Mark Bradford's Bible Blog

Peter Explains His Actions

¹The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him ³and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

According to the last verse of chapter 11, Peter stayed in the house of Cornelius for a few days after they received the Holy Spirit and were baptized. In that time, and during the time of Peter’s journey back to Jerusalem, the news of what had happened in Caesarea had preceded him. When he arrived, instead of being greeted with joy over the new converts, he was greeted with criticism for associating with Gentiles. Isn’t it amazing how bad news travels faster than good news? Peter answers them by simply giving them the whole story. It’s easy to be critical when you only know part of the story.

Eating with someone was a very intimate experience in Jewish culture at that time. You didn’t sit on chairs around a table like we do. You reclined at the table on pillows, leaning on the person to your left. That’s why Jesus was so harshly criticized for eating with “sinners.” When you broke bread with someone, you were saying “These are my people.” But I don’t think Romans ate that way. Remember the scene from The Passion Of The Christ where Jesus, while he was still a carpenter living with his mother, was making a table for a Roman? Mary comments that it’s too high, and Jesus explains to her that they sit on chairs, which he hadn’t made yet. That scene isn’t in the Bible, and I don’t know if it was historically accurate, but it makes me think there was a cultural difference between Jews’ attitudes toward sharing a meal and Romans’. Maybe eating in a Gentile house was not the act of intimacy that eating in a Jewish home was. So many of our conflicts with other cultures can be boiled down to things like this. They view a social custom differently than we do. The Jewish believers in Jerusalem had a picture in their heads of what Peter had done that might have been based on a cultural misunderstanding.

⁴Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: ⁵“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. ⁶I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

⁸“I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹“The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ ¹⁰This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

¹¹“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹²The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

Peter gives them a condensed version of the vision he received and the story of his experience at Cornelius’ house. Now we see the wisdom of Peter taking some companions with him from Simon the tanner’s house when he went to see Cornelius, as he also brought those men with him back to Jerusalem. They could corroborate his story. For my comments on the events leading up to this, see my previous posts here.

¹⁵“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. ¹⁶Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with^[a]water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?”

¹⁸When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

When Peter tells them how the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles, he says it happened the same way it had happened with the Jewish believers at the beginning, meaning Pentecost. Many take that to mean that Pentecost was the beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ. I actually think it started when Jesus first chose his disciples, but I understand what people who say that mean. But the point of what Peter said in verse 15 is not when the church began. The point is that God had poured out the Holy Spirit on Gentiles the same way he had on the apostles in the upper room. As Peter said in verses 34-35, God proved that he did not show favoritism. Peter points out to them that the Gentiles had had, essentially, their own Pentecost. He also reminds them of the words of Jesus that he would baptize them with the Holy Spirit.

When the believers in Jerusalem heard Peter’s explanation, they had no more objections. They praised God that they were wrong! When is the last time you did that? To their credit, they put aside their prejudices and accepted God’s plan. May we all be as quick to do the same.

Mark Bible Acts, Gentiles, Peter

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. ³⁶You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

Peter’s sermon to Cornelius and the other Gentiles here is very short, and strikingly different in several ways to the sermons he preached to Jewish audiences on the day of Pentecost (2:14-41, blog) and at the temple (3:11-26, blog). The reason for that is obvious. In each of the previous cases, Peter was addressing Jews, so he appealed to their Jewish heritage by quoting the prophet Joel in chapter 2 and by saying “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus” in chapter 3. Here Peter is speaking to a Gentile audience, so he begins with a simple, yet very profound statement: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” This was a radical departure from Jewish thought for centuries. Jews of that time believed that God did, in fact, show favoritism; favoritism toward Jews and against Gentiles. But God had long intended for Israel to be “a light to the nations” (Isaiah 51:4, 60:3). Abraham was promised by God that all peoples of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3). But through centuries of rule-keeping, Jews had come to believe that salvation was only for Jews, and that mindset also affected the first Christians, who were Jewish. It’s hard to get past the things you were taught by people and figure out for yourself what the scriptures actually say. That’s what writing this blog is about for me, to a large extent. I don’t want to just accept what I was taught all my life. I want to know what the Bible actually says.

The statements that Peter makes in verses 36-37 show that the news about what Jesus had done and what had happened to him was well known in the region. It was one thing for Peter, in his previous sermons to Jewish audiences in Israel, to talk about what they knew well. It was another to assume the same thing of a bunch of Gentiles. But in the home of a Roman centurion, the story of Jesus’ trial and execution had probably gotten around. The fact that Peter called Jesus Lord of all in verse 36 indicates again the Jesus is God. No Jew would say that anyone but God is Lord of all.

