Acts 10:19 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the meeting between Peter the apostle and Cornelius the centurion, a Roman army officer. Paul was chosen to be the apostle to the Gentiles, while Peter was the apostle to the Jews, the circumcision. Yet God arranged that Peter would break the ground first and bring in the first Gentile believers. That would help Jewish believers, who still carried too much old dislike toward Gentiles, accept them into the church. Peter later used this fact against those who wanted to force circumcision on Gentile converts (Acts 15:7).

Peter is guided by the Spirit to go with Cornelius’s messengers, and this explains the vision he had seen (Acts 10:19, 20). While Peter was thinking about the vision, the meaning opened up to him. This reminds us that people who want to learn God’s truth must think deeply about it. Those who want to understand Scripture must meditate on it day and night.

Peter had been unsure what the vision meant, and then God explained it to him. That gives us encouragement when we do not know what to do. We should look to God for direction. The Spirit told Peter what to do. An angel did not speak to him. Instead, the Spirit spoke within him, as if whispering into his ear, or pressing the message strongly on his mind. Peter knew it was from God, in line with Jesus’ promise that the Spirit would guide believers into truth (John 16:13).

The Spirit told Peter, before the messengers even came up, that three men were below asking for him (Acts 10:19). He was told to get up, stop thinking about the vision, and go down to them (Acts 10:20). Those who search the meaning of God’s words and God’s visions should not stay shut up in their own thoughts all the time. They should also look around them, because God may meet them in ordinary events while Scripture is being fulfilled every day.

Peter was also told to go with the messengers to Cornelius, even though Cornelius was a Gentile, and to go without hesitation. He must not only go, but go gladly, without doubt or fear about whether it was lawful. God was telling him, “Go with them, because I have sent them.” Peter could trust that God would stand by him, even if others criticized him. When our duty is clear, we should not let old prejudices or fear of people’s opinions keep us back. Each person should be fully convinced in his own mind and test his own work.

Peter then went down to them (Acts 10:21). He did not act distant, avoid them, or make them wait as if he were above them. Instead, he came to them himself and said that he was the one they were looking for. He received their message kindly and with openness. He asked what business they had with him. They explained that Cornelius, a Roman army officer, was a good man, one who feared God more than many around him (Nehemiah 7:2), and one respected by the Jewish people. It would not dishonor Peter to visit him.

They also said Cornelius had been warned by God, through an angel, to send for Peter and have him come to his house, where Cornelius was expecting him and ready to welcome him. The messengers did not know exactly what words Peter would bring, but they knew Peter had the message Cornelius needed to hear. Faith comes by hearing. When Peter later retells the story, he explains more fully that these were words by which Cornelius and all his household would be saved (Acts 11:14).

Peter not only received the messengers, he also welcomed them in and gave them lodging (Acts 10:23). He did not send them to an inn at their own cost. He hosted them himself. The meal he had already prepared for himself was shared with them, even though he had not expected such guests. Christians and ministers should be ready, as far as they are able, to show hospitality and entertain strangers.

Peter lodged them even though they were Gentiles. This showed how willingly he was carrying out the meaning of the vision about eating with Gentiles. He brought them in at once. Though two of them were servants and one was a common soldier, Peter did not think it beneath him to receive them. He may also have wanted to speak with them about Cornelius and his household, since even though the apostles had guidance from the Spirit, they still made use of other information when needed.

Then Peter went with them to Cornelius, who was ready to receive him. Peter was not alone. Some believers from Joppa went with him too (Acts 10:23). We learn later that six went along (Acts 11:12). Peter may have wanted them there as witnesses, so they could see that he was acting carefully and on good grounds in dealing with Gentiles. Or perhaps they asked to go, wanting the honor and joy of traveling with him. Early Christians often showed respect to ministers this way, by traveling with them to encourage them, protect them, and help them when needed. It is a pity when people who could do much good through conversation are left alone on the road.

Cornelius, for his part, had gathered some friends in Caesarea to meet Peter. It seems the trip from Joppa to Caesarea took more than a day, nearly two days, because they arrived in Caesarea the day after they set out (Acts 10:24), and the events that follow took place later that afternoon (Acts 10:30).

