Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #18 - 11:1-18)
B. 11:1-18 GOD'S SOVEREIGN CHOICE ACCEPTED BY JEWS
a. 11:1 JUDEAN BELIEVERS HEAR OF GENTILE BLESSING
Ekou-san de hoi aPOsto-loi kai hoi a-delPHOI hoi ONtes kaTA ten IouDAIan
Now the apostles and the brethren that were in :Judea
HOti kai ta ETHne eDExan-to ton LOgon tou TheOU.
heard that the nations also had received the word of :God.
b. 11:2-3 JUDAIZERS CONTEND WITH PETER
HOte de aNEbe PEtros eis Ie-rou-saLEM, di-eKRInon-to [1252] pros auTON hoi ek pe-ri-toMES,
And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they of thecircumcision contended with him,
LEgon-tes, HOti eiSELthen pros ANdras a-kro-buSTIan [203]Echon-tas, kai suNEpha-gen auTOIS.
3saying, that he went in unto men uncircumcised, and had eaten with them.
c. 11:4-6 PETER RECOUNTS GOD'S VISION TO HIM
arXAme-nos de PEtros, e-xeTIthe-to [1620] auTOIS ka-theXES [2517], LEgon:
But Peter began, andexpounded to them in order, saying:
E-GOEmen en POlei IOPpepro-seuCHOme-nos;
5I was in Joppa city praying;
kai EIdon en ekSTAsei [1611] HOra-ma [3705], ka-taBAInon [2597] SKEU-OS [4632] ti,
and in a trance I saw a vision, a certain vessel descending,
hos oTHOnen [3607]meGAlen TESsar-sin arCHAIS ka-thi-eMEnen [2524]ek tou ou-raNOU;
as if a great sheet let down from :heaven by four corners;
kai ELthen Achri eMOU: eis hen a-teNIsas [816], ka-teNOoun [2657],
and it came even unto me: 6upon which when I had fixed my eyes, I considered,
kai EIdon ta teTRApo-da [5074] tes ges kai ta theRIa [2342]
and saw the fourfooted and the wild beasts of the earth
kai ta her-peTA [2062] kai ta pe-teiNA [4071] tou ou-raNOU.
and :creeping things and the birds of the heaven.
d. 11:7 And I heard also a voice saying to me, Rise, Peter; kill and eat.
Ekou-sa de kai phoNES leGOUses moi, AnaSTAS, PEtre; THUson [2380]kai PHAge.
e. 11:8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean has ever entered into my :mouth.
EIpon de, Me-daMOS, KUri-e: HOti koiNONeaKAthar-ton ouDEpo-te eiSELthen eis to STOma mou.
f. 11:9 GOD REBUKES PETER'S DISOBEDIENCE
a-peKRIthede ek deuTErou PHOneek tou ou-raNOU,
But a voice answered a second timeout of :heaven,
Ha ho TheOS e-kaTHAri-sen [2511], su me KOInou.
What God has cleansed, don't YOU make common.
g. 11:10 And this was done thrice: and all were drawn up again into the heaven.
TOUto de eGEne-to ePI tris: kai a-neSPASthe[385]PAlin HApan-ta eis ton ou-raNON.
h. 11:11 THREE MEN SENT FROM CAESAREA
kai iDOU, e-xauTES treis ANdres ePEste-san ePI ten oiKIan
And lo, right away three men stood before the house
en he Emen, a-pe-stalMEnoi aPO Kai-saRIas pros me.
in which we were, sent from Caesarea unto me.
i. 11:12a And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction.
EIpen de to PNEU-MA moi su-nelTHEIN auTOIS, meDEN di-aKRInan-ta [1252].
j. 11:12b-14 SIX WITNESSES WITH PETER WHO HEARD CORNELIUS' VISION
ELthon de sun eMOI kai hoi hex a-delPHOI HOUtoi; kai eiSELtho-men eis ton OIkon tou anDROS:
And these :six brethren also went with me; and we went in into the man's :house:
aPEGgei-len [518]de heMIN pos EIden ton AGge-lon
13and he reported to us how he had seen the angel
en to OIkoauTOU staTHENta, kai eiPONta, A-POstei-lon [649]eis IOppen,
standing in his :house, and saying, Send to Joppa,
kai meTApem-psai [3343] SImo-na, ton e-pi-kaLOUme-non [1941]PEtron;
and fetch Simon, whose surname is Peter;
hos laLEsei 'REma-ta pros se, en hois soTHEsesu, kai pas ho OI-KOS sou.
14 who shall speak unto you words, by which YOU shall be saved, and all your :house.
k. 11:15 THE CONFIRMATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
en de to ARxasTHAI me laLEIN, ePEpe-sen to PNEUma to HAgi-on
And as I :began to speak, the Holy :Spirit
ep' auTOUS, HOsper kai eph' heMAS en arCHE.
fell on them, even as on us at thebeginning.
l. 11:16 JOHN PROPHESIED THIS BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
emNESthen [3415]de tou 'REma-tos tou KuRIou, hos Ele-gen, IoAnes men eBAPti-sen HUda-ti;
And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water;
huMEIS de bap-tisTHEses-the en PNEUma-ti HaGIo.
but YOU shall be baptized in theHoly Spirit.
m. 11:17 PETER'S SOUND REASONING IN DEFENSE OF HIS ACTION
ei oun ten Isen do-reAN [1431]Edo-ken auTOIS ho TheOS hos kai heMIN,
If then :God gave them the like gift as also to us,
piSTEUsa-sin ePI ton KUri-on IeSOUN ChrisTON, eGO tis Emen, du-naTOS koLUsai ton TheON?
who had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand :God?
n. 11:18 JUDAIZERS ACCEPT GOD'S WISHES IN THE MATTER
aKOUsan-tes de TAUta, heSUcha-san [2270], kai eDOxa-san [1392]ton TheON, LEgon-tes,
And when they heard these things,they held their peace, and glorified :God, saying,
Ara kai tois ETHne-sin ho TheOS ten meTAnoi-an [3341]eis zo-EN [2222]Edoken.
Then to the nations also has :God granted :repentance unto life.
NOTE: 11:1-18 - Peter reports to the apostles and elders of Jerusalem, chiefly the Judaizers, how God set up by two visions the “key of the Kingdom” to be used in opening the Gospel to Gentiles. Those of a Judaizing spirit among the Pharisees - couldn't conceive that what Peter had done could have been of God!
Fortunately, Peter had brought along six believing Jews from Joppa, who served as witnesses with him as to what God had led in.
Peter in verse 16 added an extra thought that had not been brought out in Acts chapter 10 - namely his remembrance of the Lord Jesus' words as to the relationship between John's water-baptism - to be followed by the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Peter then used this point to show that what God did for Gentiles was exactly what He promised for Jews on the Day of Pentecost.
Thiswas the beginning of the “One New Man” composed of both Jew and Gentile, and recounted in the letter to the Ephesians by Paul.
This last point satisfied all objections. God was glorified for granting repentance unto life to Gentiles equally with Jews. Yet - though this was a first big step in a right direction - still it took Acts 15 and the Book of Galatians to follow-up - and even then there were continuing Judaizers who refused to accept the Gospel to Gentiles on the basis of Acts 15. J.A.W.
2