³⁹“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Verse 39 shows another difference between Peter’s sermons to Jewish audiences and this Gentile one. In 2:23 and 3:13-15, Peter held his Jewish audiences responsible for the death of Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, you killed the author of life, you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But although he was addressing Roman soldiers, Peter didn’t include them in the blame for Jesus’ death. In verse 39, Peter says they killed him by hanging him on a tree. He could very well have said, “You Romans executed an innocent man,” but he didn’t. Why? I think maybe Peter was so humbled by the vision God had showed him, and he was so struck by the way God had brought he and Cornelius together, he realized that the time for blame was past. God had not sent him there to place blame. He had sent him there to share the Gospel in a new way to new people. The Day of Pentecost was only 3 weeks after the resurrection, and in spite of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at that time, feelings about Jesus’ death were probably still raw, even though they had seen the risen Jesus after his resurrection. After all, the Jesus Peter had known was still gone, and I’m sure Peter still missed the man he had lived with for three years. But now, four years had passed, and many had come to belief in Jesus. I think maybe Peter had finally gotten past his grief, and was only interested in preaching the Gospel.

Though he began this sermon differently than he had past sermons, his conclusion was the same; everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. That’s still the bottom line today.

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. ⁴⁵The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in tongues^[b] and praising God.

Then Peter said, ⁴⁷“Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” ⁴⁸So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Have you ever attended a church service that was interrupted by the moving of the Holy Spirit, so that the sermon could not continue, or even start? I have, and it’s pretty amazing. The implication of verse 44 in the Greek is that the Spirit moved when Peter first began speaking. God had brought him to this place so that he could preach the Gospel to these Gentiles, and they had gathered and anxiously awaited hearing what Peter would say. But as soon as he began speaking, God moved, witnessing to these Gentiles in their hearts, so that before Peter even finished this short sermon, they were receiving the Holy Spirit. When someone accepts Jesus, the conversion happens in an instant. If you attend a church that has “altar calls,” you know the sight of people walking down the aisle to pray the prayer of repentance. You’ve probably made that trip yourself. But you didn’t become a Christian when you knelt at the altar. It didn’t happen after you got up from praying there. It took place as soon as you stepped from your seat. That’s when the decision was made. The sermon that Peter preached here takes only about 53 seconds to read aloud. But it didn’t even take that long for his listeners to repent and be saved. It happened while he was still speaking.

The fact that the Holy Spirit was poured out on these people just like the Jews at Pentecost was confirmation to Peter that God intended the Good News to be for everyone. And the fact that it happened before they were baptized shows that the order in which these things happen doesn’t really matter. Baptism is clearly required by scripture for all believers, but baptism does not save. Belief in Jesus does. The conclusion of Peter’s sermon, which in the NIV is translated, “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name,” is translated in the Amplified Bible this way:

Everyone who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him, giving himself up to Him] receives forgiveness of sins through His name.

That’s what the word believe really means; to adhere to, to trust in, to rely on him and give ourselves up to him. It’s not just a mental assent that something is true. If we adhere to Jesus, if we trust in him, rely on him and give ourselves up to him, we will receive forgiveness of our sins through his name. That’s what happened in the hearts of the people Peter spoke to that day, and it’s what can happen for you right now.

Mark Bible Acts, Cornelius, Gentiles, Peter

Peter at Cornelius’ House

²⁴The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. ²⁶But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

The men who Cornelius had sent to find Peter stayed the night at Simon the tanner’s house. The next day, Peter, along with “some of the brothers from Joppa” (v. 23) went with the men to Caesarea. As we’ll see in the next passage, neither Cornelius nor Peter knew what this meeting was about. All they knew was that God had made it happen, and they both did what God commanded, not knowing why. That’s faith. Cornelius had so much faith that he not only waited in expectation for Peter to arrive, he called together all of his friends and relatives to be there when Peter showed up! I think that could be called a leap of faith.

Luke treats Peter entering the house of a Gentile almost as an aside, as Peter entered the house…, but the mere fact of Peter entering the home of a Gentile, and a Roman centurion at that, is huge. It shows that he had learned the meaning of the vision. He was finally figuring out what God had been trying to teach him since he walked with Jesus. How long does it take us to learn what God is trying to teach us? How often does he have to repeat the same lessons over and over?

So as Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. The NLB and NKJV say that Cornelius worshiped him. This seems to me to be related to his calling the angel “Lord” in verse 4. This was a culture in which monarchy was the predominant form of government. There was a strict class system where anyone who was not part of the nobility was expected to bow down to a member of the ruling class and call them “Lord.” To bow the knee to anyone or anything constitutes worship. Worship is an act. Anytime worship is offered to men or angels in the Bible, it is refused. This shows that Jesus is God, because he accepted the worship of people (Matthew 14:33, 28:9, Luke 24:52, John 9:38). Peter shows here that he understands that only God is worthy of our worship. He tells Cornelius to get up off his knees, because Peter was only a man like Cornelius.

