Acts 10:23-35 The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.” While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He 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. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me? ”Cornelius 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 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. 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.’ So 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.”
In this story we see two people from different cultures called by God to meet together. Both of them are aware that a Jew and a Gentile are traditionally foes; they are not to associate with each other. When Peter meets Cornelius, he reminds Cornelius that Jews are forbidden to associate with Gentiles. You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. Even though this societal separation was well understood in both of their communities, we have Cornelius calling for a Jew to come to his house because of a supernatural event happening in a prayer time. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. The next day Peter while in a trance sees a sheet with many different types of creatures on it. This sheet comes down from the sky three times, a complete number in the Jewish society. Because he is hungry, he is ordered to, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” However, many of these living things are considered unclean to the Jews. If Peter ate them he would be violating a direct commandment of God. But the voice from heaven tells Peter, Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. Now we see in the above focus, Peter, a Jew, meeting with Cornelius, a Gentile. This interaction happens only because both men knew God was intricately involved with their meeting: a Jew mingling with a Gentile even though such a get-together violated the norms of that day. Cornelius is a chosen vessel of God because he is an upright man who gives gifts to the poor. Taking care of the disadvantaged and the stranger is a prominent theme in the Old Testament and the New Testament. God has much to say about caring for the most vulnerable in a society. In the Old Testament we see: He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:18-19) In the New Testament we know the Lord will separate people at the end of time based on how they treated the weakest among them. Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matthew 25:34-36) Cornelius was a man who cared for the weak, the poor, those who were losing out in this world. Therefore, an angel came to him to open up the way to eternal life by having him call Peter, a disciple of Jesus Christ to come to his house. When the two men meet, Cornelius falls at Peter’s feet to worship and honor him. But now, Peter has a full understanding that all men are equal and precious to God. He tells Cornelius to get up because he is a man just as Cornelius is a man. Both are equal; there is no separation between a Roman and a Jew; God sees both as precious, for they are made in his likeness from the beginning of time.
This event is God’s story to restore all men and women to himself. Men and women from the beginning of time have chosen their own way. Rather than appreciate what God has made, mankind has desired to rule, to be independent from God. When Eve violated God’s command of not eating of the Tree of Knowledge, her heart darkened with the thought that she too could be like God in his nature, his power, his authority. Satan tempted her with the idea that she could be as God, catering to her own needs and desires, not to the wishes of the Creator. Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:21) The hearts of men and women were still dark after the great flood. God stated He would not destroy mankind with a flood ever again, even though He knew from their conception, their hearts were wicked. In the above focus, we see God’s rescue plan from this wickedness in mankind, both Jew and Gentile. Peter would come to Cornelius with a life-changing story. He would reveal the good news that a Savior has come to mankind, to rescue all people from their eternal darkness. Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, has been sent to mankind, to restore all people to the Heavenly Father. They would be reconciled to a holy God, a righteous God, a perfect God. The darkness in people’s hearts would be dealt with by the blood of Jesus on the cross. No longer would men and women serve God out of their own efforts to please him; instead, they would rely by faith in the works of Jesus to please a perfect God. Cornelius in many ways was trying to live a righteous life by obeying what a good man should do to please the God of heaven. He was categorized as a good man, a man who cares for even the weakest in society. But Cornelius was in no way a perfect man, that which is required by a sinless God. Jesus, the Son of God, said we must be perfect, living our lives without even a shadow of sin in us. But Peter as did Paul now comes to a Gentile with the Good News: perfection is available to all men and women though the blood of Jesus Christ. Both men knew perfection would never come to men without the holy work of Christ on the cross. Both men knew Cornelius must accept Jesus and his work by faith to be wholly righteous. God loved Cornelius as He loves all people who are made in his image. Cornelius’ life was like many people across the world, people who live good lives: kind, generous, caring and gentle. But Cornelius, as with all these people who are greatly respected by others, lacked perfection and therefore the complete acceptability by the perfect God of all existence. Because He is eternal, and eternity allows no shadow of sin in its domain, a Savior is needed who is without a shadow of sin. Peter brought the Good News of this Savior: Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the good news: Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life. Cornelius needed to know salvation comes through no other than Jesus Christ. His good life would not be enough to satisfy the requirements of God on his life. He could not reach God's standard of holiness by living just a good life. The Jews since Mount Sinai failed miserably in forcing their flesh to be good and acceptable to God by following the law given to them by Moses. Their rebellion to God’s law was so pronounced that even in the wilderness, delivered from slavery, they pretentiously served God with sacrifices and gifts. Stephen in his last words to the Sanhedrin reveals the truth of the Jews infidelity to God even in the wilderness. The Sanhedrin's ancestors chose to serve idols and images that would allow them to live the way they wanted to live, in sin and self-gratification. Sadly, in the wilderness, the chosen people served the gods of Egypt and of the surrounding nations. Stephen relates this truth to castigate the Sanhedrin and their willful ways of living. The prophets of old tell of God’s mind about the wilderness people. Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek and the star of your god, Rephan, the idols you made to worship. (Acts 7:43) Stephen is implying that even the chosen, delivered from the chains of slavery possessed rebellious hearts. Even with the light of the law, they were intent on being outsiders to God’s demands on their lives. Now Peter is coming to Cornelius to say, even your best intentions will not satisfy the requirements of holiness that God demands from you. You need something more than just law in your life. As Paul said so well, through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Galatians 2:19-21) Peter knows Cornelius must accept the truth of the good news to know God, to move away from the intractable darkness in human beings. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) The Jews, even though they had the light of the law could not move away from their rebellious hearts; their hearts were uncircumcised. As Stephen said, You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! (Acts 7:51) Now, a Roman, uncircumcised in the flesh, will be circumcised in the heart, an eternal condition. And he will receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit; he and his household. May we all follow in his footsteps!
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