30 Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments, 31 and he said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you immediately [Peter], and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.” Acts 10:30–33
The full account of Peter seeing a vision on the rooftop, the centurion Cornelius correspondingly hearing directly from an angel of God to send for the apostle, and the ultimate conversion of his household and others (Acts 10:1-11:18) shows the amazing hand of God at work, orchestrating the delivery of His Spirit and salvation to the Gentiles.
In the end, Peter brought eight of his people and Cornelius assembled his family, friends and soldiers in his house to hear a gospel message. They all waited with baited breath to hear the good news. To accomplish all this Peter first had to be persuaded to mingle with the Gentiles. That barrier was removed on the rooftop with a vision and clearance from above to eat that which was heretofore unclean. This authorization was not only in the realm of food but more importantly regarding associations with certain people groups. Reaching the world would be impossible with the Jewish “force shield” up.
When you read of all Cornelius, his colleagues, and his family were doing to express their faith in God yet falling short, there needed to be a definitive breakthrough. That would come by way of a message from a witness of the words and works of Christ. So it is today. We must be aware that God Almighty is creating these gospel encounters all the time. He’s asking us to drop our prejudices and preoccupations to go when commanded and to freely and clearly share the good news. This message will be a blend of the truth of his word and our experiences in Christ.
It did not take much else for Cornelius and his household to be given the Spirit and to stir the waters of baptism. The roadblock had been cleared. Now the gospel was free to move about the country, and the Holy Spirit was now a free agent, but Peter had to answer for his actions back in Jerusalem. He acquitted himself quite well.
17 “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” Acts 11:17–18
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