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A PERSPECTIVE COMMENTARY
THE UNCLEAN MADE CLEAN AGAIN.
by Rick McGrath, Ph.D.
ACTS CHAPTER 10
1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!" 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea." 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13 Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. 17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there. 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them." 21 Peter went down and said to the men, "I'm the one you're looking for. Why have you come?" 22 The men replied, "We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say." 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself." 27 Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. (NIV Bible)
The story of God’s authority comes down to this verse:
"God shows us in this story that we should not call anyone profane or unclean."
This verse was an absolute game changer for Peter and the early church. And it should be a game changer for us today.
Peter made this statement after he had a vision of a sheet falling from heaven. On the sheet were “all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air.”
Many of the animals on the sheet were unclean according to religious law. For example, the Bible in Leviticus 11 provides the classic biblical teachings, about which animals are clean and unclean to eat.
Well, those clean and unclean animals appear on the sheet in Peter’s vision. God tells Peter, “to kill and eat.” God makes no distinction between clean and unclean — rather, God just tells Peter to eat up because it’s all good!
Peter protested, because, you know, the scriptures forbade it. And that was Peter’s problem. He elevated the scriptures above God.
Peter complains, saying that he would never eat that unclean stuff.
“For I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.”
Then God gives Peter a lesson in God’s authority.
“What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
Peter was right! After all, Leviticus says you can’t eat pork. But there it was on the sheet, a big fat pig and God was telling him to go make bacon.
Likewise Peter went to meet the Roman centurion. But when Peter arrived at Cornelius’s house, it was full of Gentiles. Peter said to them, “You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile, but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.”
Peter’s vision was about animals, but it was about much more than animals. It was about human beings. It’s important to note that every culture has these kinds of purity codes that tell us who is included and who is excluded, who is clean and who is unclean. Sometimes those purity codes are based on religious principles and sometimes they are based on other cultural standards. The point is that these purity codes create a barrier of hostility between “us” and “them.”
But God’s vision to Peter changed all of that. He could no longer call anyone unclean. Later in the story, Peter explained his actions by stating, “The Spirit told me … not to make a distinction between us and them.”
Why? Because “God has shown us that we should not call anyone profane or unclean.” This is such an important verse because our words mediate reality. When we call others unclean, when we decide who is included and who is excluded, we construct a reality that is in opposition to God. God shows no partiality, so neither should we.
In Peter’s day, it was the Gentiles who were thought to be unclean. Who is it in our day?
It would seem to be anyone who doesn’t fit our standard of Western thinking whether it be gay couples, Muslims, or any other group of non-Christian believers.
We go about declaring our way is “Right” without regarding thousands of years of philosophical development and indoctrination.
Here in the United States we have millions of Muslims that reside here with little incidents of terror against non-Muslims, yet from our early history American views of Islam have affected debates regarding freedom of religion. Even during the drafting of the state constitution of Pennselvania in 1776. Constitutionalists promoted religious toleration while Anticonstitutionalists called for reliance on Protestant values in the formation of the state's republican government. The former group won out, and inserted a clause for religious liberty in the new state constitution. American views of Islam were influenced by favorable Enlightenment writings from Europe, as well as Europeans who had long warned that Islam was a threat to Christianity and republicanism 1.
It seems as Christians, many have continued the argument that Islam is a threat to Christianity and republicanism. We insist on using our interpretation of biblical principles to call certain people profane or unclean. Because, you know, the Bible. But Peter’s vision tells us that we shouldn’t use the Bible as justification to make those kinds of distinctions. That is to elevate the Bible above God. It turns the Bible into an idol.
Just as the Spirit told Peter not to use the teachings of his day to “make a distinction between us and them,” so we shouldn’t use the Bible to make a distinction between us and them. We aren’t under God’s authority when we make declarations of who is clean and unclean, who is worthy of salvation and who isn’t. As Peter’s vision shows us, God’s authority doesn’t divide us from them. Rather, it includes us and them.
I think sometimes we miss the bigger message. It doesn't take much to see by looking around that the so called Christian Community has taken some of their beliefs to unloving and unwelcoming levels. People are people and I think we tend to forget that. We are all sinners in one form or another and I think we also tend to forget that
I also believe we tend to forget that biblical teachings are for the church. Instructions for Christians to live by. I don’t believe the bible was written for the non-believer to live by since they don’t accept Christ or have any current interest in living by biblical teachings in general. Christians should expect the non-believing measure up to the same standards that Christians themselves should be striving to achieve. It would be like moving to Russia or China and demanding that they honor the same American constitutional rights that Americans enjoy just because you moved to Russia or China.
The Bible says we are ambassadors of Christ. We should temper our biblical teachings with the understanding of God’s love. For through Jesus we have all been redeemed of our sinful nature and made clean and unprofane.
Isn’t it time that we get back to what Jesus is really about?
End Notes
Charles D. Russell, "Islam as a Danger to Republican Virtue: Broadening Religious Liberty in Revolutionary Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania History, Summer 2009, Vol. 76 Issue 3, pp 250-275
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