Acts 10 (Bible Study) (Peter Cornelius)
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32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”
39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
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At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
Peter’s Vision
9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three[a] men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
Peter at Cornelius’s House
The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. 24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
27 While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”
30 Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues[b] and praising God.
Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
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The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’
8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.
11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’
15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with[a] water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
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Acts of Jesus through the Apostles
Introduction
In Acts 9:32-11:18 Luke turns to Peter. Paul had to be converted to Christ but Peter needed to be converted in his thinking, to see that the gospel of grace could break down cultural and racial barriers. Peter’s “conversion” is as important as Cornelius’s in these chapters.
1. Acts 9:32-42. Why do you think Luke includes these two miracles as an introduction to the longer account of Cornelius’ conversion?
This is a valid question, because all indications are that the apostles did “many miraculous signs and wonders” (2:43). So if acts were many and varied, why did Luke select these two to reintroduce us to Peter (who has been missing from the narrative since the middle of chapter 5).
These 2 miracles are parallels to two of Jesus’ miracles, and similar to the miracles that authenticated the ministries of Elijah and Elisha (cf.1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:32-37). The word “authenticated” is the key. For Paul himself pointed to his miracles as being “the things that mark an apostle” (2 Cor.12:12). Paul was saying here that his miracles were done upon the same pattern and the same power as Jesus’ miracles — and this authenticated him as an apostle whose message was one of divine revelation. Luke then shows us these two miracles not only because they are wonderful and encouraging, but because they show that he was a true apostle. This sets up his pronouncement about the salvation of the Gentiles (in Acts 10-11) as authoritative.
The first miracle, the healing of Aeneas the paralytic, is very reminiscent of Jesus healing of the paralytic in Capernaum (Mark 2:1-12; Matt.9:1-8). Jesus says, “Get up, take your mat…” (Matt.9:6) and Peter says, “Get up and tidy up your mat…” (9:34) On the other hand, the raising of Tabitha has echoes of Jesus’ raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead in Mark 5. Jesus said, “Talitha (little girl), get up” (Mark 5:41), and here Peter says, “Tabitha, get up” (9:40). These parallels to Jesus’ miracles are no accident. Luke chose them because they show (as Peter himself says in 9:34) that Jesus himself is healing people through Peter (cf. “Aeneas… Jesus heals you”).
Notice also that before he heals Tabitha “he got down on his knees and prayed.” (9:40) Both miracles show that he is not healing in his own power (as Jesus did) but is relying on the pattern and power of Christ himself.
2. Acts 10:1-8, 22, 34-35. Cornelius is an example of a “good man” without the gospel. What does Acts 10 teach us about such a person?
Cornelius was one of those Gentiles called “God-fearers” (see Acts 13:16, 26). Who were they?
“A proselyte was a Gentile who undertook to keep the Jewish law it its entirety and was admitted into full fellowship with the people of Israel by a three-fold rite:
(1) circumcision for male proselytes,
(2) a purificatory self-baptism in the presence of witnesses, and
(3) the offering of a sacrifice… Many Gentiles in those days, while not prepared to enter the Jewish community as full proselytes, were attracted by the simple monotheism of Jewish… worship and by the ethical standards of the Jewish way of life…” (F.F.Bruce, The Book of the Acts, p.64, 216)
First, Cornelius respected God. We can infer from the text that Cornelius, a) prayed to the one God of Israel (v.2) (b) obeyed the general moral law of God (v22 – “righteous”; v.35 – “do what is right”), and c) was kind to the poor (v2 – “gave generously to those in need”). He both respected and prayed to God and lived a moral life in general. He was by no means a Christian, having heard nothing yet about Jesus Christ. He was not a Jew, he has probably learned things about God from them, things he accepted/honoured He was the classic “good non- Christian” lived a good, just and generous life.
Second, God respected Cornelius! Two statements are very strong, even startling. First, v.4 – “your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering — [mnemosymos] — before God.” The Greek word is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to refer to the burnt offering (cf.Lev.2:2), which was not a sacrifice for sin, but an offering of gratitude to God. Second, in v.35, Peter says (referring to Cornelius) “[God] accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right”. This means that Cornelius “lived up to the light that he had” — i.e. what he did know about God he honoured. All he knew was that God was great and worthy of obedience and respect and gratitude. So he gave it. And God in turn shows Cornelius a certain regard.
The nature of this “regard” is extremely interesting, and we must adopt a very carefully balanced approach here. Some read the word “accept” as meaning that people like Cornelius are saved — accepted in the full sense of being “justified” (Rom.3:21ff). But that not only contradicts the rest of the Bible, but the rest of Acts (see 4:12) and even the rest of this story — for if Cornelius is saved, why does Peter need to come to him and preach the gospel to him? On the other hand, many Christians seem to regard all non-Christians as equally despicable. Here, however we see God showing some kind of regard and respect for a man who does not have enough spiritual knowledge to be saved, but who is honouring all the spiritual knowledge he has. Therefore, Cornelius is a “seeker” (cf.I Cor.14:24, where “one who does not understand” means “a seeker after more knowledge; an inquirer”).
Third, Cornelius was not saved. Cornelius, despite all his goodness and desire for God, did not have “life”. 11:18 tells us that only after hearing the gospel was he granted life — i.e. eternal life. Before, he was a “nice” person, not a “new” person. To be born again, First, he had to repent (11:18). Repentance of “working” for his salvation (Rom.4:5). Second, he had to believe in Jesus Christ, person and work (Acts 15:7). “Saved” (11:14), means he had his sins forgiven (10:43) and receive the Holy Spirit (10:45).
