Acts 10:44-48

The Voice

The true gospel is becoming increasingly clear as the church spreads and develops. What happens that day in Caesarea changes the face of Christianity forever. It builds a bridge from Jews to Gentiles, from insiders to outsiders, and sends the community of Jesus on a journey beyond the kind of religious and cultural barriers that all people erect. Through Peter’s short trip, the church makes an important journey toward reaching the ends of the earth because the message of Jesus is not for the Jews alone but for all people of all time. This is a hard lesson, and not everyone is eager to learn it.

⁴⁴Peter wasn’t planning to stop at this point, but the Holy Spirit suddenly interrupted and came upon all the people who were listening. ^45-46They began speaking in foreign languages (just as the Jewish disciples did on the Day of Pentecost), and their hearts overflowed in joyful praises to God. Peter’s friends from Joppa—all of them Jewish, all circumcised—were stunned to see that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on outsiders.

Peter: ⁴⁷Can anyone give any good reason not to ceremonially wash these people through baptism^[a] as fellow disciples? After all, it’s obvious they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did on the Day of Pentecost.

⁴⁸So he had them baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. The new disciples asked him to stay for several more days.

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