Last week, we spent our time looking at Saul’s conversion while traveling to Damascus to arrest and imprison followers of Jesus. My encouragement for each of us was to realize that just as Saul was blinded to the physical world around him, we can also be blinded by Satan to spiritual truths that we cannot see apart from Jesus opening our eyes to those truths. I reminded all of us that the purpose of having spiritual sight is so that we may be transformed into the likeness of Jesus in order to please Him in all respects by bearing fruit as others see the light of Jesus emanating from our lives.
After Saul’s conversion, Luke tells us that he began to preach Christ in all the synagogues in Damascus proclaiming that “Jesus is the Son of God,” and that he kept “increasing in strength, confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the Messiah” (Acts 9:20-22). After this time of ministry in Damascus, most Bible teachers insert a 4-year time-period to account for Saul’s trip to Arabia (specifically to Mt. Horeb where Moses received the Law). Luke doesn’t tell us about this “retreat,” but Paul does so in his letter to the churches in Galatia (1:11-18). It was in Arabia where Saul found the time to reorient his whole belief-system, realizing that Jesus was the prophesied, long-expected Messiah. Upon Saul’s return to Antioch, he traveled to Jerusalem to visit with the other apostles, and then was whisked away to Caesarea (out on the coast), and from there, he sailed to Tarsus (Paul’s childhood home), where he remained for the next ten years, studying the Scriptures, and influencing all whom he encountered. After Saul left Israel, Luke recorded:
“So, the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase (Acts 9:31).
This is why we are now jumping from AD 34 (Saul’s conversion) to the events that occurred in AD 38, four years later. The focus of Luke’s account now turns away from Saul and returns to Peter, who was traveling down from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean coast to Joppa (the same port where Jonah got on a ship where he tried to outrun God). Before arriving at Joppa, Peter entered the village of Lydda where he healed a lame man named Aeneas and raised Tabitha from the dead. Once again, word spread throughout the region because of these miracles and the number of disciples increased. Once in Joppa, Peter stayed at a man’s home named Simon, who was a tanner of hides (Acts 9:32-43).
Luke then transports us 30 miles north to Caesarea, a Roman city with a Roman garrison, and to the home of a Roman centurion named Cornelius. He had already been drawn away from paganism and had become a “God-fearing” proselyte who was known for his devotion to God (along with his household), and his love of the Jewish people because of the alms that he regularly gave. Shortly after Peter’s arrival in Joppa, Cornelius in Caesarea saw an angel in a vision around 3pm. Here are the words of the angel:
“Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter who is staying with a certain tanner names Simon, whose house is by the sea” (Acts 10:4-6).
And so, Cornelius sent one of his trusted soldiers along with two servants from his household to Joppa. The next day, as they were approaching Simon’s house, Peter who knew nothing of Cornelius’ vision the day before, went up on the housetop at noontime to pray. As he was praying, he became hungry and fell into a trance, and that’s when God showed him a vision of a sheet descending from heaven with all kinds of “unclean” animals, birds, and a variety of “creeping” things. And then a voice sounded:
“Arise Peter, kill and eat!” (Acts 10:13).
A stunned Peter answered the voice by saying he had never eaten anything unholy or unclean (i.e. Gentile food), and that he was a very observant Jew. But the voice came a second time saying:
“What God has cleansed, do not consider it unholy!” (Acts 10:15).
God’s timing is always perfect, because just at that moment, the three men sent by Cornelius in Caesarea arrived at Simon’s house in Joppa asking for a man called “Peter.” God spoke to Peter and told him to get off the roof and greet the three men from Caesaria because Cornelius, a God-fearing man, had also seen a vision and was told to send for you and return to Caesaria with them so that Cornelius and his household could hear a message from you. Amazingly, Peter and Simon the Tanner provided lodging for them for the night. Keep in mind, we are talking about Gentiles staying in the home of ethnic, God-fearing Jews. But those Jews were also Jesus’ disciples!
The following day, they left for Caesarea and upon entering Cornelius’ home, he fell at Peter’s feet and began to worship him. Peter informed Cornelius that he should:
“Stand up, because I too am just a man” (Acts 10:26).
Cornelius had invited many relatives and friends to his home to welcome and listen to Peter’s message. After Cornelius shared with Peter about his vision to send for him, he expressed gratitude that Peter had actually come to Caesarea and into his home. Cornelius invited Peter to share all that God had placed on his heart, and so Peter began speaking:
“I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him….You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:34-43).
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who were listening to his message. In order to provide an audible/visible confirmation that the Holy Spirit had entered them, they began speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said:
“Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” (Acts 10:47).
And so, they were all baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and they invited Peter and his companions to stay for a few days. Yes, they stayed a few more days in the home of a Gentile!!!
And so, for the first time, the Gospel had finally come to the Gentiles. And so it happened: TWO MEN: Peter a Jew and Cornelius a Gentile; with TWO VISIONS occurring at just the right time, each preparing the other for what God was about to do; resulting in TWO TRANSFORMATIONS with Peter realizing that God is not a respecter of persons and that he can eat from the table of Gentiles, and Cornelius who was converted and received the Holy Spirit and was baptized in the name of Jesus as a new believer.
Regardless of ones’ ethnic background, Jesus came to redeem all mankind and He has a plan for each of us. He can use visions or simply speak to us in a “still small voice” as we sense the “nudging” of the Holy Spirit. And He wants to transform us into His likeness, viewing others through the same lens as He does. One of the elders in our church uses a phrase that is good for all of us to heed: “Let’s be sure not to judge others for sinning in a different way than we do!” And if we sense His displeasure with anything in our lives, let’s be sure to confess it and ask God to forgive us and continue the work of transforming us into His likeness.
Blessings to all of you.
