Acts 11:1-18
ACTS STUDY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What caught your attention this week in our study of Acts 11:1-18?
In Acts 11:1, we learn that the good news has spread to the Gentiles and that word of this spread throughout Judea to the apostles and believers. But not everyone was happy about it. Who is the circumcision party (cf. Acts 15:1, 5, Gal 2:12, Titus 1:10)? Why is table fellowship with unclean Gentiles such a concern to them, and what are they afraid of?
What examples from the Bible can you think of where Jesus had table fellowship with the unclean and socially unacceptable? Who did he eat with in Mark 2:13-15? Where was Jesus willing to go in Matthew 8:5-8? Who did Jesus encounter, and what did Jesus say and do in Luke 19:1-5? Who did Jesus have table fellowship with and also welcome in Luke 7:36-48? What did Jesus promise in Matthew 8:11-12?
Are there any characters in Jesus’ table fellowship you can identify with? How does it make you feel that Jesus entered into your defilement while you were still an unclean sinner and, at great cost to himself, invited you in and washed you white as snow? Are there any “sinners” you are reluctant to befriend? What keeps you from showing them the love, welcome, and grace Jesus showed you?
What was the attitude of the Pharisees and scribes toward Jesus’ table fellowship according to Mark 2:16, Luke 5:30, 7:34, 15:1-2, and 19:7?
Jesus didn’t just share the table with the unclean and unacceptable to defy cultural norms. Instead, his table fellowship communicates the gospel itself. How does Jesus defend his table fellowship and mission in Mark 2:17 when he was questioned? What does Paul say in 1 Timothy 1:15-16? What are we reminded of each time we come to the table to participate in the Lord’s Supper? What will do and celebrate in the kingdom to come according to Revelation 19:9? Who will be there, and what will they be dressed in, according to Revelation 7:9?
Seeing the Spirit fall on the Gentiles in Cornelius’ house reminded Peter of something Jesus said in Acts 1:5. The statement Jesus made there was first said by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11. What was John trying to communicate about the difference between his ministry and baptism and Jesus’? What does John’s baptism not confer that Jesus’ baptism does based on Acts 10:43-44?
Are there any attitudes, actions, or affections that need to change as a result of our study of Acts 11:1-18? What did you learn about Jesus and his kingdom? How were you encouraged or convicted?
