Wrestling with the Scripture: Acts 10:34-48
Every week, I return to the original languages of Scripture. Both Hebrew and Greek shape how I preach, teach, and walk in faith. This is not a performance or a seminary flex. This is how I stay faithful to the text and sensitive to what the Spirit is still saying.
This week’s lesson comes from Acts 10:34–48, where Peter learns something powerful about God’s heart and the reach of the Gospel. Below is my personal translation from the Greek, with notes and reflections I try to keep my translations literal so the wording is strange in English. But I pray will encourage you in your study, especially if you're called to ministry or wrestling with Scripture in a deeper way.
Acts 10:34-48
34- And Peter opened his mouth and said, "Of truth I understand that God does not show partiality."
NOTE: Here we see Peter having formerly thought that there was a categorizing of things based on dietary laws and more. The categories were meant for that which God had deemed to be unclean. But it was never meant to be permanent. The whole time God had decided that that which was created by Him would be good. We in our sin became a distorted image of what God had created. But through Christ and baptism we have been reborn! Nothing God has CREATED is unclean, even that which is reCREATED!
35- But in all/every nation who fears/reverences him and does what is right is acceptable/pleasing to Him (pertaining to being acceptable or approved by someone).
NOTE: Peter has presently understood that every person regardless of where they come from or who they are, are acceptable to God if they have reverence for God and do what is right and acceptable to Him. It is impossible to do that without the Word or a teacher.
36- The word He sent to the sons of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all.
NOTE: God sent the word or a message to the lineage of Abraham, the people of faith. And within that message there was a peace that was presented that was not formerly present. Jesus is not just the God of a people group but of all those who have faith in YHWH, submit to His will, and do what is right according to the standard of God.
37- You all know what took place beginning with Judea after the baptism that John announced.
NOTE: Peter begins to tell the story or preach the Gospel. This is most definitely a transition point in the pericope. He begins with what he has experienced first, then he connects it to his audience. This is almost like Stanley’s preaching model: Me, We, God, You, We. John came preaching a Gospel of Repentance. That is an important place to begin before delving too deeply into the Gospel message. This baptism was for repentance. We see the Greek word of metanoia being used here. This looks like a compound word with the root words meta and nous being used. Meta can mean either change or beyond; in the instance and context for John’s usage, it is change. Nous means mind. John, a forerunner of Christ, was telling people to change their minds. His baptism was forward-looking and not the one that took place in Acts 2 for the repentance of sins. For the sinner and Christian baptism, not John’s, there must be a change of heart that leads to a change of action. Peter is letting the household of Cornelius know exactly what must transpire in order for them to be in relationship with Christ.
Luke 3:3
Mark 1:4
Acts 19:4
38- How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went around doing good (doing good works) and healing (taking those who were previously sick and making them well) all who were oppressed (those who were under the power of someone else, those being pushed down by power) by the devil, for God was with Him.
NOTE: God gave Jesus a task. Peter made sure to plainly point out which Jesus, since it was a common name, the one from Nazareth. God gave Jesus the Holy Spirit and power to accomplish the task of doing good works and healing those who have been impacted by the fallen world. It states that those whom Jesus encounters, all of us before we become Christians, are under the power or oppressed by the power of this world. Our fallen state is much different from that which was meant to be in the Garden of Eden. The one who is behind this is the being who has the adjective of diabolos in the Greek or the one who hurls things across or through. He hurls or throws confusion, chaos, he throws distorted images of God to keep you from Him, he hurls accusations about you not being good enough for a relationship with God to God about you. Jesus does the opposite. He hurls good works. Instead of presenting things that cause true death, separation from God, he undoes the power of that which is evil.
39- And we are witnesses to what happened in the land of Judea and Jerusalem. Who they executed also by hanging him on a tree.
NOTE: Peter tells them the outcome of the person who was undoing the will of the adversary. He was executed in a gruesome fashion.
40- This one/man God raised on the third day and made Him visible.
NOTE: I’m not sure why, but the demonstrative pronoun at the beginning of this verse is not translated in most versions. Peter again is pointing out the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was the one whom God worked through. Why this omission took place is beyond me. I will have to look into that. I found out that this was used to simplify the verse in English, but God has inspired Luke to write what he wrote. This emphasizes that this is Jesus of Nazareth. He did it. Amen, amen, and amen. I’m going to preach the pronoun.
41- Not to all people but witnesses chosen beforehand by God, us, who ate together and drank together with Him after He had risen from the dead.
NOTE: God revealed the risen Christ specifically to a chosen beforehand group of people. These people were the ones who sat and ate with Him prior to His coming to power. I believe this signifies the fact that they had relationship with Him prior or previously. They believed before having the major reason to believe. They believed before they saw. They were similar to Abraham.
