Peter’s vision Acts 10:9-23

Intro

Cornelius the Roman centurion and God fearer lived in Caesarea

Cornelius was a God fearer who practiced Judaism about as well as could be done by a gentile

He prayed and did good deeds

He had a vision where and angel told him to send for a man named Simon Peter

He told him the exact town, house, etc to find him and even the name of the man he was staying with

Cornelius responded to this vision with action sending three men to find Peter

We already said that Cornelius is in Caesarea Maritima

So Where is Peter?

What town?

Verse 5

Joppa

Map, about 35 miles

Verse 9a

Slow down. What does this tell us about the men who came to find Peter?

Remember that Cornelius had explained everything to them?

He gave them the why

That an angel had appeared in a vision

So did they stroll leisurely to Joppa?

When did they leave Caesarea

Cornelius was praying in the 9th hour or 3 PM

Verse 9 says it is the next day around noon and these men are nearing the city

How long does it take to walk 35 miles? About 12 - 14 hours depending on terrain, rest stops, etc

So what did you just figure out?

That is right, they walked all night

Verse 9b

We just looked at the fact that Cornelius was praying in the 9th hour or 3 PM

So why would Peter pray at noon?

This would be the sixth hour and would be another one of the three times per day that devout Jews would pray

The last one would be at dawn

I got a question about why 3PM was the 9th hour last week

Here is a quick explanation

SLIDE WITH HOURS

Finally, going to the rooftop would not be anything strange,

Think of this more as a patio

It may have looked something like this to help you visualize what was going on

Verse 10a

He became hungry and wanted to eat

How real is this?

A distraction during prayer?

This never happens to me

Verse 10a

He is praying and waiting for food

He is praying and his stomach is growling

While this happens, he falls into a trance

This is yet another way we have seen God interact with his people

Verse 11

The word translated as heaven means the portion of creation distinct from earth

It is used to mean both the place where God dwells as well as simply meaning the sky

If I were to say everything under the heavens, I would be talking about earth

In our text, it most likely means “sky”

Peter saw the sky opened and an object coming down

Verse 12

The implication of all of these animals would be that in this sheet, Peter would have seen both Kosher and non-kosher animals

This means he would have seen animals that were permitted for a jew to eat as well as those that were forbidden

Verse 13

One of my favorite verses

It is also a verse that I like to quote when I joke that God didn’t make me to be a vegetarian

I trust that joke is ok in a town where every other truck has a license plate that says “eat beef”

However, for Peter, this would have come as quite a shock

He is hearing the voice of God, although probably not audibly, this is a vision, telling him to kill and eat these things

Making no distinction between the kosher and non-kosher

The permitted and the forbidden by the law.

Kill and eat

Verse 14

Peter’s response is one that sounds so harsh when written in plain text

No Lord

We are told why he would say No Lord and I think again many of us can relate to this

God has clearly told Peter what to do

Peter responds by saying no but then trying to explain why he would say no as if the Lord is going to say,

You know what, you are right Peter, you know far more than I

I am sorry I asked you to do that

But Peter had never broken the levitical law pertaining to food and now in this vision, it appears that God is telling him to do just that

This had to be very confusing for Peter

So confusing that he would refuse the Lord

Verse 15

As he sits in his confusion after saying no, the voice speaks again

God is the one who determines what is clean and unclean, not you Peter

What a huge lesson this could apply to today because this applies to so many things

So many things that stir so much controversy because we want to be like Peter

We want to be the ones who determine what is clean or unclean

We want to be the ones to determine what is fair and unfair,

We want to be the ones to determine when life starts or not

We want to be the ones to determine how many sexes there are

Well church, I will tell you plainly, it is not us who determines these things but the sovereign God

If we find ourselves taking his place, it will result in confusion, frustration, and division

This is where Peter finds himself.

I don’t think he intentionally said “I know more than my Lord and I will determine what is clean and unclean but intentional or not, he did it just the same”

Verse 16

This happened three times

What is the significance of repetition in scripture?

Don’t you just love ready fire aim Peter

I can relate so well with him

Do you remember any other times with Peter specifically that things were repeated three times for importance?

Luke 22:34

34 “I tell you, Peter,” he said, “the rooster will not crow today until you deny three times that you know me.”

John 21:17

17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

“Feed my sheep,” Jesus said

Verse 17

I love the realness that we are seeing Luke share with us

How would you feel if you had just come out of this strange vision

Would you understand?

Was the Lord really telling him to violate the food restrictions he had kept his whole life?

Or maybe it was crystal clear for him right from the start.

Luke shows us where Peter was

While Peter was deeply perplexed about what it might mean

Peter did not understand the vision

And let’s make sure we understand that this vision said nothing about Cornelius or the men that would be arriving soon

Verse 17B

But he had no time to sit and figure it out because there were people at the door

Verse 18

They knew the name of the person they were looking for and had gotten directions to make sure they were at the right house

Verse 19

Peter was still on the roof

He did not hear the men downstairs but the Spirit told him that they were there

This is the first that Peter would hear that there were men coming to look for him

He has just come off a very strange vision that he is still perplexed by

And in the midst of all of this, the Spirit speaks to him and tells him to go with the men that have just showed up at the house

Verse 20

Look at the assurance of the Spirit

Go with them with no doubts at all because I sent them

Slow down for a moment

God had given two different men some 35 miles apart two different visions

The visions were not clear to either man and yet as we will see next Sunday, spoiler alert, both men acted as they were instructed

Cornelius did not know why he was sending for Peter

Peter did not understand the vision he just had and it said nothing about going with any men but as he came out of the vision, the Spirit spoke to him telling him to go

Verse 21

Peter knew they were there for him but again, slow down

Look at the question he asks

Is this a fair question?

The Spirit told him to go and that they men had been sent by him but he didn’t tell him why or where

I think I would be asking the same question if I were Peter

Verse 22

This is where we got some of our further information on Cornelius

God fearer - not a disciple of Jesus

Good reputation with the whole Jewish nation - not normal for a roman centurion

And we get just a little more information added on the end

He was told to hear a message from Peter

How were these men able to tell Peter all of this?

Because remember that Cornelius had explained everything to them before he sent them

They knew all about the vision and the command.

They knew their mission

Verse 23

This apparently was enough for Peter

The command of the Spirit and the explanation of these men results in Peter inviting them into the house of the tanner for lodging