X. (1) THERE WAS A CERTAIN MAN IN CÆSAREA. — We enter on a new stage of expansion in the Church’s growth, the full details of which St. Luke may have learnt either from Philip the Evangelist during his stay at Cæsarea (Acts 21:8; Acts 24:27) or, possibly, from Cornelius himself. His admission into... [ Continue Reading ]
A DEVOUT MAN, AND ONE THAT FEARED GOD WITH ALL HIS HOUSE. — The word for “devout” is not the same as that used in Acts 2:5; Acts 8:2, and Luke 2:25, and appears to be used by St. Luke, as again in Acts 10:7, for the special type of devotion that belonged to Gentile converts to Judaism. The phrase “t... [ Continue Reading ]
IN A VISION EVIDENTLY. — The adverb seems added to distinguish the manifestation from that of a dream like Joseph’s in Matthew 1:20; Matthew 2:13, or of a trance like St. Peter’s (Acts 10:10) or St. Paul’s (Acts 22:17). ABOUT THE NINTH HOUR OF THE DAY. — This was, as in Acts 3:1, one of the three h... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE COME UP FOR A MEMORIAL BEFORE GOD. — The word so used was emphatically sacrificial and liturgical, as, _e.g.,_ in Leviticus 2:2; Leviticus 2:9; Leviticus 2:16; Leviticus 5:12; Leviticus 6:15; Sir. 45:16; and elsewhere. The words implied, therefore, that the “prayers and alms” were accepted as a... [ Continue Reading ]
CALL FOR ONE SIMON, WHOSE SURNAME IS PETER. — The circumstances of the communication present, it is obvious, a striking parallelism with those attendant on the revelation to Ananias in Acts 9:10. To those who regard both narratives as fictitious, the resemblance will appear as characteristic of St.... [ Continue Reading ]
A DEVOUT SOLDIER. — The word implies that the man was, like his superior officer, a convert to the faith of Israel, though not, in the full sense of the word, a proselyte. It is natural to infer the same of the two slaves to whom their master imparted the vision, which to those who were living as he... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THEY WENT ON THEIR JOURNEY... — The distance from Cæsarea to Joppa was about thirty Roman miles. TO PRAY ABOUT THE SIXTH HOUR. — As in Acts 3:1, we again find St. Peter observing the Jewish hours of prayer. The “hunger” mentioned in the next verse implies that up to that time he had partaken of n... [ Continue Reading ]
HE FELL INTO A TRANCE. — St. Luke characteristically uses, as in Acts 11:5; Acts 22:17, the technical term _ekstasis_ (whence our English _ecstasy_) for the state which thus supervened. It is obvious that it might in part be the natural consequence of the protracted fast, and the intense prayer, pos... [ Continue Reading ]
A CERTAIN VESSEL DESCENDING... — The form of the vision corresponded, as has just been said, with the bodily condition of the Apostle. Its inward meaning may fairly be thought of as corresponding to his prayer. One who looked out from Joppa upon the waters of the Great Sea towards the far-off Isles... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL MANNER OF FOUR-FOOTED BEASTS... — The classification seems to imply the sheep, the oxen, or the swine that were used as food by the Gentiles, as coming under this head, the deer and goats, and conies and hares under that of “wild beasts.” Stress in each case is laid upon there being “all manner”... [ Continue Reading ]
RISE, PETER; KILL, AND EAT. — In the symbolism of the vision the natural promptings of appetite were confirmed by the divine voice. That which resisted both was the scruple of a hesitating conscience, not yet emancipated from its bondage to a ceremonial and therefore transitory law. It is natural to... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT SO, LORD... — The emphatic resistance even to a voice from heaven is strikingly in harmony with the features of St. Peter’s character, as portrayed in the Gospels, with the “Be it far from thee, Lord,” when he heard of the coming Passion (Matthew 16:22), with “Thou shalt never wash my feet,” in... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT GOD HATH CLEANSED, THAT CALL NOT THOU COMMON. — In the framework of the vision, the clean and the unclean beasts stood on the same footing, were let down from heaven in the same sheet. That had purified them from whatever taint had adhered to them under the precepts of the Law. In the interpret... