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The book of Acts

The Apology of Peter

Chapter 11 verses 1 to 18

Having stayed for some days in Caesarea, at the request of the centurion Cornelius and his relatives and friends who had been converted with him, Peter returned to the church in Jerusalem.

The surprising news that Peter had preached the Gospel to the Gentiles and that they had been converted, receiving the Word of God, had come to the apostles and brethren in the churches of Judea.

They knew of the conversion of the Samaritans with the preaching of Philip earlier, and although the Jews did not like them, the Samaritans were half-Jewish, and their conversion was apparently accepted without much discussion. After all, the Lord Jesus had also preached in Samaria.

However, in Caesarea, those who received the Gospel were Romans, unrelated to the Jews, and this caused doubts and divisions in the church of Jerusalem. It must be remembered that many of the members of this church were still imbued with their traditions, as Peter had been. Here they are called "those of the circumcision" because they held that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised to become "clean" before receiving the blessings of God (Galatians 2:12). It was not lawful, they pondered, to enter their homes as Peter had done, nor to eat with them.

When Peter arrived, they contended with him (it is evident that Peter was not considered to be something of a "pope" or supreme leader). Peter had to defend his behaviour, presenting effectively an apology to the congregation, to demonstrate that he had not done that on his own, but had been impelled by the Holy Spirit to do so.

Peter explained all that had occurred, including some interesting details that were not given in the previous chapter, as follows:

1. That the object like a great sheet came down to him (see 5.).

2. Peter had observed it intently and considered its contents.  

3. That six brethren had accompanied him on the journey from Joppa to Caesarea.

4. Peter confessed that he had entered the man’s house but makes it clear that the other six went in with him, and avoided saying the name and position of Cornelius.

5. In verse 14 the angel told Cornelius that Peter "... will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved." It is an evidence that Cornelius was not saved before the arrival of Peter.

6. That the Holy Spirit fell upon them (those inside the house) as soon as he started speaking, but the previous report gives us to understand that he had passed much of his message when this occurred. Peter did not repeat the content of his message, but it is likely that the descent of the Holy Spirit happened after he spoke of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, when they believed and were saved, allowing the Holy Spirit to come upon them. In this there was no intervention by Peter, be it prayer, laying on of hands, etc. – it seems to have surprised him.

When he saw the evidence that the Holy Spirit had descended upon those people, Peter immediately remembered that day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit had first descended upon the disciples gathered there. It was evidently a unique event in his experience, showing that so far it had not happened again.

Peter then remembered that the Lord had told His disciples, "John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit". He concluded that this promise was partially fulfilled at Pentecost, for the Jews, and now completed for the Gentiles. The baptism in water, done following this, was just a symbol of the spiritual death, burial and resurrection of the believer in Christ.

Peter concluded his apology with the question: "So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?"

He had proved that God had given them a gift identical to what had been given to the disciples at Pentecost: this gift was the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter did not refer to the gift of tongues, it was just a sign to the unbelieving Jews (1 Corinthians 14:21, 22). It was a way to show Peter and his companions that the Holy Spirit had really descended on them, as it had descended at Pentecost.

Asking the question "Who was I that I could withstand God", Peter refers to his previous refusal to obey the command of God (v.8), and the only possible answer is clear: He could not resist God.

Fortunately, this defence of his appeased "those of the circumcision", and they glorified God for also having granted to the Gentiles the grace of "repentance to life." Interestingly, Peter revealed later that he still had not yet fully understood that he should leave the traditions of Judaism, so attracting the rebuke of Paul (Galatians 2: 11-14).

The door of the Gospel was opened to the Gentiles.

 

R David Jones  

 

 

1 Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

 

 

 

 

 

2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him,
3 saying, "You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!"

 

 

 

 

 

4 But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying:
5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me.
6 When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.
7 And I heard a voice saying to me, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.'
8 But I said, 'Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.'
9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, 'What God has cleansed you must not call common.'
10 Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven.
11 At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea.
12 Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man's house.
13 And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, 'Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter,
14 who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.'
15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.
16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?"

 

 

 

18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life."

Acts chapter 11:1-18