Commentary - Acts 10:1-23

Bird's-eye view

In Acts 10, we come to one of the great turning points in redemptive history. The gospel, having taken root in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, now prepares to burst the banks of its Jewish container and flood the Gentile world. This is not a haphazard development. Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, shows us that this is a meticulously orchestrated divine operation. God is the great strategist, and He moves His pieces on the board with absolute precision. We see a divine pincer movement, with God working simultaneously in the life of a Gentile centurion in Caesarea and in the life of the apostle Peter in Joppa. The chapter is a beautiful illustration of divine sovereignty and human responsibility working in perfect harmony. God prepares the heart of the Gentile, prepares the mind of the apostle, and then brings them together by His Spirit so that the good news of Jesus Christ might be declared and received, officially breaking down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile.

The story unfolds through a series of visions. First, Cornelius, a devout Roman officer, is commanded by an angel to send for Peter. Then, Peter receives a perplexing vision of a great sheet filled with unclean animals, accompanied by a command to eat. The meaning of the vision only becomes clear when Cornelius's men arrive at his doorstep. The Holy Spirit is the active agent throughout, directing Cornelius, correcting Peter, and ultimately bringing salvation to the first Gentile household. This event sets the stage for the Pauline mission and the explosion of the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Outline

Context In Acts

Acts 10 is the narrative hinge on which the second half of the book turns. The commission of Jesus in Acts 1:8 was to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Thus far, Luke has chronicled the gospel's advance through the first three of those regions. The conversion of the Samaritans (Acts 8) and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) were preparatory skirmishes, but the conversion of Cornelius and his household is the official D-Day invasion of the Gentile world. This event provides the theological and practical justification for the subsequent mission to the Gentiles, a mission that will be championed by the Apostle Paul. Peter, as the leader of the apostles, is the one God chooses to officially open the door. What happens here in Caesarea will have to be defended by Peter before the church in Jerusalem in chapter 11, and it lays the groundwork for the decision of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.

Key Issues

Commentary

Cornelius's Vision (vv. 1-8)

v. 1 We are introduced to a man named Cornelius in Caesarea. Everything about this introduction is significant. Caesarea was the Roman administrative capital of Judea, the seat of Gentile power. Cornelius is a centurion, a commander of a hundred men, an instrument of Roman authority. He is part of the "Italian cohort," meaning he is not some local conscript but a true Roman. The gospel is going straight to the heart of the Gentile establishment.

v. 2 Luke is careful to describe Cornelius's character before his conversion. He is a "devout man," one who "feared God with all his household." This is a technical term for a Gentile who worshipped the God of Israel without becoming a full proselyte. He was generous, giving "many alms," and he "prayed to God continually." This is not to say he was saved by his works. He was not. But his piety was genuine, a fruit of God's preparatory grace. God had been working in this man's heart, drawing him, preparing him for the gospel message he had not yet heard. God always prepares the soil before He sends the sower.

v. 3 About the ninth hour, which is 3 p.m., a common time for Jewish prayer, Cornelius has a vision. Luke says he "clearly saw" it. This was no mere dream; it was a direct, supernatural encounter. An angel of God enters and speaks his name. When heaven calls your name, you listen.

v. 4 His reaction is entirely appropriate. He is terrified. A right and proper fear is the beginning of wisdom. He says, "What is it, Lord?" He recognizes the authority of the being before him. The angel's response is crucial: "Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God." God had taken notice. These acts of piety were not the basis of his salvation, but they were a sweet-smelling aroma to God, the cry of a heart that God Himself had prepared to seek Him. God was now answering those prayers, not by patting him on the back for his good works, but by sending him the gospel of grace.

vv. 5-6 The instructions are remarkably specific. Send men to Joppa. Find a man named Simon, also called Peter. He is staying with another Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. God is a God of details. The detail about the tanner is a subtle piece of foreshadowing. Tanners worked with the skins of dead animals and were therefore ceremonially unclean. Peter, the apostle to the Jews, is already lodging in a place that would make a strict Pharisee uncomfortable. God is already stretching Peter's boundaries before He shatters them.

vv. 7-8 Cornelius's response is immediate obedience. He doesn't second guess the vision. He calls two servants and a "devout soldier", another God-fearer, explains everything, and sends them on their way. True faith doesn't argue or delay; it acts.

