A New Twist

Scripture – Acts 11:18-21: ¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.” ¹⁹Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. ²⁰Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. ²¹The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

Reflection: – This is very interesting. The apostles in Jerusalem accepted Peter’s explanation and even praised God that the Gentiles (non-Jews) had been granted “repentance unto life.”

However, some of the believers traveled up to the city of Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks in that community. A great number of them turned to the Lord. These were people from an entirely different culture. This was a slightly new twist on what Peter had just learned.

Cornelius, you see, was a friend of the Jews. He was a believer in God. Through Peter, the Holy Spirit brought him into the fellowship of Christ. He was someone who could easily join that fellowship because he shared a common cultural bond.

There are people today who carry the message of Christ into the culture of motorcycle gangs and street gangs. There are people witnessing primarily in Muslim communities. These folks are reaching out into areas so foreign to me, I can’t imagine what I’d do. Yet the good news of Christ is for all people. This passage today marks the beginning of an exiting new twist in our story of the church and who we are today. A new tension is about to be introduced. Some old friends are about to re-appear.