Lesson 12 - Acts 10:9-15, 43-48 - PETER WENT ONTO A HOUSETOP TO PRAY
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Acts 9:36-43, we saw Peter heal a man in Lydda who had been paralyzed for eight years, then after a quick trip to Joppa, raised a woman named Tabitha from the dead. As these events became known, many of the Jews in this region believed in Jesus as Lord.
This week, in Acts 10:9-15, 43-48, we'll see Peter take the church into an entirely new direction as the saving power of the Gospel is offered to Gentiles (for the first time, publicly). The broad context of this development actually began with God's call of Abram, when God promised him that "in you all of the families of the earth would be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). And after His resurrection, Jesus told His apostles "You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts 1:8). In this story (we aren't covering every verse), Luke emphasizes four things about the conversion of Gentiles: (1) The Christian Jews initially resisted the idea of evangelizing Gentiles apart from any relationship with Judaism, i.e., full-fledged proselytes (the Ethiopian eunuch was an isolated case not known to them); (2) As we'll see, God Himself led the way to Gentile evangelism and acceptance; (3) it was Peter, the leader of the apostles, whom God used to open the door to Gentiles, not Paul; and (4) the Jerusalem church accepted the conversion of Gentiles because God validated in the text we are studying today.
Synopsis of skipped verses 1-8: In the first vision, an angel of God appeared to Cornelius, a centurion attached to the Roman Cohort in Caesarea, who was a 'God-fearer, but not a proselyte. The angel simply ordered him to find a man in Joppa named Peter. Obeying, Cornelius sent a soldier and two servants there to fetch Peter and bring him to Caesarea; and this is where we come into today's text.
Read Acts 10:9-15 - PETER IN CAESAREA
9 On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; 11 and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky. 13 A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!" 14 But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy."
v. 9a: "On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city," - This phrase describes the approach of Cornelius' three people as they travel toward Joppa to find Peter. The trek between Caesarea and Joppa is about 34 miles, a full day's walk for fit men like these.
v. 9b: "Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. - Here, the scene shifts to Joppa, where it is the "sixth hour," which is 12 noon on a Hebrew timeline. Religious Jews typically prayed three times a day, morning, noon, and night. Peter, still at Simon the Tanner's house, probably went up on the flat "housetop" for privacy, to unwind and cool off in the fresh sea air. His prayer probably included thanks to God for the response to the gospel message in Lydda and Joppa.
v. 10: "But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;" - This verse sets up the second vision. That he "became hungry" tells us that God deliberately gave him this yearning, so that as he climbed the stairs to the roof, food was uppermost on his mind. As he stepped onto the roof, "he fell into trance," a term that describes seeing a vision sent by God, a word sometimes used to describe prophetic light (Ezek. 8:1-3; Rev. 4:2).
v. 11: "and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground," - The object Peter saw descending looked like a huge bed sheet or a ship's square sail when laid flat as came down. The "four corners" of this great sheet symbolized the four corners of the earth-that God's message was intended to cover all locations in the world.
v. 12: "and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky." - Peter sees all kinds of edible animals on this sheet, some of which are 'clean" according to the strict Jewish dietary laws but many that were 'unclean.' These animals are a metaphor that signified the diverse categories of people all over the earth. To Peter, a practicing Jew, the issue of unclean food was a basic requirement that separated practicing Jews like him from the Gentile world.
v. 13: "A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!" - By this command, God is effectively overruling all the old clean/unclean distinctions between the Jews, the people of God, and the rest of the world, the Gentiles. This would include all the other ceremonial laws under the Mosaic Covenant like sacrifices, special days, and circumcision. In other words, God wanted nothing to get in the way of establishing Christian fellowship with the Gentile world.
v. 14: "But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." - Up to this point, Jews like Peter and the rest of the apostles assumed that Christianity was a natural outgrowth of Judaism. So, Peter's engrained, knee-jerk reaction to God's command isn't surprising. It was also consistent with his impetuous personality and former conduct, as when he declared the Jesus would never wash his feet (John 13:8-9). He had forgotten when Jesus had declared that all foods were clean, saying "there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man" (Mark 7:15). The main point of this command is to free Peter from any reservations over the 'cleanness' of Gentiles in general and whatever kinds of food they choose to eat specifically.
v. 15: "Again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." - In effect, Peter's Jewish cultural prejudices were obstructing God's will and word. So, to penetrate Peter's thick skull, God reiterates His command a second time. So, God, in no uncertain terms, makes it crystal clear to Peter that He "has cleansed" the Gentiles, and that they are in all respects equal to the Jews, i.e., "holy,' in terms of their fitness to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Synopsis of skipped verses 16-42: These verses report Peter's trip to Caesarea and the reception he received from Cornelius and his entire family and close friends when he arrived. Since a religious Jew would never ordinarily enter a Gentile home, Peter's was obviously being led by the Spirit to be obedient to God's command. Once there, Peter recounted his vision to Cornelius and explained Jesus' anointing by the Holy Spirit, His earthly ministry, His trial and death by crucifixion on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead by God. He then told Cornelius that Jesus had been appointed judge of the living and the dead, and that anyone who believed in Him received forgiveness from sins.