²⁷Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. ²⁸He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. ²⁹So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

Imagine Peter’s surprise when he entered Cornelius’ house, and not only finds the centurion who sent for him there, and maybe a few servants, but a large crowd waiting to hear what he had to say. This is a preacher’s dream, a crowd who knows that God has sent you to speak to them, and who are eager to hear what God sent you to say. Peter begins by acknowledging what they all knew; that a pious Jew would never enter the home of a Gentile. The Amplified Bible translates that part of verse 28 this way:

You yourselves are aware how it is not lawful or permissible for a Jew to keep company with or to visit or [even] to come near or to speak first to anyone of another nationality.

That’s how strict the taboo against associating with Gentiles was. Even a casual reading of the Old Testament reveals why the rules were so strict. It was because throughout their history, whenever Israel mixed with the surrounding nations, they had been corrupted by the Gentiles’ religious practices. They began to worship pagan idols. But now, after the death and resurrection of Jesus and Pentecost, it was the Gentiles who would be won over to Christ, rather than their false gods polluting Israel.

Peter’s next statement shows that he understood what the vision of the animals on the sheet meant. It wasn’t just about unclean food, it was about people. The two were closely connected in the Jewish mind. The unclean foods that Gentiles ate was a big part of what made them unclean. But Peter had heard Jesus say that “nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’ (Mark 7:18-19). The timeline of this interests me. The Gospel of Mark is largely comprised of the teachings of Peter, and it was written long after the events of this chapter. Peter obviously learned what God was teaching him here, and what he learned found its way into his teachings, and thus, into the Gospel of Mark. Then, in verse 29, he says that when he was sent for, he came without raising any objection. That showed how submitted he was to God. Even Moses objected when God first commanded him to go to Pharoah (Exodus 3:11). Then he asks the question that shows how great his faith was, “May I ask why you sent for me?” Without knowing why, Peter obeyed God without any objection. How does our faith measure up to that?

³⁰Cornelius answered: “Four 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 ³¹and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. ³²Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ ³³So 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.”

Cornelius relates the story of his vision to Peter. Neither man had known what God had talked about to the other, but both obeyed God because of their faith. As a result, the first group of Gentiles were saved without being proselytes to Judaism first. When God tells us to do something and doesn’t tell us why, ours is not to object or question. He knows what the outcome will be if we obey him and if we do not. Our job is to obey him. If we do, we show that we have faith in him, and the results of our obedience will bless others, and only make our faith stronger.

Mark Bible Acts, Cornelius, Gentiles, Peter, unclean

Peter’s Vision

⁹About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. ¹⁰He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. ¹¹He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. ¹²It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. ¹³Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

¹⁴“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

¹⁵The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

As the men Cornelius sent approached Joppa after having traveled through the night, God spoke to Peter in a vision. Though noon was not one of the appointed times of prayer, for devout Jews who prayed three times a day, noon was one of those times. Rooftops were often used as patio areas in that culture, so that would have been a good place for Peter to pray alone. As the noon meal was being prepared, Peter got hungry. I imagine that the smell of food cooking wafted up to the rooftop where he was. But rather than it being a distraction, God used it to tell Peter something important. Something he had been nudging Peter toward for a long time.

The vision of the animals, both clean and unclean, coming down from Heaven on the same sheet delivers the message in one way. All things come from God. All things were made by him, so how can some things be clean and others unclean? The main purpose of clean and unclean foods during the Old Covenant was to distinguish Israel from other nations. It, along with circumcision, set them apart as a people. The reason for ending those restrictions was to break down those barriers between Jew and Gentile. Now God’s people would be known not by what they did and didn’t eat, but by their belief in Jesus Christ.

All three times Peter saw the vision and heard the voice, the same animals came down from Heaven on the same sheet. Each time, the voice told Peter to kill and eat. But Peter was torn between his piety as a Jew, which he was showing by praying at noon, and the lessons he had been slowly learning since the time he walked with Jesus as one of the Twelve. In Mark 7:14-19, Jesus had declared all foods clean. Mark is generally considered by scholars to be Peter’s gospel, since Mark was a companion of Peter. So when this lesson finally got through to Peter, he must have remembered that exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding clean and unclean foods. Peter had accepted and blessed the Samaritan believers (8:14-16), which had stretched him, and he had been staying with a despised tanner, further loosening his legalistic thinking. Now God brings it all home to Peter in a dramatic way.

Peter had a bad habit of saying “no” to Jesus (Matthew 16:22, John 13:8). So I think it’s significant that God showed Peter the vision three times. Peter had denied Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62), and Jesus had restored Peter by asking him “Do you love me?” three times (John 21:15-17). Now God shows him this vision three times.

