Bible In A Year | Read: Acts 10
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. 26But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”27While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. 28He 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. 29So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”30Cornelius 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.’ 33So 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. Acts 10:23-35
Overview of Chapter
This is the story of the first non-Jew, called a Gentile, coming to Christ. The Jewish Christians did not think this was possible. They had spent their entire lives avoiding Gentiles and seeing them as enemies of God. Similar to what God had to do to convince Saul to trust Christ, God had to do something bold to convince Peter that Gentiles could be Christians. Just like Jews avoided Gentiles, they also avoided certain foods. God lets Peter know he can declare anything to be clean. Though Peter needed some convincing, he obeyed God and led a Gentile to Jesus. This may seem like a strange transition to us today since most Christians are Gentiles. That’s how it is with change; once the change is made, it’s sometimes hard to remember why it was controversial. We live in a world that is changing and sometime we need to change to address the needs of a culture that has shifted. Changes like that can be controversial, but necessary. The central message of Jesus doesn’t change, but how we make him known does.
Thoughts on the verses
How did the gospel go from only Jewish believers to the rest of the world? We’ll see that transition happen now as Peter takes the gospel, reluctantly, to a Gentile. His name was Cornelius, and he was the first Gentile to hear the gospel from Peter. That sounds easy enough, but it was a huge paradigm shift for Peter—the first of major changes. Cornelius, a Roman centurion, lived in Caesarea. He wasn’t yet a Christian, because he had never heard the gospel. Some might call him “a seeker.” He needed more light—and wanted it. Wherever there is a man who seeks after God as Cornelius did, that man is going to hear the gospel of the grace of God. Now while Cornelius is praying in Caesarea, an angel of God appears to him in a vision and tells him to find Peter in Joppa, staying with Simon, the tanner by the seaside. Immediately, Cornelius sends two servants and a soldier to fetch Peter.
Action Steps
Bible: What is God showing me? What am I going to do about it?
Bless: Serve one person through word, action, or gift today.
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