Psalm 123; Acts 10:9-48

Psalm 123
In history and in current events, the world does not love God's people. This Psalm, like Psalm 121, encourages us to look to God who is in heaven for our help and provision. Just as a servant looks to his or her master for direction and for provisions, we must look to our God. vv. 3 and 4 remind us of the scorn and contempt that the Jews have endured, and sometimes we as New Testament believers are the object of contempt as well. We should turn to the Lord for mercy.

Acts 10:9-48
We can be pretty sure something significant is happening here. First God spoke to Cornelius in a vision. Then he spoke to Peter in a vision as well. In Peter's case, something like a sheet descended from the sky. The sheet which was gathered up by the four corners contained "all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds." A voice instructed Peter to kill and eat. "No, Lord," Peter declared. "I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean." But the voice spoke again, "Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean." This vision was repeated three times.

To help this make sense to us today, it's important to remember that the Jews had strict rules about what was clean and unclean. The food laws made it nearly impossible for Jews to eat with Gentiles for fear of defilement. In fact, the Gentiles themselves were often seen as "unclean." This vision is telling Peter that the Gentiles are not inferior or unclean and that Jesus died for them too. Before the vision, Peter would probably have thought that Cornelius could not be saved. Through this vision God is teaching him something new and different. In fact, He is sending Peter to take the Good News about Jesus to Cornelius.

Peter was obedient to God's leading. "I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel--that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all." Peter then went on to tell the story of Jesus, how that "everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name." v. 43 A new chapter in Christian history was being written as these new Gentile believers received the Holy Spirit and baptism. From this time on, there is not supposed to be any difference between believers. We will see that in practice, they still had some struggles as modern believers sometimes do, but this is God's ideal. See Galatians 4:26-29.  "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus...There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus..." This does not mean that we don't recognize differences. Obviously we are still physically male and female, etc., but the point is that no one in the Lord is better than anyone else. No favoritism!