God is preparing two men for a meeting which will shape the future of the church. We find it hard to understand why the first Jewish Christians found it so difficult to accept that non-Jews (Gentiles) could be full members of God’s church. The Old Testament made it clear that God’s plan was for the nations (eg Genesis 12:1–3; Isaiah 42:1). Jesus had told his disciples to go to all nations (Matthew 28:19). But steeped in the traditions of Judaism and the expectation of a Messiah who would deliver them from the nations, it was far harder than we might think. The need to break down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile is a common theme in the New Testament.

So in preparation for the visit of the messengers from Cornelius – who is being prepared in his own way – Peter has to be gently prepared with this rather strange vision. The heart of it is that God does not make the distinctions we do. We shall see how the story plays out next week and will look at the implications for the church today. For now, let’s hold on to the need to listen to God even when we don’t fully understand. None of us has complete understanding, and God moves us on in unexpected ways.

Pray that we might catch the truly dramatic nature of this story and its surprises.

It will help us to read the story of Peter and Cornelius as a single drama in four acts. The first act is In the House of a Gentile God-seeker. Without any preparation, we are suddenly introduced to a Roman centurion and his family and are provided with an astonishing description of their way of life. To the surprise, no doubt, of Luke’s first readers, it presents a picture of a Gentile family that subverts Jewish assumptions concerning such people. The entire family are described as ‘devout and God-fearing’ (v 2); they pray together and give generously to needy people, showing the classic Hebrew marks of godliness. Furthermore, the encounter between Cornelius and ‘an angel of God’ (v 3) serves to underline this man’s habitual practice of prayer. His response to the divine visitation closely parallels that of Ananias in the previous chapter!¹

There are yet more surprises: the centurion is assured that his fervent and regular prayers have been heard and are about to be answered in a manner that will bring him and his people to a new knowledge of God. The theological implications of this scene are enormous and have obvious application with regard to our attitudes towards people whose external appearance might tempt us to regard them as beyond the pale. How often do we operate with presuppositions concerning other people which, did we but get to know them as they truly are, would be exposed as false. The day before this note was written, I crossed a car park at dusk just as an Asian taxi driver stepped from his car, spread a prayer mat on the bare concrete and, without the slightest embarrassment, began his sunset intercessions. Like Simon Peter, we too can be challenged by fervent devotions where we least expect them!

Reflect prayerfully on the challenge posed by the scene described. 

¹ Acts 9:10