<p>10:20 <i>So rise, and g<em>et downstairs</em></i>- Gk. 'go down'. This is the same word translated &quot;descending&quot; in :11. As God had 'come down' to Peter and to save the Gentiles, so Peter was in turn to 'come down'. Hence the word occurs again in :21, emphasizing Peter's obedience. We really can be part of God's program in saving others; as He comes down to the excluded, so we are to likewise.</p><p><em>Without doubting. For I have sent them</em>- The phrase occurs only here (also in 11:12) and in James 1:6, where we are bidden to ask in faith &quot;without doubting&quot;. This might imply that Peter was being encouraged to pray for the acceptance of the Gentiles and go forward in doing so &quot;without doubting&quot;. As already outlined in these studies, there had been hints galore that such inclusion was what the Lord wanted. Even if the reference is not to prayer, the Lord recognized that Peter had doubts- and He urges Peter not to have them. His attitude was not that Peter should have accepted the plain statements of his Lord, that Gentiles worldwide were to be included in God's plan; nor that Peter should just accept the way he was being led. Instead the Lord tenderly appreciates Peter's doubts and prejudices, and urges him to overcome them. This should be our template in dealing with those who still 'don't get it' or 'won't get it' over various issues which are obvious to us.</p><p>&quot;Doubting&quot; translates <em>diakrino</em>. The same word is used about the Jewish brethren who then &ldquo;contended&rdquo; with Peter over his table fellowship behaviour (Acts 11:2- <em>diakrino </em>again). The repetition of the word like this in the record&nbsp;seems to rebuke those who contend with others about their table fellowship policy; for Peter had been told <em>not</em> to contend / judge in this matter, and yet those legalistic brethren did that very thing. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t break bread with us because you break bread with those we don&rsquo;t approve of, even though you are our brother in Christ&hellip;&rdquo; seems to smack of just the same disobedience. But as always, the proof of the pudding is in the eating; open table fellowship brings people to Christ, as it did Cornelius, whereas closed table fellowship drives people away. At least initially, this was recognized by the brethren in Acts 11 and they too changed their closed table policy.</p>