Made Clean

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

MADE CLEAN

Acts 10:9-16

9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13 Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."  14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."  16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

NIV

There is more to this narrative regarding Peter and Cornelius, but within this exchange between Peter and God, we need to explore.  First, we notice that Peter was staying with Simon the tanner. Most likely, the main portion of the house was busy as they were preparing the meal. So Peter needed to get alone to pray and spend time with his risen and ascended Lord. We are told Peter fell into a trance, which is a curious word. The Greek word used in this context would mean the throwing of the mind out of its normal state, or the alienation of the mind. It is clear that Peter was not thinking normally or being alert; his mind was wandering, and that is when he saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down. Was that real, or a vision during this mind-wandering experience? We do not know if we have ever fallen into a trace, just staring out into nothing, thinking of nothing, our mind just void of anything, but it seems that was the condition Peter was in when he saw this sheet lowered from heaven. It is not about the fact that Peter kept the Jewish laws regarding food, although being a Jew, he would have kept to the rules about clean and unclean animals. The truth we need to focus on is what God told him. "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Immediately, we are confronted with the truth that we have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; our sins have not only been forgiven but also thrown away. We have been declared holy and blameless in his sight. We have been declared pure by God, so we need to see ourselves as God sees us. Of course, we still sin, perhaps not in such a grievous way as we used to before we met Jesus, but sin is still sin, and it is against God. This could cause us to feel guilt or shame because we are not as perfect as we think we should be. That alone is a problem because we should not call ourselves unclean when God has declared us clean. We cannot even make cleanliness a standard we must strive to achieve, because we cannot make ourselves clean, no matter how much we try. Perfection will not be ours in this flesh, yet God has made us clean.