Chapter 10

Acts 10:1–8. There was in Caesarea a certain man named Cornelius, a centurion of the cohort called the Italian, devout and fearing God with all his household, who gave many alms to the people and prayed to God continually. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God who came in to him and said to him, ‘Cornelius!’ And he, gazing at him and becoming afraid, said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ He said to him, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa and summon Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with a certain Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.’ And when the angel who spoke to Cornelius had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. This man is not a Jew, nor one of those under the Law; yet he had already anticipated our way of life. Two men of rank now come to believe: the treasurer of the Ethiopian queen, and this man. ‘Devout and fearing God with all his household.’ Let us listen, all of us who neglect our own households; this man cared even for his soldiers. ‘A centurion of the cohort called the Italian.’ It was a great cohort, he says, called the Italian. A ‘cohort’ is what we now call a ‘Numerus.’ He makes the man known and conspicuous so that no one may say that the narrative of the Scriptures is false. One should know that a cohort consists of two hundred soldiers, and a guard-detachment of sixty. ‘About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God who came in to him.’ He sees the angel for the assurance of Peter; or rather, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the others who were weaker. At the ninth hour, when he had set aside his cares and was in quiet and compunction. Since the Eye of truth and the great Judge saw that great works, lacking faith, are dead, He sends an angel to confer worth upon the works, so as to crown with faith those who strive well. From the vision fear arose in him, but measured fear, only enough to turn his attention; then the words dissolved the fear. ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.’ See where almsgiving advances: to the heaven of heaven, and it stands beside the very royal throne. Notice the angel too: first he lifts up and raises his mind on high, and only then says what he says: ‘Now send men to Joppa and summon Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with a certain Simon, a tanner.’ So that they might not go to someone else, he indicates the man not only by his surname but also by his location: ‘whose house is by the sea.’ The apostles sought out places withdrawn from the cities, being lovers of solitude and quiet. For what if it should happen that there was another Simon as well? Here is the sign: this one lives by the sea. He did not say why, so as not to overwhelm him with joy. ‘Having called two of his servants and a devout soldier.’ You see, he does not say this casually, that those who waited on him were such men. ‘And having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.’ Notice the absence of arrogance. For he did not say, ‘Call Peter for me,’ but in order also to persuade him he related everything. For he did not think it right to summon him on the strength of his rank. This is why he related everything.

Acts 10:9–16. On the next day, as they were on their journey and drawing near to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. And he became hungry and wished to eat; but while they were preparing it, a trance fell upon him. And he beholds heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending to him, like a great sheet, bound at its four corners and let down upon the earth, in which were all the four-footed beasts of the earth and the wild beasts and the creeping things and the birds of heaven. And a voice came to him: ‘Rise, Peter, kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.’ And a voice came to him again, a second time: ‘What God has cleansed, do not you call common.’ This happened three times, and the vessel was taken up again into heaven. See how the Spirit draws the times together, and makes this come to pass neither too soon nor too late. ‘Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour’—that is, privately and in quiet, as in an upper room. ‘A trance fell upon him, and he beholds heaven opened.’ The trance signifies both the amazement at the wonder and the passing outside of the things of sense, being led on to spiritual things. So a kind of spiritual vision came to him. ‘And a certain vessel descending to him, like a sheet.’ Peter, the leader of the apostles, had need of a divine revelation concerning the Gentiles. For he did not know that, with respect to faith, there is no distinction between circumcision and uncircumcision; nor did he yet clearly know that the Lord had said the Gentiles were to be made disciples through the worship that is according to faith, until His ineffable counsel manifested the mystery through a revelation, persuading him both by the example of the sheet and by the grace of the Holy Spirit given also to the Gentiles according to faith, that in Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. ‘Bound at its four corners and let down upon the earth.’ The four corners signify the four elements; the vessel that appeared signifies the grosser world, and the various animals are symbols of the condition of human beings. This man was a supreme symbol of the whole inhabited world, for he had nothing in common with the Jews; all would have accused Peter as a transgressor. So it is arranged by the Spirit that he might have a defense against those who accused him, namely, that he even contradicted; for they were obliged to keep the Law strictly. So, that they might not accuse him, this is arranged. Perhaps it was while kneeling that he saw the vision. And the event was divine: that he saw from above and was in a trance, and that a voice sounded from there, and that he confessed three times that the animals there were unclean, and that it came from above and was drawn back up there—a great proof of cleanness. So this happens for the sake of those to whom he was going to recount it; since he himself had heard, ‘Do not go in the way of the Gentiles.’ For if even Paul had need of circumcision and sacrifice, much more then, at the beginning of the preaching, when they were very weak. Yet Peter did not declare all things common and unclean, but only those which the Law called common and unclean. But God, delivering the character of His holy Church, told him to consider nothing common; for to him all things are clean that are received with thanksgiving and the blessing of God. But even if the riddle concerned the calling of the Gentiles—that he should not consider those in uncircumcision common or unclean—nevertheless Peter’s word referred not to human beings but to the things forbidden in the Law. That the kinds of animals are taken to represent the characters of human beings was taught from Peter’s vision, since in the vessel let down from heaven there was every kind of animal: creeping things, birds, and four-footed beasts. For the word hinted that those about to be brought to the faith from various sins are these, likened either to four-footed beasts because of their brutishness, or to creeping things because of their venom, or to birds because of their lightness and instability. And the serpents are interpreted figuratively of the Sadducees and Pharisees; the fox, of Herod; lustful horses, of the sensual; sheep, of the more guileless among people; goats, of the unsociable and ungiving; hedgehogs, of the rich, of whom the Lord said that with their own thorns they choke the word and make it unfruitful. ‘And a voice came to him again, a second time: What God has cleansed, do not you call common.’ The voice seems to be spoken to him, but the whole is said to the Jews. For if the teacher is rebuked, much more are they.

