Acts 10:41 Komentář

It is a turn very new and remarkable which the story of this chapter gives to the Acts of the apostles; hitherto, both at Jerusalem and every where else where the ministers of Christ came, they preached the gospel only to the Jews, or those Greeks that were circumcised and proselyted to the Jews' religion; but now, "Lo, we turn to the Gentiles;" and to them the door of faith is here opened: good news indeed to us sinners of the Gentiles. The apostle Peter is the man that is first employed to admit uncircumcised Gentiles into the Christian church; and Cornelius, a Roman centurion or colonel, is the first that with his family and friends is so admitted. Now here we are told, I. How Cornelius was directed by a vision to send for Peter, and did send for him accordingly (Act 10:1-8). II. How Peter was directed by a vision to go to Cornelius, though he was a Gentile, without making any scruple of it, and did go accordingly (Act 10:9-23). III. The happy interview between Peter and Cornelius at Cesarea (Act 10:24-33). IV. The sermon Peter preached in the house of Cornelius to him and to his friends (Act 10:34-43). V. The baptizing of Cornelius and his friends with the Holy Ghost first, and then with water (Act 10:44-48).

There was a certain man in Caesarea,.... This was the Caesarea formerly called Strato's tower, not Caesarea Philippi; for the former, and not the latter, lay near Joppa: called Cornelius; which was a Roman name, and he himself was a Roman or an Italian: a centurion of the band called the Italian band; which consisted of soldiers collected out of Italy, from whence the band took its name, in which Cornelius was a centurion, having a hundred men under him, as the name of his office signifies.

Not to all the people,.... Of the Jews, who crucified him; nor to the whole body of the Christians, though at one time to a large number, even five hundred brethren at once: but unto witnesses chosen before of God; by Christ himself, who is God: even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead; namely, to the apostles, with whom he familiarly conversed by times, for the space of forty days after his resurrection; and Beza's most ancient copy; and the Ethiopic version here add, "forty days"; and particularly he did sometimes eat and drink with them; Luk 24:42 and though drinking is not mentioned, it is included in eating, as in Luk 7:36 wherefore there is no need to connect the last clause, "after he rose from the dead", with the latter part of the preceding verse, as some do, on that account.

"Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead." This is a proof of the Resurrection. "And gave Him," it is added, "to be made manifest not to all the people, but to witnesses before ordained of God, even unto us:" and yet it was Christ Himself that elected them; but this also he refers to God. "To the before-ordained," he says, "even to us, who did eat and drink with Him after that He was risen from the dead." See whence he fetches his assurance of the resurrection. What is the reason that being risen he did no sign, but only ate and drank? Because the Resurrection itself was a great sign, and of this nothing was so much a sign as the eating and drinking.

For since eating is proper to them that live this present life, of necessity the Lord by means of eating and drinking proved the resurrection of the flesh to those who did not acknowledge it to be real. This same course he pursued in the case of Lazarus and of Jairus’s daughter. For when he had raised up the latter he ordered that something should be given her to eat, and he made Lazarus sit with him at the table39 and so showed the reality of the rising again.

Now, certainly, he shared a new food, one not in accord with the prior order in which he had eaten and drunk with them before the resurrection. For at that time, having been made similar to us in everything except for sin, he ate and drank just as we do. Moreover, clothing himself in the flesh, he willingly sought the benefit of nourishment, and so he willingly assimilated himself to the experience of hunger. After the resurrection he did not need to eat or drink anymore, but only as one believed in by and as one giving evidence to his intimate disciples. Another reason [he ate and drank was that] those who later on were to believe in the true nature of the body—that body that suffered voluntarily and arose in a divine way (totally driving away the idea of an accursed apparition and phantasm)—needed these actions. After the resurrection, he named food and drink for himself together with his disciples, not according to his previous practice but something new.

Therefore, he confirms Christ's resurrection by the fact that they ate with him after the resurrection. For he did not make any sign from the resurrection; for the resurrection itself was a great sign, and there was no such sign of a resurrection as eating and drinking. [CHRYSOSTOM]

For us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. Here blessed Peter expounds what is not recited in the Gospel, namely, that after the resurrection, he drank with the Lord. Unless perhaps we believe it was indicated there where he says: Until I drink it new with you in the house of My Father.

