Cornelius
said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He lodges in the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ Therefore I sent to you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God.”
Acts 10:30-33
Acts 10 [22.] They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say.” So he called them in and provided a place to stay. On the next day Peter arose and went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. On the next day they entered into Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his relatives and his near friends. When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up! I myself am also a man.” As he talked with him, he went in and found many gathered together. He said to them, “You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man unholy or unclean. Therefore also I came without complaint when I was sent for. I ask therefore, why did you send for me?”
Acts 10 [30.] Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He lodges in the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ Therefore I sent to you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God.”
Acts 10 [34.] Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism; but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him. The word which he sent to the children of Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all— you yourselves know what happened, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of everything he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree.
Meaning:
Peter has just asked the gathering in Caesarea, “why did you send for me?” (Acts 10:29). Cornelius answers by telling his story. Luke has already described the angel’s visit (Acts 10:3-6), yet he lets Cornelius tell it again in his own words. The repetition lets Peter hear from a Gentile’s own lips that God had been at work before he arrived.
- “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour”
Counting inclusively, the vision came on the first day and Peter arrived on the fourth. Cornelius adds that he was fasting as well as praying. Fasting and prayer together were marks of earnest devotion, like the widow Anna, who was “worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day” (Luke 2:37).
- “A man stood before me in bright clothing”
Cornelius calls the angel “a man” in bright clothing. Luke describes angels in the same way elsewhere: at the empty tomb “two men stood by them in dazzling clothing” (Luke 24:4), and at the ascension “two men stood by them in white clothing” (Acts 1:10).
- “Your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God”
The angel’s words echo those spoken to Zacharias: “your request has been heard” (Luke 1:13). Yet the angel’s answer was not a full explanation but a person to send for: “When he comes, he will speak to you.” God answered Cornelius’s prayer by bringing him the message about Jesus.
- “We are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God”
These words show a heart ready to receive God’s word. He wants “all things” God has commanded, not a pleasant selection. He knows they are gathered “in the sight of God,” so the meeting is a holy moment, not a social visit.
Jesus said that the good soil stands for those who “in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly” (Luke 8:15). Paul wrote, “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Later in Acts the Bereans are praised because “they received the word with all readiness of the mind” (Acts 17:11). Cornelius and his household were such listeners.
The Significance of Acts 10:30-33
- Prepared hearts
God had prepared Cornelius through prayer, fasting and a vision, and he had prepared Peter through his own vision. When a messenger and a prepared listener meet, God’s word bears fruit.
- Listening in the presence of God
Whenever Christians gather to hear God’s word, they are “present in the sight of God.” Cornelius’s attitude is a model for every congregation: humble, expectant and willing to hear everything God says.
Cross-References:
Luke 8:15: “That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produces fruit with patience.” The good listener.
Romans 10:17: “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Faith through hearing.
Acts 17:11: “They received the word with all readiness of the mind.” Eager hearers.
Conclusion: Cornelius told Peter how an angel had appeared while he was fasting and praying and had sent him to Joppa, and he declared that his household was gathered in God’s presence to hear all that God had commanded. His words show a heart prepared by God and eager for the whole message. They call every listener to come to God’s word with the same readiness.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible