Beyond Barriers | Acts 10-11

ILLUSTRATION

Every now and then in life, something happens that’s so unexpected it might leave you speechless. Recently Indian women won the cricket world cup. I got interested in the series when India came to the semi-finals. We happened to glance at the score and Indian was chasing 339, was 2-59 in 10 overs. I lost interest and later when I checked the score India was 5-310 in 46 overs. There was a glimmer of hope and India went on the win the match and eventually win the finals as well. Surprises can happen in sports.

Now, if we can end up speechless over something as trivial as cricket, which we’ll forget from one season to the next, how much more should we reflect on God’s grace and see the way God has worked that ought to leave us speechless?

In Acts 9, Saul the persecutor was transformed, that is surprising. But in Acts 10, God opens the door of salvation to the Gentiles. He pours in the Holy Spirit upon the gentiles.

God’s Initiative: Cornelius’ Vision; Acts 10:1–8

Acts 10:1

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.

And here is this centurion, this soldier, the backbone of the Roman army that has spread the conquest of Rome, including into the land of God’s people. It’s not a very positive picture if you’re reading this through the eyes of those to whom Luke was writing.

Acts 10:2-6

²He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 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.”

Cornelius

• Devout. Devotion to God.
• God-fearer. Probably attending the synagogue, not circumcised.
• Gave generously
• Prayed to God regularly.
• Righteous
• He respected the culture of Jews. Jewish customs were looked down by others.
• Respected by all the Jewish community.

In Luke 7 we have another centurion who had built a synagogue and the Jewish people came and spoke highly about him.

God says it’s not enough. Cornelius needs the Gospel. And God sends a messenger to point him to Peter in Joppa, because Cornelius’ longing prayers and generous acts, good as they are, cannot save. He needs the Word of salvation.

Cornelius’s Response

Acts 10:7-8

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.

• He obeys.
• He sends for Peter.
• He seeks after God.

Section 2: Acts 10:9–23: Peter’s Vision and Obedience

The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching Joppa, Now, it just so happens that Peter is in Joppa, staying at the house of Simon the tanner. Peter goes up to the roof to pray at noon.

Acts 10:9–16

⁹About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. ¹⁰ He 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 and birds. 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.

So Peter here experiences this vision of what would have been unclean animals according to Leviticus chapter 11. So when Peter hears this command, “Rise, kill and eat,” he says, “By no means, Lord!” He knows God’s Law. He intends to follow it. He’s going to be faithful to it. But then the voice comes to him again and says, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happens three times.

You know, perhaps things like his reaction to Jesus when He spoke of His own suffering and death. Or perhaps when Peter objected to Jesus washing his feet. Peter has this zeal for obedience, but sometimes, his understanding lags behind God’s plan.

Acts 10:17-22

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 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?”

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 ask you to 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.

Peter at Cornelius’s House

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.

Peter is in Joppa, staying with a tanner. He’s already stretching some conventions, staying with a man in a profession considered unclean by Jewish standards. And now, he’s about to be sent to Caesarea a Roman city to visit a Gentile military officer!

Remember Jonah landed up in Joppa when he was told to go to Nineveh. Here’s Peter is in the same city saying, “Yes, Lord, I will go.” Here’s Peter, inwardly perplexed but outwardly obedient. He leaves Joppa to go where God told him to go.

So we’ve got a couple of lessons here:

• Obedience must come before understanding. When Cornelius is presented with the command of God — he obeys. When Peter is presented with a command from God — he obeys.
• Cornelius expresses a receptivity to the Word of God. He knows he needs it, and he humbles himself to receive it.
• Peter learns that God’s plan is bigger than his expectations, a plan that will stretch him beyond religious boundaries and personal comfort.

Section 3: Acts 10:24–33: The Meeting at Caesarea

Acts 10:24-28

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.”

²⁷While talking 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 or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.

So Peter sees that what God is doing here is far bigger than dietary law. It’s about the Gospel breaking down walls between peoples. It’s about God creating a single, unified family from Jew and Gentile alike, a new humanity in Christ.

Acts 10:29-33

²⁹So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

³⁰Cornelius answered: “Three 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 gathers his whole household; family, friends, soldiers, attendants, all waiting expectantly for God’s Word. What receptivity. What hunger for the Word of God.

Paul would later commend the Thessalonian believers for this same posture in

1 Thessalonians 2:13

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

How do we receive the word of God?

Section 4: Acts 10:34–48: Peter’s Sermon & the Holy Spirit’s Outpouring

Acts 10:34-38

³⁴Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. ³⁶You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. ³⁷You know what has happened throughout the province of 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 Message: A model for the Gospel Presentation

1. The Life of Jesus, v36

Peter begins with the life of Jesus. This is the foundation. He reminds them that this message is not secret. They have heard the reports about Jesus of Nazareth, the one anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good, healing, delivering, redeeming. God has no favouritism but accepts people from every nation.

2. The Death of Jesus; v39

Acts 10:39-40

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 cross, ⁴⁰but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

The cross was not an accident of history, it was the fulfilment of divine purpose. At the cross, the sinless Son of God bore the penalty for our sin, satisfying divine justice and offering divine mercy. His blood was shed so that forgiveness could be offered to all who believe Jew and Gentile alike.

3. The Resurrection of Jesus; v40

Acts 10:39-41

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 cross, 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.

But the story doesn’t end at the cross. Peter testifies to the resurrection, the triumph of life over death. His resurrection is the first fruits, the guarantee, of ours.

Colossians 3:4

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

The resurrection of Jesus is the promise that death does not have the final word. Sin does not have the final word. Satan does not have the final word. Jesus Christ does.

4. The Reign and Judgment of Jesus

Acts 10:42

He 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.

