Acts 10:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And Peter went down to the men and said, "I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?"

NIV: Peter went down and said to the men, "I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?"

NASB: Peter went down to the men and said, 'Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?'

CSB: Then Peter went down to the men and said, "Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?"

NLT: So Peter went down and said, 'I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?'

KJV: Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?

NKJV: Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, “Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?”

The Holy Spirit has told Peter about men at the gate of the house where he is staying. Peter is to "accompany them without hesitation" because the Holy Spirit sent them (Acts 10:20). "Without hesitation" may not just be a time-based command. The Greek phrasing of this can also imply that Peter is not to resist this command. He is to follow them without arguing, no matter who they are. Peter doesn't know who they are, or why they are there, though the Roman soldier is probably in uniform. He doesn't know the men will ask him to go to Caesarea to a centurion who seeks a relationship with the Jewish God. He just knows what the Holy Spirit has told him, and so he obeys.

Peter's admission, "I am the one you are looking for" is quite different from his response to others years before. While Jesus was being questioned and beaten by the Jewish leadership, Peter denied his identity and his association with Jesus (Mark 14:53–72). Now, he is going downstairs to meet with a Roman soldier who is probably wearing a similar uniform to the soldiers who beat and crucified Jesus then threw lots for Jesus' clothes (John 19).

Direct speech from the Holy Spirit is rare these days, but we can hear from God daily. The Bible is His Word to us. It contains so much of what we need to know—yet too many times it seems easy for us to ignore it. Peter heard what God wanted of him because he had a specific role in the development of the church, and because he acted faithfully when God gave him instructions in the past. In a similar way, if we are faithful with what we know God wants, He will communicate with us more, in large part by helping us understand what His Word means. But if we cannot be faithful with the little God has already given us, it's unlikely He'll give us much more (Matthew 25:21).

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.