gentiles. After Peter’s vision in Joppa, three men sent from Caesarea arrived at his location. Commanded by the Holy Spirit, Peter went with them to meet the centurion Cornelius who had been instructed by an angel to seek Peter. Peter preaches the gospel to Cornelius, his friends, and his family—Gentiles all. The Holy Spirit falls upon the Gentiles as they believe in Jesus. After hearing this account, the Jerusalem believers realize that God had granted Gentiles the opportunity to be saved from sin to eternal life.
Gentiles in Antioch Believe in Jesus: At the murder of Stephen years prior, a persecution against the church began. Due to the persecution, believing Jews spread out to regions like Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, initially preaching about Jesus only to Jews. However, some began preaching to Greeks in Antioch. A significant number of Greeks believed in Jesus. Hearing this, the Jerusalem church sends Barnabas to Antioch, who, seeing God at work among the Antiochians, further encourages the believers in their faith. Barnabas then seeks Saul (Paul) to join him in teaching the rapidly growing community. Paul ministers there for a year.
The Charity of the Gentile Believers: Prophets from Jerusalem visit Antioch, and one named Agabus prophesies a global famine during Claudius Caesar’s reign. Moved by this warning, the Antiochian disciples decide to send relief money in preparation for the famine to their Judean brethren, according to their wealth. Barnabas and Saul are entrusted to deliver these contributions to the Judean elders.
The church continues to grow exponentially, due in large part to the gospel spreading to Gentiles (non-Jews) and their entry into the community of believers.
After sharing the gospel to the centurion Cornelius in Caesarea, the Apostle Peter returns to Jerusalem. There, Jewish believers criticize Peter for associating with Gentiles. In response, Peter recounts his vision of the blanket filled with unclean animals and his instruction from God not to view them as "unclean," because God has made them clean. Peter then explains his encounter with Cornelius, a Gentile, and how the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles just as it had on the Jewish believers. Upon hearing this, the Jewish believers drop their criticism and praise God, understanding now that Gentiles too can be justified in God's presence by His grace.
The gospel spreads all over the map, beyond Judea and Samaria, due to the persecution that started after Stephen's death in Acts 7. Many Jewish believers fled Jerusalem to the island of Cyprus, to Phoenicia, and to Antioch in Syria. Initially, these refugees preached the gospel only to other Jews, but some believers from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching faith in Jesus to the Greeks in Antioch, leading a great number to the Lord.
The Jerusalem church sends Barnabas to support the church in Antioch, a city in Syria. Observing the grace of God at work, Barnabas rejoices and encourages the new believers to continue their faith in the Lord. Seeing the potential of this rapidly growing community, Barnabas seeks Saul (later known by his Greek name Paul), who has been living in Tarsus after murderous threats drove him from Jerusalem. Together, Barnabas and Saul teach the believers in Antioch for a year. In Antioch, the mixed ethnicity congregation of believers in Christ are called "Christians" for the first time.
Prophets from Jerusalem visit Antioch. One of the prophets, Agabus, predicts a worldwide famine. In response, the disciples of Antioch decide to send financial relief to their fellow believers in Judea, entrusting Barnabas and Saul with the responsibility of transporting it to the elders in Jerusalem.
The gospel has spread to Gentiles as well as the Jews, and a spirit of harmony and love is pervasive among these communities that are otherwise separated by geography, culture, history, and ethnicity. Saul (Paul) has been brought back into the mission field by Barnabas. His great work as a church-planter and preacher of the gospel is just beginning.
Luke has documented Paul's miraculous conversion and his appointment by Jesus to be an apostle to the Gentiles. He documents that the gospel was first opened to the Gentiles through Peter. Luke will document Paul's ministry to spread the gospel to the Gentiles throughout the Roman world. He will also record many miracles God does through Paul, and in large part they mirror what he recorded regarding Peter. Luke, as Paul's co-worker in the gospel, is laying down a historical record that supports Paul's authority as a true apostle of God, and a messenger of the gospel of Grace.
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