For us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. In Greek, it is added, "For forty days," and Saint Augustine declared that it is so in his Codex, and in explaining it, he added: "Not that they ate and drank with him every day for forty days. For it would be contrary to John, who interposed those eight days during which he was not seen by them, to manifest himself for the third time at the Sea of Tiberias." Explaining the sacrament of his eating and his fasting for as many days elsewhere, he says: "He fasted when he was tempted before his death, still needing food; but he ate and drank when he was glorified, no longer needing food. For there he showed our labor in himself, but here he showed his comfort in us, defining both by forty days. For he fasted for forty days when he was tempted in the desert, as it is written in the Gospel, before the death of his flesh; and again, he was with the disciples for forty days coming and going, eating and drinking after the resurrection of his flesh." By this number forty, the duration of this world seems signified, in those who are called by grace to him, who did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. For there are ten commandments of the law already spread through the world by Christ's grace, and the world is divided into four parts, and ten multiplied by four makes forty, for the Lord redeemed them from the regions; he gathered them from the East and the West, from the North and the sea (Psalm 106). Therefore, fasting for forty days before his death, he seemed to cry out: Abstain from the desires of this world (1 Peter 2): but eating and drinking for forty days after the resurrection of his flesh, he cried out: Behold, I am with you until the end of the age. For fasting is in the tribulation of struggle, since he who is in the contest abstains from all things; but food is in the hope of peace, which will not be perfect until our body, of which we await the redemption, puts on immortality, which we do not yet glory in attaining, but are already fed by hope. The Apostle shows us doing both at the same time, saying: Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, as if the former were in food, the latter in fasting. For while we follow the way of the Lord, we both fast from the vanity of the present age and are refreshed by the promise of the future, here not setting our hearts, there feeding them above.

"Witnesses… chosen before." Although Jesus Christ Himself chose them, the expression "chosen before" he ascribes to God the Father. "Who ate and drank with Him." Look at how he confirms the truth of the resurrection. Why did Jesus Christ, after rising, not perform any miracle, but ate and drank? Because the resurrection itself was a great miracle. Moreover, there is not and could not be in this case a greater miracle than that He ate and drank.

Not to all the people - In the order of Divine providence, the public were to be no longer instructed by Jesus Christ personally; but it was necessary that those who were to preach redemption in his name should be thoroughly furnished to this good and great work; therefore, the time he spent on earth, after his resurrection, was devoted to the instruction of his disciples. Witnesses chosen before of God - That is, God chose such men to attest this fact as were every way best qualified to give evidence on the subject; persons who were always to be found; who might at all times be confronted with those, if any such should offer themselves, who could pretend to prove that there was any imposture in this case; and persons who, from the very circumstances in which they were placed, must appear to have an absolute conviction of the truth of all they attested. The first preachers of the Gospel must be the witnesses of its facts; and these first preachers must be put in such circumstances as to demonstrate, not only that they had no secular end in view, nor indeed could have any, but also that they should be able to evince that they had the fullest conviction of the reality of the eternal world, and of their Master's existence in glory there; as they carried their lives continually in their hands, and regarded them not, so that they might fulfill the ministry which they had received from their Lord, and finish their course with joy. But why was not Christ, after his resurrection, shown to all the people! 1. Because it was impossible that such a thing could be done without mob and tumult. Let it only be announced, "Here is the man who was dead three days, and who is risen from the dead!" what confusion would be the consequence of such an exposure! Some would say, This is he; others, He is like him; and so on; and the valid testimony must be lost in the confusion of the multitude. 2. God chose such witnesses whose testimony should be unimpeachable; the men who knew him best, and who by their depositions in proof of the fact should evidently risk their lives. And, 3. as multitudes are never called to witness any fact, but a few selected from the rest, whose knowledge is most accurate, and whose veracity is unquestionable, therefore, God showed not Christ risen from the dead to all the people, but to witnesses chosen by himself; and they were such as perfectly knew him before, and who ate and drank with him after his resurrection, and consequently had the fullest proof and conviction of the truth of this fact.

ACCESSION AND BAPTISM OF CORNELIUS AND HIS PARTY; OR, THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THE GENTILES. (Acts 10:1-48) CÃ&brvbrsarea--(See on Act 8:40). the Italian band--a cohort of Italians, as distinguished from native soldiers, quartered at CÃ&brvbrsarea, probably as a bodyguard to the Roman procurator who resided there. An ancient coin makes express mention of such a cohort in Syria. [AKERMAN, Numismatic Illustrations of the New Testament.]