Acts 10:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them."

NIV: So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them."

NASB: But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.'

CSB: Get up, go downstairs, and go with them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them."

NLT: Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.'

KJV: Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.

NKJV: Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”

Peter is on the roof of the home of Simon the tanner in the coastal town of Joppa near modern-day Tel Aviv. He has just had a very strange vision: a sheet dropped from heaven with different types of animals, some of which were against the Mosaic law to eat. But a voice told him to eat. He refused. The vision happened twice more before the sheet disappeared into the sky (Acts 10:9–16).

Now, the Holy Spirit tells Peter to go downstairs and greet the three men who have just arrived at the gate. They are two servants and a soldier who work for a centurion named Cornelius who is stationed in Caesarea Maritima, the capital of Herod Agrippa I. Just as God sent the unclean food, He sends "unclean" people. "Without hesitation" in the ESV is also translated "making no distinction," perhaps similar to the "without objection" of Acts 10:29; the Greek could be translated "with no arguing," as if the Holy Spirit knows Peter will be reluctant to meet with Gentiles. Peter will learn that what he sees as a sharp distinction between Jew and Gentile is blurred—eventually dissolved—in God's kingdom.

This is not the first time the Holy Spirit has directed a Jesus-follower to a person or group of people. He sent Philip to speak with the Ethiopian official (Acts 8:26). He told Ananias to find Saul, the persecutor of the church (Acts 9:10–11). And after Saul adopts the Greek version of his name, Paul, He will send him to Macedonia (Acts 16:9). In all these cases, God is moving in a direction His followers don't expect. So it is here, as Peter will share Jesus' message with a household of Gentiles.

Acts 10:9–23 occurs as Peter is in Joppa, after having healed a paralyzed man in nearby Lydda and raising Tabitha from the dead in Joppa (Acts 9:32–43). Peter doesn't know that a Roman centurion who worships the Jewish God is sending three men to bring Peter to Caesarea. The centurion wished to learn what God has planned for him, which he will find is to be saved in Jesus' name. First, God makes Peter understand that Jesus' offer of salvation is as available for Gentiles as it is for Jews.

Peter has been a dominant voice in the spread of Jesus' message to Jews and proselytes. Now he brings the gospel to Gentiles. An angel tells Cornelius, a centurion, to ask Peter to come to him. Peter is praying when he receives a vision of food—including non-kosher food—and God's voice telling him to eat. When the centurion's messengers arrive, Peter realizes the dream meant that Gentiles are no longer unclean. He follows the messengers and tells Cornelius' household about salvation through Jesus. Before Peter can lay his hands on them or baptize them, the Holy Spirit falls on them.

Jesus told the disciples they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Oddly, the disciples didn't understand this meant the Holy Spirit would come upon Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles alike. After several years reaching Jews and proselytes in Jerusalem (Acts 1—7) and Samaritans in Samaria (Acts 8:4–25), God calls Peter to bring the message to Gentiles. Peter's witness that Gentiles can be saved (Acts 11) clears the way for Paul's ministry to Gentiles in modern-day Turkey, Greece, and Italy (Acts 13—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.