The Way Home
WHAT PETER SAW BY THE SEA
Story 7 - Acts 9:32 to 11:18
The church was now planted in many cities. So Peter, who was a leader among the apostles, went from place to place visiting the believers in Christ and preaching the Gospel. On one occasion Peter went down to the plain beside the Great Sea, to the city of Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had the palsy and could not walk. He had been lying on his bed for eight years. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you well; rise up and roll up your bed.”
Then at once Aeneas arose and was well; and he took up the roll of matting on which he had been lying for so long and put it away. All the people in Lydda and on the Plain of Sharon heard of this great work, and many turned to the Lord.
Living at Joppa, not far from Lydda, was a very good woman, whom everybody loved. She was called “The Gazelle,” which is the name of a beautiful animal, like a deer. Her name in Hebrew was Tabitha; and in Greek it was Dorcas, both meaning “Gazelle.” Tabitha, or Dorcas, was a believer in Christ, and like her Lord, she loved the poor and helped them by her work and gifts.
While Peter was at Lydda, Dorcas was taken ill and died. They laid her body in an upper room, and then they sent two men to Lydda for Peter, begging him to come without delay. Peter went to Joppa at once; and when he came to the house where the body of Dorcas was lying, he found the room filled with widows and poor women, who were weeping and showing the garments which Dorcas had made for them.
But Peter sent them all out of the room; and when he was alone with the body of Dorcas, he knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, arise!”
Mom noticed that Judy’s eye lids were slowly closing, so she gently nudged her and said, “Judy, arise!” Eyes now wide open, looking up, Judy smiled and mom continued:
After Peter said, “Tabitha, arise!” she opened her eyes, too. Then she saw Peter and sat up. Peter took her by the hand and raised her up then he called the widows and the believers in Christ into the room and showed Dorcas to them, alive and well. The news of this wonderful life-giving work amazed all the city of Joppa and led many to believe in Christ. Peter stayed many days in Joppa, at the house of a man who lived near the sea named Simon, who was a tanner of hides.
About thirty miles north of Joppa, beside the Great Sea, was the town of Caesarea. An officer of the Roman army lived there. His name was Cornelius; and he was the commander of a company of a hundred soldiers. Today we would call such an officer “a captain,” but in the Roman army he was called “a centurion.” The centurion Cornelius was not a Jew, but a Gentile. Remember? “Gentile” is the name that the Jews gave to all people except themselves. Yet Cornelius did not worship idols, like many of the Gentiles. He prayed always to the God of Israel and feared God and gave to the poor; and he taught his family to worship the Lord.
One afternoon, while Cornelius was praying in his house, an angel came to him and said, “Cornelius!” Cornelius looked at this strange and shining being and he was filled with fear, but he said, “What is it, Lord?”
And the angel said to him, “Cornelius, the Lord has seen your gifts to the people and has heard all your prayers. Now send men to Joppa and let them bring to you a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the house of Simon the Tanner, who lives by the sea.”
Then the angel passed out of sight, and Cornelius called two servants and a soldier who worshiped the Lord. He told them what the angel had said and sent them to Joppa for Peter. These men traveled all night, following the road southward by the Great Sea, and about noon of the next day they drew near to Joppa.
On that day, just before these men came to Joppa at noon, Peter went up to the roof of the house to pray. He became very hungry and wished for food; but while they were making ready the dinner, he fell into a strange sleep and a vision came to him. In his vision he saw what seemed to be a great sheet coming from above – let down by its four corners. In it he saw all kinds of beasts and birds and creeping things. Some of these were animals and birds that the Jews were allowed to eat; but many others were of kinds that the old law would not let the Jews eat. These forbidden foods the Jews called “common” and “unclean.” Peter saw in this great sheet many beasts and birds and creeping things that in his sight were common and unclean. As he looked, he heard a voice saying to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
Peter had always been very strict in keeping the Jewish rules about food, and he answered, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
Then he heard the voice saying to him, “What God has made clean, do not you call common or unclean.”
Three times Peter heard these words spoken, and then the great sheet with all the living creatures in it was lifted up to heaven and passed out of his sight. Peter knew at once that the vision and the words which he had heard must have a great meaning; but as he thought on it, he could not see what the meaning was. While he was thinking and wondering about the vision, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to him, saying, “Peter, three men are looking for you. Go down to the door and meet them; and go with them without doubting, for I have sent them.”
Just at that moment the three men from Caesarea knocked at the door and asked for Simon Peter. Peter met them and said to them, “I am here, the man whom you are looking for. For what purpose have you come to me?”
And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion at Caesarea, a good man, one that fears God and is well spoken of by all the Jews, was yesterday commanded by a holy angel to send for you and to listen to words from you.”
Then Peter called the men into the house and heard all their story and he kept them there that night. The next morning he went with them, along with some of the believers from the church at Joppa. The next day they came
to Caesarea and entered into the house of Cornelius. There they found Cornelius waiting for them, and with him a number of his family and friends. As Peter came into the room, Cornelius fell down at his feet and was about to worship him; but Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself, also, am a man and not God.”
And as Peter looked around, he saw many people that had met together; and they were all Gentiles, men who were not Jews. And Peter said, “You know that it is against the law of the Jews for a man that is a Jew to come into the house with one of another nation or to meet with him. But God has showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. For this reason I came at once when I was sent for.”
Then Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was praying, at three o’clock in the afternoon, when a man stood by me, clad in shining garments, and he said to me, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard and your good deeds are known to God. Send now to Joppa for Simon, who is called Peter.’ I sent at once for you, and you have done well to come so soon. Now we are to hear whatever God has given to you to speak to us.”
Then Peter opened his mouth and began to speak because now he knew the meaning of the vision he had seen on the housetop. He said, “I see now that God cares for all men alike, not for the people of one nation only; but that in every nation those that fear God and do right are pleasing to Him.” Then Peter began to tell the story of Jesus.
While Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were in the room. And the Jews who were with Peter were amazed as they saw the Spirit of God given to Gentiles. Then Peter said, “Can any man forbid that these should be baptized with water, upon whom the Spirit has come, as He came upon us?”
Then by Peter’s command these Gentile believers were baptized. Peter stayed with these Gentile believers a few days, living with Cornelius and eating at his table. Soon the news that Gentiles had heard the Word and had been baptized went through all the churches in Judea. At first the Jewish believers did not accept that Gentiles should be allowed in the church. But after Peter told them the story of Cornelius and the angel; about his own vision of the great sheet full of animals and the Spirit coming upon the Gentiles, then the Jewish believers “became silent; and they glorified God, saying, ‘Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.’” In other words, Gentiles as well as Jews can be forgiven of their sins and be saved in Jesus Christ and have everlasting life.