Read Acts 10:43-46a - THE HOLY SPIRIT FELL ON ALL WHO HEARD THE MESSAGE
43 All the prophets testify of Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. 45 All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles. 46a For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God.
v. 43: "All the prophets testify of Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." - Identifying Jesus as the Messiah predicted by OT prophecy (as 'God-fearers,' Cornelius, his family, and friends would have known about the promised Messiah), Peter boldly proclaims a sweeping statement of evangelical truth: that all people who believe in the name of the Messiah-Jesus Christ-will be saved and forgiven of their sins. In saying this, Peter clarified that the universal benefit of Jesus' ministry of grace was intended for Gentiles and Jews alike.
v. 44: "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. - At this juncture, Peter didn't need to say anything else, so as he "was still speaking," God interrupted him, and sent the Holy Spirit to Cornelius, his family, and his friends (who were obviously God-Fearers like him). It's important to see that God gave His Spirit solely because of their faith in Jesus Christ-the Gentiles did not have to do anything but believe in Jesus. They did not have to qualify as Jewish proselytes, experience water baptism (notice this), undergo circumcision, repent of their sins, or even turn from them. The important point here was the connection between faith in Jesus Christ alone, apart from anything else.
v. 45: "All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles." - It's no surprise that the Jews in attendance were quite frankly amazed. It went against everything that had been ingrained in them about Gentiles over the ages-that they could be accepted as full-fledged members of God's family.
v. 46a: "For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. - This was proof positive that these Gentiles had been accepted by God and filled with the Holy Spirit. Scholars believe these Gentile converts were praising God in Aramaic, which they could not have known previously, since Aramaic was a language only spoken by Jews. These Jews would have remembered that the ability to speak unlearned languages was sure evidence of Spirit baptism, as had previously been the case at the Pentecost.
Read Acts 46b-48 - HE ORDERED THEM TO BE BAPTIZED
46b Then Peter responded, 47 "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" 48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
vv. 46b-47: "Then Peter responded, 47 'Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?'" - Under the Old Covenant, the Jews had (and still do have) a practice called mikveh. A mikveh is a ritual bath that purifies the person entering it. A person will immerse him or herself in a mikveh upon conversion to Judaism, after any time of impurity, and before religious holidays. A modern Bar-Mitzvah at age 12 or 13 is one example of this. An obedient Christian is typically baptized once after becoming a member of a church, while but a Jew might experience a mikveh on many different occasions.
v. 48a: "And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." - There was no reason to withhold water baptism from these Gentile converts-they could undergo baptism in water as testimony to their faith immediately. Baptism of the Spirit was Jesus' sign of His acceptance of them, while their baptism was their own sign of their faith in Him. We might note that the word used here for "baptized" (Gk. baptizó [bap-tid'-zo]) means to immerse or dip into, as opposed to sprinkling. Some might argue that if you're baptized with the Holy Spirit, you don't need to be baptized in water; but, it's not a question of what you need, but a question of obeying what God has commanded. It is derived from the Great Commission where Jesus commanded His apostles "to make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19).
v. 48b: "Then they asked him to stay on for a few days." - Just a couple of days before this time, Peter would have refused the hospitality of a Gentile's home and table because he believed that God expected him to maintain his separation from them; but now, God has moved him to join himself in full fellowship with them. As a final note, we should understand that what happened at Cornelius' house in this lesson was the Pentecost of the Gentile world.
APPLICATION-Everyone is Invited to Believe in Jesus Christ as Lord.
1. We Christians are all prone to harbor prejudices. Like Peter, most of us use the Bible to justify our likes and dislikes about certain people or groups and to read it through the lens of our prejudices. After all, the Bible warned Israel about associating with the pagan idolaters of the nations around them. Don't miss the point: It doesn't mean that we should be tolerant or accepting of practices that the Bible calls sin, and it certainly doesn't mean that we should be partying with sinful people as if there were no difference between us and them. But it does mean that if we fail to confront our personal prejudices so that God can root them out, we will not be effective in reaching across cultural and personal barriers with the gospel. If you are prejudiced against other races or ethnicities, how will you reach them with the gospel? If you hate homosexuals (the people, not their sin), how will you lead them to Jesus Christ? If you steer clear of people with body piercings and tattoos, how can God use you to bring the gospel to them?
2. God is gracious to carefully break us of our prejudices so that He can work through us. Note how the Lord worked gradually with Peter. First, as we saw last week, Peter was staying at the home of a Jewish Christian brother who was a tanner, whom most Jews viewed as unclean. Then, the Lord repeated the vision twice for Peter, in order to impress the point upon him. No sooner had the vision ended than the three visitors from Caesarea arrived. Peter could have told them where the local Gentile motel was located, but he invited them in and gave them lodging (Acts 10:23, we skipped).
When Peter arrived at Cornelius' house, he was surprised to not only to find Cornelius' family but a bunch of other God-fearing Gentiles with him. But Peter got hold of himself and remembered that God had told him that He had "cleansed" the Gentiles, and that they were equal to the Jews-"holy"-in terms of their fitness to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ (v. 15). Peter's God-given ability to move past is former prejudices forms a model for us all to obey and follow.
3. When we yield to the Lord and put to death our prejudices, He will use us mightily in His service. As we saw in the lesson, God had prepared the listeners (Cornelius & Company) and He had prepared the evangelist (Peter). The end result paved the way for offering the gospel to a lost world. Here's a radical prayer request: Ask God to show you your prejudices. When He does, obey Him by putting your prejudices to death and by showing His love and offering His gospel to those whom you might not naturally be inclined to like or associate with. He will use it to exalt His name among the nations!
