Do Not Call Unclean
Acts: The Mission of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The book of Acts begins with a commission from Jesus that is groundbreaking, and yet you and I probably treat it as being fairly normal.
We live in an age where we give money to a mission board that has missionaries serving all different types of people groups in 185 different countries around the world.
We stand on the shoulders of men like William Carey, who spent 41 years sewing Gospel seeds in India.
We stand on the shoulders of women like Lottie Moon, who spent 39 years doing mission work in China.
We assume the Gospel should go to the whole world and that we should all be a part of that through giving and praying and maybe even getting on a plane and going.
So when we read the commission that jump starts the narrative of Acts, we may feel convicted about how we need to be better evangelists or be more involved in global missions, but I doubt you stop and think, “Are you sure Jesus?”
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
We don’t read that and think, “End of the earth?”
“You mean, ‘non-Jewish people’ Jesus?”
We read this and probably think, “Of course! How wonderful!”
But it wasn’t that way in the early church.
The saving promise of God going from Jew to Gentile was a shock to the system of the Hebrew believers.
To even eat at a Gentile’s table was difficult to bear...
But to share a spiritual household with those who could not enter into the temple courts?
It shook the ground and flipped their world upside down.
Today, in this text, we see God orchestrating events to see full-blown pagans brought into His New Covenant promise.
And in the process, He takes away any justification for prejudice that we could ever come up with.
Today, we see that the Gospel is for everyone.
CONTEXT
CONTEXT
The last we left off, Peter was at Simon the Tanner’s house in Joppa. We will see that his location is not insignificant.
Let’s read the passage:
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 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. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 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, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
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. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
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 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 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.” 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. And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 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. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”
And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
There are a lot of verses in our text for today.
60% of it is direct speech from an angel, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Cornelius, men in Cornelius’ party and the Apostle Peter.
And it is what we would call “historical narrative.”
Luke doesn’t present this as a fairy tale or a parable or an urban legend.
He writes this as an account of facts—of events that occurred, just as he writes the rest of story of Acts.
But though there are a lot of verses, we can break them up into four main sections.
1) Cornelius’ vision in 10:1-8
2) Peter’s vision in 10:9-16
3) Peter and Cornelius’ messengers in 10:17-23
4) Peter meeting Cornelius in 10:23-33
Let’s move through these sections and make sure we understand the passage.
Then we will finish with two Important Implications from Acts 10:1-33...
CORNELIUS’ VISION (v. 1-8)
CORNELIUS’ VISION (v. 1-8)
We begin with Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort (v. 1)
This means that he was responsible for at least 80 men.
Some scholars say he could have been in charge of up to six regiments of 100 men.
This is sort of like the equivalent of a US Army Captain today.
The Italian Cohort was likely an army of non-citizens who were Italian and volunteers.
Cornelius’ name would have come from the Roman General Cornelius Sulla, who lived about 100 years before him.
He was one of the most gifted and brutal generals in Roman history.
In verse 2, Cornelius is described in five phrases:
A devout man—a man who would have been known to be religous
A God-fearer—he is referred to as one who fears God here in verse 2 and again in v. 22 by his messengers.
God-fearers were Gentiles who were sympathetic and even attracted to the Jewish faith.
He would not have been circumcised or fully proselytized into the Jewish faith.
In the temple, he could go no further than the court of the Gentiles.
And yet, he had a great reputation among the Jewish people of Caesarea (v. 22) he is one who worshipped the Jewish God.
He was about as Jewish as you could get while still remaining a Gentile.
We also learn in verse 2 that his fear of God spread to his household, meaning he led his family to exalt Yahweh as well.
As a part of his piety, Luke says that he gave generous alms to the people of the city.
And at the end of verse 2, we learn that he prays continually to God.
When Luke says that he prays continually, this probably means that Cornelius prays during the Jewish times of prayer—9am, 12pm and 3pm.
During one of those times of prayer, at 3pm or the ninth hour, an angel of God appears to him in a vision and calls him by name (v. 3)
Cornelius is in terror. He speaks to the angel as Lord—as an authoritative figure he is willing to obey (v. 4).
