Unclean Things - Acts 10:24-33

One question that I kept thinking about yesterday was why didn’t the Lord just send Peter a vision saying, “take the gospel to the gentiles” instead of sending this relatively cryptic message of “eat these unclean animals.” The more I think about it, the more I can see two possible reasons why the metaphor was more profitable than a direct message. First, Peter is primarily a Jew, he was raised a Jew, he lived in a Jewish society, and had only been acquainted with Christianity for a couple of years. Jesus spent his mortal life worshipping as a Jew, but teaching that the Jewish way of salvation was going to be built upon to create Christianity. So really, it’s just been since Jesus’ resurrection that the concept of a separate religious movement had been emphasized.

At this point, the gospel had only gone to those who were already Jews, so the practice of circumcision and kosher food was already known and engrained into the members. But if the gospel were to go to the gentiles, then they would be unfamiliar with Jewish traditions and they might believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, but getting circumcised or changing their lifestyle completely might be deal breakers for them. And really, the gentiles might have a difficult time connecting the message of “Jesus Christ died so that we can be saved and repent” with “cut off a little bit of your penis and don’t eat these animals that you’ve been eating your whole life.” Though the connection might be obvious to a Jew, to a gentile these actions might seem completely arbitrary.
Clearly, as Peter shows in the dream, he is still completely adherent to the kosher lifestyle, and is revolted by the idea of eating unclean animals. He hasn’t yet been able to disconnect himself from Judaism into a full acceptance of Christianity. So why didn’t Jesus just come down and say, “teach the gentiles the gospel” and then also come down and answer all the other questions that Peter would have as the time came? The scripture that comes to mind is “it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.” Jesus doesn’t physically lead the Church yet, and in Peter’s time, he had just delegated that responsibility to him.
Jesus doesn’t desire to write a “user’s manual” for the Church where we just follow and obey, he wants us to develop a relationship with Him and an understanding of how to commune with the Spirit. We develop those skills as we practice listening to and following the Spirit. If Jesus had come down and told Peter, “take the gospel to the gentiles, and they can eat whatever animals they want and it’s fine,” there would be a disconnect between Peter thinking “why is it ok for them to do it and not me?” or some other question like that, but he wouldn’t have the relationship with the Spirit to learn and understand just why it matters. Peter needed to reflect on the vision, consider, ask questions, and rely on the Spirit for the answers.
The second reason why this specific vision was important to Peter understanding the need to take the gospel to the gentiles has to do with what we talked about earlier, how much of Judaism needed to be accepted in order for the gentiles to qualify as having accepted the gospel. Like we talked about earlier, Peter and all the members of the Church up to that point were all former Jews or Jew-like, such as Samaritans. Because Christ was a Jew, did all those who embraced him as the Savior need to become Jews first as well? That might be a natural progression of thought when the idea of preaching to the gentiles was introduced. Because the vision featured lots of different animals that were forbidden in Judaism, Peter wasn’t commanded to simply accept other people who eat those animals, but was commanded to eat those animals himself. I feel like this is the place where the Lord says, “this is not Judaism anymore, this is something separate, the old traditions are done away and you need to move on.” The Lord isn’t asking Peter to just accept gentiles into his already established culture, he’s asking that Peter lead a completely different institution all together. Christianity might have been built out of Judaism, but most of the commonalities stop there.
That Peter’s commandment didn’t come suddenly or forcefully is addressed in the IM which says, “Peter’s vision of the unclean animals illustrates the principle that revelation from God often comes incrementally or gradually. In this instance, Peter did not understand the vision when he first received it. As he pondered its meaning and acted in faith, events transpired that helped him gradually understand its meaning- that Gentiles were not to be accepted into the Church without prior conversion to Judaism.”
Let’s take a trip through what Peter’s thought process might be from sitting on the rooftop praying to baptizing Cornelius. I’m Peter, sitting on the rooftop praying. The other believers and myself have all been run out of Jerusalem due to persecution, we are scattered. I’ve been going to different towns around Jerusalem, preaching the gospel, performing miracles, setting up little branches of the Church, and baptizing. I don’t necessarily know what to do next, so I go up to the rooftop to pray. In a vision I see lots of unclean animals and am told to eat them. But that’s against the Mosaic Law. I’m told by God “what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” I have this vision three times.
Am I supposed to start eating all types of animals? Is God saying that eating all types of animals is now ok? Why does that matter? Why now? Am I going to be put in a situation where I have to eat these animals in order to survive and he’s telling me that it’s ok? Now the Spirit is telling me that some men are looking for me and that I am to go with them because they were sent from God. Now we’re walking from Joppa to Caesarea. Does the Lord mean to tell me that it’s ok to eat these animals while in gentile company?
The timing of the vision and the arrival of the men coming to get Peter was not a coincidence, and Peter seems to be making the connections between the vision and what he’s experiencing when he gets to the house of Cornelius in Caesarea. Peter even says to them, “Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation.” He’s recognizing that as a Jewish man, he should not be entering the house of a gentile, because they are considered unclean. But God was the one who told Peter to come here, to go with the gentile men who were seeking him. He’s starting to see the disconnect between old Judaism and new Christianity, what principles are still important and which ones are to be let go. This must have been an incredibly awkward moment for Peter, who has probably never been inside a gentile’s home ever in this life, and he’s still not exactly sure what’s going on. Talk about the faith necessary to put aside everything that you’ve ever known in order for obey God.
This is where Peter puts the pieces together, he realizes that under the Mosaic law, he should be there, but he is there because he’s obeying God’s command in his vision, and continues telling the gentiles, “but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” He’s realizing that Jesus intends for the gospel to be for everyone, and through the Holy Ghost, he sees that this is the message of his dream.
The question is, why did this vision and new information come to Peter, and not to all the other apostles? The IM answers, “This revelation regarding gentile converts came to Peter because he was the chief Apostle of the day, and he held priesthood keys for the entire church.” We’ve talked about this concept before, we are only entitled to revelation for those people and entities for which we are responsible. I can receive revelation for myself, my children, and my calling. The bishop can receive revelation for the members of his ward, etc. and only the First Presidency can receive revelation for the entire church. This method was instituted on purpose, to prevent Satan from deceiving people into thinking that they are responsible for the Church or for others to believe those who have been deceived.