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Christ Calls a Gentile (Acts 10:1-23)

Cornelius Calls for Peter

Stephen the deacon-evangelist had already discovered that the law and temple had been rendered obsolete through Jesus’ work, and that God was busy fulfilling the Old Covenant with the promised New Covenant (Luke 22:20). His fellow office bearer Philip shared that insight, and he baptized the “first fruits of Africa,” the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26–40). But regarding the mission to the Gentiles, the apostles were still having some initial difficulties. It was high time that they too learned to see what time it was in the history of redemption. Otherwise, the Christian church would have remained a church consisting only of Jews and Samaritans. To prevent that, a powerful divine intervention was needed.

Verses 1-2 introduce Cornelius. He was devout, generous, and prayerful, as were his family. “God-fearing” denotes Gentiles who, though not full proselytes, attached themselves to the Jewish religion, worshipping the One God without images or idols. Cornelius was a centurion or chief officer over a hundred soldiers in the so-called Italian regiment (a military platoon of some 600 – 1000 soldiers), which was stationed in Caesarea, a city with a predominantly Gentile population. It had a large Roman garrison and was the residential locale of Roman governors. How great is the gracious work of the Holy Spirit who could change an Italian, brought up in idolatry, into a God-fearer of such holy character!

Verses 3-8: Luke is very precise in recording what happened to Cornelius, even mentioning the time! The vision occurred in plain daylight and was very clear. Cornelius was afraid. However, he knew that it was from the Lord. The angel’s message was concise and clear. Cornelius was told that God had indeed heard his prayers and seen his generosity to the poor. But it was not the angel’s job to evangelize Cornelius: he was told to send for Peter. He promptly obeyed by calling for two servants and a “devout” soldier, obviously people he trusted and was close to, because he tells them what had happened to him. Then he sends them to Joppa, approximately 50 km from Caesarea.

Peter’s Vision

Verses 9-16: Peter became hungry at about noon, while he was praying on the roof. His hospitable hosts were preparing a meal for him when Peter “fell into a trance.” There came on him an ecstasy, which is literally a state in which someone stands outside himself. In the Bible, such experiences were sometimes a means by which the Holy Spirit brought someone into a situation where a person could see and understand clearly matters not grasped by the senses. In Peter’s case, this involved an extraordinarily important revelation! For it was proclaimed to him directly from heaven that what the Law of Moses had taught for centuries about clean and unclean was now obsolete! The old dispensation of the covenant of grace was making room for the new dispensation (Hebrews 8:13). Peter saw a large sheet being let down, with all sorts of animals, clean and unclean (Deuteronomy 14:1-21; Leviticus 11:10-11). The clean animals would have become unclean by touching the unclean animals, so in effect, they were all unclean. This law was one of the tools with which the Lord God taught Israel that he had separated them from the world as his own special people. So by seeing if someone ate pork or rabbit, one would tell whether one was dealing with a Gentile or with a Jew.

No wonder that Peter protested against eating such an animal, even though this command came from heaven! “By no means, Lord,” he said, “for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” It was burned into his soul: an unclean animal “shall be detestable to you.” Peter is adamant that he will not kill and eat them. He has always been an observant Jew. He hears the voice: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” Peter heard this declaration no fewer than three times. It involved extremely important information for all the apostles. If God was suspending the distinction between clean and unclean, and thereby removing the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, then they were not allowed to maintain that barrier. After this divine declaration had sounded three times, the sheet was taken back up to heaven. It was not immediately clear to Peter what this vision signified. Were only the Mosaic food laws abolished? Or was there more behind this? He did not immediately grasp that the Lord was lifting not only the uncleanness of some animals, but especially the uncleanness of the Gentile nations. Jesus had hinted at the new understanding about food in Mark 7:14-19.

Verses 17-23: In the meantime, the messengers sent by Cornelius had arrived at the house of Simon the Tanner. A tanner would have to handle dead animals, which proves that Peter had already taken a step out of his comfort zone by lodging with a tanner, although presumably he would not have joined with Simon in doing his work. It is also possible that the tannery was separate from “Simon’s house” (v.17). Notice how accurately the Lord had arranged the arrival of the travellers and the end of the vision to happen simultaneously! 

The messengers called out, asking if Simon Peter was staying there. Peter was informed by the Spirit about the men looking for him and to go with them. Peter had to be pulled along past the wall of separation that had been taken down. To prevent him from retreating, the Spirit said: “Behold, three men are looking for you. They want to speak with you. Go downstairs and do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” Thereby the Spirit was providing Peter with the explanation of the vision: People whom God had declared clean, you may not consider unclean! So he went down and asked them why they were looking for him. They explained about Cornelius and the visit from the angel, and the request to come to his house “so that he could hear what you have to say.”

After the vision, Peter had a very good idea that he was allowed to enter the house of a Gentile (cf. John 18:28), and what he had to say to Cornelius. “We’ve been sent by Cornelius,” they replied, “a Roman centurion in Caesarea.” In order to persuade Peter to go with them, they added: “He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. Yesterday a holy angel mandated him on behalf of God to invite you to come to his house to hear what you have to say.” Now Peter knew that a Gentile officer had invited him by God’s command to come to him. And for what other purpose than to proclaim the gospel to him?

Verse 23: His Jewish exclusivism had by now given way to the extent that he invited the three Gentiles to come in and spend the night. It was afternoon at this point (v. 9), and they had a long trip behind them. For that reason, they decided to depart the next morning.

Questions:

In what ways did Cornelius obey the Great Commandments, even before he knew about Jesus?

How much are we devoted to prayer and generosity to the poor? Who are the poor today?

What matters are still taboo for the Christian?

– Alida Sewell