Acts 10:1-8
An item from yesterday, repeated today… Yesterday’s Acts 9:43 and today’s verse 6 noted that Peter was staying in Joppa with “Simon, a tanner”. My Study Bible noted that a tanner would have regularly dealt with the skins of dead animals and therefore would have been unclean and rejected by “devout” Jews. Peter’s decision to stay with Simon would indicate that he may have already been moving away from traditional Jewish notions of clean and unclean, thereby preparing him for what God would be doing to him and through him in the remainder of this chapter.
Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. (v. 4b) Earlier verse 2 also indicated that Cornelius …gave alms generously to the people. So the angel noted that Cornelius’ generosity was known to God, that God had heard him. I have no doubt that God desires our own generosity to those in need – in my growing-up years the Catholic Church had giving to the poor as one of their “corporal works of mercy”. But I wonder if God’s recognition of Cornelius’ generosity is part of the foundation of the Catholic Church’s teachings on indulgences, an item that Luther had railed about in his “95 Theses” – the actual title of which was “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” (https://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/bible-answers/theology/luther-95-theses-protestant-reformation.html). Indulgences notwithstanding, giving to the poor and needy is a worthy activity.
Slava Bohu!
Cornelius is an amazing guy. He was devout, seeking God as well as generous. His family was devout, and he also knew at least one of his soldiers was devout. I imagine the two slaves he sent were as well. Being in the Italian cohort he probably went to Rome at some point, and spread the Gospel. God really knew what he was doing when he picked Cornelius!
Peter is staying with a tanner, who by profession was unclean. So God was already changing Peter’s thinking about Jewish traditions. There are so many ways that God stretches us if we are just willing to let the Holy Spirit lead!