John 10
Acts 10 is an important turning point where the gospel is transmitted beyond the Jews to the Gentiles in a decisive way. This chapter announces that the gospel is open to everyone, regardless of race or nationality, as the Roman centurion Cornelius and the apostle Peter each experience a vision.
1verse“Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber.
2verseBut one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3verseThe gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4verseWhenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5verseThey will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”
6verseJesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7verseJesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.
8verseAll who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.
9verseI am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out and will find pasture.
10verseThe thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
11verse“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12verseHe who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.
13verseThe hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care for the sheep.
14verseI am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
15verseeven as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
16verseI have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.
17verseTherefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
18verseNo one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
19verseTherefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words.
20verseMany of them said, “He has a demon and is insane! Why do you listen to him?”
21verseOthers said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”
22verseIt was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.
23verseIt was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
24verseThe Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25verseJesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me.
26verseBut you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.
27verseMy sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
28verseI give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29verseMy Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
30verseI and the Father are one.”
31verseTherefore the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32verseJesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”
33verseThe Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
34verseJesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?
35verseIf he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken),
36versedo you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
37verseIf I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me.
38verseBut if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
39verseThey sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand.
40verseHe went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and he stayed there.
41verseMany came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.”
42verseMany believed in him there.
Cornelius’s Vision and His Devoutness
Cornelius is a Gentile, yet he is a person who is devout, reveres God, and always prays and gives to the needy (verses 1-2). God remembers his devoutness and good deeds, and in a vision sends an angel to instruct him to summon Peter (verses 3-8). This scene shows that God seeks those who revere Him, regardless of their nation.
Peter’s Vision and Change
Meanwhile, Peter who was in Joppa also sees, in a vision, a large sheet coming down from heaven filled with every kind of unclean animal (verses 9-16). In God’s voice, He tells Peter, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Through this vision, Peter is prepared to reinterpret the boundaries he had previously held (concepts of purity and impurity).
Cornelius’s House Visit and Evidence of the Gospel
Led by the Holy Spirit, Peter goes to Cornelius’s house (verses 17-29). Having been invited by Cornelius, Peter—though he is a Jew—would normally be forbidden to enter a Gentile’s home. But by God’s command, he willingly crosses that boundary. There, Peter boldly proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross and the resurrection, and the fact that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins (verses 34-43).
The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles
As the message is being proclaimed, the Holy Spirit comes upon the entire household of Cornelius (verses 44-46). This is an experience identical to the event of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, proving that the Gentiles are also God’s children. Then Peter and those who believe are all amazed, and they also give baptism to the Gentiles (verses 47-48).
Reflection Points
- God’s gaze transcends the walls of nationality or culture. We can reflect on where we place the boundaries of the gospel.
- God remembers our prayers and our devout way of life, and He answers in ways we could never imagine. Let us examine what direction our faith life is taking.
- Just as Peter’s obedience and change show, let us check whether we are prepared to readily accept God’s guidance beyond familiar beliefs or boundaries.
Try Applying It to Yourself
- If you have a limited view of the gospel or any prejudice, lay it before God and look at your neighbors and the world with a broader perspective.
- Consider and practice whether you can treat Gentiles like the “Cornelius” around you—those who are unfamiliar—with God’s love and attention.
- Pray so that, with a heart open to God’s new calling and to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you can respond beyond what feels familiar.
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