It is likely they traveled on foot, as the apostles usually did. When Peter came to Cornelius’s house, he found two things that encouraged him.

First, he found that Cornelius was expecting him. A guest who is truly wanted is a joy to receive, and Cornelius was clearly waiting with eagerness. He wanted to hear the important message the angel had told him to expect from Peter.

Second, Peter found that many people were expecting him. Cornelius had gathered not only his own household, but also his relatives and close friends, to hear Peter’s message. Peter had brought others with him to share in the spiritual gift he was about to give, and Cornelius had done the same. This gave Peter a larger chance to do good.

We should not want to enjoy spiritual food alone (Job 31:17). It is a kindness and a mark of respect to invite our relatives and friends to join us in religious duties, and to come with us to hear a sermon. Cornelius believed that what he needed, his friends needed too. So he invited them to hear the message directly, so his change of heart would not surprise them later.

Here we see the first meeting between Peter and Cornelius. Cornelius showed Peter deep respect, and even too much respect. He met Peter as he came in, and instead of welcoming him as a friend, he fell at his feet and worshiped him (Acts 10:25). Some think he was honoring Peter as a great man, as was common in eastern lands. Others think he took Peter for a divine being, or even for the Messiah himself.

Cornelius was wrong to worship a man, but his mistake can be understood in light of his ignorance. It also showed something good in him, which was a strong reverence for divine and heavenly things. It is no surprise that, until he was better taught, he may have thought Peter was the Messiah, since an angel from heaven had told him to send for him. By contrast, the worship given to the false successor of Christ, who is not only a man but a sinful man, the man of sin, is wholly without excuse. Such a thing would be unbelievable if Scripture had not already said that the whole world would worship the beast (Revelation 13:4).

Peter gave a modest and proper refusal of this honor (Acts 10:26). He took Cornelius by the hand and raised him up, though there was a time when he would never have expected such respect from an uncircumcised Gentile. He said, “Stand up. I myself am only a man, so I am not to be worshiped.” God’s servants, like the good angels, cannot bear even the smallest honor that belongs to God alone. The angel said the same to John, “Do not do that” (Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:9), and Paul spoke in a similar way, careful that no one should think of him more highly than they should (2 Corinthians 12:6). Christ’s faithful servants would rather be insulted than made into objects of worship.

Peter did not think that Cornelius’s excessive respect might help his preaching, so he left him in error for the sake of success. No, he wanted Cornelius to know that Peter was only a man. The treasure of the gospel is carried in earthen vessels, so people may value the treasure itself, not the vessel.

Then Peter and Cornelius, along with the rest of the company, explained to one another how God’s hand had brought them together. Peter went in while talking with Cornelius, using a friendly tone to lessen Cornelius’s fear of him (Acts 10:27). When he entered, he found many people gathered there, more than he had expected. That made the meeting more solemn and gave him a greater opportunity to do good.

Peter first explained God’s direction to him to come to these Gentiles (Acts 10:28, 29). They knew that Jews had always considered it unlawful for a Jew to keep close company with, or enter the house of, someone from another nation, an uncircumcised Gentile. This was not commanded by God’s law, but by the rules of their teachers, which they treated as binding. They did not forbid all contact with Gentiles in public business, but they did forbid eating with them. Even in Joseph’s time, Egyptians and Hebrews would not eat together (Genesis 43:32). The three young men would not make themselves unclean with the king’s food (Daniel 1:8). Jews also would not enter a Gentile’s house, because they considered it ceremonially unclean.

So the Jews looked down on the Gentiles, and the Gentiles looked down on them too. But Peter said that God had shown him in a vision that he should not call any person common or unclean, or refuse to associate with anyone because of their nation. Peter, who had earlier taught new believers to save themselves from a corrupt generation of wicked people (Acts 2:40), was now taught to join himself with a faithful group of Gentiles. Ceremonial distinctions were taken away, so that moral character could matter more.