This is typically how we see people respond to angels in Scripture. There is usually fear.
There is a clear sense of, “I am in the presence of a heavenly being.”
But the angel comforts Cornelius and tells him that his alms and his prayers have ascended as a memorial before God.
“Memorial” is the Greek word that the Greek version of the Old Testament uses to describe the grain offering that was burned on the altar to acknowledge God’s provision.
We should not read this and think that Cornelius’ God-fearing piety has earned him this visit from the angel and the Gospel access that is to come.
Instead, we should read this an understand that God loves a lowly heart that is submissive to Him.
Psalm 138 says that God stands far off from the proud, but He notices to the humble.
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.
Cornelius is a man whose heart is low—putting him in a great posture to receive the Good News of the Gospel.
This doesn’t mean he is saved. It doesn’t mean he is regenerate.
Instead, it means that he is a man who doesn’t think highly of himself and has a high regard for the law of God, despite the fact that he is still guilty by it.
In verses 5-6 he receives instruction from the angel.
He is to send men to Joppa, to the house of Simon the Tanner and they are to bring a man named Simon Peter back to Caesarea.
These are very specific instructions.
He gets Peter’s Greek name AND Hebrew name.
He gets the name of the home he is staying in.
He is told the city and the fact that it is by the sea.
Cornelius is obedient and does this as soon as the angel departs (v. 7).
He sends three men—two servants of his household and one of his most devoted soldiers—to go get Peter.
They have a 37 mile journey ahead of them.
They do it in about 21 hours.
They were getting it.
PETER’S VISION (v. 9-16)
PETER’S VISION (v. 9-16)
This passage has always reminded me of the way a Star Wars movie moves.
The old Star Wars movies will have characters talking about what is happening in another place and then the screen will wipe and it will take you to that place so you can see firsthand what they are talking about.
It is like that here.
The men are leaving for Joppa and the screen wipes to Peter on a rooftop at noon, praying and waiting for lunch to be prepared (v. 9-10).
Peter probably went up the rooftop to get some privacy for his time of prayer.
It was likely quite hot.
He was hungry.
And as he is praying, he falls into a trance.
The Greek word for trance is similar to our word “ecstasy” and it carries the idea of not being asleep, but also not quiet being conscious.
Paul uses the same word to describe an experience of his in Acts 22.
In verses 11-12, Peter has a vision of a sheet coming down from heaven, lowered by four corners.
In it are all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds.
It’s the full variety of animals from Genesis 1:24
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
There were clean and unclean animals in it.
Devoted Jews were serious about what the ceremonial law of God states in Leviticus 11:46-47
This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.
Old Covenant believers understood all people and food to be split up into categories of holy and common (or profane).
They understood them to be clean or unclean. Pure or impure.
While the common (people, animals, objects) can be pure or impure, the holy (the temple) can never be impure.
Eckhardt Schnabel
In terms of people, priests were holy.
Israel was pure.
Gentiles were common or profane.
In terms of food, there were animals that were clean and unclean.
Unclean animals were not to be sacrificed to God and they were not to be eaten.
The Law limited Israel to cattle, sheep, goats, a few kinds of fish, pigeons, turtledoves, several other birds and locusts.
Meanwhile, Gentiles ate any animals they wanted.
These food laws set Israel apart. It made them distinct from the rest of the nations.
When they bought and sold in the marketplace, it was clear that they were different.
It reflected their chosen status with God. It underlined God’s electing love for them and how they were set apart.
Peter sees the clean AND the unclean on this sheet.
And then he hears a voice in verse 13.
My good friend Hopson Boutot says this is every hunter’s favorite Bible verse:
“Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
Peter responds to the Lord by saying, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” (v. 14)
I don’t think we should view this the way we view some of Peter’s other rash statements.
This is not like when he was forbidding Jesus to die and Jesus rebuked him.
I don’t think this is the same as when he told Jesus that he would never let Him wash his feet.