3. Acts 10:9-23. How does God break Peter’s cultural prejudices?
The fact that God has to send multiple, strong, supernatural signs to Peter, in order to get him to even visit a Gentile — shows how strong racial prejudices were between Jew and Gentile.
“It is difficult for us to grasp the impassable gulf which yawned in those days between the Jews on the one hand and the Gentiles on the other. Not that the Old Testament countenanced such a divide… it affirmed that God had a purpose for [the Gentiles]. By choosing and blessing [the Jews] he intended to bless all the families of the earth (Gen.12:1-4)… The tragedy was that Israel twisted the doctrine of election into one of favouritism filled with racial pride and hatred. They called the Gentiles ‘dogs’, and developed traditions that kept them apart. No orthodox Jew would ever enter the home of a Gentile ...all familiar intercourse with Gentiles was forbidden…” (Stott, p.185)
The Jewish ceremonial laws of clean and unclean foods and garments and practices were God’s “visual aid” to demonstrate that people were sinful, that they could not just “come in” to God’s presence, that he was a Holy God, and that people needed to keep separate from sin and evil. In fact, the clean- unclean laws are really impossible to keep completely — which was also God’s way of showing people that they could never cleanse themselves from sin. Over the centuries, the clean-unclean laws were twisted into a way of works-righteousness and as a way to keep separate from other nations! Therefore God has to send three great signs to even get Peter to go to Cornelius.
First, the vision God sends is of a sheet containing a mixture of animals, many of which were unclean. (See Leviticus 11). Because the sheet contained “all kinds” (v.12) of animals, the command to “kill and eat” (v.13) was to contradict the OT ceremonial law. This would have offended Peter’s conscience and disgusted him emotionally. He says so in v.14 but three times God repeats “do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (v.15-16). The vision alone is insufficient to help Peter. He doesn’t get it (v.17).
Second, the Holy Spirit commands him to go with the men who appear at his door (v19-20). Third, he hears from the men that an angel had appeared to a Gentile centurion, Cornelius, directing him to summon Peter.
These three things together were sufficient to get Peter to go to the house of an unclean Gentile.
4. Acts 10:34-48. How does v34-35 (and his presentation of the gospel) show that Peter now understands the meaning of the vision? What is the meaning of the vision?
God is saying in the vision: “even those things that are defiled and unfit for my presence I can make clean and fit for my presence. There is no being that I cannot make clean.” Acts 10:13-15 The key word is “make”. Peter had assumed that some things were inherently clean and other things inherently unclean. God is introducing a new concept — that salvation is not a matter of pedigree or even of achievement, but is the result of the action of God. So nothing is inherently and permanently unclean. The Gentiles, who were ceremonially unclean, were like the unclean animals in the sheet, mixed in with the “clean” Jews When God cleanses someone from sin, then they are equal with anyone else “Now I realize… God does not show favouritism” (10:34) means “now I see that external criteria such as appearance, race, nationality, class, gender make not a whit of difference for whether I am loved and justified by God”. The religion of good works will give some people the right to feel superior to others. But the gospel of grace means that no saved person can feel superior to another saved person, all saved by grace alone.
We looked at 10:34-35 above and said that this cannot mean that Cornelius was saved apart from Christ. Indeed, Peter shows him that only through Christ will his sins be forgiven (10:43). But v.34-25 means that Peter finally sees that nationality and race makes no difference.
5. Acts10:44-11:18. What is the final (4th) sign given by God to Peter that the gospel is for the Gentiles? How do our converts teach us — as Cornelius taught Peter?
We said that the first three signs to Peter were the vision, the word of the spirit, and the message from the angel to Cornelius. Now finally, Peter sees with his very eyes, the 4th sign. The Spirit baptises the Gentiles who believed (v.44-47). He was not even finished with his sermon (v.44) when those who “heard the message” (i.e. believed) received the spirit. Not everyone who received an anointing from the Holy Spirit speaks in tongues (eg 4:31). But in this case, God wanted to show Peter beyond a doubt that the Gentiles were full members of the church, so he sent the spirit in such a way that it resembled the Day of Pentecost. So Peter says, “the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning” (11:15). In other words, this was a Gentile Pentecost. Just as on the original Pentecost God had given special dramatic manifestations to assure everyone of his purpose, so he sent the Spirit in a powerful way here. Cornelius and the household experienced tremendous joy and love and power, and they began to praise God and articulate his glory — it was like Acts 2. Of course, not everyone gets converted like this! (Many people get converted very quietly. It is often not even possible until later to know that you were converted at a particular time.) But God sent this power to deliver the last “hammer blow” to the stubbornness and doubt of Peter.
One of the lessons we learn here is that we must not only teach our converts but learn from them. Clearly, Peter was as affected by Cornelius as Cornelius by Peter! And that is a wonder that is often seen. If we win a person to Christ, often that person will teach us many things. a) Often the person shows us how little faith we have — especially if the new convert is someone we consider a “hard case”. When such come to Christ, it really humbles us that we had such low expectations. b) Often the person can also show us new things about the faith, especially if the person is of a different culture or personality from ours.
New converts can often see things in the Bible we have been blind to because their experience and background leads them to ask God questions that we aren’t even asking. The Peter-Cornelius story means we must not be too authoritarian or proud, but should be open and willing to learn from new believers.
