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Cornelius the centurion, the appearance of an angel to him and the embassy to Peter (1–8). Vision of Petrovo and meeting with the messengers of Cornelius (9–22). Peter's journey to Cornelius, preaching in his house, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the listeners and baptism (23–48) Acts 10:1. In Caesarea there was a certain man named Cornelius, a centurion from a regiment called the Italians, “In Caesarea” - see Acts 8:40, note. “From a regiment called Italian”, i.e. a regiment of natural Italians, in contrast to warriors recruited from the natives. Caesarea was the residence of the Roman procurators of Palestine, which is why they had a special regiment of natural Romans or Italians, as people who were more reliable and skilled. Probably Cornelius, the centurion of this regiment, was also a natural Roman or Italian. And in any case, he was not even a Jewish proselyte, but was simply a pagan with a good soul and a naturally pious disposition (cf. Acts 10:28, 34 and up to Acts 10:11, 1, 18, 15:7). The introduction of such a person to the Church of Christ, moreover, directly, without any mediation of Judaism, even in the form of proselytism of the gates, was an event of great importance, an epoch in the history of the Apostolic Church. This special importance of the event of the first conversion of a pagan to Christ is also indicated by the fact that it took place through the mediation of the first Apostle of Christ - Peter, deliberately called by God from another city, although at that time the famous evangelist and baptizer of the Ethiopian nobleman - Philip - was in Caesarea. Acts 10:2. pious and fearful of God with all his household, who did much alms to the people and always prayed to God. “He who fears God... who prays to God.” These expressions show that Cornelius was a worshiper of the One true God, whom he probably learned from contact with the Jews and their worship of God, but he honored in his own way, as his pious heart told him, independently and independently of the forms of Jewish worship. Acts 10:3. In a vision, he clearly saw at about the ninth hour of the day an Angel of God who came to him and said to him: Cornelius! “I saw clearly in a vision...” - εῖδεν εν οράματι φανερῶς ... - “in a clear vision...” - obviously, in a waking state, and not in a dream (Chrysostom). It was about the ninth hour of the day (3 o'clock in the afternoon), the usual hour of prayer among the Jews, when Cornelius also prayed, fasting until that hour (Acts 10:30). Acts 10:4. He looked at him and was frightened and said: What, Lord? The angel answered him: Your prayers and your alms have come as a memorial before God. "Frightened". St. Chrysostom explains this fear of Cornelius well: “the vision produced fear in him, but moderate fear, just to make him attentive; Then the Angel’s words dispelled this fear, or better, the praise they contained softened the unpleasant feeling of fear...” “They came as a memorial before God...” is a humanoid expression of God’s favor towards Cornelius for his prayers and benefactions. Acts 10:5–6. So send people to Joppa and call Simon, who is called Peter. He is visiting a certain Simon the tanner, whose house is located by the sea; he will tell you words by which you and your whole house will be saved. “He will tell you words by which you and your whole house will be saved...” – glorified: “he speaks to you verbs by which you and your whole house will be saved...”, Greek. the text is completely different: οῦτος λαλήσει σοί τί σε δεῖ ποιεῖν, i.e. he will tell you what you need to do. This indicates the insufficiency of good deeds and piety on their own: they also need to be sanctified by faith in Christ the Savior, which imparts both value and validity to a person’s good mood. Acts 10:7. When the angel who spoke with Cornelius departed, he called two of his servants and a pious warrior from those who were with him “Two of his servants...” – δύο τῶν οικετῶν αυτοῦ ..., actually members of the household, probably closer to the master of the house than simple slaves, and distinguished by the same fear of God as Cornelius himself (Acts 10:2). Acts 10:8. and having told them everything, he sent them to Joppa. “Having told them everything...” - so that, of course, they would tell Peter and convince him to go with them to their master (Acts 10:22). “I told him everything in order to induce him (Peter) to come to him, because he considered it indecent to call him by virtue of his authority, that’s why he told it...” (Theophilus.). Acts 10:9. The next day, as they walked and approached the city, Peter, at about the sixth hour, went up to the top of the house to pray. Acts 10:10. And he felt hungry and wanted to eat. While they were preparing, he went into a frenzy. “The next day... about the sixth hour...” - from Caesarea to Joppa about 40-45 versts. Those sent by Cornelius after 9 o'clock (after 3 o'clock in the evening, Acts 10:3) and, probably, departing on the same day in the evening - could arrive in Joppa the next day by noon (about the sixth hour). “I went up to the top of the house to pray...” The flat roofs of houses in the East are a very convenient place for prayer. Peter also went up here to pray at the appointed hour. “He went into a frenzy” - επέπεσεν επ αυτόν έκστασις ... - more precisely, glory: “an attack of horror ...” - ecstasy attacked him - a state when “a person does not control his feelings, being caught up in the spiritual world” (Theophilus, cf. Chrysostom). Acts 10:11–12. and he sees the sky open and a certain vessel descending