All Clean in Christ

Acts 11:1-5   
1 Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, 3 saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” 4 But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me.

The first thing those set on the circumcision and the law did not like was that Peter had eaten and associated with those undesirables.  They also heard that those received God's word.  So Peter had to start at the beginning to show how God had been working, against their interpretation and enforcement of what they made of God's commands.  They missed the promise to Abraham and the commands to love God and then all others.  So Peter began with the vision of unclean animals...