Cornelius is introduced
1. Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,
2. a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and
prayed to God continually.
3. About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to
him, "Cornelius!"
4. And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers
and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
5. "Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;
6. he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea."
7. When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier
of those who were his personal attendants,
8. and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
cornelius is a gentile; but the good kind.
cornelius is devout; he fears god.
he lives in cesearea, a gentile city packed with romans.
his actions show this too - he gives alms, and prays continually.
notice the contract between the character of cornelius and those of the jewish authorities.
he, though a gentile, is more godly than the leaders of "god's people".
cornelius has a vision.
one day he was praying and he had a vision of an angel.
the angel says to hi..."Cornelius" (i'm talking to you here)
cornelius says (with alarm), "What."
the angel says, "God is pleased with your prayers and alms. Send some people to 3984 Oversea Trail in Joppa and get Simon.
note that the suspense is building here...god doesn't tell him why to get simon - the point/message hasn't yet been revealed. all
we know if that it's important.
just a style note on god:
god likes to communicate through humans. moses, prophets, the apostles, the bible, etc...god seems to like to speak through people.
cornelius' people head off to joppa
cornelius sends some people (as the angel said to) off to joppa to grab pete.
9. On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop
about the sixth hour to pray.
10. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;
11. and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,
12. and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.
13. A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!"
14. But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean."
15. Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy."
16. This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.
17. Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who
had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon's house, appeared at the gate;
18. and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.
19. While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men are looking for you.
20. "But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself."
21. Peter went down to the men and said, "Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?"
22. They said, "Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews,
was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you."
23. So he invited them in and gave them lodging.
note: background on clean/unclean.
as part of the law given by god to moses, certain foods were declared off limits to jews.
leviticus 11 as a pretty good list of foods they were forbidden to eat.
really, the clean/unclean distinction goes way back - it was known to noah since he was told to take more clean
than unclean...
peter's vision:
peter goes off to pray at noon (6 hours after 6am).
he gets hungry...and has a vision about food.
in the vision, a sheet is lowered from heaven containing a bunch of animals...unclean ones.
a voice (from heaven) tells peter, "go eat pete."
peter, good jew that he is, says, "no way, it's not kosher!"
the voice says to consider it clean from now on as it's been cleansed.
rinse and repeat 3 times.
cornelius' posse rolls up to the gate; the spirit tells peter that some folks have arrived and that he should go with them.
the folks from ceasarea show up and start calling out for simon pedro.
the spirit serves as a divine intercom and tells peter that some guests have arrived and that he should go along with them.
peter obeys..."without misgivings" as instructed.
note: notice god's involvement
the spirit is intensely involved here - supernatural events guard every step of the way.
cornelius gets a supernatural event; peter gets a supernatural prep, then a supernatural notice to go along.
god is very carefully validating every step of the story - no one can doubt god's will here.
24. On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together
his relatives and close friends.
25. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him.
26. But Peter raised him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am just a man."
27. As he talked with him, he entered and *found many people assembled.
28. And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with
a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.
29. "That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason
you have sent for me."
cornelius has gathered his family and friends to hear from peter...
peter arrives, and refuses worship from cornelius
just a minor note, but a cool one.
god's people sometimes do some cool 'things' (peter is supernaturally validated as god's mouthpiece);
peter still remains concerned with god's glory, not his own.
peter tells cornelius that god has specifically sent him via vision.
"uh...you know normally i wouldn't come to your house and stuff."
"but god said i should. so i came without any problem, but i'm terribly curious about why i'm here."
30. Cornelius said, "Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and
behold, a man stood before me in shining garments,
31. and he *said, `Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
32. `Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying
at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.'
33. "So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here
present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord."
peter told of his vision; cornelius tells peter about his.
note: cornelius is the textbook example of 'spiritually ready'.
he asks peter to tell him what god commanded him.
neat example of sharing the gospel...god has people ready, all peter has to do is open his mouth.
34. Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,
35. but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.
36. "The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)--
37. you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the
baptism which John proclaimed.
38. "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He
went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
39. "We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put
Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.
40. "God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,
41. not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and
drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
42. "And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been
appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.
43. "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."
peter tells about christ.
peter references christ, but specifically their knowledge of christ.
peter divides his speech into two parts:
- things about christ's life (already known to the world)
- things post christ's life (shown to witnesses to proclaim to the world)
peter references the first part and reveals the second.
peter's witness is validated not only by his miracles and the vision cornelius has seen, but also by the prophets.
crux of the message? "that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins"
note: god's communication to people
god is all over this communication to cornelius; the story is packed with visions.
yet...the crux of the message is delivered through peter, and peter even says that god set up the crucial piece
of the gospel to be declared through select people who were 'chosen beforehand by god'.
god seems to like to involve humans in his self-proclamation.
no idea why, just something he seems to do.
the same is true of all believers - we bear the name of christ and share him with the world and each other.
44. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
45. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had
been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,
47. "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?"
48. And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
while peter is speaking...the holy spirit fell upon all those listening.
no clear decision point in their testimony - they were believing, and as they heard the message they were validated by the spirit.
the holy spirit coming upon the believers is seen as god's seal upon the gentiles - they get baptized (who can argue with god?)
could this story have included any more validation from god?
god has made it as clear as possible that gentiles are part of his body.
previously, most jews considered that gentiles could receive salvation but were stuck to observing god's
community and people on earth.
after acts 10, gentiles are full members in god's people
1. God does not show partiality.
I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him
and does what is right is welcome to Him.
remember...god is benevolent.
depending on your background, you may tend to think of god as an angry god, ready to let you suffer for your sins.
without diminishing your high view of god's holiness, please adjust your view of god to balance more towards his
compassion and love.
"the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to him."
- yes...god wants you to fear him. but he also accepts you even if you were born into a crappy family, a difficult past, or a
- but god forgives sins
big point of the message about christ? v43, "that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins"
calvinism?
god does not show partiality.
some of you may feel a little sting as your mind races to reconcile your calvinism with peter's statements.
relax. don't bother. accept the truth in peter's words and rejoice at the goodness of god.
2. Gentiles can become God's people.
this is probably not a huge application for us...
but it's worth being thankful for.
paul, in romans 11, reminds gentiles, as branches grafted in to a plant, not to be arrogant towards israel, the root.
3. God often surprises his people, even when fulfilling his prophecies.
this is more of a sidenote.
but note peter's surprise in this story...
from
28. And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with
a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.
to
47. "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?"
through out the bible, god surprises his people, even when he's pre-declared what he will do via prophecy.
bear that in mind when you study eschatology.
4. Christ must be proclaimed.
god uses peter to proclaim to the gentiles.
god is clearly able to communicate directly - but he uses peter as the means of communicating the most important data.
no idea why god allows us to be so important, but he does.
3 responses:
- we should seek and pray for opportunities to be useful.
- we should bear in mind the role god has given us and take it up ( how about a little purpose people ).