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I wrote yesterday about God having to send Saul of Tarsus into the mix because the original 11 apostles didn’t seem to be moving toward “all the world.” They were stuck in their Jewishness.

God had to speak to Peter through a vision and emissaries from a Roman Centurion to get his attention, as recorded in Acts 10. And, when you think about it, Peter’s reluctance both to interact with Gentiles and to eat “unclean food” is hard to understand.

And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” (Acts 10.13 – 15, ESV)

Much earlier, Jesus, in Peter’s presence, was clear:

And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7.18, 19, ESV)

Mark’s commentary, “Thus he declared all foods clean,” was apparently lost on Peter the first time he heard it.

I’ve written at least twice before on how easy it is to miss things. There may be things I just don’t know about or I may be sucked into the error of my culture. In this case, Jesus articulated the teaching directly to Peter, and he still missed it (in Mark 7).

For example, which part of “Love your neighbor as yourself” do I not understand?

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13.34, 35, NIV)