Subject Without Refusal /Acts 10:24-33
Without hesitation /Acts 10:24-33
Chapter 497
The day after the day after Cornelius, a Gentile from Caesarea, sent to see Peter in Joppa, on the second day, the third day, finally Peter appeared before Cornelius. At that moment, Cornelius, who was waiting for Peter with all his family and friends gathered together, immediately went up and bowed down in front of Peter. It's like worshiping God. But Peter did not take for granted Cornelius's hospitable reception. Rather, he hastily restrained Cornelius and said, I mean, I'm a human too. In any case, Peter's greatness was that he did not forget that he was nothing more than a human. This is because only those who know that they are finite and imperfect humans can humbly seek God's grace and establish themselves with the eternal Word of truth.
When Peter, who raised Cornelius, saying that he was a human, went into the house with his guidance, there were many people waiting for him. Needless to say, they were all Gentiles. Verses 28-29a of the text reveal Peter's first nature toward them.
“You know that as a Jew, it is against the law to associate with Gentiles, but you know that it is unlawful for me to come here without refusing to be called by God to say to me, ‘Let no one call unclean or unclean.’
As Peter pointed out, the Jews regarded fellowship with Gentiles as sinful. Therefore, he was reluctant to social contact with strangers. It wasn't because of God's command, but because of their wrong customs, which were soaked in the superiority of the chosen people's consciousness. For the Jews, who especially valued social or religious customs, the prohibition of contact with strangers had an unimpeachable binding force. It was inconceivable that no Jew would dare to break that absolute custom.
Nevertheless, Peter proudly declares that he did not hesitate to come to the call of the Gentiles. The original meaning of the word 'reckless' used by Peter here anantirreet s (anantirretos) is 'without contradiction'. Peter was not a Gentile. He was absolutely Jewish. It was not that he was unaware of the Jewish custom that it was illegal for a Jew to associate with or contact a Gentile. Not only was he familiar with it, he was a Jew who was strict with the customs. Such Peter is now breaking the Jewish custom and entering the realm of socializing beyond contact with Gentiles. If that is the case, then, Peter's actions, which have broken the customs that have been regarded as gold and jade birds, must be inconsistent when compared with his previous behavior. Peter himself in such a contradictory act would be right to feel the contradiction first.
But Peter confessed that he came without any contradiction, that is, without feeling any contradiction. There was only one reason. Because it was God's word, that is, God's command. Had it not been for God's command, Peter would not have dared to break the Jewish custom of forbidding contact with Gentiles. should have felt On the contrary, verses 26-27 of the text convey the following fact.
“Peter got up and said, ‘Stand up, I am also a man.
Peter, who raised Cornelius from his face and bowed before him, went into the house, talking with Cornelius. Far from feeling the contradiction, he talked with Cornelius for the first time, as if he were dealing with a stilt.
We learn a very important fact here. It is the fact that human contradictions, both external and internal, can only be overcome by the Word of God.
If you look closely at the words of the Lord when He came to this earth, you will find that there are many things that seem contradictory.
In order to rise above others, you must ruthlessly trample your competitors. But if you really want to be elevated, you will rather become a servant to others. To get more, you have to grab it while using your ki. However, it is said that God's things overflow and overflow only to those who give. It is said that if you seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first, God will take responsibility for you. No matter how hard you try, you have to live together. If you really want to live, you have to die first. A person who can only mourn is obviously a poor person, but on the contrary, it is said that such a person is blessed. You learn and imitate your life that was nailed to the cross and ended miserably like a failure. What in the world could be more contradictory than this? At least a person with a normal mind would not be able to keep saying these contradictory words without any hesitation.
But what about today, two thousand years later? Not a single word of the Lord was wrong. He who served people to the point of laying down his life was no longer a servant, but became the King of ten thousand revered by all mankind. 'Father, why have you forsaken me?' - Like this, the man who died crying and mourning on the cross did not perish, but rather resurrected and became the Lord of eternal life. His life, which seemed like a failure, stands before us as a milestone of truth that we must all emulate. Not a single word was wrong in his words, and not a single contradiction was found in his life.
Nevertheless, why do his words seem contradictory to us? Because we ourselves are in contradiction. To those of us who fall into contradictions and take them for granted, the Lord, who has come as the reality of the truth, has no choice but to appear as contradictions. This is the same logic as if Gulliver, who went to a small country or a giant country, was regarded as an abnormal human being, that is, a being of contradiction. Fallen human beings have turned the truth upside down by desire. The Lord is the Logos who came to this earth to reverse the truth that humans have turned upside down. Therefore, it is only natural that the Logos standing right upside down appears to be a contradiction. What is important, therefore, is the fact that only in front of the Logos can I realize my inner contradiction that I have been turned upside down, and it is only through the Logos that I can also remove my outer contradiction. Just as Peter was able to overcome contradictions without any contradictions in the presence of the Lord's Word.
Last April, Pakistan's Iqbal Massi became the first recipient of the 'World Children's Award', also known as the 'Children's Nobel Prize'. The World Children's Award was first established this year by 'Children's World', a non-profit human rights organization led by the Swedish Red Cross. However, it was not Iqbal's child, but his family, who won the US$80,000 prize at the awards ceremony. Because Iqbal no longer existed in this world.
Iqbal was imprisoned in a carpet factory in 1987 when he was four years old, and was subjected to forced labor for 10 hours every day for 1 rupee a day, or 20 cents in US dollars. Then, in 1992, when he was nine years old, Iqbal escaped from a carpet factory and became a member of the Pakistan Slavery Emancipation Front. Since then, he has traveled all over the world, exposing the reality of child slavery. Iqbal's cry, "Even at this moment, 6 million child laborers in Pakistan are weaving carpets with their blood and tears being exploited" touched the hearts of many, and some carpet factories in Pakistan were closed as a result. However, the child Iqbal was shot and killed in Lahore, Pakistan in 1995, sadly at the young age of 12. There is no question that the owners of the carpet mills were behind the ruthless murder of the child.