Acts 10:1-11:18 pt. 1

All right, welcome back to the listeners commentary on the book of Acts. The listeners commentary aims to provide clear Down to earth Bible teaching in the language of everyday life So that we can be rooted in the text of the Bible and follow Jesus right in the midst of our everyday life and in this Recording we're going to be looking at a key story out of the book of Acts It's the story of the conversion of Cornelius and his family and it's an incredibly long story Detailed in the book of Acts for us in fact it begins here in Acts chapter 10 verse 1 and Continues all the way up through the middle of chapter 11 and the 11 18 That's a lot of space devoted to the conversion of one man and his family and so it raises the question for us Why is there so much space devoted to the conversion of Cornelius and the reason for that is because this Conversion account isn't just an ordinary conversion account It announces the entrance of the Gentiles into the new family of Jesus This is the second major transition in the book of Acts the first one was Acts chapter 8 where We welcomed the Samaritans into the new family of Jesus. Well now we're going even further Out and further wide to the welcoming of the Gentiles with Cornelius his family, and so this is a Major moment and a major movement in the story of the early church and the story of God's plan of redemption Let's set the context for us in the scene at the end of chapter 9 Luke described how Peter's ministry was taking him to the towns of Judea and he's traveling and preaching and healing and Really carrying out gospel-centered ministry throughout the towns of Judea Luke described there at the end of chapter 9 how Peter healed a man by the name of a Nias and a town called Lidda and how that then led to people in the Surrounding towns hearing about Jesus and coming to faith in him as the Messiah Luke also described at the end of chapter 9 how Peter brought a woman named Tabitha back to life in the city of Japa Well here at the beginning of chapter 10 Peter is staying in Japa at the house of a man named Simon Who's a Tanner and his house is by the sea? That's the immediate narrative context for what happens here in the conversion of Cornelius But what happens in the scene is so big as we already mentioned that we need to zoom out a bit for a bit of the broader Narrative and theological context when this story occurs It's about the year AD 40 so it's been 10 years roughly since Jesus's death Resurrection and ascension to God's right hand It's been 10 years since the spirit was first poured out on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost way back in Acts chapter 2 and During those 10 years the church has been predominantly Jewish as We noted in the middle of those 10 years Luke has described the first welcome of foreigners into the new family of Jesus When he described the conversion of the Samaritans in Acts chapter 8 But even though that was the first welcome of non-Jews into the family The Samaritans had many of the same customs as the Jews and so here's the question for you and for me that we need to bear in mind as we Explore Cornelius this conversion the question is this in the year 40 when this event happens What distinguished a Jew in Jerusalem from a Christian? The answer is not much in a lot of ways The Jews in Jerusalem held many of the same beliefs as the Christians the Christians had largely the same moral code as the Jews They both together practice much of the same weekly and annual calendar They the Jewish Christians still circumcised their baby boys and they still only ate kosher food So although the Christians in Jerusalem were looked on as different by many of the Jews because of their Belief in Jesus resurrected Messiah so different in fact that someone like Paul saw could could begin Persecuting them and putting them in prison Yet when it came down to their daily life From outsideers perspective they would have looked largely the same like you guys aren't that different, right? But Jesus had said to go into all the nations and make disciples and the long story of Israel was always Intended to bring the blessing of God the blessing of Abraham if you will to all the people of the world And you can read that clear back in Genesis chapter 12 and the whole story of Israel as a people is is to fulfill that word to Abraham that God Through him and through his descendants are going to bring his blessing to all the world and Jesus had said at the very beginning of the book of Acts to the Apostles that they would be his witnesses even to the ends of the earth Well, the ends of the earth have to start somewhere and so it begins here and Acts chapter 10 We now make the next big the really major cross-cultural move to welcoming the first Gentiles into the new family So Peter is staying on the coast in japa and up the coast a few miles about 35 or so at Cessaria is a Roman military officer named Cornelius and here's what happens Acts chapter 10 verse one begins like this now there was a man in Cessaria named Cornelius a Inchuria and of what was called the Italian cohort. He was a devout man and one who feared God with all his household and Made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually So he get