This isn’t the same sort of prideful defiance that proclaimed he would not deny Christ.
This is a honest desire to not transgress the law that Peter had kept his entire Jewish life.
He did not want to do something that would be dishonoring to God.
So in verse 15, it happens again and this time the voice says, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
What God has made pure, do not call unclean.
Verse 16 says this happened three times before the sheet returns to heaven and the vision in the trance comes to an end.
PETER AND CORNELIUS’ MESSENGERS (v. 17-23)
PETER AND CORNELIUS’ MESSENGERS (v. 17-23)
As we get to verse 17, we see how these visions are intertwined with one another.
Peter is really perplexed in his soul about this vision he had and what it could mean.
But as he is considering it, Cornelius’ party shows up at Simon’s gate and starting calling out for Peter (v. 17-18).
In verse 19, Luke mentions for a second time that Peter is pondering the vision.
There is no way for Luke to know this unless Peter told him about it.
This really was a watershed moment for his life and he clearly remembered every detail, down to how he felt and how confused he was at first.
As he is concentrating on the meaning of the vision with the sheet, the Spirit of God speaks to him and tells him that the three men are there and they are looking for him (v. 19).
He tells Peter to “Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation...” and tells him that they have sent by the Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit speaks to Peter and says, “without hesitation,” there is more there than our English Bibles let on.
The Greek word is diakrino which can also transate to “distinction.”
God is telling Peter to go with these men without making a distinction about them.
Do not hesitate to go because these men are Gentiles. Do not make that distinction.
Do not hesitate to go because Caesarea is Roman military town. Do not make that distinction.
After Peter goes down to meet them and ask why they are there (v. 21), they explain the vision that Cornelius had (v. 22) and then they stay with Peter at Simon’s for the night (v. 23).
PETER AND CORNELIUS (v. 23-33)
PETER AND CORNELIUS (v. 23-33)
The next day they get up and embark on the 37 miles journey back to Caesarea.
The party grows, as Peter brings some brothers with him from Joppa (v. 23).
We learn in 11:12 that there are six brothers with Peter.
This is very important.
As Gentiles are coming into the church, there is no shortage of critics.
These men will be important witnesses who can attest to the fact that Cornelius and his family receive the same Spirit as the Apostles.
They get to Caesarea a day later and Cornelius has his family and some close friends there waiting for Peter (v. 24).
Clearly the vision from the angel convinced Cornelius that this messenger, Simon Peter, is going to bring something very important to their home.
When Peter walks in, Cornelius falls down at his feet and attempts to worship him (v. 25)
But Peter lifts him up and says, “Stand up… I’m just a guy like you.” (v. 26)
They go inside and there are lots of people there (v. 27) and Peter addresses them and what he says is hugely important:
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. So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”
With these words, Peter has explained that he understands the vision.
It was about much more than food. It was also about people.
In verses 30-34, Cornelius responds by sharing about his own vision and then he tells Peter that they are gathered to hear what he has to say.
TWO IMPLICATIONS
TWO IMPLICATIONS
We will stop there for today. 33 verses is enough. We will look at Peter’s evangelism of Cornelius and his friends in a couple of weeks.
But for today, I want us to see two important implications for what is happening in these verses.
And these are not theological implications for the ivory towers of seminaries that rarely impact our daily lives.
These are theological implications that put rubber on the road.
They impact your life everyday.
The first one has to do with you eating bacon and pork BBQ.
Implication #1: The ceremonial law has been discontinued.
Implication #1: The ceremonial law has been discontinued.
It is important that we understand that we are only talking about the ceremonial law.
We are not talking about the moral law of God. We are not talking about the Ten Commandments.
Instead, we are talking about the ceremonial laws, like those regarding dietary restrictions, which existed for the purpose of keeping God’s Old Covenant community distinct from the pagan Gentile nations around them.
Before Christ, a devout Jew would not be caught worshipping in a pagan temple.
Before Christ, a Gentile could not worship in the Jewish temple.
But then Jesus came.
He lived a perfect life.