towards it, like a large canvas, tied at the four corners and lowered to the ground; in it were all four-legged creatures of the earth, animals, reptiles and birds of the air. “In it were all four-legged creatures of the earth...” - πάντα τά τετράποδα τῆς γῆς ... - more precisely, the famous one: “all the four-legged creatures of the earth...”, all four-legged creatures, etc. According to the fair remark of one of the interpreters: “This contemplation cannot be measured by human way, for ecstasy gave Peter other eyes...” Acts 10:13. And a voice came to him: Arise, Peter, kill and eat. “Rise, Peter, slaughter and eat” - αναστάς Πέτρε, θῦσον καί φάγε - more precisely glorious: “Rise up Peter, slaughter and eat!” “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” The gerund here means arousal to a commanded action (as above, Acts 9:11, 39, etc.), without having an independent meaning along with the two further verbs. “Kill and eat!” . The vision adapts to the hunger Peter feels and offers the most ordinary preparation of food, only if the item of consumption is unusual. Although in the descending canvas Peter could find clean animals used for food, he responds to the invitation with a strong sweeping denial - μηδαμῶς Κύριε - “no way, Lord!” - for nothing, under no circumstances! He answers this way because of the extraordinary indifference with which the voice treats unclean animals prohibited for consumption by law, and he means precisely these latter. Acts 10:14. But Peter said: No, Lord, I have never eaten anything bad or unclean. Since the voice came from the open sky, Peter answers it with the usual address “Lord!” , feeling in his heart that the vision came precisely from the Lord Jesus Christ. The meaning and purpose of this entire vision was as follows: all the animals that were in the canvas symbolically represented all of humanity: clean animals meant the Jewish people, unclean ones meant the pagans. By the death of Christ the Savior on the cross, as a sacrifice to God made for the whole world, purification was granted to everyone equally, not only to Jews, but also to pagans, who together must enter the Church of Christ, the Kingdom of the Messiah, ideally alien to any filth or vice, as washed and continually washed by the blood of the Lamb of God. At the same time, it is also made clear that for the purification of the pagans and their entry into the Church of Christ, no means of Jewish external rites and institutions are required, which for Judaism itself had a temporary, transitory character. The right to this entry is given exclusively by the comprehensive meaning of the Sacrifice of the Cross of the Son of God. Acts 10:16. This happened three times; and the vessel rose again to heaven. «Сие» , – т.е. a vision with a conversation with Peter - “it happened three times” - as a sign of the undoubted truth of what was seen and heard and to assure Peter of the immutability of the Divine determination about this. “And the vessel ascended again into heaven” - into a pure and holy region, where the unclean became clean and is kept as such by God, along with that which has always been pure. Деян.10:17 . When Peter was wondering within himself what the vision he had seen meant, behold, the men sent by Cornelius, having inquired about Simon’s house, stopped at the gate, "Peter was perplexed within himself." Peter did not immediately understand the meaning of the vision, but it immediately began to become clear through subsequent events. Деян.10:18 . and they shouted and asked, “Is Simon, who is called Peter, here?” “They shouted and asked” - it is not clear from the narrative that Peter heard this exclamation. It further says that the Spirit told him about those sent by Cornelius, i.e. Holy, by a new inner immediate creation. Деян.10:19–20 . While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him: Behold, three men are looking for you; get up, get down and go with them, without any doubt; for I have sent them: “Arise, go down and go”, Αναστάς κατάβηθι καί πορεύου, “Arise, descend, go” see above, to Acts 10:13. “Without any doubt” - μηδέν διακρινόμενος - “without reasoning” - without thinking at all. This prudent warning is made in view of the well-known strict views of the apostle, which should have put him in difficulty as to whether to follow his invitation to the pagans, communication with whom was forbidden by the Jewish Law (Acts 10:28)? Acts 10:21. Peter, going down to the people sent to him from Cornelius, said: I am the one you are looking for; What business did you come for? “What business have you come for?” . Again, the inaccuracy of the Russian translation and the preferential fidelity to the original Slavic text - “what is the fault, for the sake of it is it too much?” – τίς η αιτία, δι ήν πάρεστε - what is the reason, or what is the business for which you arrived? Acts 10:22. They said: Cornelius the centurion, a virtuous man who fears God, approved by all the people of Judea, received a command from the holy Angel to call you to his house and listen to your speeches. “Approved by all the Jewish people,” to whom, obviously, fell a significant share of the mercies of the good Cornelius, similar in this respect to the other famous evangelical Capernaum centurion. “To listen to your speeches” – ακοῦσαι ρήματα παρα σοῦ – “to hear verbs from you” – to listen to speeches from you, i.e. your sermon, which should teach me what I must do to be saved. Acts 10:23. Then Peter, inviting them, treated them. And the next day he got up and went with them, and some of the brethren of Joppa went with him. Acts 10:24. The next