Sometimes God has to work on us over a period of years to get us to change the way we think about things that don’t really matter in the light of eternity. I am old enough to remember a time in my own church when rock music was considered evil, drums in church were frowned upon, and dancing was not allowed. Many considered it wrong to read the Sunday newspaper when I was growing up. Do we hold on to traditions that cannot be supported scripturally, simply because those traditions make us feel like we’re more holy than others? Do those traditions help us win others to Christ, or do they hinder us? Peter’s traditions hindered him, but he showed a willingness here to let God get him beyond those things. Will we let God do the same with us?

¹⁷While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. ¹⁸They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

¹⁹While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three^[a] men are looking for you. ²⁰So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

²¹Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

Again, God shows how perfect his timing is. The vision appears to Peter as the men are arriving in the city. Just as the vision ends, and Peter is considering what it might mean, the men knock on Simon’s door. But our idea of “God’s timing” can be misleading. We might think that God is watching a cosmic clock, waiting until just the right time to act, as though he is bound by time like we are. But in fact, God controls time the way we control the speed of our car. He’s not watching a clock, he made the clock, and he controls how fast it goes and when it stops.

It’s interesting to me that while Peter refused when the voice in his vision told him to kill and eat, after the vision, when the Spirit spoke to him, he obeyed immediately. Maybe he had learned something from the vision, or maybe it’s the fact that in the vision, he could see the unclean animals the voice was telling him to eat. But the Holy Spirit didn’t tell Peter that there were three Gentiles at the door. All God told him was that he had sent them. There’s often a good reason why God doesn’t tell us everything.

²²The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” ²³Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along.

Jesus’ teachings, the Holy Spirit’s leadings, and the vision must have all clicked into place in Peter’s mind when he saw the representatives from Cornelius, especially when they told him that an angel had instructed Cornelius to send for him “so that he could hear what you have to say.” This was clearly an opportunity from God to present the gospel, and if there was anything that would trump Peter’s legalism, it was the chance to preach Jesus. The Amplified Bible translates hear what you have to say in verse 22 as  listen to and act upon what you have to say. That’s what hearing the Word really means, to listen to it and act upon it.

Peter’s response was to invite the men in as his guests. They had traveled all night and needed a place to rest, so this was a matter of courtesy, but these men were Gentiles. Gentiles were not welcome in the homes of devout Jews. But this was not the home of a devout Jew, it was the home of a ceremonially unclean tanner. Here Peter had been so adamant about what foods he would eat while staying in a tanner’s home! It’s often hard to see past our own inconsistencies. I imagine that the noon meal which was being prepared while Peter prayed and the men approached the tanner’s house was ready at about the time Peter answered the door, and when Peter invited them in, a devout Jewish apostle, a despised tanner, and three Gentiles all shared the same lunch table and talked about how God had brought them all together. If we’ll let God open our minds, we never know who he’ll bring across our path.

The next day, they all left for Joppa, to see what God had prepared them all for. may we all hear what God tells us, obey him when he tells us to do something, and see the results of our obedience.

Mark Bible Acts, Cornelius, Gentiles, Peter, unclean

Cornelius Calls for Peter

¹At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. ²He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

Luke devotes the entire chapter of Acts 10 to the conversion of Cornelius. He presents it in three “episodes.” This first episode deals with the angel’s appearance to Cornelius. The second is about Peter’s vision, and the third tells about Peter at Cornelius’ house, leading him to Jesus. Though for most of my life I’ve thought of this story in terms of the change God brought about in Peter’s attitude toward Gentiles, it’s really the story of the profound change God brought about in the hearts of both men. Cornelius is the first Gentile in the Bible to be saved without becoming a proselyte to Judaism first. It’s a momentous event in the history of Christianity, which is probably why Luke devoted a whole chapter to it.

Luke tells us that Cornelius was a centurion in the Italian Regiment of the Roman army. Luke, in his gospel, tells us of another righteous and devout centurion (Luke 7:1-10). See my post on that passage here. As in that case, here was a Roman centurion who loved God and did good for others. As the name centurion implies, Cornelius commanded 100 men out of a regiment of 1,000. He was considered a God-fearing Gentile by the Jews of his day, one who recognized the God of Israel as the one true God and lived a righteous life, but did not go so far as to convert to Judaism. The Amplified Bible translates the term God-fearing in verse 2 as “venerated God and treated Him with reverential obedience.” Is that our attitude toward God? Do we venerate him and treat him with reverential obedience?

³One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

⁴Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. ⁵Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. ⁶He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

Though it doesn’t say so here, later in this chapter, Cornelius tells Peter that he was praying at the time the angel appeared to him. 3:00 P.M. is the customary time of prayer for Jews, which shows that Cornelius did observe Jewish religious customs, and that he was a man of prayer. If we want God to tell us something, we need to be people of prayer.