Peter thought it was important to explain why he had changed his view, so no one would accuse him of being careless or unstable. Since God had broken down the dividing wall, Peter assured them that he was ready to do them any good he could. He had kept his distance before, not because he personally disliked them, but because he had no permission from heaven. Now that he had received that permission, he came without hesitation. He was ready to preach the same gospel to them that he had preached to the Jews. The disciples of Christ had some idea that the gospel would go to the Gentiles, but they thought it would be only to Gentiles who first became Jewish converts. Peter admits that this mistake had not yet been corrected in their minds.

Peter then asked how he might serve them. “Why did you send for me? What do you expect from me? What business do you have with me?” Those who seek help from God’s ministers should be careful to come with the right purpose and a good intention.

Next, Cornelius explained God’s direction to him to send for Peter, and that he had obeyed that direction exactly.

Then we are truly right in our purpose when we send for and attend on gospel ministry, if we do it with respect to God’s own appointment of that ordinance and his command to use it.

Cornelius now explains the angel’s appearance to him and the order to send for Peter. He does not mention it to boast, but to show why he expected a message from heaven through Peter. He first tells how the vision found him at prayer, and he says, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour” (Acts 10:30). This shows that devout people who were not Jews also used religious fasting to make prayer more serious and solemn, as the king of Nineveh did (Jonah 3:5).

Some understand his words another way, as if he meant he had not eaten anything from that time until then. But here the words introduce the story of the vision, so the first meaning fits better. He was praying in his house at the ninth hour, that is, about three in the afternoon, not in a synagogue but at home. We should pray wherever we live. His praying in the house suggests it was not secret prayer in a private room, but a more open gathering with his family around him. Perhaps after prayer he stepped aside and then had the vision.

At that hour many people were traveling, trading, working in the fields, visiting friends, resting, or taking their ease after dinner. Yet Cornelius was then at prayer. This shows how much he made religion his business. It was then, while he was seeking God, that he received this message from heaven. Those who want to hear well from God must spend much time speaking to him.

He next describes the messenger who brought him the message from heaven. A man stood before him in bright clothing, like the clothing of Christ at his transfiguration, and like the two angels who appeared at Christ’s resurrection (Luke 24:4) and at his ascension (Acts 1:10). The bright clothing showed that they belonged to the world of light.

He repeats the message that was given to him (Acts 10:31-32), the same message already recorded in Acts 10:4-6. Here it is added, “Your prayer is heard.” We are not told exactly what he prayed, but if this was an answer to his prayer, as it seems to have been, then we may suppose he was asking because he felt the weakness of natural light. He likely knew that he still lacked clear understanding of how to obtain pardon for sin and God’s favor. So he prayed that God would make himself and the way of salvation known more fully. The angel’s answer was, “Send for Peter, and he will give you that light.”

Cornelius then declares his own readiness, and that of his friends, to receive the message Peter was to bring (Acts 10:33). “So I sent to you at once, as I was told, and you have done well to come to us, though we are Gentiles.” Faithful ministers do well to come to people who are willing and eager to learn from them, especially when they are sent for. It is a good work for them to do.

Peter has come to do his part, but will they do theirs? Yes. It is like Eli’s words to Samuel, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9-10). They say, “You are ready to speak, and we are ready to hear.” They also say, “We are all here present before God.” They mean they are there in a serious religious way, as worshipers, with their hearts composed for worship. Since Peter had come by such a clear message and for such an important purpose, they are ready at this time of worship, in this place of worship, even though it is a private house.

They are all present, all who were invited, together with everyone who belongs to them. The whole person must be present, not just the body while the heart wanders elsewhere. What makes this attendance truly religious is the thought, “We are present before God.” In holy ordinances we present ourselves to the Lord, and we must act as those who know his eye is on us.

Their purpose is clear: “We are here to hear everything that God has commanded you to say.” Peter was there to preach all that God had ordered him to preach, for he had both a broad commission to preach the gospel and full instructions about what to preach. They were ready to hear not whatever he might choose to say, but what God had charged him to say.

The truths of Christ were not given to the apostles so they could hide them or publish them only as they wished. They were entrusted to them to be made known to the world. So these people say they are ready to hear all of it, from beginning to end, and to stay attentive the whole time. They want to hear everything Peter was commanded to preach, even if it opposes their fleshly desires, challenges their old ideas, or cuts across their worldly interests. They are ready to hear all, and they want nothing useful held back from them.