In this reflection, we look at Acts 10, as a continuation of our study series on the Book of Acts. From my previous article in the series, it looks like we’re skipping chapters 5 through 9. 

But, let me give you some background to help you not feel like missing what’s going on in those chapters, and before delving into what we have to learn together today. 

The chapters (5 through 9) set the stage leading to the end of the first part of the book and introducing the second. 

As you may remember, I said in my previous reflections that the Book of Acts focuses on two primary people: Peter and Paul. 

The section where Peter is the key figure goes from chapter 1 through about the middle of chapter 12. The Apostle Paul takes over to be the main character for the rest of the book. 

The chapters, we’re skipping, tell us about how the religious begin to feel so threatened as a result of what God was doing through the hands of the disciples, and primarily Peter. 

Do you remember the story about the healing of the crippled man?

You can read all about it in chapter 3. The persecution against the disciples, and anyone else who belongs to the Way, as they used to refer to this movement in the first century, starts with this demonstration of the healing power of God. 

Later, the person who will be very instrumental in enforcing all decisions (from the religious leaders) to persecute Christians was Saul.

He is the one who will eventually be known as the Apostle Paul and became very instrumental in taking God’s Word to the world, the message he originally wanted to stop, 

Keep in mind that the first wave of persecutions against Christians, in the history of the Church, was through the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem. They are going to do everything in their power to stop the Christian movement. 

Also, know that persecutions against Christians will later be carried out through the hands of Romans and other people until Constantine became the Roman Emperor. 

The first Christian Martyr is Stephen. Read about him in Acts 7. And, Saul, the one to be known later as the Apostle Paul, was a witness when all this happened. 

Before discussing Acts 10, let me say that the book of Acts isn’t just about Peter and Paul. It is more importantly about the Supernatural Power of God. 

 

 

The Supernatural begins with God

 

 

God displays His Supernatural Power from the very beginning as you read the book of Acts. Luke, the author of this book as well as of the Gospel of Luke, talks about the fact that everything in the book goes back to God and God’s power. 

In chapter 1, he shares the narrative about the forty days before Jesus’ ascension.

First, God’s supernatural power has raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

For forty days, Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem, on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24), and other places, probably not mentioned in the four Gospels and Luke. 

He showed Himself to the disciples and proved to them that God, the Father, had raised Him from the dead. He is alive!

Jesus ate with them. He hanged out with the people who would later become God’s witnesses through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

In Acts 1, Jesus also commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem. He clearly wanted them to start with God. That’s the only way to experience The Supernatural. Read what He tells them based on Acts 1:8,

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

 

Second, the Supernatural Power of God made Jesus ascend into heaven.

The disciples witnessed it. They saw Jesus go up until when He vanished. Then, two angels appeared to tell them that the same way Jesus has gone away is how He is going to come back (Acts 1:10-11). 

 

Last, God pours out of His Spirit on the disciples on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2).

Here are many Jews from all around the world. They are in Jerusalem for an annual Jewish festival. Read more about it in one of my previous reflections, The Church. 

[bctt tweet=”What you learn, based on Acts 2, is what the Supernatural Power of God can do. It can even make people speak in different known and unknown languages. ” username=”emmanuelnaweji”]

In the case of the disciples, and according to chapter 2, they spoke languages the people who were in Jerusalem for the annual festival, knew. In other words, God’s power enables the disciples to share the word of God in languages they had never learned before. Who can do something like that? 

When you go to chapter 3, there you also see the Supernatural Power of God, which enabled Peter to say to the crippled man (40 + years old):

“Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6).

I talked more about this in my article, God: The Author of Life. 

[bctt tweet=”Keep in mind that the Supernatural Power of God in action through your life may threaten established authorities and rulers. ” username=”emmanuelnaweji”]

That’s what happened to the disciples, especially following the healing of the crippled man who had never walked since birth.

As stated earlier, the first wave of persecutions against Christians would start with the Jewish leaders (established authorities in Jerusalem) asking Peter, John, and the other disciples never to talk again about the name of Jesus. 

