Seeing People as God Sees

Last we left Peter, he was making the rounds in various towns and villages beyond Jerusalem that had begun hearing the gospel from the numerous other disciples scattered out by persecution (8:1,4). In this itinerant ministry, Peter was preaching the gospel and pastoring these new believers, probably also supporting and guiding the disciples who had brought the gospel to these places. At Lydda he healed Aeneas, who had been paralyzed, which led to people from the region listening intently and responding positively to the good news of perfect and permanent spiritual healing in Jesus (9:35). Similarly, at Joppa, when he raised Tabitha from the dead, a disciple active in ministry and charity, the attention was actually drawn to Jesus, and “many believed in the Lord” (9:42).

Now the scene in Acts 10 temporarily leaves Peter in Joppa to focus on another man in Caesarea.

Acts 10:1–29 ESV

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. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. 9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 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 and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

For the gospel to penetrate everywhere that Christ intended, the (Jewish) church had to learn to identify and put away their prejudice. Prejudice was a barrier to gospel advance. Peter is central to this lesson because of his standing and influence within the Christian community.

As he showed Peter, the Lord commands us to acknowledge and then set aside our prejudice in order to be instruments he uses to reach people for himself across cultural and ethnic barriers.

But how and why will we do so?

To be the messengers of the gospel that Jesus desires for us to be, we must learn to see ourselves and others as God sees.

The problem of prejudice matters to the church because it matters to God because it directly impacts the advancement of the gospel and whether or not we will carry out the discipleship mandate of Christ and whether or not we will be a reflection of the community Christ intends for us to be.

God sees people as individuals created in his image who need Jesus.

Cornelius was a real person. Cornelius was a religious person. Better than being merely religious, though, he worshiped Jehovah God. Cornelius needed Jesus to be right with God. (an individual created in the image of God, who even feared God and worshiped him as God, but needed faith in the death & resurrection of Jesus to be ultimately saved)

Now we don’t know Cornelius as well as we know Peter, and he’s an important protagonist in this episode, which is the longest narrative in Acts, so we need to spend a few minutes here.

Cornelius is in Caesarea [map], which at this time was the “seat of the Roman government of Judea.” (ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2102.) Under Herod the Great it became an important and impressive harbor city, but by now tensions ran high between the regional Jews dwelling there and the many occupying Gentile inhabitants.

Cornelius would have been such a Gentile, who was stationed there as a Roman centurion—a soldier in charge of some 80-100 other soldiers. He was part of a larger unit or cohort of soldiers, which would have numbered around 600 men. (10 Cohorts made up what Romans called a legion, or around 6,000 soldiers.) Since there may have been as many as five such 600-men cohorts in Caesarea, this one is identified by the name the Italian Cohort.

What’s unique about Cornelius, though, is that he doesn’t seem to have relationship problems with the Jews but rather to be sympathetic and on good terms with them (“well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation,” v. 22). He has evidently become a God-fearer, “a devout man who feared God,” meaning a Gentile who worshiped Israel’s God and probably associated with the Jewish synagogue, but who stopped short of becoming a full proselyte, which would have required purification rites and especially circumcision.

But Cornelius’s devotion to Jehovah God is shows itself prominently in three ways: He leads his entire household in worship of God, he makes a regular and generous practice of giving to the needs of the poor, and he is incredibly consistent in praying to God. He’s devoted enough that it impacts his closest relationships, devoted enough to God that OT instruction about almsgiving seems to flow from his heart, and devoted enough to be in regular dependent communication with God.

In fact, it’s quite possible he was taking cues from his Jewish counterparts in their observation of prayer times (at 9am & 3pm), because he was praying at 3pm (ninth hour) when he received this vision of an angelic messenger (cf. v. 30).

God sends one of his devoted messengers to Cornelius, who naturally responds in fear. But the message is that God has received his prayers and alms as a memorial or fragrant offering. (Prov 21:3 “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”) This isn’t to suggest that he somehow deserved God’s favor, but that God recognized these things as an expression of faith and of sincerely seeking to please God. - This believer in Jehovah (in the OT sense) needed the New Covenant witness of Jesus Christ to believe in him and receive the Holy Spirit.