Acts 10:17–18. Now while Peter was perplexed within himself as to what the vision he had seen might mean, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having inquired for the house of Simon, stood at the gate. And calling out, they asked whether Simon who is called Peter was lodging there. While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him: ‘Behold, men are seeking you. But rise, go down and go with them, doubting nothing, because I have sent them.’ What might the vision be? The earth is the sheet; the beasts in it, those from the Gentiles; the ‘Kill and eat,’ that these too must approach; and that this happened three times, baptism. So the truth of the vision shows him the mystery of the Trinity, just as faith in the Trinity establishes the true worship of God. ‘And behold, the men sent by Cornelius.’ Opportunely the men come, resolving the perplexity. For Christ also let Joseph first be troubled, and then sent the angel; for the soul readily receives the resolution when it has first been in perplexity. And his perplexity neither lasted long nor arose before this, but at the very time when they were asking whether he was lodging there.

Acts 10:19. He is lodging here. And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him: ‘Behold, men are seeking you.’ And again this is a defense of Peter before the disciples, that they might learn that he had hesitated, and was taught not to make distinctions. For listen:

Acts 10:20. ‘Go, doubting nothing, for I have sent them.’ Great is the authority of the Spirit; for what God does, the Holy Spirit does. For the angel said, ‘Your prayers and your alms,’ to show that he was sent from there; but the Spirit does not speak so, but says, ‘I have sent them.’ One must therefore obey the Spirit.

Acts 10:21–23. Then Peter, going down to the men who had been sent by Cornelius, said to them, ‘Behold, I am the one you seek; what is the reason for which you have come?’ And they said, ‘Cornelius a centurion, a righteous man and one fearing God, well attested by the whole nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you.’ So he called them in and gave them lodging. And on the next day Peter went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along with him. And on the next day he entered Caesarea. ‘Behold, I am he.’ First he confessed that he himself was the one they sought, and then he inquires the reason—so that, if it should press him at once, he might go out with them; but if not, that he might lodge them in the house. And those who were sent speak his praises, so as to persuade that an angel had appeared to him. The beginning of the calling of the Gentiles comes from a devout man, shown worthy by his works. For even though this happened, still they are scandalized; if this had not been so, what would not have come about? And the phrase, ‘to summon you to his house’—he did not send out of contempt, he says, but because he was so commanded; do not, then, despise it. So Peter rightly first treats the men kindly, since they were weary, and makes them his own. And that some from Joppa went with him was providential, so that they might afterward be witnesses, when Peter would need to make his defense.

Acts 10:24–27. Now Cornelius was awaiting them, having called together his kinsmen and close friends. And when Peter was entering, Cornelius met him and, falling at his feet, did obeisance. But Peter raised him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself am also a man.’ And conversing with him, he went in, and finds many gathered together. The man was distinguished, and lived in a distinguished city. ‘Having called together his kinsmen.’ This indeed belongs to a thoroughly devout friend: in such good things to make his close friends partakers of all. They are rightly called close friends, those in whom he always confided, since the struggle of caring for so many subordinates was his. And both friends and kinsmen seem to me to have been fed at his table. See how he believed that Peter would surely come—because the angel appeared to him not in sleep, but while he was awake and by day. ‘But Peter raised him up, saying, Stand up; I myself am also a man’—by this teaching the others as well, and giving thanks to God, displaying his own humility. And see, before all else he teaches them this: to imagine nothing great about themselves.

