Acts 10:34-43
Resurrection Sunday, Year C
🌍 Good News for Everyone
Acts 10:34-43
Resurrection Sunday, Year C
What if resurrection wasn’t just a personal moment but a cosmic message?
What if the real miracle was who got included next?
In today’s reading, Peter steps across a threshold he never thought he’d cross. He walks into the house of a Gentile—an outsider, a Roman—and says what the early church was barely ready to believe:
God shows no partiality.
🕰️ Context: Setting the Scene
Peter’s sermon in Acts 10 is a resurrection story in motion. What began in the garden (John 20) now moves into the world. This is the Gospel breaking open.
🕯️ Literary Context:
This moment comes after a radical vision: Peter sees a sheet of unclean animals and hears God say, “What God has made clean, you must not call unclean.” It’s a metaphor—but it’s also a command to expand his view of who belongs.
When Peter enters Cornelius’s house—a Roman centurion—he preaches a sermon that summarizes Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. But more than that, he announces that forgiveness, peace, and new life are available to everyone.
This is a turning point in Acts. It marks the beginning of the Gentile mission. What Jesus began in Galilee is now flowing into the Roman world.
🌍 Historical Context:
Cornelius is not just a Gentile—he’s a military officer in the occupying empire. For Peter, entering his home was culturally and religiously forbidden. This is a big risk. But the Spirit leads him here.
Peter opens with a confession: “God shows no partiality.” That one sentence tears down generations of division. It’s the beginning of a new kind of community—where ethnic, religious, and social barriers fall in light of the resurrection.
Peter ends his sermon with a universal invitation: “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
📖 Acts 10:34–43 (NLT)
34 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.
35 In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.
36 This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
37 You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism.
38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
39 “And we apostles are witnesses of all he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a cross,
40 but God raised him to life on the third day. Then God allowed him to appear,
41 not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42 And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead.
43 He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”
🎧 Listen or Explore the Passage:
💡 Key Insights
The Boundary Breaker - Peter crosses more than a geographic line—he crosses a line of identity, purity, and culture. The resurrection tears down the walls we build to keep others out.
The Gospel of Peace - Peter describes Jesus as bringing a message of peace. Resurrection isn’t about triumph over enemies. It’s about the healing of all things.
Forgiveness for All - Peter ends by saying that “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness.” This is not a localized promise. It’s an invitation for every household to become holy ground.
🔁 Sacred Practice
Sit with this story using the ancient rhythm of Lectio Divina:
Read – Slowly read Acts 10:34–43.
Reflect – What word or phrase stands out to you?
Respond – What is God stirring in your heart?
Rest – Be still. Let the Spirit speak across every boundary.
❓ Jesus-Centered Questions
Who do I still see as “outside” God’s welcome?
How is resurrection inviting me to expand my circle?
Where is the Spirit asking me to say, “God shows no partiality”?
What would it look like to proclaim a gospel of peace in my own context?
📚 Reflections & Resources
Commentary: Working Preacher – Acts 10:34–43
💬 Want to Reflect Together?
Hit reply or leave a comment.
What surprised you in this passage?
What boundary is resurrection asking you to cross?
🧵 Connect the Threads
Other Easter readings:
How do these passages intersect to reveal the Good News?
🔊 Weekly Practice Invitation
This week, speak these words out loud:
“God shows no partiality.”
Let them change how you see the people around you.