NOTES for Act 10:1-48

The calling of Cornelius was a turning point, marking the beginning of the Gospel message taking root beyond the Jewish community. Admittedly, Cornelius already revered the God of Israel: he was one of those Romans who were dissatisfied with paganism, were drawn to the one God and prayed to Him. An angel of God appears to Cornelius, who, like many righteous people of old, had already chosen the path of the Old Covenant, and acknowledges his prayers and almsgiving, in response to which the path of the New Covenant opens before him. In His own time, God unfailingly reveals Himself to a person who has set out on a spiritual search, but He usually acts through people whom He sends to one another. He acts in this way here too: although it would seem that the Lord could have continued to guide Cornelius directly, He sends Peter and Cornelius towards one another.

Peter probably needed the vision to be certain that the need to go to the Gentiles was not someone’s extravagant idea, but the will of heaven. Even the apostles must at first have found it difficult to accept the thought that follows from reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice: the Lord came to save all people, including the Gentiles. This is why the words …what God has cleansed, you must not regard as unclean had to sound utterly clear. Cornelius had the vision only once, and responded immediately. Peter, however, had the vision three times, which recalls how Christ called him three times to tend His sheep and lambs. Now the apostle is to tend the ‘sheep of another fold’ as well.