Chapter Ten – The
First Uncircumcised Gentile Convert
ACTS 10:34-43 – Part 2:
In our
previous lesson, we began to look at Peter’s sermon to Cornelius and his
household; who were “All present
before God, to hear all things commanded you by God” –
Acts
10:33.
We spent an
entire lesson on the introduction to the sermon, using the outline below
let’s continue to go through the points made by Peter.
-
Introduction – No Partiality –
34-37
-
God
sent Jesus -
38
-
God
confirmed Him by miracles -
38
-
We
are witnesses -
39
-
The
Jews killed Him -
39
-
God
raised Him -
40
-
We
are His witnesses to the resurrection and to all that the prophets
spoke of concerning Him –
41-43
Text:
Acts 10:34-43
“Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I
perceive that God shows no partiality.
35
But in
every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
36
The word
which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through
Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—
37
that word
you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached:
38
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, for God
was with Him.
39
And we are
witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in
Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.
40
Him God
raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly,
41
not to all
the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate
and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
42
And He
commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was
ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.
43
To Him all
the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will
receive remission of sins.””
-
God
sent Jesus -
38
-
God
confirmed Him by miracles -
38
-
We
are witnesses -
39
As Peter
begins to introduce to Cornelius and his household the vehicle of
reconciliation (Jesus the Christ), he first speaks to what this audience
already knows about Him, and that all they knew about Him was a
demonstration that He was anointed of God and God was with Him!
Isaiah 49:6
“Indeed He says, ‘It is too
small a thing that You should be My Servant To
raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the
preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as
a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the
earth.’””
In this,
the second Great Servant Song (four total, songs of the Messiah and His
work), God establishes that the Messiah would be the One to restore Israel
and be a light to the Gentiles (as is happening right now in our text), so
that all men could know God’s salvation.
God would
confirm the first part of this spoken promise, in
Isaiah
57. God spoke through the prophet concerning Israel’s harlotry
with idolatry. God would rebuke Israel for this; but as was God’s custom, He
would also speak of a time of restoration, especially to those who in that
day would have contrite hearts (the heart prepared to repent and obey –
Isaiah
57:15), note:
Isaiah 57:19
““I create the fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him
who is near,” Says the
Lord,
“And I will heal him”
All of this
speaks to the “preaching peace
through Jesus Christ” to the Jew first and also the Gentiles (Romans
1:16). God; however, demonstrated Him to be the Great Servant
spoken of, first by signs and wonders through the Spirit (given to Him in
the flesh without measure –
John 3:34-36). This was also
something that His chosen disciples are witness to and testify of, even
though the things done by Jesus in the flesh were well known by all in
the region.
-
The
Jews killed Him -
39
-
God
raised Him -
40
-
We
are His witnesses to the resurrection and to all that the prophets
spoke of concerning Him –
41-43
As Peter
continues to describe the events that were generally known in this region
whether you were Jew or Gentile (especially Roman commanders, due to the
unrest that the Lord’s crucifixion brought to the area, after He had done
the undisputed miracles –
Luke 24:18-20), he will now state
without equivocation that it was the very ones that the Lord come in the
flesh to restore to God (Israel –
Matthew 15:24), that would be guilty
of putting Him to death. This
was not failure on God’s part to accomplish everything He said He would do;
in fact, it could not happen any other way. After the Lord’s resurrection,
He would state to His disciples that He had fulfilled everything spoken of
Him in the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms concerning Him (Luke
24:44).
It would be
this very act that would set the stage for the final act of God in
demonstration that this Jesus was truly the Son of God, the Messiah, and
God’s Great Servant for salvation to the ends of the earth. God would
raise Him from the dead!
Note the
words of Paul to the Jews in the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia, and His
words to Christians in Rome:
Acts 13:32-37 “And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. 33 God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:
‘You are My
Son, Today I have begotten You.’
34
And that He
raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken
thus:
‘I will
give you the sure mercies of David.’
35
Therefore
He also says in another Psalm:
‘You will
not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’
36
“For David,
after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was
buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;
37
but He whom
God raised up saw no corruption.”
Romans 1:1-4
“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be
an apostle, separated to the gospel of God
2
which He
promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
3
concerning
His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according
to the flesh,
4
and
declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
This final mighty sign of God would not be done in a corner (Acts 26:24-26), but in fact God would show Him openly to witnesses who would use the sight of the resurrected Lord to testify of His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:2-11). Peter emphasizes that he was among the eye witnesses as were all the Apostles, and it was with these that He openly demonstrated His resurrected fleshly state. Not only these eye witnesses testified of these events and the demonstration of power in the resurrection, but that this event culminated in His glorious elevation as the Redeemer of all men. This is fulfilling the very words God spoke through the prophets concerning these events; both establishing that they had to transpire exactly the way they did, and that God has done the entirety of what He said He would do through the suffering victory of the Christ of God.
See:
Psalms
22 – The suffering, praise, and posterity (generations to come
through Him) of the Messiah;
Isaiah 42:1-9 – 1st Great
Servant Song;
Isaiah 49:1-13 – 2nd
Great Servant Song;
Isaiah 50:4-11 – 3rd
Great Servant Song;
Isaiah 52:13-56:8 – 4th
Great Servant Song;
Isaiah 61:1-2 – The Messiah will
preach glad tidings and restore the hearts of men;
Jeremiah 31:31-34 – all men would be taught to know the Lord and
receive healing from sin in the new covenant written on their hearts.
Next: “God Shows His Approval of Salvation for the
Gentiles!”