introduced to Cornelius in these first two verses here in Acts chapter 10 Notice that where the scene is set in the city of Cessaria Cessaria is about 60 miles northwest of Jerusalem It's about 30 miles up the coast from Japa, which is where Peter is at Cessaria was a fairly new city. It was actually Commissioned about 60 years or so prior to the events described here and It was commissioned by Herod the great who wanted to build a a really great harbor on the coast of Palestine And then named it after Caesar Augustus who was the ruling emperor at the time and hence Cessaria So this is a fairly new city built by Herod built to be a glorious harbor town and it's really the capital city the Roman political capital in Palestine Palestine didn't have a great natural harbor the best one is actually at Japa where Peter is at But it wasn't a great harbor and it was somewhat dangerous because of the rocky break waters and so they needed a great harbor for Any trade travel export and all of that and so when Herod the great commission Cessaria that was the vision behind it And so he actually built break waters to build this great harbor before he deepened the the harbor that was there He actually made wooden forms and used hydraulic types of cement cement that would harden underwater to build break waters For the harbor there in Cessaria He built it as a great Roman style city complete with a hippodrome and a theater He piped in water from the mountains about six miles away through a large aqueduct. It was a splendid City there on the coast to be the Roman capital in the region of Judea And it's at this city then that we meet Cornelius who's a centurion in the Roman army of what is called the Italian cohort Centurions were the most important Tactical Roman officer in their military. They commanded 80 to a hundred men hence the name They often were stationed in an area for a rather long time and it seems to be that case with Cornelius his family is there in Cessaria with him He has a large body of friends that are going to be part of this story here in Acts chapter 10 He's been in the area long enough to have a well-established reputation with the Jews known for actually as we see here Being friendly to them and respectful by them. We'll talk about that more in a second and so Cornelius Seems to have been in the area for a long time and he has a super good reputation with the Jewish people and the reason for that seems to be that Cornelius is what was called a God-fearer. There were Jews There were proselytes proselytes were Gentiles who had fully converted to Judaism by means of circumcision and Keeping the whole law and all of that and so they would have been considered part of the Jewish people and then there were God-fearers God-fearers were Gentiles non-Jews who looked up on the Jewish faith with great favor who oftentimes respected their moral virtue and sought to keep some of their their moral code They often Involved themselves at least in some way with this synagogue and maybe in charitable deeds as we see with Cornelius here. And therefore they were viewed with great respect by the Jews. They just weren't really part of the Jewish people. They still were outsiders and they still wouldn't have been allowed like in the temple for worship and some of that. And so they weren't considered Jews or part of the Jewish people, but they were people who respected the Jewish faith and the Jewish ways. And Cornelius appears to be a God fear. Notice he's described in verse two as a devout man. He has devotion to God. He's one who feared God. He's a God fear with all his household, so his family as well. And he made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and he prayed to God continually. And so he kept the hours of prayer. He gave alms and charitable contributions to the Jews. And as a result, he's a man in good standing with the Jewish people there in Cessaria. Well, here's what happens to Cornelius as he's praying at one of the hours of prayer, verse three. At about the ninth hour, that is about three in the afternoon, one of the Jewish hours of prayer, we can surmise that he was praying and here's what happened. He clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, Cornelius. And so he's praying. He sees a vision and an angel appears to him and says, calls him by name Cornelius. And he looked at him intently and became terrified. And this is the common experience of people in the Bible when they see an angel. There's fear. They're afraid because angels are powerful beings. And so Cornelius is afraid and said, what is it, Lord? And he addresses him probably using the word Lord with just a term of respect because he recognizes this is some sort of heavenly vision, but he doesn't know really what's going on. So what is it, Lord? And he said to him, the angel said to Cornelius, your prayers and your charitable gifts have ascended as a memorial offering before God. In other words, your prayers have come before God. He's taken note of them. Your charitable gifts, your alms giving and your good deeds, they have risen before God like an offering as well. Now here's the instructions. Dispatch some men to Japa and sin for a man named Simon who is also called Peter. He's staying with a Tanner named