Acts 10

 Good morning! 

This chapter opens in Caesarea, a predominately roman city on the shore of the Mediterranean near Judea. It was the primary residence of the Roman governor of Judea. Cornelius (v 1) was a high ranking officer of the Roman Army and would likely not be trusted or very well liked by any of the Jews. Corneilus, as a Roman, was likely exposed to gods such as Venus, Augustus, Jupiter, Mars, etc, but seems to have turned monotheistic through exposure to the Jewish way of life. He was a member of the loose group called "God-fearers"(by Jews)-- Gentiles that loved the God of Israel and were supportive of the Jewish faith. They were still Gentiles though and the Jews could not really associate with them. 

At 3PM ("the ninth hour", a customary time for Jewish prayer), Cornelius is confronted by an angel (v 3) and is told to go to Joppa and find Simon- who is also called Peter (Peter is the Aramaic and Greek translation for "rock" and Simon is the Greek translation for "hearing"). Cornelius' faith has converted the entire household and some of his men go to Joppa to find Peter. What does this say about the faith of Cornelius and his house?

The next day, Peter is praying and is confronted by a vision (11-13) with kosher and non-kosher food. Peter is hungry, and God says, go and kill and eat. Peter's immediate response to God is NO! Would you ever say NO! to God? Peter would often say no to Jesus though! God comments that what God has made will always be clean and holy. Jewish tradition says that some things are clean (kosher)  and some are unclean (non-kosher), and if something unclean touches something that is clean- the clean will be made unclean. Peter was thinking this dream was all about food- but his eyes will be opened soon when he gets to Cornelius' house! At this point, God has not told Peter that his visitors (v 19-22+) were Gentiles. Normally, a godly Jew like Peter would not associate in this manner with Gentiles.Peter must have been shocked when he opened the door and saw two servants and a soldier at his door. He would have known immediately that they were not Jews, and he would have wondered why God told him to go with them and why God had sent them.The idea that God could send and use Gentiles was entirely new to Peter. God was expanding Peter’s mind and heart. How has God "expanded your horizons" lately?A Gentile – worse yet, an officer in the Roman army – wanted to hear the gospel from Peter. Peter never did anything like this before! How will he respond? How would you respond?

By entertaining these Gentile guests, Peter went against the customs and traditions of Israel, but not against God’s Word (think back about the clean/unclean dream!). Possibly, at this very moment, God flooded Peter’s heart with an understanding that though the Old Testament said God’s people were not to become like their pagan neighbors, it also said God wanted His people to become a light to their neighbors who didn’t know the true God.

Peter finally gets to Cornelius' home (v 24). V 27 is probably one of the most important passages in this story: "Peter went in..."Peter actually entered the house of a Gentile, something that Jewish customs and traditions strictly prohibited. By entering a Gentile’s home, Peter showed that his heart and mind had changed, and that he had learned the lesson of the vision of the great sheet. Peter understood that the dream was about people- not food. For Peter- all means all!

The last part of v 33 says, "Now, we are all here before God to hear everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us." A preacher's dream- an attentive audience!! James Boice- an American Reformed theologian once wrote, When you go to church, do you want to receive a good message? If so, the best way is to come with a prepared heart. I know that the preacher must be prepared too. But when God prepares the messenger as well as those who are to hear him, then tremendous things happen.” When you attend worship- do you come prepared?

A critical point is made by Peter in v 34- "To God- every person is the same." It reminds me of the Genesis story where we are all created in the image of God- "Imago Dei"

This is the foundation for Peter’s understanding that the gospel should now go forth to Gentiles. This statement goes completely against the prevailing Jewish thought at that time that God certainly did show partiality, towards the Jews and against the Gentiles. In essence, many Jews of Peter’s day thought that God loved the Jews while hating the Gentiles. According to William Barclay, it was common for a Jewish man to begin the day with a prayer thanking God that he was not a slave, a Gentile, or a woman. A basic part of the Jewish religion in the days of the New Testament was an oath that promised that one would never help a Gentile under any circumstances, such as giving directions if they were asked. But it went even as far as refusing to help a Gentile woman at the time of her greatest need – when she was giving birth – because the result would only be to bring another Gentile into the world.  If a Jew married a Gentile, the Jewish community would have a funeral for the Jew and consider them dead. But the Gentiles could give as bad as they got from the Jews. Gentiles despised Jews as weird traditionalists, and believed that they were evil plotters who worshiped pigs. After all, they thought, Jews refused to eat pork, so they must worship pigs! All of this changed with the spread of the gospel. Christianity was the first religion to disregard racial, cultural and national limitations.How are we, the church, doing with that now? Showing no partiality?

Peter gives a brief message/ sermon (vv 34- 43) and a result the entire household converts to The Way! Peter commands their baptism and this showed their full acceptance into the community of those who followed Jesus. Their baptism showed they were accepted as Gentile followers of Jesus. We should also see that Cornelius was an undoubtedly good man; yet he needed Jesus. Even good people, who are respectful towards God, still need to come to Jesus. Do you know "good people" that need Jesus?

Have a great day-- enjoy the sun and beauty that we are to be graced with! Maybe after Easter, we can gather together (outside) for a quick meet and greet?

Shalom+
Pastor Paul