day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them, having called his relatives and close friends. “Some of the brethren of Joppa” – i.e. of the believers in Joppa number six, as can be seen from what follows (Acts 11:12). Peter treats Cornelius' messengers as those in need of rest, and leaves with them only the next day, probably not early, for they arrive in Caesarea only the next day, the fourth from the day of the vision that Cornelius had (Acts 10:30). “Having called together their relatives and close friends,” who made up a whole rather significant company (Acts 10:27) of people who were like-minded with Cornelius, and who were quite ready to believe in Christ according to the word of Peter. This was the first society of pure pagans who joined Christianity without any mediation of Jewish religious institutions. Acts 10:25–26. As Peter entered, Cornelius met him and bowed down at his feet. Peter raised him up, saying: Arise; I'm also a human being. Peter removes Cornelius’s admiration of him not only out of humility, but also by catching in this admiration the honor given by Cornelius to Peter, as some kind of embodiment of a higher power, which was so characteristic of pagan ideas about gods in human form (Acts 14:11). Acts 10:28. And he said to them: you know that it is forbidden for a Jew to communicate or become close to a foreigner; but God revealed to me that I should not consider any person base or unclean. The Law of Moses, in fact, does not speak about the prohibition for a Jew to communicate with a foreigner (pagan); This is the petty severity of the later rabbinism, under the influence of Pharisaism, which developed the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe holiness of the chosen people to such scrupulousness. Thanks to the well-known influence of Pharisaic views on the people, this view of relations towards the pagans immediately acquired the meaning of a general custom and a firmly established rule - a law, which is reflected in the mode of action of the supreme apostle. “So that I do not consider a single person bad or unclean...” - in the sense of the above Pharisaic views and in the sense of the inability to be cleansed and sanctified by faith in Christ, independently of Judaism and to the same extent with it. Acts 10:29. Therefore, when I was called, I came without question. So I ask: for what work have you called me? “So I ask, for what purpose have you called me?” Peter had already heard in part about the purpose of his calling. Now once again he wants to hear from the own lips of Cornelius and those ahead, “so that they themselves confess and become right in the faith.” (Theophilus, cf. Chrysostom). At the same time, the Apostle addresses not only Cornelius, but also the rest of those gathered, assuming in them like-minded intentions with Cornelius and understanding his invitation by Cornelius as coming on behalf of all of them. Acts 10:30–33. Cornelius said: On the fourth day I fasted until the present hour, and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in light clothes and said: Cornelius! your prayer is heard, and your alms are remembered before God. So go to Joppa and call Simon, who is called Peter; he is visiting the house of the tanner Simon by the sea; he will come and tell you. I immediately sent to you, and you did well to come. Now we all stand before God to listen to everything that God has commanded you. “We all stand before God...” is a reverent expression of faith in God, omnipresent and omniscient, and readiness to fulfill all His will, expected from the lips of Peter. Acts 10:34. Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, “Peter opened his mouth and said” - ανοίζας δέ Πέτρος τό στόμα, εῖπεν - “And Peter opened his mouth to speak” - and Peter opened his mouth and said - see Acts 8:35. “I truly know” - επ αληθείας καταλαμβάνομαι - “truly I understand” - an expression of the highest degree of confidence and certainty. Acts 10:35. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. “Pleasant to Him” – δεκτός αυτῶ εστι – “pleasant”, i.e. accepted by Him (from acceptance), is not rejected, is not deprived of the right to participate in the grace-filled Kingdom of Christ. Thus, the idea here is not at all that you can believe as you like and be pleasing to God; it is enough just to act according to natural truth. This would mean that the Christian faith is not necessary for salvation and pleasing God; it would allow for complete religious indifference, which is impossible, just as it is impossible to be blessed without Christ, outside the Church of Christ. Peter’s thought is not about religious indifference, but about national indifference in the matter of bringing to Christ: those who are pleasing to God in every nation are one way or another brought to Christ, just as those who are sufficiently prepared receive the means for salvation in Christianity and become righteous before God. St. interprets this passage in this spirit. Chrysostom: “How? Is he also pleased with those who belong to the Persians? If he is worthy, he will be so pleasing that he will be worthy of faith. Therefore he did not despise the eunuch from Ethiopia. But what, they will say, should we think about people who fear God and yet are left in contempt? No, no God-fearing person is left in contempt, for none of such people can, never can, be despised.” Acts 10:36. He sent a word to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ; This is the Lord of all. “He sent the Word”, i.e. The Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, the Son of God, who preached