The Good News Of Peace

THE GOOD NEWS OF PEACE

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism. And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

“And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear . . . to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”

Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God.

Then Peter asked, “Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” So he gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ promise that his disciples would be his witnesses to the ends of the earth implied that the salvation and life he offered would be opened to everyone, not just the Jewish people who, up to that point in history, had a privileged position as God’s chosen. Here, with Peter’s witnessing words to Cornelius and his family, the Holy Spirit came, as promised, to the Gentiles. And because of the parallels to Pentecost in Jerusalem (see Acts 2), there was no mistaking what happened. Peter called Jesus’ message the “good news of peace” (10:36, NIV) to stress that Christ enabled not only reconciliation of people to God but also reconciliation between people.

• Read this passage again. What word or phrase stands out to you? Sit quietly, reminding yourself that you are in God’s loving presence, and ask him to show you how that word or phrase connects to your life.
• How has Christ brought peace into your relationships? Where is peace still lacking?
• What are some concrete ways you are extending the peace Jesus made possible? How might you be inhibiting this peace?

Father, thank you for the peace of Christ—the reconciliation he brought to all people. I want to be an instrument of that peace. Empower me by your Holy Spirit to seek reconciliation and restoration, build bridges and common ground, welcome the stranger, and reach out to the isolated. Use me to share the good news of peace, and show me the ways I inhibit the restoration you seek to accomplish in my life and in my relationships. Amen.