Acts 10:28–33. And he said to them, ‘You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to associate with or to approach a foreigner; but God has shown me not to call any person common or unclean. Therefore, when summoned, I came without objection. So I ask, for what reason did you summon me?’ And Cornelius said, ‘Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour praying in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in shining clothing, and says, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon who is surnamed Peter; he is lodging in the house of Simon a tanner by the sea, who when he comes will speak to you.” So at once I sent to you, and you have done well to come. Now therefore we are all present before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by God.’ ‘You know how unlawful it is.’ At once he speaks of God’s love for mankind, and shows that God granted them great things; he both utters great things and is modest. For he did not say, ‘Men, we have come to you, though we deem it unworthy to associate with anyone,’ but what? ‘You know that God commanded this—that it is unlawful to associate with or to approach a foreigner; and God has shown me not to call any person common or unclean.’ It is to be noted that the same God permitted the Christian people to call no person common or unclean, but to be with them, since they have hopes of believing, above all, in Christ. ‘So I ask, for what reason did you summon me?’ Peter had already heard the whole matter, even from the soldiers, but he wishes them first to confess and to make themselves accountable to the faith. ‘At the ninth hour,’ he says, ‘praying.’ What does this mean? It seems to me that this man had appointed for himself the times of a most exact life, and on certain days; for this reason he said, ‘Four days ago.’ See how powerful prayer is! When he advanced in piety, then the angel appeared to him—that is one day; the day the men sent by Cornelius departed, one; the day they came, one; and the fourth appears, about the third hour after which he had prayed. ‘And behold, a man stood before me.’ He does not say ‘an angel,’ but ‘a man’; so free is he from pride. See the awakened mind; see how worthy he was of all these things. ‘Now therefore we are all present before God.’ He did not say ‘before man,’ but ‘before God.’ So one must attend to the servants of God.

Acts 10:34–38. Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘In truth I perceive that God is not a respecter of persons, but in every nation the one who fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him. The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all. You know the thing that happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.’

Acts 10:39–43. And we are witnesses of all that He did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they also killed, hanging Him on a tree. Him God raised on the third day, and granted that He become manifest—not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name. The phrase ‘In truth I perceive’ means: He examines not the quality of persons, but the difference of deeds. And by what he says he plainly signifies that the God whom Cornelius feared—of whom he had been instructed through the Law and the prophets, for whose sake he also did his alms—this God is in truth God; but he lacked the knowledge of the Son. See how he restrains his mind. ‘In every nation,’ he says, so that the Gentiles might not seem to be in the rank of the rejected. ‘Working righteousness.’ ‘Righteousness’ is put for ‘every virtue.’ He did not say, ‘In every nation the one who works righteousness is saved,’ but ‘is acceptable’—that is, worthy to be received. ‘The word which He sent to the sons of Israel.’ He gives the sons of Israel the preference. He says these things also on account of those present, in order to persuade them. ‘How God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit’—according to His humanity, evidently. For since He emptied Himself and partook of blood and flesh like us, the things He has by nature as God He is said to receive according to His humanity. For He receives not for Himself, but for us, as in a first-fruits through Himself; or rather, inasmuch as He is God the Word, these were His own. The phrase ‘healing all who were oppressed by the devil’ shows the many diabolical maimings and distortions of bodies brought about by him. ‘Whom they also killed, hanging Him on a tree.’ Again he speaks of the lowly things: when he had shown that He was sent from God, then he said that He was killed. So that you might imagine nothing absurd, you see them nowhere hiding the cross, but along with the rest setting forth also its manner: ‘Whom they also killed,’ he says, ‘hanging Him on a tree.’ ‘But to witnesses chosen beforehand.’ And yet He Himself chose them. But this too he ascribes to God, by saying ‘chosen beforehand’—‘who ate and drank with Him.’ See from what he confirms the resurrection. Why, when He had risen, did He not work a sign, but ate and drank? Because the resurrection was a great sign; and of this nothing is so convincing as the eating and drinking. ‘And to testify.’ To testify, he says, plainly, so that they might not fall into ignorance. ‘To Him all the prophets bear witness.’ Whatever prophets spoke about the forgiveness of sins, they said that sins are forgiven in this Jesus. So also Isaiah, bringing in His person, says: ‘I am He who blots out your transgressions, and your iniquities I will not remember.’ Yet he did not say that He is the Son of God, but what frightened them more, the timely preparation drawn from the prophets—for those held great glory. And when he had shaken them with fear, then he brings in the concession, spoken not by himself but by the prophets; and the fearful part is from himself, but the gentle part from the prophets.

Acts 10:44–48. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were hearing the word. And the believers from the circumcision who had come with Peter were astonished, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out also upon the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered: ‘Can anyone forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?’ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they asked him to remain for some days.