the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of universal peace and salvation on earth. “This is the Lord of all.” Great words for both Jews and pagans, great both because here Jesus Christ is clearly and definitely called “Lord” in the hearing of the pagans, and because He is called Lord of “all,” i.e. both Jews and pagans - in the sense that He calls everyone into His Kingdom, and everyone has the same rights to enter this Kingdom of Christ. Acts 10:37. You know what happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism preached by John: “You know what happened...” This knowledge of what happened in Judea, i.e., at least the most important events in the life of Jesus Christ, is assumed by the apostle both because the listeners lived not far from the main places where the events took place, and because they, as those disposed to the Jewish faith, could not help but be interested and familiarize themselves with the events, rumors about which at that time covered the surrounding countries of Palestine over a long distance. “What happened... starting from Galilee” - τό γενόμενον ρήμα αρζάμενον από τῆς Γαλιλαίας - more precisely glorious: “you know the verb, having been throughout all Judea, originating from Galilee” - ρήμα, verb - word, rumor, and then what causes them. “Starting from Galilee,” where the Lord began His open ministry after baptism (John 2ff.). Acts 10:38. how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. “He anointed Jesus” - of course, according to humanity, as Theophylact interprets: “since He humbled Himself and sincerely partook of our flesh and blood (Heb. 2:14), then it is said about Him that He, as a man, accepts what He has by nature as God.” This anointing took place at the baptism of Jesus. “God was with Him” is a hidden and cautious expression of the thought of the Divinity of Christ. The Apostle expresses himself in such a way as not to give rise to a pagan idea of ​​the Divinity of Jesus, Whom the pagans could easily take for the incarnation of one or another pagan deity. For the sake of the weakness of the listeners, less is said about the Face of Christ than it should (cf. Chrysostom). Acts 10:39. And we are witnesses to everything that He did in the land of Judea and in Jerusalem, and that they finally killed Him by hanging Him on a tree. Acts 10:40. This one God raised up on the third day, and caused Him to appear Wed. Acts 1:8, 3:15, 5:30, 2:32; – notes. Acts 10:41. not to all the people, but to the witnesses chosen by God, even to us, who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection from the dead. Wed. John 17:6, 9, 11, 6:37; Rom.50:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1; Gal.1:1, 15; Luke 24:41–43; John 21:12. Acts 10:43. All the prophets testify about Him that whoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name. Wed. Acts 3:24, 2:38; John 3:15; Rom.3:25, 10:10. Acts 10:44. While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. “While Peter was still continuing” – Acts 11 – “while he began to speak,” “The Holy Spirit came upon all who heard the word.” This is the only example in all of apostolic history that the Holy Spirit descended on those joining the Christian society even before their baptism. Without a doubt, this was required by the extraordinary importance of the events - the first accession of pagans to the Church of Christ without the mediation of Judaism, after which this method of accession should have received the authority of indisputability. “Look at the economy of God,” says Chrysostom on this occasion, “Peter had not yet finished his speech, and baptism had not yet taken place, ... but since they ... accepted the beginning of the teaching and believed ... then the Spirit descended. God does this with the intention of giving Peter a strong justification. They not only receive the Spirit, but also began to speak in tongues... Why is this thing being done this way? For the Jews, since they looked at it very hatefully.” Acts 10:45. And the believers from the circumcision who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out also on the Gentiles, “Those who believed among the circumcision...were amazed” - This amazement is explained by the prevailing conviction at that time that the pagans were to be accepted into the Church of Christ only after they became proselytes of Judaism - no other way: an opinion that even after this event had to be taken into account (Acts 11ff.; Acts 15). Acts 10:47. who can forbid those who, like us, have received the Holy Spirit from being baptized with water? Peter draws a completely natural conclusion from the event of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the pagans, namely, that by this descent all obstacles to their joining on the one hand, and all the need for this Jewish cult means and decrees, on the other, were eliminated. But he considers it necessary to baptize those who have received the Holy Spirit, in view of the immutable commandment of the Lord (Matthew 28:19). Acts 10:48. And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay with them for several days. “He commanded them to be baptized” - apparently, he did not baptize them himself, but one of those who came with him (1 Cor. 1:17). “In the name of Jesus Christ” - see Acts 2:36, note. “They asked him,” and he, of course, granted their request, confirming them sufficiently in the Christian faith. The writer says nothing more about Cornelius. According to church tradition, he was later the bishop of Caesarea, preached Christ in different countries and died a martyr’s death (Thurs.-Min. Jan. 4 and Sept. 13). You might be interested in: