There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment. He was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household. He did many charitable deeds for the Jewish people and always prayed to God. About three in the afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius.”
Staring at him in awe, he said, “What is it, Lord?”
The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have ascended as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
When the angel who spoke to him had gone, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier, who was one of those who attended him. After explaining everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the roof about noon. He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth. In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky. A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.”
“No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything impure and ritually unclean.”
Again, a second time, the voice said to him, “What God has made clean, do not call impure.” This happened three times, and suddenly the object was taken up into heaven.
While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, right away the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there.
While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.”
Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?”
They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.” Peter then invited them in and gave them lodging.
The next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him.
But Peter lifted him up and said, “Stand up. I myself am also a man.” While talking with him, he went in and found a large gathering of people. Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner, but God has shown me that I must not call any person impure or unclean. That’s why I came without any objection when I was sent for. So may I ask why you sent for me?”
Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, at three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house. Just then a man in dazzling clothing stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God’s sight. Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner’s house by the sea.’ So I immediately sent for you, and it was good of you to come. So now we are all in the presence of God to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.”
Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. You know the events that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the devil, because God was with him. We ourselves are witnesses of everything he did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, and yet they killed him by hanging him on a tree. God raised up this man on the third day and caused him to be seen, not by all the people, but by us whom God appointed as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and declaring the greatness of God.
Then Peter responded, “Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
Click here to listen to the Scripture in ESV.
Standing in the house of a Gentile Roman centurion, Peter declares, “God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean... God shows no partiality.” What groups, political sides, or individuals are you most tempted to subtly view as “out of bounds” of God's grace, and how is the Holy Spirit challenging those prejudices through this passage?
Read the devotional by Kraig McNutt, M.Div., for this Sunday’s passage.
God Wastes Nothing
based on Acts 9
“...for this man is my chosen instrument..." —Acts 9:15
The conversion of Saul (better known to us as Paul), recorded in Acts 9, is remarkable. He was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples” and his next targets were Christians in Damascus.
Not knowing that Jesus had other plans for him—plans set in motion before he was even born—Paul was miraculously converted on the road to Damascus. Paul would later write, “...God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace,...” (Galatians 1:15).
What our Scripture passage makes clear is that God calls us then forms us for the call—like Paul. How does he do this? Through community, suffering, and obscurity. At least two of these are not on our bucket list.
Before the Lord even begins to form Paul, he begins by humbling him.
Acts 9:9 says that when Paul—the brand-new believer—was first brought to Damascus, he was blind and didn’t eat or drink for three days. How’s that for a start? How humbling that must have been!
Notice how the Lord revealed to Ananias that Paul was now his chosen servant (Acts 9:13–16) and Paul heard it from him, too (Acts 22:14–15). We read that Ananias laid hands on him, he was taken in by the disciples at Damascus, and later Barnabas would even have to vouch for him. God’s call upon Paul’s life was first confirmed and formed in the context of a Christian community.
Next, God wanted Paul to be formed or shaped by suffering (Acts 9:16). Suffering was just part of the daily curriculum for Paul—his entire life (2 Corinthians 11:23–30). After listing a litany of situations and incidents of personal suffering, Paul states, “I will boast about my weaknesses.”
Lastly, we see Paul is sent off to Tarsus and we don’t hear from him for several years until Barnabas—son of encouragement—goes looking for him (Acts 11:25–26). Scholars estimate 12–14 years passed between Paul’s conversion and his formal sending. The man who would write almost half the New Testament books spent perhaps 6–8 “silent years” in Tarsus.
Paul’s formal sending doesn’t even come until we read it in Acts 13:2 when the Holy Spirit says “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” God would later repurpose for the church the same knowledge Paul once used to attack it.
You might feel you are stuck in “Tarsus” right now: waiting, wandering, languishing. But God hasn’t forgotten you. He is forming you and your Barnabas may already be on the way.
God wastes nothing.
Write out your own prayer for growth in your understanding of God’s word. Pick one or two of these themes to incorporate into your prayer:
If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.