What does Acts 10:26 mean?
Peter is in Caesarea Maritima on the coast of Samaria at the home of Cornelius, a Roman centurion. An angel had visited Cornelius, who is a devout follower of the Jewish God, and told him to bring Peter and hear what the apostle has to say. Cornelius reverently and enthusiastically does so (Acts 10:1–8). That an angel should regard Peter with respect leaves such an impression on Cornelius that when Peter arrives, the centurion falls at Peter's feet in worship (Acts 10:25).Peter immediately corrects Cornelius. Paul and Barnabas will face the same issue in Lystra when, impressed with their ability to heal, the people try to sacrifice to them as incarnations of Hermes and Zeus (Acts 14:12–13). When John receives his vision of the end times, he will mistakenly begin to worship an angel who will correct John and describe himself as "a fellow servant with you" (Revelation 19:10).
Not everyone is so circumspect, however. Caesarea Maritima is the headquarters of Herod Agrippa I who governs over Judea and Samaria. Cornelius is under his command. Luke doesn't designate the years the events in the book of Acts take place, but we know that in AD 41, Herod Agrippa I becomes king over the region and he is king "about that time" (Acts 12:1). He is reasonable to the Jews and well-liked by them. During a festival, he comes to greet the people wearing garments made with silver. The silver reflects the sunlight, causing him to glow. The audience responds, "Be thou merciful to us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet shall we henceforth Own thee as superior to moral nature" (Josephus Antiquities 19.8.2 343–361). Where in a calmer moment, Agrippa may have denied their worship, at this one he accepts it. He is "immediately" stricken, and according to Josephus, endures five days of severe abdominal pains before dying (Acts 12:20–23).
Peter has met God the Son. God the Son is a friend of his. Peter knows, on a very visceral level, that he's not God the Son.
