Scripture Daily

Context No. 1160 of 4322 · Acts

Context · Reflection

Acts 10:21-29: in context

21Peter went down to the men, and said, “Behold, I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?” 22They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say.” 23So he called them in and provided a place to stay. On the next day Peter arose and went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24On the next day they entered into Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his relatives and his near friends. 25When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. 26But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up! I myself am also a man.” 27As he talked with him, he went in and found many gathered together. 28He said to them, “You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man unholy or unclean. 29Therefore I also came without complaint when I was sent for. I ask therefore, why did you send for me?”

Peter goes down to the messengers Cornelius sent, and after hearing that a God-fearing centurion has been directed by an angel to send for him, he takes the unprecedented step of inviting these Gentiles in and, the next day, traveling to Cornelius's house. When he arrives, Cornelius falls at his feet to worship him, and Peter immediately lifts him up: stand up; I too am only a man. Then, to the gathered household, Peter names the barrier he is crossing: you know it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with a foreigner, but God has shown me not to call any person common or unclean.

Two barriers fall in this short scene. First, Peter refuses worship. Cornelius, overwhelmed, throws himself down before the apostle, and Peter will not have it: stand up; I too am only a man. However much God is using him, Peter knows he is not the point, and he redirects the worship away from himself. There is a healthy self-understanding in that, refusing the honor that belongs only to God even when someone eagerly offers it. Second, and more world-changing, Peter names what God has taught him: do not call any person common or unclean. The wall between Jew and Gentile, which Peter had lived behind his whole life, comes down because God has shown him there is no person he may write off as unclean. That single revelation would remake the church into a family of every nation. It is worth sitting with both truths together: I am only a man, do not worship me, and there is no person I may treat as unclean. Humility about myself and honor toward every other person are two sides of the same gospel.

Do I refuse the honor that belongs only to God, and have I stopped calling any person common or unclean, treating no one as beneath the reach of God's welcome?

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