Peter's Vision (vv. 9-16)

vv. 9-10 The scene shifts. As Cornelius's men are traveling, Peter goes up to the housetop to pray around the sixth hour, or noon. God's timing is perfect. While praying, Peter gets hungry. God is about to use Peter's physical hunger to teach him a profound spiritual lesson about the Gentile world. As he waits for his lunch, he falls into a trance.

vv. 11-12 Heaven itself opens up, and Peter sees something like a great sheet being let down by its four corners. Inside this sheet is a menagerie of animals, crawling things, and birds, a mixture of what the Mosaic law deemed clean and unclean. This would have been a shocking, repulsive sight to any observant Jew.

v. 13 A voice from heaven gives a direct command: "Rise up, Peter, slaughter and eat!" This command is designed to strike at the very core of Peter's identity and training. For his entire life, he has meticulously observed the dietary laws that separated Jew from Gentile.

v. 14 Peter's response is instantaneous and emphatic: "By no means, Lord." This is a classic contradiction in terms. If He is Lord, you cannot say "by no means." Peter's piety, his tradition, his very conscience, rises up in protest against a direct command from his Lord. He justifies his refusal by his lifelong record of obedience: "for I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean." He is appealing to his own righteousness, which is always a dangerous place to be. Our traditions, even good ones, can become idols that prevent us from hearing a fresh word from God.

v. 15 The voice from heaven speaks again, delivering the central lesson of the entire chapter: "What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled." This is a revolutionary statement. God is declaring an end to the ceremonial distinctions that defined the old covenant. The cross of Christ has accomplished a cleansing that extends beyond the forgiveness of sins; it has torn down the dividing wall of hostility, making one new man out of Jew and Gentile. The food laws were a temporary signpost, and now that the destination, Christ, has arrived, the signpost is obsolete. The primary application is not about food, but about people.

v. 16 This entire exchange happens three times. God is patient and thorough. Just as He restored Peter with a threefold commission after his threefold denial, He now dismantles Peter's threefold prejudice with a threefold vision. There could be no room for doubt. After the third time, the sheet is taken back up into heaven, indicating that this declaration is final and comes with heavenly authority.

The Visions Converge (vv. 17-23)

v. 17 Peter is left "greatly perplexed." He knows the vision is significant, but he doesn't yet grasp its meaning. This is often how God works. He gives us His word, His revelation, and then He requires us to meditate on it, to wrestle with it, until the Spirit brings illumination. And right on cue, the illumination arrives.

vv. 18-20 At the very moment Peter is puzzling over the vision, Cornelius's men arrive at the gate. God's providence is a seamless garment. The answer to Peter's theological riddle is knocking on the door. And just in case Peter misses the connection, the Holy Spirit speaks to him directly: "Behold, three men are looking for you. But rise up, go down and accompany them without taking issue at all, for I have sent them Myself." The Spirit Himself takes responsibility for this mission. He connects the vision to the visitors and commands Peter to go without hesitation or prejudice. This is a direct order from the Commander-in-Chief.

vv. 21-22 Peter obeys. He goes down and meets the men. They explain their mission, describing Cornelius as a "righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews." This description would have been reassuring to Peter. This was not some pagan trick; this was a summons from a man whose reputation was known and respected, prompted by a holy angel.

v. 23 Peter's first act of obedience is to invite these Gentiles into the house for lodging. This was a significant step. A strict Jew would not offer hospitality to Gentiles. By welcoming them in, Peter is already beginning to live out the implications of the vision. The wall is beginning to crumble. The old categories of clean and unclean are being washed away by a tide of gospel grace.

Application

This passage confronts us with the reality that our traditions and deeply held convictions, even those that seem pious, must always be held in submission to the Word and Spirit of God. Peter's initial reaction, "By no means, Lord," is one we are all prone to. We have our own categories of clean and unclean people, our own cultural and personal boundaries that we are unwilling to cross with the gospel. God's word to us is the same as it was to Peter: "What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled."

The gospel is for every tribe, tongue, and nation. It is for the Roman centurion and the Jewish fisherman. It is for your respectable neighbor and for the person on the other side of the tracks whom your religious sensibilities would rather avoid. God is sovereignly at work in the lives of people we would never expect, preparing their hearts to receive the good news. Our job is to be like Peter, willing to have our prejudices dismantled, and willing to go when the Spirit says go, carrying the message of grace to whomever He sends us.

We must also see the beautiful tapestry of God's providence. He is working on both ends of the equation, preparing the messenger and the recipient. We can have confidence as we go out with the gospel, not because of our eloquence, but because God has gone before us. He is already at work, arranging divine appointments, and He has promised to bring His elect to faith through the foolishness of the message we preach.