Peter proclaims that this risen Jesus is not only Savior but Judge. There is coming a day when every person will stand before Him  and the standard of that judgment will not be our goodness or our record, but whether we are found in Him. This is the message Peter was sent to proclaim.

This is not a message of self-improvement or self-help to be a better person. It’s about making dead people, sinners alive. We are not proclaiming moral reform; we are proclaiming divine rescue. We preach Christ crucified, risen, reigning, and returning.

5. The Response to Jesus

Acts 10:43

All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

There it is  the heart of the Gospel: Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.

Cornelius, nobleman, centurion, leader must humble himself before the same Saviour as every other sinner. Because all must come the same way by grace through faith to Christ alone.

A remarkable outcome to this message:

6. Response: Outpouring of the Spirit & Baptism

Acts 10:44

While Peter was still speaking (he has not finished yet) these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.

And now, just as Peter is preaching this before he even finishes his sermon, the Holy Spirit interrupts. If the Holy Spirit interrupts you our worship and sermon, that’s usually a good time to stop talking.

Acts 10:45-47

⁴⁵The circumcised believers (Peter’s Jewish friends) who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. ⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, ⁴⁷“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

“just as we have.” That phrase will echo into chapter 11, when Peter reports back to the Jerusalem church, “The same Spirit who fell on us at the beginning has now fallen on them.”

This moment is Pentecost for the Gentiles. Just as the Holy Spirit descended upon the Jews in Acts 2, a fulfilment of Joel 2, now the Spirit comes upon the nations in Acts 10. God is building one people, one body through one Spirit.

Acts 10:48

So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Peter stays to disciple them, to fellowship with them, and to build this new community of faith.

The walls of division are falling. The clean and unclean categories that once divided humanity are collapsing under the weight of grace. The same Spirit. The same Saviour. Also The same baptism. The same faith. The Church is being born again — among the nations.

Section 5: Acts 11:1–18: Peter’s Report and the Response of Worship

Acts 11:1-4

¹The apostles and the believers 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.” ⁴Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story:

Acts 11:15-18

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 water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ (Jesus said it again in Acts 1) ¹⁷So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

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

When something so unexpected, so divine, so beyond their imagination took place, the only fitting response was silence and worship.

Peter now realizes: That promise, that Pentecost wasn’t just for the Jews. It’s for the nations too.

F F Bruce “Their objections stopped, their worship started.”

THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION

What has God done here? He has united Jew and Gentile, once divided by centuries of hostility, into one new people under Christ.

Paul would later explain this in Ephesians 2:18–19

¹⁸For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰builton the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

This is breath-taking. The Gentiles, once considered outsiders are now:

• Citizens of God’s Kingdom
• Members of God’s family
• Stones in God’s temple
• Parts of Christ’s body

So, who’s part of this temple? The Gentiles.

Who’s part of this body? The Gentiles

Who’s part of this household? All who believe in Jesus. And that includes us.

Ephesians 4:1-5

¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

This story in Acts 10–11 is our story. For most of us are Gentile believers, this is how we entered God’s covenant family. This is how the Gospel reached us through the obedience of Peter, through the faith of Cornelius, and through the unstoppable grace of God. Because God tore down every human barrier to bring us near. What He did there in Caesarea, He continues to do around the world — drawing people from every tribe, tongue, and nation into one family in Christ.

The Missionary Vision of God

Jesus prayed for this day:

John 17:20–23

²⁰“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—²³I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

God’s missionary strategy is not primarily through programs or power but through a people made one in Christ, all over the world with people who would have nothing to do with one another, if not for being one in Christ together. That is what the church is.

When the world sees unity among those who would otherwise never associate; different ethnicities, classes, languages, abilities, they see a miracle. They see Christ. That is what the church is, the very existence of individual local churches, gatherings of believers that cross people group boundaries, and language boundaries, and ethnic boundaries, and linguistic boundaries, and economic boundaries, and all those sorts of things such is a testimony to the watching world around, that when we get that right, what they’re seeing, according to what Jesus said here, is that you are seeing this oneness in Christ that He alone can create. And that is exactly the picture of what the church is.

So, brothers and sisters, pause. Be amazed, let’s fall silent and just worship God for what He did to bring us in. And then take that message as they did to the very ends of the earth, because this is the hope for all peoples, just as it’s the hope for us.

LIFE APPLICATION

1. We Can Trust the Holy Spirit to Lead and Guide Us.

Trust that the Holy Spirit is active in your daily life. He goes ahead of you to prepare the way and walks beside you to guide your steps. Yield your plans to His direction. Where might I be relying on my own wisdom instead of listening for the Spirit’s gentle guidance?

2. Obedience Must Come Before Understanding

Many times, we wait to understand everything before we obey. But true faith obeys first and understands later. God reveals His plan step by step to those who walk in obedience. Is there an area where God has already spoken — and I’m still waiting for more details instead of taking the next step of obedience?

3. God Does Not Show Favouritism.

As God shows no favoritism, neither should we. In Christ, every person regardless of background, status, or ability has equal worth and access to His love. Are there people I unconsciously treat as “outsiders” to God’s grace? How can I reflect God’s impartial love this week?

4. God’s Plan Is Bigger Than Our Expectations

Don’t box God into your expectations. He often works in ways that surprise us — in people we least expect, and through doors we never would have opened ourselves. Where have I been limiting God to my comfort zone or my understanding of how He “should” work?

5. The Gospel Crosses All Barriers

The Church must always be a community without walls reaching across divisions, welcoming the marginalized, and showing the world that in Christ we are one family. Who is the “Cornelius” in my world, someone different from me whom God is calling me to reach with His love?