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS WAS DONE THRICE. — The three-fold repetition was at once general and personal in its significance. It was mystically the token of a complete ratification of the truth proclaimed. It reminded him of the three fold command, “Feed My sheep,” and taught him to take a wider range of work in obeying... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE PETER DOUBTED IN HIMSELF.... — A doubt might well arise whether the teaching of the vision went beyond its immediate scope. The Apostle might have admitted that it abrogated the old distinction between clean and unclean meats, and yet might hesitate to answer the question, “Did it do more than... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SPIRIT SAID UNTO HIM,.... — The words seem to imply a state of consciousness intermediate between the “trance” that had passed away and the normal state of every-day life. The “voice” no longer seemed to come from heaven to the outward ear, but was heard as not less divine in the secret recesses... [ Continue Reading ]
GO WITH THEM, DOUBTING NOTHING. — The command was specially addressed to the perplexed questionings of the disciple. For a time he was to walk, as it were, blindfold, but trusting in the full assurance of faith in the Hand that was guiding him. As once before (John 13:7), he knew not yet what his Lo... [ Continue Reading ]
CORNELIUS THE CENTURION. — The description seems to imply that the name of the soldier-convert was not altogether unknown at Joppa. It could not fail to remind Peter of that other centurion whose name is not recorded, who was stationed at Capernaum, and had built the synagogue (Luke 7:5), and with t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CALLED HE THEM IN. — As it was about noon when Peter went up to the house-top to pray, the arrival of the messengers, allowing an adequate interval for the trance and the vision, may be placed at some time in the afternoon. CERTAIN BRETHREN FROM JOPPA. — We learn from Acts 11:12, that they wer... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS KINSMEN AND NEAR FRIENDS. — These, we may well believe, were, like the soldiers and slaves under his command, more or less in sympathy with Cornelius. He, at all events, was seeking to bring them also within the range of the new illumination which he was expecting to receive.... [ Continue Reading ]
FELL DOWN AT HIS FEET, AND WORSHIPPED HIM. — The attitude was the extremest form of Eastern homage. So Jairus had bowed down before Jesus (Matthew 9:18), so St. John bowed before the angel (Revelation 22:8). Peter’s answer, in strong contrast with the words and acts, the very ceremonial, of those wh... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS HE TALKED WITH HIM. — The word implies a conversation of some length; possibly, as the sequel seems to show, leading to the resolve that each should state separately how they, who had previously been strangers to each other, had thus been brought together.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE KNOW HOW THAT IT IS AN UNLAWFUL THING. — St. Peter speaks from the standpoint of traditional Pharisaism rather than from that of the Law itself; but the feeling was widely diffused, and showed itself in forms more or less rigorous wherever Jews and heathens came in contact with each other. The st... [ Continue Reading ]
I WAS FASTING UNTIL THIS HOUR. — The hour is not stated, but the facts of the case imply that it could not have been much before noon, and may have been later. Assuming that Cornelius in his fasts observed the usage of devout Jews, we may think of his vision as having been on the second day of the w... [ Continue Reading ]
THY PRAYER IS HEARD. — The singular number gives a greater definiteness to the object of the prayer than in Acts 10:4. It must have been, in the nature of the case, a prayer for fuller light and knowledge of the Truth. One who had heard, through Philip’s work at Cæsarea, or, it may be, through the b... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST WELL DONE. — The peculiar turn of the phrase, in social usage, made it the expression, not of mere approval, but of heartfelt gratitude. (Comp. St. Paul’s use of _it_ in Philippians 4:14.) NOW THEREFORE ARE WE ALL HERE PRESENT. — The words imply that the circle that had gathered round Cor... [ Continue Reading ]
OF A TRUTH I PERCEIVE THAT GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS. — In regard to all distinctions of social rank, or wealth, or knowledge, Peter had seen in his Master that absence of “respect of persons” which even His enemies acknowledged (Matthew 22:16; Luke 20:21). St. James lays stress on that element... [ Continue Reading ]