The angel tells Cornelius that his prayers and his gifts to the poor had “come up as a memorial offering before God.” If we are people who pray and who give to others who can’t give back to us, God will show himself to us. Cornelius had both the vertical (prayer) and the horizontal (giving) going for him. We can’t just do one or the other. To be people of God, we have to do both.

Cornelius calls the angel “Lord,” which is not correct, but I think this must have been a term of respect to one in higher authority, which as a military man, would have been ingrained in Cornelius. It’s interesting to me that the angel doesn’t tell Cornelius the gospel of Jesus himself. Instead, he tells Cornelius to send for Peter. When even Jesus appeared to Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:1-9, blog), he didn’t present the gospel to Saul. Instead, he sent him to Ananias. The job of spreading the gospel belongs to us. The Holy Spirit does lead people to hear the gospel, and occasionally angels assist in leading people to a place where they can hear the good news, but the gospel is always presented by people. No one will be saved unless we tell them about Jesus.

⁷When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. ⁸He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

Joppa was 30 miles away, which means that the men Cornelius sent must have left immediately in order to get there by noon the following day, which verse 9 says they did. Here is the third example of the kind of relationship with God Cornelius had. He prayed, he gave to others, and he obeyed God immediately. This shows faith on his part. Why would he require his men to go find Peter right away, traveling through the night, unless he believed that his men would find Peter right where the angel had told him he was? Faith and obedience are synonymous. Hebrews 11, the so-called “faith chapter,” is the prime example of this. Every example of faith in that chapter is a case of God telling someone to do something, and they did it. Do we really have faith? If we do, it will show in  our obedience.

God went to extraordinary lengths to save this Gentile, a Roman soldier in occupied Israel. Why him? Only God knows for sure, but I think Cornelius’ relationship with God had a lot to do with it. It also doubly stretched Peter. As we’ll see in the next passage and beyond, Peter had a hard time accepting the salvation of Gentiles without their becoming Jews first. And Cornelius was not only a Gentile, he was a Roman centurion! But God had been working on Peter, first in his acceptance of the Samaritan believers (8:14-16), and during his time staying with a tanner, who was ceremonially unclean because of his profession. As I said in my post on 9:36-43, are we letting God stretch us? Are we letting him get us beyond our prejudices?

Mark Bible Acts, Cornelius, faith, Gentiles, Peter

³⁶In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas^[b]), who was always doing good and helping the poor. ³⁷About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. ³⁸Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

After the healing of Aeneas in the previous passage, the word spread of this miraculous healing to the nearby town of Joppa. As a result, when one of the believers there died, they immediately sent for Peter. Luke never says that they expected Peter to raise her from the dead, but it doesn’t seem likely that they sent two men to urge him to come and preside over a funeral. They had heard about a miracle, and I think they sent for Peter expecting one.

Luke says that Dorcas “was always doing good and helping the poor.” As we learn in the next verses, she was a seamstress who made clothing for widows and orphans. In a society where women were not considered equal to men, she was so highly valued because of her good works that two men were sent to fetch Peter when she died. Luke calls her a disciple in verse 36 without even mentioning her gender. Dorcas means deer, gazelle, or little doe in Greek, and Tabitha means the same in Aramaic. It’s interesting to me that of the two names, Dorcas and Tabitha, the Aramaic name Tabitha is the name that is still used in English, at least in the U.S. I still hear of women named Tabitha, but I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone named Dorcas. But to this day, there are charitable societies that make clothing for the poor named Dorcas societies. Girls in America are still named Tabitha, but the woman who did good for others is remembered as Dorcas.

³⁹Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

The best funerals are the ones where the deceased is remembered as one who did good for others. I recently attended the funeral of a friend of mine, Reggie McDaniel. I met Reggie in 1997 when we both worked at KOA radio in Denver. Reggie was loved by everyone who knew him, and by many who did not. He was, as I put it, full of joy. He was a man of God who made everyone around him feel good just being near him. He was a very funny guy too, and his funeral was a hoot! As my sister once said to me, it’s a good funeral when you laugh more than you cry. Reggie’s funeral was fun. What does it say about a person when their funeral is fun? His memorial service would have gone on for hours if every person who wanted to had been allowed to tell what Reggie meant to them. That’s the kind of impact he had during his life, even though he was dying of lung disease for the entire time I knew him.

I imagine that Dorcas’ funeral might have been something like Reggie’s. Dorcas had been a living example of Jesus’ teachings on giving to others. Peter had come in response to a need, and went to the upper room where the body was. But in order to do what God had brought him there to do, Peter first had to get past all of the widows who wanted to show him the things Dorcas had made for them. At my funeral, will people want to talk about what I did for others, or what I accomplished for myself?