He shed His blood as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.
He provided the final and complete atonement for God’s people.
It rendered the Old Testament sacrificial system as obsolete.
It was a shadow of what was to come in Christ who is the true form of the good things that were foreshadowed.
For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
The ceremonial law was a barrier between Jew and Gentile.
But now, anyone who trusts in Christ’s once and for all sacrifice becomes a worshipper in spirit and truth and they are united in Him.
This is exactly what Paul is saying in Ephesians 2.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Ordinances refers to sacrifices and offerings. Laws of cleanliness and laws of purification. And outward commands like dietary restrictions.
These set Israel apart as distinct before the Messiah came and fulfilled the ceremonial law as the final sacrifice. The final offering.
The One who makes us clean and pure and sets us apart by His grace.
The only distinction that now exists in humanity is that of reconciliation with God through Christ. You have it or you don’t.
It is access to the Father.
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Peace to the far off = Gentiles
Peace to the near = Jews
Both have access in one Spirit to the Father through the Son.
DISCONTINUING AND PETER’S VISION
DISCONTINUING AND PETER’S VISION
This is what Peter’s vision is about.
God says “Rise, kill and eat,” because all foods have been declared clean.
Jesus foreshadowed this reality in Mark 7:18
And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,
And now Peter is grasping the reality of it through the vision.
Here is Schnabel again:
The heavenly voice in the vision speaks of eating all the animals, including those whom God has declared clean…God is indeed revealing a new order.
Eckhardt Schnabel
A new order.
In the old order, Peter could not eat bacon or shrimp. He could not eat bacon-wrapped shrimp.
But now things are permanently changing.
That is why it is so key that Luke says “this happened three times” in v. 16.
In Jewish life, three conveys permanence.
This new order is here to stay.
But this new order is about much more than just food. As Peter tells Cornelius’ family and friends in verse 28, it is about people.
Implication #2: The followers of Christ regard no one as common.
Implication #2: The followers of Christ regard no one as common.
The food restrictions impacted the way that Jewish person existed in the world—particularly how they treated interactions with non-Jewish people.
It created a them/us distinction.
When Peter uses the word “unlawful” in verse 28, what he means is that contact with a Gentile always put a Jew in a situation where they could potentially become defiled.
There was no specific Mosaic law about not eating with Gentiles, but the laws regarding dietary restrictions would always be at risk of being transgressed a Gentile’s table.
If a Jewish person was invited to a Gentile home, their options were limited.
He could receive the invitation and show up with his own kosher food.
He could trust the Gentile to look out for him and provide food that was not tainted by idolatry and served according to the law.
He could eat only vegetables.
Or he could not go all together.
This tended to be the option taken.
In fact, the Book of Jubilees, written a couple of hundred years before Christ, said:
Keep yourself separate from the nations, and do not eat with them; and do not imitate their rites, nor associate yourself with them.
Jubilees 22:16
So then, when Peter says he should not be standing in a Gentile’s home, his point is that as a devout Jew, he is putting himself in a law-compromising position.
However, if God is now telling Peter that the ceremonial law and its dietary restrictions are set aside, it is really no problem for Peter to come to Cornelius’ home.
Furthermore, if Cornelius and his family will repent of their sin and trust in Christ, then they are united to Peter in Christ.
By faith, they will be clean.
By faith, they will be brought into the covenant and they will be not just be members of a household that Peter visits.
They will be members of the same spiritual household that Peter belongs to.
And this is why the voice in the vision says: “What God has made clean, do not call common (or unclean).”
And Peter gets this. He says this to Cornelius’ household:
God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.
There is no one he should not associate with for the Gospel’s sake.
No one should be considered common.
No one should be avoided based on their ethnicity and bloodline.
And that is why we will see Peter give Cornelius the Gospel the next time we get together.
APPLICATION OF THE IMPLICATIONS
APPLICATION OF THE IMPLICATIONS
So we have these two implications that go hand in hand:
The ceremonial law is discontinued.
The followers of Christ regard no one as common.