42- And He commanded us all to preach (to announce in a format or official manner by means of a herald or one who functions as a herald) to the people and to testify that this one/man (demonstrative pronoun withheld from English translations) was appointed by God to judge (one who presides over a court session and pronounces judgment) the living and the dead.
NOTE: These chosen ones were chosen, the twelve, were chosen to preach. Now this means one who heralds or presents a message or announcement. This is lost on our current culture mainly due to the freedoms that we currently possess. There is not one figure in our culture who, when they announce something, everyone must fall in line with or else. Our president does not have that kind of power, our governor does not have that kind of power, our mayors do not possess that kind of power. Teachers, bosses, supervisors, parents, etc. In their culture, if the king sent a herald, it better be followed or else. This is not like the morning announcements at church. This is to be obeyed. I know I use movies a lot for examples, but this is like the Silver Surfer in the Fantastic Four comics. Before the villain Galactus comes to eat your planet, he sends the Silver Surfer to herald the fact that it is going to happen no matter what. In the case with God, He is not being a bully but is simply stating that He is doing the opposite of what the adversary is doing. He has not sent Jesus to confuse, distort, or put under an oppressive rule or authority. He has not come to bring death. But He has come to set free, to heal, to liberate, to bring clarity and peace.
43- This one all the prophets testify a release/pardon of sins (to act contrary to the will and law of God) received through His name everyone who believes in Him.
NOTE: Peter tells them that all the prophets, those sent by God with a message, were talking about previously the release from the former weight of sin. Sin once held us captive and stuck in the order or process of the fallen world that ended in true death, a separation from God. But in this one, Jesus, we have a pardon or release from the things that we have done that are contrary to the will of God. This pardon is found through His name, and we access it through belief in Jesus, that one.
44- While Peter was still yet speaking these words (words, saying, expression, that which was spoken), the Holy Spirit fell upon those who heard the word (word, what is preached, the gospel).
NOTE: Something abnormal is happening here. This is not the formula for conversion but a pattern through which God has used since Acts 2. The Spirit is being poured out in order to confirm that God is doing that which was spoken about in Joel 2. He is up to something great. It is not just for the Jewish people to be a part of what Jesus has accomplished. Remember the first part of Acts 10. This is about the understanding of the expansion of the Kingdom. The Spirit falling upon them is not the eradication of the Spirit coming through baptism as shown in Acts 2. It is the confirmation that they too have a stake or share in the inheritance of salvation from YHWH God. This is for Peter as much as it is for us or them. God is confirming His work.
45- And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were astounded/overwhelmed, that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
NOTE: It is not by accident here that Peter had people who were Jewish with him who had been shown that the promise of the Gospel through Jesus Christ was not just for a nation of people on this earth but for all. They even use the language of Joel 2. God has included all people. So, it is not an us versus them but a He is for us. It is He versus him, the adversary. He loves us so much as His image bearers that He is willing to go against the one who is vehemently attacking us and accusing us as unworthy to Him. And the most powerful thing about it is that the evidence of our unworthiness is not too far from the truth. It is self-inflicted wounds.
46- For they heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God. At that time Peter responded.
NOTE: The Gentiles are showing attributes that the twelve showed on the Day of Pentecost. God is in what is happening. He is confirming them.
47- Surely not anyone can withhold water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?
NOTE: Here is confirmation of my earlier arguments. This moment confirms it and Peter restates the confirmation. This falling or pouring of the Spirit is to show that they too are worthy of the baptism, forgiveness of sins, and admittance into the church/body just the same as the Jewish people. Baptism still plays a part. And earlier I want to point out that he mentioned the other baptism of John which was an outward expression of something else happening. This baptism is the one explained in Acts 2 that points us to and brings us into the household of faith for salvation.
48- So he gave orders/commanded them in the name of Jesus Christ to baptize them, then they asked him to stay a few days.
NOTE: There was no baptism Sunday set aside a few weeks later. Peter shows here an urgency to baptize. This one is still saving, though He no longer dwells on the earth as a physical being. He moves through His people, He moves through the church.
God is still speaking through His Word, and there is so much more when we slow down and listen with open eyes and willing hearts. I hope this encourages you to keep translating, keep wrestling, and keep returning to the Word with expectation.
Whether you’re preparing to preach, teaching a class, or just sitting with the text at home, may your study never grow stale. If you are a person who is thinking about being in ministry, THIS is your sign! DM me and we can talk about places that will help you make that possible. May the Word be alive in you.
🕯️ Be the light. Be LED.
— Bro. C.W. Stephens