IN EVERY NATION HE THAT FEARETH HIM. — The great truth which Peter thus proclaimed is obviously far-reaching in its range. It applies, not to those only who know the name of Christ and believe on Him when He is preached to them, but to all who in all ages and countries “fear God” according to the me... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WORD WHICH GOD SENT... — The structure of the sentence, beginning with the object and carried on though a series of clauses, is both in the Greek and English somewhat complicated, but it is characteristically like that of St. Peter’s speech in Acts 2:22, whether the actual form in which both now... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT WORD, I SAY, YE KNOW. — The Greek for “word” differs from that in Acts 10:36, as including more distinctly the subject-matter of the message. In the words “ye know” we may trace the result of the conversation held before the more formal conference. The main facts of the life and ministry of the... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW GOD ANOINTED JESUS OF NAZARETH. — In the Greek structure the name stands in apposition with the “word” in the two previous verses — “Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him.” The word “anointed” is used with distinct reference to the name of Christ in Acts 10:35, and assumes a knowledge of the f... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WE ARE WITNESSES OF ALL THINGS. — The Apostle still keeps before him the main idea of his mission as laid down in the command given by his Lord (Acts 1:8). BOTH IN THE LAND OF THE JEWS. — Speaking as St. Peter did at Cæsarea, and as a Galilean, we must probably take the word in its narrower sen... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SHEWED HIM OPENLY. — Literally, _gave him to be manifest. _... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO WITNESSES CHOSEN BEFORE. — Better, _appointed._ The precise word which St. Luke uses occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, but is connected with the word rendered “ordained” in Acts 14:23. WHO DID EAT AND DRINK WITH HIM. — The three recorded instances of this are found in Luke 24:30; Luke... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE COMMANDED US TO PREACH UNTO THE PEOPLE. No such command is found in terms in the Gospel narratives of the words of the risen Lord, but it is partly implied in Matthew 28:18, and is covered by the general teaching as to the things of the kingdom of God in Acts 1:3. It is interesting to note th... [ Continue Reading ]
TO HIM GIVE ALL THE PROPHETS WITNESS. — As in St. Peter’s earlier speeches in Acts 2:3 so here, we trace the result of our Lord’s teaching given in the interval between the Resurrection and Ascension as to the method of prophetic interpretation which discerns, below all temporary and historical refe... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOLY GHOST FELL ON ALL THEM WHICH HEARD THE WORD. — The words imply a sudden thrill of spiritual joy and elevation which showed itself, as it had done on the Day of Pentecost (see Note on Acts 2:4), in a burst of unpremeditated praise. Now, as then, the “tongues” manifested themselves, not as in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY OF THE CIRCUMCISION WHICH BELIEVED... — St. Luke obviously dwells on this as a testimony, beyond suspicion, to the reality of the gift. Those who came with Peter were apparently not sharers at the time in the exultant joy which they were yet compelled to recognise as the Spirit’s work. They... [ Continue Reading ]
CAN ANY MAN FORBID WATER... — The question was an appeal to the voice of reason. Could the outward sign be refused, when thus the inward and spiritual grace had been so manifestly bestowed? Ordinarily, as in the case of the Samaritans (Acts 8:15), the gift of spiritual powers followed, by the subseq... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE COMMANDED THEM... — It would seem from this that St. Peter acted on the same general principle as St. Paul (1 Corinthians 1:14), and left the actual administration of baptism to other hands than his own. Who administered it in this instance we are not told. Possibly there may have been an _ec... [ Continue Reading ]