Acts 10:9-20
Acts 10:9-20
October 18, 2020
Acts 10:1-8
9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the
city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” 1
Have you ever had a belief, so deeply held that you just knew it was correct...until someone revealed that what you thought was so was not true? These could be huge things that are life-impacting or simple things that really do not make a big difference in life, but something you just knew to be true...only to be corrected and amazed.
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 10:9–20). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 1
There is a trend on social media, a meme that has gone on for a few years where people post things under the heading “I was today years old when I found out...” and then list that item that just amazed them.
Here are a few I have seen recently...
IwastodayyearsoldwhenIdiscoveredthattheKFCTwitter account has thousands of followers, but only follows 11 people. They are: Geri Halliwell, Mel Brown, Emma Bunton, Mel C, Victoria Beckham, Herb Scribner, Herb J. Wesson, Jr. Herb Waters, Herb Dean, Herb Sendek, Herb Alpert. Do you know why? The five women are the Spice Girls. The men are six guys named Herb. So, KFC follows 11 herbs and spices (they’re long- time tagline and recipe for chicken batter.)
IwastodayyearsoldwhenIlearnedthataniPhoneusercantext the words “pew pew” to another iPhone user and it will send them laser blasts.
IwastodayyearsoldwhenIrealizedthepainting“American Gothic” by Grant Woods was of a farmer and his daughter, not a farmer and his wife.
IwastodayyearsoldwhenIfoundoutthefirstepisodeofa television show is called a pilot because it is the first time they are on air.
IwastodayyearsoldwhenIfoundoutthatwhensomeonesays “Break a leg” to someone auditioning for a play is because they hope you end up in the cast.
IwastodayyearsoldwhenIfoundoutthatImaybethelast generation whose baby pictures were no taken on a phone.
Sometimes things just are thought to be right, normal, expected, or in some cases, not thought about much in detail, but accepted.
In Peter’s case, he is the leader of the apostles. He is a leader in the early church. He has now found himself outside Jerusalem – likely due to the
2
influence of the newest apostle Paul. He has heard what God was doing west of the capital city and went to see. Christians had been gathering. Peter actually heals a couple of people – just as Christ did. He now is staying in a home owned by another man named Simon. He is in Joppa and just 30 miles away in Caesarea is a Roman centurion, a God-fearer and man seeking to know God named Cornelius. God has appeared to him through an angelic visitor and has instructed him to send some men to Joppa to get Peter and bring him to Caesarea.
That’s where the narrative finds us and today, we see the apostle Peter in Joppa praying. He is on the rooftop for some alone time in prayer and God appears to him in an amazing vision.
Remember – Peter, as a Jew knew the Torah and believed in the prophecies of the coming Messiah. Jesus called him to join his team and revealed that he was the Messiah and Peter had a front-row seat at the miraculous three-year public ministry of Christ from Galilee to the cross. Peter is all in. He is the preacher who spoke, filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He is fully engaged in this dangerous calling and has forsaken all for the cause of Christ.
But...he has not yet begun to understand how or why God would call uncircumcised Gentiles who grew up worshiping pagan gods and goddesses, living lifestyles so far outside the realm of acceptability, eating food declared to be detestable by Jewish law, into membership of the church.
Look at how God reveals something to Peter that was heretofore outside his understanding of how things should be.
1. COMMAND FROM GOD
Peter is in prayer on the flat roof of Simon’s home. He was doing what Christ has modeled many times when he himself would go up to the top of a mountain, go out in a boat in the Sea of Galilee, or find some alone time with the Father in prayer.
3
Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
He gets hungry. His hunger led him to want to get something to eat. While preparing his meal, he fell into a trance.
That’s strange, but not unprecedented. Balaam is said to have seen a vision of God while falling into a trance in Numbers 24. Paul, while praying in the temple, fell into a trance in Acts 24 and seemingly referred to in 2 Cor 12. The Greek word translates more literally into the English word “ecstasy.” In other words “an ecstasy fell upon Peter.” It is deemed so intense a time of prayer and focus that God uses this moment to speak clearly to his apostle. This is not a seizure. This moment for Peter is a supernatural moment of messaging and clarification. While not common, even in biblical days, most likely no one here has ever experienced such. In our cases, we must remember that we have the Word of God where God speaks, clarifies, assures, and reveals. In this case, Peter is living within the soon to be written Word of God and this message is delivered to the man of God.
And the message clear - “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
Don’t you love clear instructions. In this vision, all these types of animals are shown to Peter and the clear instruction was “rise, kill and eat.”
And Peter says what many Christians say when God clearly commands us to do things.
4
14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
His response even sounds pious, like he thinks God may be testing him to see if he would eat food he has been taught not to eat. This may be, in his mind, a Daniel moment. But, it’s not. Because THIS IS NOT ABOUT FOOD.
2. CLARITY FROM GOD
God is not a God of confusion – that comes from elsewhere. God clearly addresses Peter’s response.
15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
God made the previously unclean food, the items good Jews were to avoid in their diet to be clean. Yet...this isn’t about food.
The clear message from God is that Peter’s preconceived ideas of who can and cannot be invited into the family of God are wrong. Through Christ’s sacrifice, through his blood, his love, the truth of the gospel...as I stated last week...all are welcome.
God made Peter clean through Christ’s sacrifice. He would make a Gentile centurion in Caesarea clean as well.
Peter learned that God, not man, determines those who may enter into his presence. Jew, Gentile, religious, pagan, black, brown, white, Roman, Israeli, civilian, military, servant, soldier, etc. God clarifies his calling and then...
3. GOD COMMISSIONS PETER
17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the
5
gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” 2
Peter’s prejudices have been addressed. Peter’s preconceptions have been corrected. Peter’s commission was given. “Rise and go.”
Excuses would not suffice. Explaining why he shouldn’t go would not work. God’s calling was clear and to remain in Joppa...to even stay there to “pray more” would be nothing more than sin.
CONCLUSION
I love the story of Cornelius’s salvation. I said that last Sunday. I love how God brought the apostle to him to share the truth of the gospel. Yet, this conversion story (which we are not even to the climactic point yet) is not just about a Gentile getting saved.
It’s about a Christian having his personal theology rewritten and corrected by God himself. It’s about a godly man recognizing that he had not yet arrived and was still being molded by God into the man he was meant to be. It’s about a follower of Christ realizing that life-long learning is not optional for a disciple and to acknowledge that personal prejudices and years-held beliefs that may seem to be biblical...may not actually be godly, God-honoring, or from the biblical worldview.
Peter had his glasses replaced. No longer was he permitted to see things through the lenses of a worldview that categorized some (we’ll call them the “others”) to a place of second-class citizens or to a spiritual caste system.
2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ac 10:9–20). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. 6
If the gospel is for all people...it must be for all people. There is no white gospel, black gospel, Jewish gospel, Gentile gospel. There is one gospel and Jesus is the personification of this good news.
One way to God, through the Son who is the Way, Truth, and the Life. We are called to be God’s way showing others the Way.
The command is clear. The call is clarified. The commission remains. To ignore is sin. Will you “rise and go” to the one?
Footnotes
