⁴³And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon. ¹Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, ²a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. ³About 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!” ⁴And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.”

That Peter stayed with a tanner is notable: Joppa was near the Mediterranean Sea, so he could have stayed with a fellow fisherman (see Acts 10:6). Yet he stayed with one whose occupation was looked down upon in the ancient world, one step above beggars and prostitutes. Their work on the edges of cities permeated the air with the foul odor from dead animals. As one who worked with dead animals, Simon lived much of his life in an unclean state, in light of the Mosaic Law that contact with an animal carcass rendered a person ceremonially unclean. Hardly can we miss seeing this as a setup for Peter’s interaction with the Gentile Cornelius, since Jews considered all Gentiles unclean.

Cornelius was a man of some significance, being a centurion. He is also identified as a “devout man and one who feared God with all his household.” This means he respected the Jewish religion and participated as far as he could as a Gentile—he financially supported Jews in need and was a man of prayer to Yahweh of Israel.

What a contrast between the tanner and the centurion: one was a member of lower society and despised; one was a respected man of military power and influence. Remembering that Luke’s primary audience for the book of Acts was Theophilus (his wealthy benefactor), we see in this story that God is no respecter of persons and their social status. His grace goes out to all, for all need repentance and salvation, even those from higher society.

Following a pattern we see elsewhere, God invades the centurion’s life by calling his name (1 Sam. 3:4, John 20:16, 21:9). Our names are dear to us; how significant to hear God calling us out by name. Cornelius’ response was just as concise: “What is it, Lord?” His fear (as would be expected when confronted by an angel of God) gave way to an open heart to God’s bidding. He was ready for whatever God asked of him. Like Isaiah, who said at the vision of God, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isa. 6:8). God recognized the heart of the man; he was the one God wanted for the door-opening of the gospel to the Gentiles.

Lord, I am challenged to be more like this centurion, ready to do Your will.