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Preparation of a New Lunch Menu in Joppa
Roman Judea

And Peter stayed in Joppa many days with a tanner named Simon.
ACTS of the Apostles 9:43 NASB20

In fact, an angel has just told a Roman centurion the day before where he can send his ambassadors to find Simon Peter.

The Gospel of an Angel to Cornelius

and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. –ACTS 10:8

What’s for lunch? – a scene in Joppa
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Some quoted text from NASB20 + CLICK Below to read ALL of Acts 10 in:
1550 Stephanus New Testament; Easy-to-Read English Version; Conferenza Episcopale Italiana; Russian Synodal Version 
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ACTS 10: of Simon Peter in Joppa

.. Peter went up on the housetop about [noon] the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance..

Has that ever happened to you?

You’re hungry.. but you doze off while the sounds and aromas of lunch or dinner fill you with dreams rather than the action of coming to the table to eat.

But Simon’s trance is no ordinary dream!
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CLICK trance ABOVE for full definition of ἔκστασις [ek'-stas-is]
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an alienation of mind

He saw something coming down through the open sky. It looked like a big sheet being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13 Then a voice said to him,

“Get up, Peter; kill anything here and eat it.”

“By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything [common or profane] unholy and unclean.”

15 But the voice said to him again,

“God has made these things pure. Don’t say they are unfit to eat.”

16 This happened three times. Then the whole thing was taken back up into heaven. Peter wondered what this vision meant.

A Roman Soldier with two men at the gate

.. behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius had asked directions to Simon’s house, and they appeared at the gate; and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.
ACTS of the Apostles 10:17b-18 NASB20
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From the roof of the home of Simon the tanner (where the gate would be clearly visible) as the Apostle emerges from his trance he hears these men.
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19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him,

“Behold, three men are looking for you.

“Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
ACTS of the Apostles 10:20 NKJV

Goyim guests for lunch! גוים‎

Simon Peter, the Apostle forgiven by the risen Christ for his own doubt just beyond the gate of Jesus’ trial, must certainly wonder what the Lord has in store for him by sending these UN-jewish Roman guests to him. Yet obediently, Peter descends from his noon-time prayers and roof-top trance to meet these Romans at Simon’s door.

“Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”

22 The men said, “A holy angel told Cornelius to invite you to his house. He is an army officer. He is a good man, one who worships God, and all the Jewish people respect him. The angel told him to invite you to his house so that he can listen to what you have to say.”

Roman house guests in Jewish Joppa

The Apostle Philip, of course, has already preached the Gospel in Caesarea. But these Romans from their own capital city up the coast have not come to our jewish port of Joppa from him.

https://talkofjesus.com/syria-strategic-map-into-all-of-the-world/
ACTS 8: .. the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away.. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
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Their journey between these two coastal ports takes most of a day on foot [~10-14 hours]. The ~60 km [~40 mile] trip by Cornelius' men from the early hours of the morning by have been by chariot. 
These Romans have arrived around lunch time.
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23 Peter asked the men to come in and stay for the night.

Lunch, Evening meal, Prayer together, conversation between these Romans and Peter and Simon.

And then, no doubt, an early prayer and breakfast for all..

Now on the next day he got ready and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

On the following day he entered Caesarea…

The Gospel Mission of Peter to Romans at Caesarea —

To be continued…
April 7, 2022
The Gospel of an Angel to Cornelius
ACTS 10 – of Cornelius – a devout Roman Centurion

Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian [~600 man] cohort, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and made many charitable contributions to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.

Who do we see here?

A Roman soldier in a navy town built by Caesar.

A devout humble worshipper of God.

A family man, leader of his household as well.

A generous man who gave to the Jews subjected to Roman rule, taxes and its army.

This is the Italian Centurion Κορνήλιος [Cornelius].

We have already read about the Angel he will encounter in ACTS 10:3
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Learn more about angels by clicking on our previous post below.
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He distinctly saw an angel of God

About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

Answer to a Roman prayer:

And he looked at him intently and became terrified, and said, “What is it, lord?”

Cornelius, a Roman centurion, calls the Angel, lord; that is respectfully addressing him as “sir” and waiting for the response of a superior.

And he said to him, “Your prayers and charitable gifts have ascended as a memorial offering before God.
ACTS 10:4b – the answer of an angel to the Roman Centurion Cornelius

Meanwhile, back in Joppa

Peter stayed in Joppa for many days with a man named Simon who was a leatherworker. – CLICK HERE for Greek, English, Italian & Russian for Acts 9:43
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We have already travelled to Joppa from Jerusalem with Simon Peter in Luke's account prior to this angelic encounter in Caesarea.
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Another Resurrection in Joppa

Ταβιθά – Δορκάς – Dorcas = “gazelle”
the name of a woman Peter raised from the dead

An Angel’s Command to a Roman Soldier in Caesarea

piadoso y temeroso de Dios con toda su casa, y que hacía muchas limosnas al pueblo, y oraba a Dios siempre.
Hechos 10:2 :: Reina-Valera 1960 (RVR60)

Luke’s Greek text describes Cornelius as εὐσεβής [eusebēs]. We would not want to miss the significance of worshipers of God of any ethnicity. [Above]

The word in Spanish resembles an English word which will put off some free-thinking evangelicals, but don’t miss it:

AN ANGEL of GOD came to an Italian in Roman Syria.

