Kill and eat (Acts 10-11:18)

Cornelius is a centurion stationed in Caesarea.  Clearly, he is a Gentile.  Him and his family are believers.  He regularly prays and gives to the poor.  

Out of nowhere, he has a vision in which an angel instructs him to send men to bring Peter to his home.  Peter is still in Joppa, where he had raised Tabitha from the dead.  Cornelius sends men to Joppa to find Peter.

In passing, the angel states that prayers and gifts to the poor are memorial offerings to God.

Meanwhile, Peter is hungry and waiting for a meal from his host.  He falls into a trance and sees a large sheet descend from the sky.  On the sheet were a large number of unclean animals.  He hears a voice say, "kill and eat".  Peter objects because he has observed the Jewish dietary laws all his life.  The voice states, "don't call unclean what God has made clean". 

This happens three times.  

Peter falls out of the trance as Cornelius' men arrive.  Peter goes to Caesarea and eats in the home of Cornelius.  Before doing so, he interprets the vision to mean that he is not to call the Gentiles unclean.  They also share their recent supernatural stories.  

While at Cornelius' home, the Holy Spirit descends on the Gentiles, who begin speaking in tongues.  This astonishes the Jews that accompanied Peter.  Peter then orders that the Gentiles be baptized.

Peter explains his actions in Acts 11.  He goes back to Jerusalem and explains the story to the leaders of the church.  They also agree that God has granted the Gentiles unto life.

Read narrowly, the story at least stands for that the Gentiles are also to receive the Gospel.  If we apply Peter's interpretation of the vision, this is what we are limited to.  Peter's own contemporary interpretation is silent as to eating meats that were previously considered unclean.

However, this narrow application would almost be redundant in light of the teachings and practice of Jesus and Philip.  Jesus made a few disciples of the Gentiles (Samaritan woman at the well; Greek woman in Tyre) although the primary mission was to the Jews.  But, Jesus did instruct the disciples to go to the four corners of the earth and make disciples of everyone.  Likewise, a number of parables hinted at this.  

Further, Philip the evangelist had made converts of Gentiles, which Peter and John oversaw and approved.  

The vision of the sheet strongly implies a cleansing of the unclean meats.  This is in light of:

(1) Peter being physically hungry.  This gives the sheet a literal application.  Peter wants to literally eat.

(2) seeing unclean animals and being told to eat them.  Peter might be physically repelled at the thought of eating these things.  Just consider the animals you would not want to eat.  For instance, if I saw a slug on the sidewalk and someone told me to "eat it", I would probably gag and consider the thought of it disgusting.

(3) God saying something has been made clean.  If the story is limited to the Gentiles, then this is redundant.

(4) having this done three times.  This seems to be a pattern for Peter.  Peter denied Christ three times and after the resurrection, Jesus reinstated Peter three times.

So, reading this together in light of Peter's actions, it also demonstrates that the eating of unclean foods does not make a person unclean.  This is the practice that the actions of Peter, the vision, and the interpretation thereof are all directed to.  Therefore, if the animals do not make a person unclean, then they must be - clean.  In other words, God has made them clean.

This episode also should be considered in light of what is about to happen at the Council of Jerusalem.  There, the church leaders will decide which of the Jewish customs the Gentiles should practice.  There is no mention of unclean meats.