That leads us to the next interesting factor about the Supernatural Power of God. 

 

 

The Supernatural Power of God can often contradict established human and natural laws

 

 

The religious leaders in Jerusalem, not only felt threatened but could not explain what was going on with these people. 

Now, let’s take a look at Acts 10, which is the foundation for our reflection today. 

Peter, as the primary leader in the early Christian movement, did not also get it. He was in Joppa, doing good ministry, but only with Jewish believers. 

Then, one day in the afternoon, while waiting for his meal, God visited him through a vision. It was so clear to him because he would see this vision three times while taking a nap. 

God can use our everyday events to catch our attention, including dreams or visions. The only thing we need to do is to listen and pay attention to what God has in mind for us. 

In the vision, God shows Peter a net coming down on the earth from heaven. This net has lots of animals, including reptiles, and more of what a regular Jew would call unclean food. 

Then, Peter hears a voice asking him to kill and eat (Acts 10:13). But, Peter would say,

“Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean” (Acts 10:14). 

Peter wasn’t wrong to say no to eating that kind of food because that’s breaking the Law of Moses. 

Now, what’s the Law of Moses? I refer to this as the Law of Moses, because God gave it to the people of Israel through Moses. 

We can also refer to the Law of Moses as what we find in the first 5 books in the Old Testament. Most people group these laws into three categories: 

• Ceremonial laws. 
• Civil laws. 
• Moral laws. 

You probably wonder which category the Ten Commandments would fall. Some people would put them under moral laws. 

Peter, in the vision, forgot some of Jesus’ teachings. He saw himself as more of a Jew than a child of God. 

Jesus came to the world so that by faith in Him we can become children of God. In other words, the Law that governs our lives is the one Jesus came to establish through his death and resurrection. 

This law transcends every human law and norms of life! 

For example, part of the Law Jesus came to establish is that it is not what we eat, which defiles us, but what comes out of our heart (Matthew 15:11). 

There you see the stress on the heart. When you go back to even the time God gave Moses the Law, you notice that God asked Moses to put only the Ten Commandments into the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 31:18; 40:20). 

In other words, what God is saying to Peter, in Acts 10, is to reiterate what Jesus had taught him and the others about what really makes one unclean.

Also, God said to him: “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (Acts 10:15). 

The second thing God taught Peter has to do with our relationship with people whose norms of life are different from ours. And, that is what we learn next based on Acts 10. 

 

 

The Supernatural Power of God breaks down walls (barriers)

 

 

As I said earlier, the Supernatural begins with God. What’s happening, therefore, in Acts 10, is that God’s power is going to break barriers. 

God speaks first to Cornelius who was a Roman army officer. Read the story in verses 1 through 8. Then, God will speak to Peter (see verses 9-15). 

At the end of Peter’s vision, God tells him that there are men waiting for him and that he has to go with them. 

When he gets to Cornelius’ home, and as he was sharing the good news, the Holy Spirit came down on everyone in the house (see verses 43-44). 

Remember, all people in the house were Romans (or gentiles), with the exception of a few Jews who came with Peter. The ones that came with Peter were surprised that God had given the Holy Spirit to non-Jews (read verse 45). 

They forgot all about Acts 1:8, 

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Two things have happened in the story: 

• Jews and Romans can eat together, which never happened before. 
• Gentiles can also receive the Supernatural Power of God: The Holy Spirit.

The Supernatural breaks walls and barriers with regards to what Jesus has taught us: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. 

[bctt tweet=”Also, and more importantly, The Supernatural keeps us to our knees and in complete surrender to God and God’s Word. That’s the only way God can work through and with us!” username=”emmanuelnaweji”]

 

 

In conclusion

Acts 10 is a reminder of what God can do through us once we listen to God’s voice and do as He asks of us. Extraordinary things can happen as a result of God’s Supernatural Power working in and with us, which breaks walls between us and God, as well as among us.