Cornelius (another centurion – look at Luke 7) has a vision and seeks out Simon Peter.

Simon Peter has a vision of unclean and common animals on a sheet.

What happens next is huge. God says “what God has made clean, do not call common.” Peter refuses to eat what he thinks shouldn’t be eaten. God pushes back and says that He has made things clean. This happens three times, which has some significance (3 denials, 3 reassurances in John 21) and shows Peter that God has changed things. The Jewish people had taken the idea of God’s clean/unclean concepts to mean that they were to be separate from the world, when God wanted them to be different. They were meant to be different, not separate. God’s pushback to Peter’s understanding leads the church to a new path. The moral/cultural aspects of the law begin to fade away. Not because the law was abolished, but because the law was fulfilled. In Christ, we are made clean. In Christ there is no need to “satisfy” God. He has made all things clean. This is huge! So many today think aspects of the law still hold us. The apostles teaching will begin to drive to an Acts 15 decision that begin to unravel the real significance of Christ and what He has done! This will be spelled out more in Romans, etc. Be ready!

When the Holy Spirit descends on Cornelius’ whole household as they believe in Christ, Peter is left wondering what God is doing. He was just getting started!