⁴⁰Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. ⁴²This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

What Peter does here is remarkably similar to what Jesus did in his raising of Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5:37-43, (blog) and Luke 8:49-56, (blog). Like Jesus, he puts all of the mourners out of the room. Peter’s words in Aramaic, “Tabitha, koum,”, which meant, “Little doe, get up,” mirrors Jesus’ words, “Talitha koum!”, which meant, “Little girl, get up!” Unlike Jesus, Peter felt the need to get down on his knees and pray there in the room where the body was. Of course, Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer, but the Bible never says that he prayed right before raising Jairus’ daughter. This shows Peter’s wisdom, humility, and discernment. He knew where the miracle, if there was to be one, would come from. If Dorcas was to be raised up, it was Jesus who would have to do it, as he had done with Jairus’ daughter, the widow’s son (Luke 7:11-17, blog), and Lazarus (John 11:1-43, blog). I think it’s possible that Jesus allowed Peter to observe the miracle of Jairus’ daughter so he would have faith that it could happen for Dorcas. Peter remembered, and modeled his behavior on what he had seen Jesus do. That’s what it means to be a disciple.

It’s important to remember that Dorcas was not resurrected. She was merely revived. She went on to live a normal life and eventually died again. Jesus is still the only one who has been resurrected to life everlasting in his glorified body, but one day all who believe will be.

For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Cor. 15:52)

I read one commentary today which questioned why God raised Dorcas, but not Stephen. Surely, the writer said, Stephen was more valuable to the early church than Dorcas! But I don’t believe that God considers one person more valuable to the kingdom than another. And Dorcas did provide a valuable service to the church, one that was very Christlike. But I don’t believe that’s why God raised her either. God doesn’t perform miracles for people based upon what they can do for him if he helps them. As a friend so wisely put it to me once, God can use us, but he doesn’t really need us. Someone in my family has needed a medical miracle for decades, and I have been tempted on many occasions to think of all the great things this family member could do for the kingdom if God would heal them. But it’s wrong-headed to think that way. As I said yesterday, and as I’ve said over and over in this blog, there are two reasons that God performs miracles; to glorify himself, and to help people believe. Dorcas was not raised so she could go on making clothes for the poor. She was raised to bring glory to God, and so many people would believe in the Lord, as Luke says happened in Joppa.

⁴³Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

This seemingly random observation by Luke actually has great meaning. Tanners were ceremonially unclean because they worked with the bodies of dead animals (Leviticus 11:31). According to the laws of that time, a tanner had to live at least 75 feet outside a village because of his ritual uncleanness. If a girl was betrothed to a tanner without knowing what he did for a living, the betrothal was void. Yet Peter stayed with a tanner for a long time. This laid the groundwork for what was to come for Peter in the next chapter. Peter was beginning to get past the traditions he was raised with, and evolving in his acceptance of all people. It seems to me that this goes back to his laying hands on the believers in Samaria in 8:14-17. He had accepted Samaritans as members of the church, and now he stays with a despised tanner. Soon he will be ready for what God will show him through Cornelius. Are we letting God stretch us? Are we letting him get us beyond our prejudices?

Mark Bible Acts, Dorcas, Peter, raising the dead

³²As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. ³³There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. ³⁴“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. ³⁵All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

During a time of relative peace for the church in the region, Peter was able to leave Jerusalem and spread the gospel in other areas. Lydda was a coastal city 25 miles from Jerusalem. As we will see in the next passage, Joppa was nearby, and Azotus, Gaza, and Sharon also were coastal cities that Peter probably visited on this trip, since verse 32 says that Peter traveled about the country, or as the NKJV puts it, he went through all parts of the country.

In Lydda, Peter found a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed for 8 years. We aren’t told whether Aeneas was a believer at that point. But if he wasn’t, he soon would be. Peter, like his master before him, healed the lame and told Aeneas, essentially, to “take up his mat and walk.” But Peter made clear who was doing the healing. When Peter healed the crippled beggar at the temple in 3:1-10 (blog), he healed in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Here Peter’s language is even more direct. He says, “Jesus Christ heals you.” Peter was always careful to give his Lord the credit. When accolades come our way, we must be careful to do the same.

As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, and as everyone knows, when someone is crippled, they don’t retain their muscle tone, especially when they’ve been bedridden for 8 years. Atrophy sets in. But when God heals someone, there is no need for months of physical rehabilitation. Aeneas got up immediately. God doesn’t do things halfway.

Another thing I keep saying in this blog is that the purpose of miracles is twofold; to glorify God, and to help people believe. Both things happened as a result of this healing. God was glorified, and the people of two towns turned to the Lord. God could have healed Aeneas long before this had he chosen to, and could have done it without Peter’s help. But he chose to use Peter to heal Aeneas at this particular time so that the maximum amount of people would be won to Christ. That’s why miracles happen.

Mark Bible Acts, Aeneas, miracles, Peter

²⁶When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

After making his escape from Damascus, Saul went to Jerusalem. But he wasn’t welcomed with open arms. The church distrusted him, and his former colleagues in the Sanhedrin were not happy with him either. The fear on the part of the believers seems understandable until you remember that Saul had been a Christian for 3 years at that point. Having been away in Arabia, he would not have persecuted anyone for that whole time. But many of the believers in Jerusalem must have had family members who had been arrested, beaten, or even killed by Saul of Tarsus. It would be hard to get over something like that. If a member of my family had been murdered, and the murderer found Jesus in prison, would I believe his conversion was sincere? I honestly don’t know.

But one person stood up for Saul; Barnabas. We first met Barnabas in 4:36-37, when he is named as one who sold property and laid the proceeds at the apostles’ feet to distribute to the poor. Barnabas is one of the key figures in the Book of Acts. In 11:24, Luke calls him “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” Barnabas also took John Mark under his wing after the young man had deserted them in Pamphylia (15:36-41). Where would the early church have been if not for Barnabas and his generous spirit? Barnabas went on to accompany Paul on his journeys later, and was invaluable in spreading the gospel. The church only needs a few Peters and Pauls, but every church can use as many people like Barnabas as we can get.

²⁸So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. ³⁰When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

In Galatians 1:18, Paul says that he stayed with Peter for fifteen days on this trip to Jerusalem. Imagine the conversations they must have had! I imagine that some of the conflict between Peter and Paul later on must have started here. Paul did not submit to the authority of the apostles, he considered himself one of them (1 Corinthians 1:1, 9:1). Unlike most early believers, he did not receive the gospel from the apostles. He got it from Jesus himself, when Jesus appeared to him. It must have been disconcerting to Peter and the rest of the apostles to have a “free agent” out there claiming equal authority to theirs. But that didn’t happen until later. I just find it interesting that, knowing what came later in their relationship, for his first trip to Jerusalem as a Christian, Saul stayed with Peter for 2 weeks. Apparently he was not welcome with his family in Jerusalem, if he had some. He must have had some place that he stayed when he was there for festivals and meetings of the council. But now he was persona non grata. But Barnabas had vouched for him, and Peter welcomed him into his home.

Saul fearlessly preached the gospel while he was in Jerusalem, but his destiny was not to stay there. After all he done and who he had been in that city, Jerusalem was not the place God wanted him to be. He had too much baggage there. Saul’s purpose was to become the apostle Paul, and to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. The church in Jerusalem had spread to Judea and Samaria, But through Paul’s missionary journeys, it would reach throughout the Roman Empire. After being sent back to Tarsus, it would be 12 years before Saul would be prominent in ministry again, and Barnabas would be at his side when that time came (11:25-26).

³¹Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

As he does throughout the Book of Acts, Luke pauses from the narrative to give us a status report on how the church was doing. I’ve seen commentary on this verse which suggests that Luke may have placed this statement here to show a connection between Saul’s leaving Jerusalem and the church enjoying a time of peace. In other words, Luke may be saying that the church had peace because Saul left. Certainly Saul was a magnet for controversy and persecution, so that may well be. Saul was sent to Tarsus for his own safety, but his departure was the best thing for him and for the church.

Verse 31 is the first time that the church in Galilee is mentioned. We don’t know anything about those churches, how they started, or who started them. But it seems like a natural place for some of the apostles to go, since they all were Galileans. Luke tells us four things about the church in Judea, Galilee and Samaria: It was strengthened; it was encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, and they lived in the fear of the Lord. These are all things we would want for our churches today. For the early church, it’s significant to me that they lived in the fear of the Lord. The early church had many things to fear; persecution, inprisonment, scourging, and martyrdom. But they didn’t live in fear of those things. They lived in the fear of the Lord.

Mark Bible Acts, Barnabas, Peter, Saul of Tarsus

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” ²²Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.^[a]

After his conversion, Saul went to stay with other believers in Damascus. These were the very people he had been sent to arrest, and now he is a guest in their home! As a Pharisee and student of the great rabbi Gamaliel (5:33-39, blog), Saul was able to take advantage of the synagogue custom that allowed any educated Jewish man to read and comment on the scriptures. Jesus often did this same thing (Luke 4:14-21). Saul used that opportunity to read from the prophets and show how Jesus had fulfilled those prophecies, and therefore must be the Messiah. Naturally, those who heard him were astonished at the change in him. This was a greater miracle than the signs and wonders they had seen so far. What’s a greater miracle, healing the sick or changing someone’s heart?