(NOT a Hebrew like the Apostles).

Cornelius is NOT even a Greek like Luke, born a Greek and a Gentile in Antioch, Syria.

The word Luke uses to describe him is Pious.

Cornelius EXEMPLIFIES the ACT of being pious or dutiful to all – especially God.

The Angel’s Messengers to Peter

εὐαγγέλιον – [pronounced] yoo-ang-ghel’-ee-on – Gospel
- good tidings
- same as εὐαγγελίζω (G2097) –
  - to bring good news, to announce glad tidings
- Do you recall from our look at Angels that they are messengers from God generally with a message for a man of God?
ΠΡΑΞΕΙΣ ΤΩΝ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΩΝ [ACTS] 10:4-8

“Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”
ACTS 10:5-6 [NASB20] of an Angel of God instructing Cornelius with his gospel message

Obedient immediate response to the gospel

7 The angel who spoke to Cornelius left.

Then Cornelius called two of his servants and a soldier. The soldier was a religious man, one of his close helpers.

8 Cornelius explained everything to these three men and sent them to Joppa.

NEXT: A most unlikely lunch meeting in Joppa

Comment on Scripture in our series from ACTS +
Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord
TalkofJESUS.COM + Acts of the Apostles for a 21st c. Church
April 4, 2022
Another Resurrection in Joppa
death… Why do you weep?

Death’s Vigil

If you should pause briefly near death’s vigil, you may see some soul precariously perched on a precipice above the dark shadows of hades; yet.. lifted to light of life after death.. another resurrection in Christ to eternal glory with God Who Saves.

Peter and another resurrection as witness

Even as Peter travels some distance to Lydda and Joppa, somewhere back in towns nearer to Jerusalem a disciple named Lazarus witnesses another resurrection than that of the Lord Jesus Christ: his own.

So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”

It’s one of the tenderest lines in Scripture. Roger@talkofJESUS.com

– on witnesses of Jesus at Lazarus’ funeral John 11:36

In the ever so brief time prior to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection Peter, the Apostles and many disciples of the Lord Jesus had witnessed this powerful sign of the Messiah as Jesus called out to Lazarus to come out of the grave!

Earlier in Jesus ministry the Apostle also had witnessed yet another resurrection of a young man sitting up in his coffin about to be carried to his funeral wake in Nain!

Resurrection of a body which has fallen from life into the valley of death is nothing new to the Apostles. To Peter another resurrection would be completely possible IF it is the will of the Lord.

Acts 9:
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Click above for Gevurot 9:35-43 Orthodox Jewish Bible; Living Bible; Living Bible; Living Bible; Arabic Bible:
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Death’s appeal from Joppa
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A young woman has died..
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Her friends prepared her for burial and laid her in an upstairs room. ³⁸But when they learned that Peter was nearby at Lydda, they sent two men to beg him to return with them to Joppa.

Aeneas of Lydda: “I can walk!

Peter responds and ACTS

Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed, has been at Peter’s side; just as a lame man in Jerusalem who was healed also had stood with him and John as witness in the Temple.

35 And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord..

37 But it happened [in those days] at that time that she [the young woman in Joppa] became sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upstairs room.

“Do not delay in coming to us.”
So Peter got ready and went with them.
ACTS of Peter 9:38b-39a NASB20

Might a Gazelle Leap once more?

36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which when translated means [Gk. for gazelle] Dorcas);

this woman was excelling in acts of kindness and charity which she did habitually.

Peter arrives in Joppa

39 .. as soon as he [Peter] arrived [from Lydda with the two men who had summoned the Apostle to Joppa], they took him upstairs where Dorcas lay.

It’s the scene of grief – mourning the loss of a beloved servant of all, a friend, a young woman once vibrant in life who succumbs to one of the many maladies of this fragile flesh.

Like those Peter had seen — the boy in a bier in Nain and Lazarus wrapped in death’s cloths behind a closed tomb in Bethany — here the Apostle takes in the vigil of those watching this Gazelle’s lifeless body, as well as the Apostle’s own entry into their sad scene in an upper room perched above the the shadows of valley of death.

The room was filled with weeping widows who were showing one another the coats and other garments Dorcas had made for them.

⁴⁰But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed.

(Like in Nain, Joppa will cancel its funeral procession today,

DUE TO this next resurrection.)

Another Resurrection!

.. and turning to the body, he [the Apostle Peter] said, “

Ταβιθά ἀνίστημι
“Tabitha, arise.”
The familiar command of Peter (to a dead woman) in ACTS 9:40

And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive.

He Raised Her Up

You Raise Me Up – Selah – 5 min.

DEATH.. and all hope for flesh and blood lost.. except for the hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ! And once again, here and now, another resurrection — by the Apostle and not the Lord Incarnate.

Luke continues with the resurrection theme [45x] in his second account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

ἀνίστημι – Strong’s G450 – anistēmi – an-is’-tay-mee – to cause to rise up, raise up

42 The news raced through the town, and many believed in the Lord.

43 And Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon, the tanner.
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ACTS of the Missionary Journeys of Peter: To be continued...
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March 24, 2022