Scripture
VS 1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.
VS 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision …
VS 9 The next day, … Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
Vs 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 …
Vs 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
Vs 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
Vs 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
Vs 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
Vs 17 Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean …
Vs 25 When (they returned to Caesarea) Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.
VS 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.”
Vs 28 And he said to them, “… God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.
Vs 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection.”
VS 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
Vs 36 As for the word … Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all).”
Observation
Peter, and Jew, and Cornelius, a Roman centurion, each receive visions from God.
Beyond the ultimate “point” of this interaction, there are interesting and specific descriptors of the two men.
The visions both occurred during intentional times of prayer.
Peter got hungry. In the vision he was told to “Rise, kill & eat.”
Peter objected to God, “By no means, Lord!”
Peter got the vison three times!
Peter was still “inwardly perplexed” by the visions meaning.
Peter came to Cornelius, the Roman, “without objection”.
Cornelius worshipped Peter.
Peter stopped him from doing so.
Ultimately, Peter was able to say, “God has shown me” … and … “Truly I understand”.
Application
Am I open to God showing me new things?
Peter was the closest to Jesus, Himself, and experienced not only His teaching but His life up close.
If anyone could say “I know it all”, it would be Peter.
And that was Peter’s initial response to God’s vision and “new” teaching: “No, God! I don’t do wrong things!”
It took a circumstance in Peter’s life for Peter to go from “perplexed” to “truly I understand”.
Peter had to experience something in his life that he was able to connect with what God was showing him.
When Peter encountered this, there was no objection.
Something significant came between “God has shown me” and “Truly I understand”.
Peter went from “inwardly perplexed” to “without objection”.
In between these two contrasting thoughts of Peter was human interaction …
A human interaction Peter would have previously thought absurd!
But God “shows no partiality”! … Do I?
There are important descriptors, of course, to who’s acceptable … “fears him and does what is right”
So, I should have no partiality, but not everything is acceptable.
So now I ask myself:
Am I intentional and concerted in my prayers?
Am I open to a “new vision” if God wants me to understand something differently than I do?
What am I “inwardly perplexed” by?
Do I want “true understanding” and for “God to show me” something?
Is my heart and mind open to those around me God may want me to see differently than I have before?
Are there people around me I need to more boldly indicate that “Jesus is Lord of all”?!
Prayer
Thank you God for your word
Help me pray intentionally and consistently
And boldly for what you want and will
Help me go from perplex to understanding
Help me see people the way you do
In Jesus name
Amen