TEXT: ACTS 10:34-48
34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a
truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
36 The word which God sent unto the children of
Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
37 That word, I say, ye know, which was
published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism
which John preached;
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the
Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were
oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
39 And we are witnesses of all things which he
did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged
on a tree:
40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed
him openly;
41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses
chosen before God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose
from the dead.
42 And he commanded us to preach unto the
people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge
of quick and dead.
43 To him give all the prophets witness, that
through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy
Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
45 And they of the circumcision which believed
were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also
was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and
magnify God. Then answered Peter,
47 Can any man forbid water, that these should
not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the
name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
KEY TEXT: Acts
10:45 “…On the Gentiles also was poured
out the gift of the Holy Ghost…”
REFLECTION:
It is difficult to
describe the dramatic change—the total revolution—that occurred in Peter’s
world from Joppa to Caesarea. In Joppa his diet was changed. All of his life Peter carefully avoided those
meats that were forbidden to the Jews in the Torah. While praying God showed
him a vision of “unclean meats” and declared, “What God has cleansed, do not call common!” (Acts 10:15). Three times the vision was
repeated. Peter would never eat the
same.
Peter was still lost in
reverie when the servants of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, knocked at the door. They asked Peter to return with them to
Caesarea. Gentiles were asking. All of his life Peter carefully avoided
associating with Gentiles. They were
unclean. Heaven spoke again. “Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go
with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.”
(Acts 10:20).
When
Peter arrived in Caesarea he went directly to the home of the Centurion. Cornelius warmly greeted the Apostle and
introduced him to his invited family and friends: “we [are] all here present before God, to hear all things that are
commanded thee of God.” (Acts 10:33)
Peter began, “Of a truth I perceive
that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth
him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”
(Acts 10:35) If his diet was changed in
Joppa, his bias was changed in
Caesarea. For an orthodox Jew this was
not simply evolutionary, this was revolutionary.
Peter preached
Christ!
Christ “Lord of all,” (Acts 10:36),
Christ “anointed with the Holy Ghost and power”
(Acts 10:38),
Christ “healing all that were oppressed of the
devil,” (Acts 10:38),
Christ “hanged on a tree,” (Acts 10:39),
Christ “raised up the third day,” (Acts 10:40),
Christ “the judge of the quick and the dead,”
(Acts 10:41),
Christ the “fulfillment” of prophecy (Acts 10:43),
and
Christ the Savior of “whosoever believeth in Him!” (Acts
10:43).
While Christ was
exalted by the Apostle, the Holy Ghost fell upon all of them who heard the
word. (Acts 10:44). It was the same Spirit that baptized the Jewish believers at
Jerusalem.
Peter and the the
Jewish believers with them were amazed as the Gentile believers spoke in
tongues and magnified God. (Acts
10:46) Confirmed in the faith, Peter baptized them in the name of the Lord.
To the skeptical—dare
we say critical--Jewish Christians at Jerusalem, Peter explained his vision and
the conversion of the Gentiles. I love
his summation: “What was I, that I could
withstand God?” (Acts 11:17)
At Pentecost in
Jerusalem his heart was changed. At
Joppa his diet was changed. At Caesarea
his bias was changed. And somewhere
between Caesarea and Jerusalem His perspective changed. The work of God would
not be done Peter’s way. This was God’s work.
And God’s work is done God’s way by God’s Spirit.
PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, We come into your presence, encouraged
by the sense of Thy Spirit, blessed by the knowledge of your love expressed for
us in Christ, and comforted by the great faithfulness of our infinite God. We pray that thy Spirit would direct our
paths. Shatter those man-made or
self-made preconceptions that hinder the free working of thy Spirit. We give to Thee our bodies, our souls, our
substance, our fame, our friends, our liberty, and our lives. May we be wholly and holy Thine. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”