Acts 10:1–48 The year is 36 C.E. The autumn sun warms Peter as he prays on the flat rooftop of a house near the sea in the harbor city of Joppa. He has been a guest in this home for some days now. His willingness to stay here reveals, to an extent, an unprejudiced attitude. The owner, a certain Simon, is a tanner by trade, and not every Jew would lodge with such a man. Still, Peter is about to learn a vital lesson regarding Jehovah’s impartiality. While Peter is praying, he falls into a trance. What he sees in a vision would disturb any Jew. Descending from heaven is a sheetlike vessel containing animals unclean according to the Law. Told to slaughter and eat, Peter replies: “Never have I eaten anything defiled and unclean.” Not once but three times he is told: “You stop calling defiled the things God has cleansed.” The vision leaves Peter confused but not for long. Little did Peter know that the preceding day in Caesarea, about 30 miles north, a man named Cornelius had also received a divine vision. Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman army, was “a devout man.” He was also an exemplary family man, for he was “one fearing God together with all his household.” Cornelius was not a Jewish proselyte; he was an uncircumcised Gentile. Yet, he showed compassion to needy Jews, giving them material help. This sincere man “made supplication to God continually.” At about 3:00 p.m., Cornelius was praying when he saw a vision in which an angel told him: “Your prayers and gifts of mercy have ascended as a remembrance before God.” As directed by the angel, Cornelius dispatched men to summon the apostle Peter. As an uncircumcised Gentile, Cornelius was about to enter a door that up to then had been closed to him. He was about to receive the message of salvation. Still on the rooftop, “Peter was in great perplexity” over the meaning of the vision when messengers from Cornelius approached the house. Would Peter, who had three times said that he would refuse to eat foods considered unclean according to the Law, be willing to go with these men and enter into the home of a Gentile? In some way holy spirit made God’s will known in this matter. Peter was told: “Look! Three men are seeking you. However, rise, go downstairs and be on your way with them, not doubting at all, because I have dispatched them.” The vision of the sheetlike vessel that Peter had received no doubt prepared him to yield to the leadings of the holy spirit. Learning that Cornelius had been divinely instructed to send for him, Peter invited the Gentile messengers into the house “and entertained them.” The obedient apostle was already adjusting to new developments in the outworking of God’s will. The day after his vision, Peter and nine others—the three messengers sent by Cornelius and “six [Jewish] brothers” from Joppa—headed up to Caesarea. (Acts 11:12) Expecting Peter, Cornelius had assembled “his relatives and intimate friends”—evidently all Gentiles. Upon arriving, Peter did something once unthinkable for him: He entered the home of an uncircumcised Gentile! Peter explained: “You well know how unlawful it is for a Jew to join himself to or approach a man of another race; and yet God has shown me I should call no man defiled or unclean.” By now Peter had come to discern that the vision he had received was intended to teach a lesson that was not limited to the types of foods one should eat. He should “call no man [not even a Gentile] defiled.” A receptive audience awaited Peter. “We are all present before God to hear all the things you have been commanded by Jehovah to say,” explained Cornelius. Peter began with this powerful statement: “For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” Peter had learned that God’s view of people is not determined by race, nationality, or any other external factors. Peter proceeded to bear witness about Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection. Something unprecedented now happened: “While Peter was yet speaking,” the holy spirit was poured out upon those “people of the nations.” This is the only reported case in the Scriptures of the spirit’s being poured out before baptism. Recognizing this sign of God’s approval, Peter “commanded them [that group of Gentiles] to be baptized.” The conversion of these Gentiles in 36 C.E. marked the end of the period of special favor to the Jews. (Daniel 9:24-27) Taking the lead on this occasion, Peter used the third and final ‘key of the kingdom.’ (Matthew 16:19) This key opened the door for uncircumcised Gentiles to become spirit-anointed Christians.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 06:11:46 +0000
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