Slides: Acts 10-11

Slide 1

10:2

almsgiving and appreciation of Jews who knew him (10:22)

-       Devotion, cultural humbling

-       God’s interest in “seekers”

“God- fearer”

-       Not circumcised, “righteous Gentiles”

-       Attested in Josephus, Philo, inscriptions

-       Cornelius not yet a full convert to Judaism (10:28)

-       Soldiers interested in religion

Slide 2

Household

-       Couldn’t “marry”

-       “concubines” common

-       centurions frequently moved

-       Caesarea: troops begged not be be moved

. “relatives”: v. 24

-       Wives supposed to share husband’s religion

-       “House”: maybe servants or freedmen (10:7)

-       cheap slave: 1/3 of regular soldier’s annual pay

-       centurions: 15x pay of soldiers

10:3: c. 3 PM—Jewish evening prayer (3:1)

Slide 3

10:9-16 Peter’s Vision

-       10:9: Travel

-       Caesarea: about 30 miles N. of Joppa

-       Even immediately after 3 PM (10:3)

-       All night on foot, or on horses (to be approaching Joppa by noon)—urgency

-       Flat rooftops: drying vegetables, prayers

-       If under canopy, cooler even at midday than most Palestinian homes

-       Not a “regular” hour of prayer

10:10: noon was normal time for a meal in Rome

Slide 4

10:14-16: horrifying diet

10:12: clean + unclean = unclean

Cf. Ezek. 4:13-15:

-       Over human dung

-       Protests

Maccabees: die rather than eat unclean food

God can declare anything clean

-       Incl. Gentiles (10:28)

Slide 5

10:17-23a Receiving the Gentiles

10:17: How to find Peter?

-       Joppa a large town

-       Simon “the tanner”: near water, tanning district

-       Ask directions there

-       Outer gate: a man of some means

Slide 6

10:18-22

why “Calling out”?

-       Unclean can’t enter (10:28)

Role of HS (10:19; and 8:29)

Peter “went down”

-       Outside staircase leading from flat roof

Slide 7

10:23a

Pharisees: concerned about impure table fellowship

Lodging Gentiles overnight!

Tanner maybe less concerned with strict rules

Also Joppa a mixed town

Problem just for stricter members (cf. 15:5)

Slide 8

10:23b extra companions: for witnesses (Deut. 17:6, 19:15).

10:24

Left around sunrise

-       30 miles

-       “Following day”: stayed overnight along way (v.30)

-       mixed town (perhaps Apollonia, just under ½ way)

“Relatives”

-       = “countrymen”

-       OR: Cornelius or his concubine local

Slide 9

10:25-26. Homage as if divine- pagans offered to others: 14:11, 28:6

10:27-29

. Devout Jews would not enter idolater’s homes

. apparently extended to any Gentile’s home

. unclean to eat their food or to drink their wine

. prevented dining together at banquets

. Gentiles thought Jews anti-social

Slide 10

10:34-43 Peter’s Message

. Ready to preach as Peter was? Get over prejudices?

. “Doing good”: “benefacting” (rulers, deities)

Jesus anointed (LK 4): model for church (Acts 2)

10:42. In most Jud., God himself is judge (& “Lord of all,” 10:36)

10:43. (prob. general sense: all prophets testify of forgiveness through God’s grace provided in time of the Messiah)

Slide 11

10:44-48 Saved Gentiles

 Ready to learn from God’s own activity?

10:44. Interruption

-       Common literary device

-       Also in real life (interrupting speakers)

10:45-47

-       Eschat. HS: for Israel only

-       Most Jewish teachers: only most pious

-       Same gift (v.47), “for they heard” tongues (v.46)

-       Tongues always?

. Not mentioned in 8:15

. is mentioned in 19:6, + prophecy

Slide 12

10:48

-       Baptism: public declaration of conversion (w/o circ.)

-       Longer Gentile lodging: would compound offense/ reinforce lesson (10:28)

Slide 13

11:1-18 Called on the Carpet

God’s way (with people as priority) sometimes offends church traditions

Slide 14

11:2-3

Circ. to fully convert to Judaism

-       Not necessarily to be saved- only most conservative

Natural inference from Gen 17

-       Unless eschatological

Ate with ritually unclean Gentiles (10:28)

-       Failed to do it in Gal. 2:42

Slide 15

11:16-17

God baptized in HS

-       Eschat. Covenant reality to which outward circ. pointed

-       Baptism as act of conversion

-       God had accepted their conversion

11:18 “even the Gentiles”

Many: righteous Gentiles who kept Noahide laws

No one believed this made Gentiles members of covenant people

Slide 16

11:19-30 The Ministry at Antioch

Rural Galilee to urban Jerusalem to cosmopolitan Antioch

Rapid transition rare: great flexibility

Judaism had adapted to these various settings over centuries

Provided a conduit for Chr’s

Do we feel comfortable moving into new ministry settings?

Slide 17

11:19

Large Jewish communities in Phoenicia, Cyprus (4:36), and Antioch

Thus natural places to settle after 8:1-4

11:20-21

Cyprus and Cyrene

-       People like Barnabas, Lucius of Cyrene

Speaking also to Hellenists:

-       Vs. Jews, thus Greeks, hellenized Syrians

-       Shared larger language, culture

-       Hellenist Jews formed natural bridge

Slide 18

Antioch on the Orontes in Syria

-       3rd largest urban center of antiquity (after Rome and Alexandria)

-       residents: 100,000-600,000

-       3^rd/4^th largest city in empire

-       headquarters of Rome’s Syrian legion

-       brief river journey to Seleucia, its Medit. port city

-       religiously: within walking distance of famous cult center of Apollo

-       many mystery cults: known for its pagan religious diversity

-       pluralistic: upwardly mobile and usually accepted Jewish element; many “God-fearers”

-       far less segregated than Alexandria

-       some more liberal Diaspora Jews used best in pagan philosophy to witness

-       circumcision less issue: King of Adiabene

Slide 19

11:22-24

Barnabas trusted God’s work in people (9:27, 15:37-39)

-       Hillel: gentle, took Gentiles where they were at

-       Paul more critical

-       Example for us

11:25 Tarsus was c. 100 miles to N.

11:26

“Christians”

-       Nickname here; charge in 1 P 4:16

-       Analogy a political party: “Caesarians”, “Herodians”, “Pompeianians”, etc

-       Antiochans known for making fun of people

-       Chr’s in 2d century adopted with pride

Slide 20

11:27

Prophets:

-       Greek oracles at cultic centers

-       But no other prophetic movements (cf. 1 Sam 19; 2 Kgs 2, 4)

Traveling:

-       Frequent mobility in antiquity

-       Not “wandering prophets”

Slide 21

11:28 Famine

series of Medit. famines devastated agriculture in Claudius’ reign

high grain prices c AD 46

grain shortage in Rome c. 51: Claudius mobbed in streets

Queen Helena of Adiabene bought Egyptian grain “for large sums” (due to famine there) to help Judea (c. 45-46)

Slide 22

11:29-30

Applic,: relief efforts abroad (cf. 2 Cor 8-9)

Sacrifice: famine for Antioch too- but Jerusalem poorer)

Most Jewish relief efforts local (except Helena)

Multiprovincial organizations suspect in Empire

Prepared in advance through prophecy (cf. Gen. 41:33-36)