Simon whose house is by the sea. And so the angel instructs Cornelius to send some men to get Peter there in Japa about 35 miles down the coast from Cessaria. Tells him where he's at. He's staying there in Japa at the house of Simon who is a Tanner, that is one who tans leather hides whose houses by the sea, which would be a great place for a Tanner to work. Their work involved quite a bit of odor. So their work was often out of town. They needed to be able to get rid of waste, what better than that than the sea. Oftentimes, salt was used in their work. So again, what better place than that to harvest salt from the sea. And so Simon the Tanner's house is in Japa near the sea. And so it gives him those instructions. And so verse 7, when the angel who had spoken to Cornelius left, he summoned two of his servants, the word for servant there is household servant. These were people who worked in his house. He is a high ranking military officer. Centurions tend to be paid a lot. So he's a person of means. He has household servants. So he calls two of his household servants and a devout soldier from his personal attendance. And so here's a soldier who was on staff with him and who personally attended to Cornelius. And this soldier is described as devout as well, seemingly suggesting that he may have been a God fear or two. And so he calls him to himself. And he explained everything to them, explaining about the angel and what he saw and the instructions and who they're to go for. And so gives him all the instructions and he sent them off to Japa. Now as we've noted, Japa is a good 35 miles or so down the coast. So it's going to take them a bit to get there. They won't arrive. We learn as the story unfolds until the next day around midday, around noon, when Peter is praying on a rooftop and has a vision himself. And so they're going to leave immediately. And they're going to make pretty good time for traveling and perhaps on horseback, maybe on foot. They're going to make haste and they're going to get there by midday the next day. Now let's pause and just think about Japa for a second. One of the things that's important when we're reading scripture is some of times certain things are mentioned in one story that should echo or call to mind another story. Japa is one of those places. Do you have in your bible reading any recollection of the city of Japa? Somebody who was familiar with the Old Testament reading acts here would recall that Japa was significant for the story of the book of Jonah. That it was to Japa that Jonah went to board a ship to flee from the mission that God had called him to Gentiles in Assyria. So now at this point in the biblical story, we have another servant of God, Peter in the city of Japa. And we have Gentiles being sent to him who are on mission from God and will Peter. How will he respond? Will he respond like Jonah and turn away from them? Will Peter heed the message and finally go and preach to the Gentiles just as Jonah finally did after God got his attention? How is this story going to unfold? Well, let's keep reading and let's see what happens. On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went on on the house top at about the sixth hour to pray. And so we're given kind of the chronological factors. It's about the sixth hour, which means it's about noon. Peter is going to go up on the roof of the house of Simon the Tanner and he's going to pray there on the roof. And he's going to do so while he's waiting for lunch. The men who have been sent from Cornelius, they're approaching the city of Japa and they're going to begin working their way through the city trying to see if they can't find Simon the Tanner's house. And so all that's going on, Peter goes up on the roof. Now while Peter's up on the roof praying, verse 10, he became hungry and he wanted to eat. And while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance. And so he's on the roof. He's praying. He's hungry. He wants to eat. Food's not ready. They don't have microwaves. So it's going to take a little bit. They're cooking and they're getting everything ready. And Peter then falls into a trance while he's praying. And he himself has a vision, verse 11. And he saw the sky opened up and an object like a great sheet coming down out of the sky, lowered by four corners to the ground. And so the sky is open and Peter sees this vision of this great sheet being lowered down to the ground in front of him. And on the sheet, verse 12, for all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky. So you got the sheet full of various kinds of animals and a voice said to Peter, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." So Peter has this vision in the sheet full of animals. He's told to slaughter an animal and make himself some food because he's hungry. But, verse 14, Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I've never eaten anything unholy or unclean. I've never eaten anything, Lord, that was contrary to your standards. That would go against your food laws, Lord. I've never done that." Well, this happens again. The voice from heaven spoke again and said a second time, "What God has cleansed no longer considered unholy." This is a major moment. It's not just killing eat. It's the voice