Restore 24: Acts

The first Gentile converts—the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius and household—have been God-fearers i.e. Gentiles who were partial converts to Judaism. The coming of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius etc demonstrated the astonishing fact that the Gentiles could be brought into salvation on full and equal terms. But it is only now, in Antioch (note 1), that the Gentile mission really begins. It begins with diaspora Jews (men from Cyprus and Cyrene) who have been dispersed by the martyrdom of Stephen. They start proclaiming the Lord Jesus (11:20) and many respond in faith. Barnabas, who is also from Cyprus (4:36), is dispatched from Jerusalem to see what is going on, just as Peter and John had been sent to Samaria after the success of Philip (8:14). Barnabas rejoiced to see all that God was doing —he was generous and gracious, and, rather than guarding his ancestral faith, he celebrated that God had joined them in it, and encouraged them. Then he set off to find Saul in Tarsus, where he had b...

Peter arrives at Cornelius' house, who is very happy to see him! Falling at someone's feet pays special honour and can also be a gesture of supplication. It can also be worship, and this was more likely (and therefore ambiguous) in the east than the west. Outside of Judaism, which kept a stricter boundary between between God and creation, there were numerous levels of divinity, various spirits and even semi-divine humans. It would be surprising if Cornelius really is attempting to worship Peter, given what he knows of Judaism, but he could simply be overwhelmed and grateful, and not a little in awe of a man that an angel has sent to him. I think it is more likely that Cornelius was not actually worshipping Peter, but Peter did not want this gesture to be misinterpreted, and certainly did not want to be seen as receiving worship! Genuine servants of God are horrified when worship is directed away from God and on to them (cf. Rev 19:10; 22:8-9). We will see this with Paul and Bar...

Cornelius has had a vision, and now Peter has one. This vision is of vast importance, and the statement “What God has made clean, you must not call profane” is given three times. It is impossible for us, in our time and culture, to appreciate the revulsion Peter would have felt at seeing these animals and being told to eat them (note one). It would help somewhat if we could, because it would in turn help us to understand the enormity of what God was about to do in pouring out the Spirit on the Gentiles. And it would help us understand better the continuing opposition to the Gospel (especially in Paul's ministry), as it contained not only the absurdity of a crucified Messiah but the unthinkable justification of the nations—and the final twist of the knife would be the teaching that Jews would be cast out whilst Gentiles are brought in!! On a purely human level it would make no sense at all. Again we see the direction of the Holy Spirit in His mission. He has told Cornelius to send ...

Peter goes down from Jerusalem to Lydda to visit the believers there. We are given another remarkable miracle story but the details are scarce. Luke says that Peter found Aeneas, not that Aeneas was brought to him. Was he in the home of a believer? Did he meet him on a street? Was he himself a believer? The way Luke words v. 34 makes me think of the lame beggar at the temple in ch. 3. In 3:6, it says this:  "But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”"  The fact that Peter in 9:34 says, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!”, makes it sound like Peter is saying a name (Jesus Christ) that Aeneas has not heard before, and Peter wants to make it clear who is to credit for what is about to happen. The effect is that all the locals and those in the surrounding area of the plain of Sharon saw this man now healed and turned to the Lord. So, although Peter went obstensibly to ...

Chapter 7 ended on a low note, to say the least. Stephen's death also introduced Saul, who is shown as approving of and superintending it. There follows a much happier chapter mainly following the activities of Stephen's colleague Philip. This showed that despite that trauma of Stephen's lynching, and the severe persecution that accompanied it, God prospered his people all the more. Now we return to Saul, where God shows again that his plan of salvation is invincible. This fierce murderer—who believes he is serving God—will literally be stopped in his tracks, and all that knowledge, training, and furnace of zeal will be put to the true service of God, that is, proclaiming the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Saul takes the initiative to ask the high priest for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that he might have the authority to extradite fugitive Christians back to Jerusalem. The right of extradition had been granted by the Romans some time ago, and reaffirmed by Ju...

Here we have another amazing story which is also groundbreaking. Philip first brought the Gospel to the Samaritans, and now technically this is the first Gentile to be saved. Of course, there may have been other proselytes in Jerusalem who were saved in the first days and weeks of the new church (cf. Jn 12:20-21), and Luke has not narrated any of these. The real cross-over point of the Gospel to the Gentiles is still to come with Peter and Cornelius. For that moment, God made special preparation for the revelation of the mystery of the inclusion of the Gentiles, which includes Peter's vision and other remarkable features, plus his debrief in Jerusalem, where the leaders accepted and celebrated God's sovereign mercy. Where was this eunuch from? Luke says Ethiopia, but he does not mean the country we know as Ethiopia. Rather 'Ethiopa' referred to the region south of Egypt, and was regarded as mythically distant. The capital city of that empire, Meroë, was about a hundred ...