Peter's Vision
10:1 Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name,
a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,
10:2 a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house,
who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people, and always prayed
to God.
10:3 At about the ninth hour of the day{3:00 PM},
he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God coming to him, and saying
to him, "Cornelius!"
10:4 He, fastening his eyes on him, and being frightened, said, "What
is it, Lord?"
He said to him,
"Your prayers and your gifts to the needy
have gone up for a memorial before God.
10:5 Now send men to Joppa, and get Simon,
who is surnamed Peter.
10:6 He lodges with one Simon, a tanner, whose
house is by the seaside."
{TR adds "This one will tell you what it is necessary for you to
do."}
10:7 When the angel who spoke to him had departed,
Cornelius called two of his household servants
and a devout soldier of those who waited on him continually.
10:8 Having explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
10:9 Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close
to the city,
Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon.
10:10 He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they were preparing,
he fell into a trance.
10:11 He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him,
like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth,
10:12 in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth,
wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky.
10:13 A voice came to him, "Rise, Peter, kill
and eat!"
10:14 But Peter said,
"Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean."
10:15 A voice came to him again the second time,
"What God has cleansed, you must not call
unclean."
10:16 This was done three times, and immediately the vessel was received
up into heaven.
10:17 Now while Peter was very perplexed in himself
what the vision which he had seen might mean,
behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius,
having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood before the gate,
10:18 and called and asked whether Simon, who was surnamed Peter, was
lodging there.
10:19 While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him,
"Behold, three{Reading from TR and NU. MT omits "three"} men
seek you.
10:20 But arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for
I have sent them."
10:21 Peter went down to the men, and said,
"Behold, I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?"
10:22 They said, "Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who
fears God,
and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews,
was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house,
and to listen to what you say."
10:23 So he called them in and lodged them.
On the next day Peter arose and went out with them,
and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.
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Comments
Jesus said, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must
bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one
flock and one shepherd." John 10:16 The "other pen" was
the Gentiles, and Cornelius was one of the sheep of that other pen. He
was already righteous as Abraham had been having already believed in the
LORD, though he had yet to hear the gospel and receive the Holy Spirit.
This Gentile was a Roman soldier - a centurion in charge of 100 men.
I wonder if this might be the same centurion whose servant Jesus healed
in Luke 7 and who was commended for his faith. Perhaps not, unless he moved
from Capernaum. But it is interesting that there were those among the Romans
who were of such commendable faith even before coming to know Christ. The
Jews were particularly contemptuous of the Romans, being not only Gentiles
but also reckon oppressors. But the fact that godly men could rise to such
ranks among the Romans tells a different story. And here's a man praying
3:00 in the afternoon - a busy part of the day. How many Christians even
do that? We also note that all his house were devout, such was his contagious
influence.
The Vision of Cornelius
Concerning the vision of Cornelius, there are some interesting issues.
For why give him a vision in the first place? Why not just send Peter over
to him much as God sent Philip to the Ethiopian and such? It seems to me
that perhaps God wanted to communicate the sense that He was already there
before the gospel arrived. Cornelius was already His sheep, but of a different
pen. Peter needed to learn much of God's attitude towards the Gentiles.
God entered the house of a Gentile before Peter did. He spoke to the Gentile
before Peter did.
Another aspect of the vision is why did God tell him to send for Peter?
Why didn't the angel tell him the gospel right on the spot? One reason,
as I mentioned concerning Peter being sent to Samaria, is that Peter was
promised the keys to the kingdom and this event represented the opening
of the kingdom to the Gentiles. But more generally just as God sent his
Son into the world, so he has sent Christians in the world as His ambassadors.
That's His administration. He brings the gospel through Christians. But
God is working by His Spirit even outside the Christian community to draw
people to Himself.
"Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God."
It was because of his works of righteousness that God would bring the
gospel to this man and his household. Yes it is true that "Not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved
us" Titus 3:5 and "God credits righteousness apart from works."
Rom
4:6 But we are not talking about the basis of his righteousness, but
rather the reason God gave him the opportunity to hear the gospel. The
basis of righteousness is the forgiveness of sins. But the outworkings
of saving faith are revealed by a lifestyle of righteous deeds. His works
of faith indicated he was prepared to accept the gospel and so it was given
to him.
The Vision of Peter
Peter was praying at noon time and starting to think about lunch. God brought
him a picnic of unclean animals. But Peter thought this was just a test
- like Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. For it was against the Law
of Moses (which God gave to the people of Israel) to eat theses kinds of
animals. In fact there is nothing inherently sinful in eating these. Paul
the apostle, a Jew of the sect of the Pharisee later writes: "As one
who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean
in itself." Romans 14:14 The dietary restrictions God placed
upon the Jews under the Law of Moses was a temporary thing which now at
this point in time was eliminated. Upon Peter's vision God changed the
rules. The restrictions were meant to symbolize God's people as holy and
separate from the world. But now this symbolism was changing to the reality
in which the Church, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, is the reality
of what the nation of Israel and the Laws of Moses were only symbolic of.
Jews did not eat with Gentiles. But this vision allowed for such fellowship.
Paul would have to remind Peter of this in Galatians
2. Futhermore the unclean animals were also representative of Gentiles
as the Jews thought of them. God now called them clean and therefore qualfied
to have the gospel preached to them. This is also an inference Peter makes
in Acts 11. Much to his credit Peter embraces the vision and obeys, even
housing these Gentiles for the night.
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