And that is exactly what God is taking the initiative to make provision for. So Cornelius is instructed to send men to Joppa to get Simon Peter who was staying with Simon the tanner. (The fact that his house was by the sea is undoubtedly an identifying marker so they would know where in the city to begin asking for the house of such a Simon.)

So Cornelius did exactly as he was told and got two of his servants, and sent along with them a devout soldier, to see to this really important errand. He can trust them to do as he asks and to communicate faithfully the message given to him by the angel.

Again, when we take a step back from this and view it in this broader context of what takes place, we must see that all of this is happening because God takes the initiative concerning the fact that…

Cornelius is a God-fearing Gentile who yet needed the gospel of Jesus Christ. So he needed the beautiful feet of a witness who would come to him with the most important news for all people of every background. In this section, the emphasis is on the fact that God moves toward Cornelius.

So now we come to the part where something unique happens with Peter also to prepare him for the arrival of these visitors, to make sure that he responds by going with them. - Peter needed an object lesson on prejudice.

God seeks to reveal our sin and show himself and his purposes as the solution.

V. 9 tells us that Peter’s vision takes place literally while the three trusted messengers are traveling from Caesarea to Joppa and nearly there, a journey of at least 30 miles (which probably means they would have left immediately that afternoon and journeyed, almost certainly on foot, at least part of the night to make it the next day by early afternoon).

Meanwhile, Peter goes up on the housetop at noon to pray, which for Jews would be a normal mealtime but not a normal prayer time. Peter is praying more than Jewish tradition. Don’t picture a rooftop like ours, but rather a flat rooftop that would be more like an outdoor room or patio, which was accessible by ladder or exterior stairs and served various purposes.

It’s a mealtime, so he’s hungry, but while he’s waiting on the food preparation, and probably smelling it, etc., he experiences a vision from God. Notice that Peter doesn’t try to do anything strange or mystical to try to conjure up this trance; it’s initiated by God, not Peter.

Peter was a true follower of Jesus. But Peter was not a perfect follower.

Peter understood his sin against God and his inability to restore himself to God by any effort of his own. Peter understood now that Jesus was an even better Messiah than the Jews thought they wanted, who came to willingly suffer in order to deliver us from our sin and ourselves by becoming the perfect atonement. Peter understood that the resurrection of Jesus meant that those who have faith in him would not die spiritually but are forgiven and restored to God, and that one day Jesus would return to judge the living and the dead, and that one day those who are his will themselves receive resurrection bodies to live with God forever.

Peter preached this gospel, and Peter lived this message (walking in ongoing faith and dependence upon Jesus). That’s why we find him praying at Noon, which is neither of the traditional prayer times for the Jews. Peter is following the example of Jesus in dependent prayer on God for the ministry task of Apostolic leadership that God had given him.

As much as Peter has grown and changed from the old Simon that Jesus first called, Peter still had much to learn and room to grow in Christlikeness.

So God instructs Peter with an object lesson, and Peter pushes back until he understands God’s command.

The vision is something like a great sheet descending from heaven with a whole bunch of various animals and reptiles and birds being caught up in it as it was lowered by its four corners. Now when Peter hears a voice telling him to rise and kill and eat, he responds with “by no means,” or certainly not. We might say “may it never be” or absolutely not.

It’s as though Peter views this as a test, because he’s telling God no and saying that he has never eaten anything that the levitical law would designate as worthless or unclean. The only reason he would respond this way is if the various mixture of animals in the sheet contained some animals that had been deemed unclean for Jewish consumption according to the instructions God gave to Moses and Aaron. You can find these details about which animals and birds and fish they could eat in Leviticus 11. Here’s one of the easiest ones to show as an example: Lev 11:3

Leviticus 11:3 ESV

3 Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

But it had to have both for it to be kosher, the word Jews use for food that is proper according to God’s instruction. Either just one or the other made the animal unclean for consumption, such as pig, which has a split hoof but does not chew the cud. Or a camel chews the cud, but does not have a divided hoof. Both would be unsuitable, unclean, worthless for food.

These were just some among many ceremonial laws God gave the children of Israel for both their health (to avoid the spread of disease among them) and especially for them to take seriously being ceremonially unclean compared to his perfect holiness and purity when having anything to do with approaching his presence at the tabernacle, the tent of meeting with God.