And these implications give us one great application:
The Christian has no justification for prejudice.
The Christian has no justification for prejudice.
Jesus blazed this trail with His perfect and righteous life.
He ate with sinners and tax collectors.
He talked with a Samaritan woman in broad daylight.
He healed a Roman centurion’s servant—a man who would have been very much like Cornelius.
And we must credit Peter for walking in Jesus’ footsteps.
Tanners were people who worked with animal skins and they were marked and avoided by most Jews because the nature of their work would leave them ceremonially unclean.
It was similar with shepherds.
But Peter is staying at a tanner’s house. He clearly doesn’t mind breaking social boundaries like His Lord did.
Furthermore, Peter is staying with this tanner in Joppa.
Joppa was the place that Jonah fled when he refused to preach to the Ninevites.
But Peter is staying there with a tanner and shows hospitality to the Gentile messengers sent from Cornelius and he goes with them to Cornelius without making distinction.
And then he heeds the vision and voice of the Lord and he brings the Good News to Cornelius’ house.
Are we like Peter? Are we imitating Peter as he imitates Christ?
Are there people that you call common due to their skin color?
Due to their political beliefs?
Due to their sexual behavior?
Or due to their gender dysphoria—which is a real mental health illness that should be addressed with mental healthcare and not puberty blockers and dangerous hormones and surgeries?
Are there places that you would treat like Nineveh and you would just never, ever go—even for the Gospel’s sake?
Places like Provincetown, Mass—the top LGBT vacation destination of the Northeast?
Places like San Francisco, CA?
SPOILER ALERT: Peter is going to lead Cornelius and his friends and family to Christ through the preaching of the Gospel.
And when Peter gets back to Jerusalem, there are a group of people who are hot about it.
They say that people need to have circumcision before they can have Christ.
They criticize Peter on this basis:
“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
Would you eat with a person who is a different race than you? A different nationality?
Maybe someone from Palestine?
Would you eat with someone who speaks no English?
Would you eat with a person who claims to be non-binary? Would you have them in your home?
Would you eat with a person who eats, sleeps and breathes CRT and thinks DEI should be instituted by every HR department in the country?
We must be careful not to let the things that divide the world divide us from the preaching of the Gospel to the world.
Because like any sin, prejudice is one that will overcome you.
You do not take up a prejudice. It takes you up, and controls you.
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
You see, we were all born in sin and because of that, we are born as creatures prone to prejudice.
We are creatures prone to an US/THEM mentality.
This is why Lloyd-Jones also said that there is nothing in any realm as hard to get rid of as prejudice.
But understand that the very Jesus who died to provide a once-for-all sacrifice for sin—who discontinued the ceremonial law—died for your prejudice.
And His life-giving Spirit and sin-defeating salvation frees you from your awful sin nature. And frees you from the chains of prejudice and racism and ungodly distinction.
And you are free to please God through the good work of sharing the Gospel with all men.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
AS THE BAND RETURNS
Last year, one of the Gideon’s came and spoke here and shared a few words about their ministry.
He talked about how he was sitting in a coffee shop and a transgender person was serving him.
He felt compelled by the Lord to ask him the same question that he asks everyone— “Do you have a local church that you worship at?”
But he said he felt this inner-conflict.
He felt he couldn’t invite this transgender individual to church.
Surely they would say no and become angry or dismissive. Surely it would be nothing but heated rejection.
The division of the world was dividing him from obedience.
But this brother pushed back on his own prejudice and crucified his flesh in the moment and asked God for courage and he asked the server about church.
And while there was no “heaven-opening, angels-singing, sinner-repenting” moment, he had a meaningful conversation with this young person about their past.
And he hopefully planted a seed that some other faithful brother or sister will water and harvest.
He was faithful.
You can be faithful or you can cling to your bias and prejudice, but you can’t do both.
Peter learned that.
You never know who God is going to make clean.
Don’t render them common with your poison partiality.
Don’t run like Jonah. Get up and go like Peter.
Preach the Gospel to the whole creation. No distinctions.