²³After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, ²⁴but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

The key phrase in verse 23 is after many days. In Galations 1:13-18, Paul describes what he did during this time. He went to Arabia for three years, probably for study and prayer, then returned to Damascus. Once he began preaching again in Damascus, that was when the plot to kill him occurred. His escape from Damascus is similar to the escape of the spies from Jericho in Joshua 2:15. Sometimes, when God provides a way of escape, angels open the doors of the prison and people just walk right out (5:18-20). Other times, they had to rely on people and their own wits. But whether it’s through divine intervention or through people, if it’s God’s plan for us to escape, he provides a way.

I am overloaded with work for the next couple of weeks, and so I will need to take the next few chapters in smaller chunks. Tomorrow I’ll blog on Saul’s trip to Jerusalem.

Mark Bible Acts, Damascus, Saul of Tarsus

¹⁰In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

¹¹The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹²In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

Saul, having been struck blind at his vision of Jesus, spent 3 days at the house of Judas on Straight Street. Incidentally, Straight Street still exists in Damascus today. I imagine that this house belonged to a supporter of the chief priests, or maybe it was the home of a relative or friend of Saul’s. This must have been the house where he had planned to stay during his time in Damascus. It was not the home of a believer. Saul spent 3 days there, fasting and praying. His conversion to belief in Jesus was not yet complete. I wonder if God intended for Saul to remain in this state for that long, or if it took Saul that long to admit his sin and say yes to Jesus. Whatever the case, it seems God spoke to Ananias and Saul in visions at the same time. Ananias received his vision instantly, but Saul only received his after 3 days of blindness, fasting, and prayer. I think it’s possible that the reason it took 3 days for God to show Saul this vision was that Saul’s heart was hard. It’s more difficult for us to hear God speak when our hearts are hardened. Lord, keep my heart tender so I can hear you right away like Ananias did!

¹³“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

¹⁵But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. ¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Ananias was understandably alarmed when God told him who he was to meet. Word had gone around the believers that Saul had been persecuting the church at Jerusalem and was on his way to do the same in Damascus. His question to God, essentially, is, “Lord, don’t you know what kind of guy this Saul is?” As if God didn’t have all of the facts! God didn’t reply, “Yes, I know all about him.” He just said “Go!” God can handle our dumb questions, but he doesn’t usually answer them. If I had been in Ananias’ place, I would not only have been nervous about meeting Saul, but I would have had a hard time with being told I was to go and place my hands on someone to restore their sight! Imagine if God told you to do that!

What strikes me about this passage is how many times God’s name is used. Ananias says that Saul was coming to “arrest all who call on your name.” God answers that Saul was chosen to “carry my name before the Gentiles,” and that Saul would be shown “how much he must suffer for my name.” It’s all about the name of Jesus. We have lost our sense of the significance of names in modern western culture. But in Biblical times, the name Yahweh was considered so holy that it must not be spoken aloud. Saul was about to be given a new name, Paul. And God’s people were about to be given a new name, Christians.

The nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. (Isaiah 62:2)

Saul was about to be shown how much he must suffer for the name of Jesus. He had been a man of status and privilege, as a Pharisee and member of the ruling council. From now on, his life would be a life of suffering. He would be shipwrecked, imprisoned, stoned and left for dead, and ultimately martyred. Where Jesus had gone, he would follow.

¹⁷Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

I imagine that some of Ananias’ concern was not just about meeting Saul, but entering the house where he was staying. Presumably, those with Saul had the power to arrest him as well. But, like believers had done all along, he went where God told him to go, regardless of the danger. When he met Saul, he placed his hands on him and called him brother. He showed Saul the love of Jesus, knowing who he was and what he had done. We have no reason to believe that Ananias was anyone special in the church. He wasn’t an apostle, or one of the Seven. In verse 10, Luke simply calls him “a disciple.” We’re not all called to be apostles or deacons or preachers, but we are all called to be disciples. If we will answer that calling, God will use us like he used Ananias.

Apparently God had told Ananias of his appearance to Saul on the road, since Ananias refers to it in verse 17. We don’t know if one of the apostles had laid hands on Ananias so he could lay hands on someone for them to receive the Holy Spirit, or if he could do this just because God sent him to do it.  Ananias confirmed who he was and why he was sent to Saul. The words he spoke must have been verbatim what God had shown Saul in his vision. This was final confirmation of the truth of the gospel, and Saul believed. I wonder how many people talk about scales falling from their eyes, which has become a common expression, with no idea as to where that saying came from. We may not have been struck physically blind like Saul was, but before we say yes to Jesus, we are spiritually blind. When we believe, our eyes are opened. Once he believed and his sight was restored, Saul was baptized and had something to eat. He was himself again, and at the same time, he was a new creation.

Mark Bible Acts, Ananias, laying on of hands, Saul of Tarsus