Acts 10:1–23 - Our Covenant Keeping God
God always keeps His covenant - but often in surprising ways!
Acts 10:1–23 (NASB95)
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.
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. And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
Heidelberg Catechism
Q&A 54
Q. What do you believe concerning “the holy catholic church”?
A. I believe that the Son of God
through his Spirit and Word,
out of the entire human race,
from the beginning of the world to its end,
gathers, protects, and preserves for himself
a community chosen for eternal life
and united in true faith.
And of this community I am and always will be a living member.
Summary
Who is today's episode primarily about - Cornelius, or Peter?
Luke actually tells us quite a bit about Cornelius, to whom we're introduced for the first (and only) time in Acts 10-11. First of all, he's a centurion - an impressive post for sure, but somewhat of a middle management position in the Roman military. More importantly, he's a devout man and one who feared God. No matter what else you've accomplished in life, there's nothing better that could be said about you than this! It's what you ought to aspire to!
But Luke is imparting more than a compliment with these words as he describes Cornelius; what he meant in calling him a devout God fearer was that Gentiles like Cornelius worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but weren't really full fledged Jews. They literally were kept outside the Temple looking in.
So is this episode about how devout people would now be welcomed in as full participants in God's covenant, or is it about how those who'd always been God's people suddenly needed to let go of traditions and customs that had been their identity markers for centuries?
That's exactly what Peter's vision is all about. We've come to know Peter well - he's a central character all throughout the New Testament. So when we see the otherwise impusively courageous Peter, of all people, hesitate to take a bold step, it's a key indicator of how massively shocking Jesus' command that came down with a meat laden sheet was.
Dig Deeper
But as fascinating as what the two protagonists in today's story are, neither one of them are the primary actor. That role falls, of course, to the Triune and Living God, who sovereignly set two men, who would have never otherwise crossed paths, on a collusion course that would change history.
Up until this point, the Church has revolved around a very Jewish orbit. Sure, there's been a convert or two that was welcomed in from the outside, but for the most part, Christianity is shaping up to be Judaism 2.0, exclusively centered around a particular ethnicity.
But it's here in Acts 10 that God makes good on a promise He'd made two millennia earlier: that through God's covenant, all the families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3).
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who always remains faithful to His covenant promises;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'd be devout like Cornelius and obedient no matter what like Peter;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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