But the illustration, the object lesson, for Peter from God just focuses on this one issue of clean versus unclean animals for eating. So the second response from the voice (either God or his messenger) is essentially that God has made them clean, so Peter should not call them defiled or impure.

The whole thing happens three times to make sure that Peter has no doubt that this was from the Lord and is not some anomaly, and so that he would not be confused in any way about the details of the illustration.

Peter needed this object lesson not only because it revealed God’s will, but to show him his prejudice so that he would put it away to follow Jesus.

Put away your prejudice to be used more effectively by Jesus. For his glory, for his mission, and as a reflection of his own character and purpose, Jesus wants you to admit and set aside ethnic prejudices so that he can use you more effectively for his kingdom.

The only solution for prejudice is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only solution for prejudice is to see people and his purposes as God himself sees them.

—> Because of his position and influence, Peter was the ideal representative to learn this lesson for the sake of the whole church.

Cornelius needed someone like Peter, a faithful believer who would obey the voice of God and communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ according to his command. The CHURCH needed it to be Peter, so that they would learn the lesson as well (which we’ll see in 11:1-18 in a couple weeks). We needed it to be Peter, so that we would realize that prejudice is something we universally deal and needs to be overcome for the sake Christ’s kingdom.

The church needed Peter’s lesson on prejudice. Prejudice is a hindrance to the gospel. (to the stated mission of Jesus Christ FOR the gospel ***)

There was a disconnect between the church’s present thinking and behavior and what Jesus had taught them (Mk 7:14-23), and what he had modeled for them (Jn 4:1-42 and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well), and what he had commanded them (Mt 28:18-20).

Through Peter’s obedience and the salvation of Cornelius’s household, God showed the Church how he desired for them to view and reach others.

But that takes into account the complete picture of this narrative, and we’re at the place where Peter has had this vision, understands that God expects him to obey it, but doesn’t yet fully comprehend what God intends by it. So how does Peter go from being perplexed about the vision, to understanding its true meaning, to then applying it?

When we see others as God sees, we will obediently put aside our prejudices to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

[Due to time, had to skip to the conclusion. More on this section next week.]

[Conclusion] For today, we are being taught to see more clearly that in order…

To be the messengers of the gospel that Jesus desires for us to be, we must learn to see ourselves and others as God sees.

When we see Jesus and ourselves as God sees, we will respond in humble faith.

—> God’s initiative toward Cornelius is extremely important to the author’s message. His audience, readers of Luke-Acts, would have included many people like Cornelius (Lk 1:3-4, cf. Ac 1:1). - Maybe you feel like you’re different, like an outsider. If you will respond in saving faith to Jesus (or if you have done so), that means that God has moved toward you, set his saving grace on you, made you his child and an heir of his kingdom. In what greater realm of acceptance and love could you possibly choose to be made an insider?!

Who are you looking at to measure your worth and the worth of others?

—> God’s lesson and command for Peter is extremely important to the author’s message. We are not to think that the gospel is exclusively for certain people, as if there is some measurement by which to gauge a person’s merit. The only thing any of us brings into the equation is sin and a trajectory for destruction. By God’s own mercy and grace, the Lord Jesus brings the perfect obedience, the sacrificial atonement, the resurrection life for forgiveness and restoration, the gift of the Spirit, and the ongoing mediation on behalf of his people. There’s no merit in being a Jew. There’s no merit in being a non-Jew. There’s no merit in being American. There’s no merit in being European. There’s no merit in being caucasian, or black, or hispanic, or asian. There’s no merit in being highly educated, nor merit in being highly religious. There’s only the compassionate grace and mercy of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

To find compassion and motivation for life and for the mission, gaze upon none other than Christ himself.

We must be motivated by God’s own passion and intention for redeeming a people for himself, bringing together responsive hearts from every ethnicity and language to make up the Bride of Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever.

***

For Further Application & Discussion (best done with others):

Read Php 2:1-11 to see Jesus as the object of our faith and the perfect example for us to follow in living the “others focus” of the Christian life.

Read Mark 7:14-23 and relate Jesus’ teaching there to God’s lesson for Peter and the Church in Acts 10.

List as many places you can think of (and find the passages if possible) in the Gospels where Jesus ignores Jewish sensibilities (even if they grew out of the Mosaic law) because he clearly sees people and God’s purposes more perfectly.

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