The Book of Acts Chapter 10
Originally posted Thursday, May 15, 2008
General Comment: Our reading takes us into
the next phase of the preaching mission of the Jerusalem-based Christian
movement. So far the mission has been limited to the first three
elements of Jesus' commission: Jerusalem, all of Judea and Samaria. Apart
from the Mother Church in Jerusalem, small Jewish Christian communities were
established in Samaria, the southern coastal region of Judea (Azotus,
Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea), Antioch and Damascus in Syria, and Ethiopia. These
locations are but a few that are identified. With the persecution after
Stephen's death, many fled from Jerusalem into the Judean countryside and
would have carried their remembered sayings and deeds of Jesus and the
Apostles to Judean villages and towns, even north into Galilee. All
this and more was in keeping with the mandate to offer the Gospel to
all of Israel first. Although the mission to Israel will continue, the
major emphasis will shift to the Gentiles, their receiving the Gospel and the
Holy Spirit and the recognition by the Jewish Christian leadership in Jerusalem
as legitimate inheritors of God's grace and Kingdom.
The
story of Cornelius is more than one of Gentile conversion. It includes the
fundamental debate that would take place in the Church for decades
regarding the acceptability of uncircumcised Gentiles who did not follow the
Jewish Law regarding food and other customs. Put another way: do Gentiles have
to be converted to Judaism before they can be converted to Christianity?
Readings from Acts and Paul's letters clearly speak to the threat this question
posed. The Church faced a schism which would ultimately be realized as some
Jewish Christians formed their own communities and writings based on Torah.
Acts Chapter 10:1-33 Peter
and the Centurion, Cornelius
The
story of Peter and Cornelius is composed around two related visions: one
appearance to Cornelius in Caesarea and one to Peter in Joppa (compare the
two visions of Saul and Ananias 9:1-16).
Cornelius was a God Fearer, a Gentile who, along with his entire
household, worshipped the God of the Jews, practiced Jewish piety of prayers,
fasting and alms giving. He would have been connected to a Synagogue in
Caesarea Maritima to which he would contribute funds. The location was the
headquarters of the Roman Prefect who was responsible for Judea (Pontius Pilate
from 26 to 36 CE). He was one of six Centurions of the Italian
Cohort, a body of six hundred men at arms made up of Roman soldiers.
Cornelius'
visionary experience is brief. At about the ninth hour (time of
prayer) a messenger from God (Greek angelos) appears.
He affirms the acceptance of Cornelius' prayers and gifts
which have been received in heaven as a memorial before God (as a gift
placed on the heavenly Temple altar). The messenger instructs him to send for
Peter who is staying with Simon the tanner in Joppa (a tanner works with dead
animals and would be considered by the Jews as perpetually unclean). Cornelius,
his initial fear having been calmed, sends two slaves and one of his soldiers
who also is a God Fearer to Joppa.
Peter's
visionary experience occurs at the sixth hour of the following day. At the end
of a period of fasting, while preparing to eat a meal, "there
came over him a trance (ekstasis - a mystical, often visionary event
commonly associated with fasting in many religious traditions)."
Peter's vision included a variety of animals and reptiles being set before
him, all considered unclean or improperly prepared according
to the Levitical Holiness Code. Three times a voice urges him to
"kill and eat." Peter, a pious and observant Jew, even though he
knows the voice is heavenly, refuses on the basis of his Jewish preconception
that God's commands in Torah cannot to revoked. But this is no ordinary
vision. Its interpretation is beyond questions of food but Peter is puzzled by
the last words, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane,"
and he does not understand their meaning. It will only be when the
men arrive with the message from Cornelius that Peter will begin to
realize what new thing God is about to do. God is about to extend salvation to
the uncircumcised, the ritually unclean Gentiles, to offer Grace as the free
gift, without partiality or consideration of merit. Understood in concert
with Cornelius' vision, the heavenly voice's final words become
the new thing God is doing (Isa.43:18-10).
The
men arrive; the Spirit vouches for their authenticity to Peter; the
men affirm Cornelius' God fearing character, his acceptance by the
Jews, and relate his vision and invitation, which Peter accepts. On
the next day, accompanied by six believers of Joppa, he went with the two
slaves and soldier to meet with Cornelius in Caesarea Maritima.
Cornelius
knows of Peter's stature as a leader and teacher of the Way. He is
prepared with a warm welcome which includes his relatives and close
friends. Peter's reputation as one who accomplishes many "signs and
wonders," is misinterpreted in Hellenistic terms as his being a Greek
"divine man." Cornelius believes he deserves to be worshipped,
an error Peter quickly corrects. In what might be considered a statement of
watershed proportions, Peter admits to his former understanding that those
gathered before him were unclean and thought by him to be unlawful to associate
with. But now he has been corrected by God's own word. What he had thought
was profane, unclean and cut off from God, God has declared to be
clean and welcome in God's Kingdom.
Peter
now understands that they are all equal before God but does not yet know
why Cornelius has sent for him (or, better stated, why God has sent him).
Cornelius relates the details of his vision which has convinced him that he
needs to take a further step in his quest for a closer relationship with God.
Because of this need he has sent for Peter that he and all who are here with
him may hear what God will say to them through Peter.
Acts Chapter 10:34-43 The
Gentiles Hear the Good News
The
significance of the moment becomes crystal clear to Peter. God shows no
partiality among the nations regarding who are qualified to receive God's
grace, be they Jew or Gentile (or be they separated by any other artificial
form of discrimination). Anyone who
fears God (worships, is in awe of) and "does what is right" is
acceptable to God. With that Peter gives a summary of the Gospel proclamation,
of the message God sent to Israel through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of
all; how that message spread after John's baptism and Jesus' appearing as God's
anointed One; how Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, went about doing good
and healing the oppressed; how he was crucified, raised from the dead and
appeared to the Apostles; how he commissioning them to preach the good
news that he has been ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the
dead; that all who believe in him will receive forgiveness of sins in his name.
Acts Chapter 10:44-48 Gentiles
Receive the Holy Spirit
Before
Peter is finished speaking, God's confirmation of what has already been born in
the hearts of his listeners is made evident. To the astonishment of the
six Jewish Christians who were with Peter, the Holy Spirit's descent even upon
these Gentiles confirms the impartiality of God and their inclusion in the
family of God. All that is necessary and which cannot be withheld is their
baptism with water in the name of Jesus.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Peter
must have been taken aback by the proposition that his long held certainties
about God could be wrong. After all, his certainties were scriptural. How often
have we made assumptions about God, what God wants of us and, particularly, who
is acceptable to God? Do we hold fast to a belief that our view of what
is necessary to become a Christian is the only one? Is God
thereby restricted in God's actions because of what we believe? Is God bound by
the requirements of Scripture? If so, who does the binding? Some used to
think Africans did not have a soul, were only marginally human. So it
was decided that God permitted us to enslave them, to keep them separate,
even to hang them should they cross the boundaries of propriety as some
judged. Some used to think women were the inferior gender, created so by
God to carry sin in their very being. So it was decided they didn't
need to be educated, to vote, to serve as Pastors or to receive wages
equal to men doing the same work. Was God wrong or were these assumptions
merely made and then turned into doctrines which could not stand the light
of day? Did God say this was the proper way to act or did we presume to
take the prerogatives of God as our own? It is said that the sin of Adam was
that he wanted to make himself like God. Are we still vexed by his spirit?
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