Acts 10:25-30

 

Acts 10:25 (KJB)

And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.

 

Worshipped - Paid homage, show reverence to, to actually worship

 

Can you imagine the scene in the house of Cornelius? What do you think the other Roman soldiers would have thought if they saw a Centurion bowing at the feet of a Jewish fisherman? Cornelius knew that Peter was sent by God and when he saw him come in, he apparently did not know the exact procedure in welcoming him, so he bowed at his feet and had worshipped him. The Greeks and the Romans used this method when they worshipped the false gods so maybe Cornelius thought that this was the method he should use. I am sure that Cornelius, knowing the true God, did not make a god out of Peter but just welcomed him out of deep reverence for who he was and the fact that God specifically brought him to his home.

 

Acts 10:26 (KJB)

But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.

 

Peter did the right thing by not accepting his worship but accepting him as a brother. This verse also gives another reason that Peter could not have been the first Pope. The Popes of the Roman Catholic church accept the worship of their subordinates but Peter did not accept it. In Revelation 22:8-9, the Apostle John falls down before the angel to worship but the angel rejects the worship and instead tells John to worship God. (Rev 22:8-9 KJV) And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. {9} Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

 

Acts 10:27 (KJB)

And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.

 

Peter was holding a conversation with Cornelius and as they were walking, they came into the room where Peter was surprised to see so many people gathered together. Probably many of these people were the ones who Cornelius had befriended because of his worship of God and participation in the Synagogues.

 

Acts 10:28 (KJB)

And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

 

Peter then begins to explain his situation based upon the law. To mingle with the Gentiles was an unlawful act and would cause the Jew to be unclean. (Deu 7:1-2 KJV) When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; {2} And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them: In Deuteronomy 7:1-2, God had warned Israel that when they go into the land, they were not to make any pacts with them, mingle with them, or even show mercy because they were to remain pure and not to learn the ways of the heathen. This is why Peter was telling these people that it would be unlawful for a Jew to associate with foreigners. However, because of Calvary, the race of a person does not matter, just the fact that they have been born again in Christ. This is why God showed Peter the vision, when it is interpreted it means that those people, regardless of race, who have become cleansed through Christ are clean in God’s sight and other Christians are not to reject them because of their physical ethnicity.

 

Acts 10:29 (KJB)

Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?

 

Without gainsaying - Not to be contradicted, without arguing, undeniable

Intent - Reason

 

Peter then tells them that he came unto them because the instructions he received could not be contradicted or argued against. So he promptly came unto them as soon as the men came to the gate of Simon’s house. He did not tell them at this time that he had received a vision from God which contained those instructions but the reality that God showed him about the fact that salvation cleanses a person, he came without reservation. After Peter speaks about the barrier of prejudice the Jews had built up against other races, he then asks them politely for the reason that he was sent for. He no doubt heard the reason from the three men which was sent to fetch him but now he wanted to hear it from Cornelius himself.

 

Acts 10:30 (KJB)

And 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,

 

Cornelius begins to start explaining the vision that he saw. He stated that he was fasting and then at the ninth hour, which would have been 3 o’clock in the afternoon, he saw a vision of a man in bright clothing. (John 20:12 KJV) And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Just like the two angels which were in the tomb on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, they were in white, just like the bright raiment of the angel which Cornelius saw in his vision.

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