from heaven telling Peter, "No, you're calling these animals unclean or unholy, but they're not. God has now cleansed them. They are no longer unclean, and thus they are no longer impermissible for you to eat. So feel free to eat." This is a major moment where those food laws are now being abolished and removed, and Peter is free to eat whatever he wants. But it's deeper than that, and it's bigger than that. Hold on to that. We'll talk about that in just a second. And then again, verse 16 says, "This happened three times, and immediately object was taken back into the sky." And so, there is a third time where the voice said to him, "Clomb Peter, it's clean. Feel free to eat. Take yourself some food." Now, let's talk about the food laws for a second. So we understand exactly the significance of what's going on here. If you're familiar with the Old Testament, you know that it's part of the old covenant law. God gave Israel all sorts of food laws. Here's things you can eat. Here's things you cannot eat. And they were very specific food laws for the Jews. And they are what is called these days, the kosher food laws, right? And so the Jews had clean animals and unclean animals, and they could eat clean animals. They couldn't eat unclean animals. Now, what was the purpose of that? Was it just random? Was it just arbitrary? Well, no. The purpose of the food laws was set into Israel's greater purpose to be a holy nation. And so there were these categories within the Israelite worldview as formed by the law that was given through Moses, the category of holy and unholy. There was the category of clean and unclean, and then there was the category of holy and when we say unholy, we're talking profane or common. And so really the opposite of holy was common or profane. For everyday use, for common, not set apart for holy use for God's purposes. So you have holy and common or profane. You have clean and unclean. And the food laws then were these clean and unclean laws. And the purpose was to symbolize Israel's calling and distinction as a holy nation. The basic meaning of the word holy is set apart, distinct or different. And so the food laws were one way that Israel would be set apart and different from the surrounding nations. This would be a way every day that would embody and represent to Israel that they were different and that they were called to be different from the surrounding nations. It wasn't that some food was bad and some food was good. It may be that there might have been some secondary benefits to the food laws, such as hygiene as some people suggested. But the primary purpose of those food laws was to symbolize Israel's separation from the nations. They were set apart. They were to be set apart to God as his holy nation. And the food laws would drive this in on a daily basis as they ate their food. And Peter gets this. He recognizes that there's a connection between Israel as being set apart from the Gentile peoples and the food laws as representative of that. And so in Acts chapter 10 verse 28, here later in our story, when he's explaining what's going on to Cornelius, Peter says, God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. In other words, he reflects on the vision of the sheet with the food and the voice telling him, God's cleans this. And then I'll say, he makes the connection. Wait a second, the food laws are being removed. These foods are cleansed. And that must mean that these people are cleansed. And God wants all people to come together in one new family. And that's the significance of the food laws in the story of Israel. And it's the significance of the unclean food that has been cleansed here in Peter's vision. And so Peter has this vision of this sheet with all these animals on it. God's cleans them. Don't call them unclean. Don't call them impure and holy. The sheet goes back up into the sky. And Peter sitting there on the roof wondering, what does all this mean? What am I supposed to do with this verse 17? Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mine as to what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon House and they appeared at the gate. And so Peter's trying to figure this out and wouldn't you have it. God's timing is perfect. And these men from Cornelius show up just as Peter's perplexed and wondering about all this. And they show up at the gate to Simon the Tanner's House. The fact that there is a gate that's different from the door of the house. This is the gate that would be into the courtyard. And this would suggest that Simon has got a pretty good business as a Tanner going on. And he's at least got a fairly decent house. And so they show up at the gate to the courtyard of Simon the Tanner's House. And when they show up verse 18, they call out asking whether Simon, who was called Peter, was staying there. And so they want to know are they at the right house. And while Peter was reflecting on the vision, the spirit said to Peter, "Behold, three men are looking for you, get up, go downstairs, and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them myself." And so they're calling out, wondering if they're at the right house. Is Simon Peter staying here? The spirit then tells Peter, "Go with them. I've sent these men." And notice in this translation, verse 20, it says, "A company to them without misgivings." Which is a possible translation of the word misgivings. And yet the word literally is more like without making distinctions. And that seems important in view of the whole point of the vision and the whole point of the story as it unfolds where Peter says, "God's not making distinctions anymore. I now see that he has no partiality." And so probably the more full force of the word is more appropriate here rather than this softer meaning of misgivings. "Go with them without making distinctions. Make no distinctions between them. Their Gentiles, your Jews, remember the vision. I've cleansed things. Make no distinctions between them and you." Now's the whole point of those food loss. They were to be a representative of the distinctions between Gentiles and Jews. Those distinctions are now done. So go with them without making any distinctions because I have sent them myself. So Peter went down to the men and presumably in the courtyard of the house outside and said to them, "Behold, I'm the one you're looking for. What's the reason for which you have come?" The Spirit hadn't told Peter the reason they had come. He'd only told them to go with them. And so Peter inquires, wants to know exactly the reason for which they have come and they explained why they were there. Verse 22, they said Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well spoken up by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to sin for you, to come to his house and hear a message from you. So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. And so they explained the whole situation with Cornelius and how he was sent to hear instructions from Peter. Well, they can't leave today. It's too late in the day at this point. And so he invites them in and they're going to stay with Peter at Simon the Tanner's house there in Joppa and they'll leave the next morning to head to Cornelius's place. One of the things that's fascinating about this is the fact that as these men from Cornelius note that Cornelius was divinely directed by a holy angel to sin for you, Peter, to come to his house and hear a message from you. That's fascinating because according to Acts 840, Philip, one of the seven evangelists was already in Cessaria and we'll learn from Acts 21 that he's still there then. So he apparently made his residence there and yet the angel doesn't tell Cornelius to go to Philip's house there in Cessaria. We know that the Apostle Paul was commissioned to be the Apostle to the Gentiles and we know that he's been doing ministry up in Tarsus but Cornelius isn't instructed to sin for Saul or Paul. He's instructed to sin for Peter. God's already speaking to Cornelius through an angel and yet he doesn't share the gospel with him. He instructs him to sin for Peter. Why is that? And I think this is important for us to notice and that's this that there's probably several reasons. One obviously is Peter is really closely connected and the key leader in the Jerusalem Church. That's important just like with the Samaritans. It was Peter and John who came down from the Jerusalem Church. So Peter's reputation and leadership in the Jerusalem Church is certainly important to all of that but even beyond that Jesus had said to Peter in Matthew chapter 16 verses 18 and 19 that he would give him the keys to the kingdom and that seems to be the role that Peter plays in the book of Acts. When the gospel is first preached in Acts chapter 2 it's Peter who's the spokesman for that. When the Samaritans come into the family and yet they need the Holy Spirit and they need the connection with the Jerusalem Church it's Peter and John who are sent to him. And here in this scenario in this scene it's Peter whom Cornelius is instructed to sin for so that Peter can be the one to share the gospel with him and so at every major turn as the spirit is being poured out on a new group of people and they're being welcomed into the new family of Jesus. It's Peter who's the one who opens the doors for that and that seems to be one of his roles as the one who's given the keys to the kingdom there in Matthew chapter 16. So at this point in our story Cornelius has seen a vision of an angel who's told him to go find Simon Peter in Japa. Cornelius has sent men to Japa to find Peter. God has given Peter a vision of all sorts of animals and says the distinctions between these animals no longer pertains and the spirit has told him to go with these men without making any distinction. These Gentiles and Peter now puts two and two together and realizes that we are no longer calling unclean any foods or any peoples that God has now cleansed. And so Peter invites these three men, these three Gentiles to stay with him there in Japa as they make preparations to travel to Cessaria to share the gospel with Cornelius. And so unlike Jonah, centuries before, Peter is not going to flee his mission to the Gentiles. He's not going to have to be coerced by God like Jonah was. Peter is ready to go. The vision was enough for him and he is prepared now to travel to Caesarea with these men, to visit with Cornelius and to share the gospel with him. We'll pick up the rest of the story in part two of Cornelius's conversion.