Pastor John Wright

The passage for this evening continues the time when there was no persecution that provides the context for all these Petrine adventures of the past chapters. Verses 11-18 provide a repetition of the events just past. The narrator drives in the points emphasized through the character of Peter. Peter continues to process and interpret the vision given to him in light of the on-going history that he lives. To read the passage entails watching this development.

Vv. 1-3: News spreads back to Jerusalem faster than Peter,implied from those who accompanied him from Joppa. What exactly had the apostles and the brothers and sisters heard? Verse two indicates a later date from v. 1, and is identified as "those from the circumcision". Of course all male Jews were circumcised in Jerusalem. While we often think of this as an intra-Christian conflict, that is not necessarily the case as the text does not have firm borders between the Jews and the believers. Believers up to this time were Jews, as Jesus, after all, was proclaimed as the Jewish Messiah, the revelation of the God of Israel.

In v. 3 what is the concern expressed to Peter? What is the issue? We should not over-interpret the case. The eating with Gentiles would have lead to Peter's impurity -- but that is not a moral fault. What it meant is only that Peter could not enter the Temple without going through cleansing. Peter is being excluded from the Temple through this censure. The whole stage sets up a soliliquy by Peter.

Vv. 4-17: Compare Peter's summary in v. 5-10 with 10:9-16. For instance, Peter's summary says nothing about his hunger! What do you notice? Why do you think that it is so closely repeated? Now compare vv. 11-17 with 10:17-47. Here the changes are more pronounced and can help us see the emphasis on the repetition of the story. What does he leave out? Why? What is added? If you notice, the story becomes re-interpreted in its repetition, continually on the move to enfold those listening into the work of God.

V. 18: How do "those from the circumcision" respond? What is it that God has given the Gentiles?

That final phrase, in light of the whole story, raises an interesting issue: how is this all "a repentance into life"? This becomes the concluding word in the narrative of Cornelius' turning. Maybe you can discuss together what this text implies about repentance and life, and why repentance into life is seen as a gift from God -- not a human accomplishment. How have you found this true in your lives?

Enjoy!