Acts 10:36

The word which God sent unto the children of Israel,....

The word which God sent, etc. - Few verses in the New Testament have perplexed critics and divines more than this. The ancient copyists seem also to have been puzzled with it; as the great variety in the different MSS. sufficiently proves.

THESE words were addressed to an admirable congregation, all met with an earnest purpose, all conscious that they were in the Presence of God, all like good soil that had been plowed and prepared for the good seed. Happy preacher to have such a congregation! God make this congregation to be of the same sort. The preacher, also, was a right faithful messenger from Heaven. No sooner did Peter know that he was commissioned to the Gentile centurion and his household, than he came to his house.

THESE words were addressed to an admirable congregation, all met with an earnest purpose, all conscious that they were in the Presence of God, all like good soil that had been plowed and prepared for the good seed. Happy preacher to have such a congregation! God make this congregation to be of the same sort. The preacher, also, was a right faithful messenger from Heaven. No sooner did Peter know that he was commissioned to the Gentile centurion and his household, than he came to his house. And when he found himself surrounded by the family and their friends, he girt up his loins for his work and gave his whole soul to his subject. Peter goes straight to his business. There is no beating about the bush, no prefatory apology—he begins to preach. Jesus Christ, spoken of by Prophets, seen by Apostles, hanged on a tree, and risen again on the third day. It is well when the preacher feels that preaching is no mere display, and is not intended to be an opportunity for him to show how excellent an orator he can be. The true ambassador for Christ feels that he himself stands before God, and has to deal with souls in God's place as God's servant. He therefore has no time for considering the graces of oratory and the tricks of rhetoric—but must speak from his inmost soul the Word of the Lord. Every preacher stands in a solemn place—a place in which unfaithfulness is inhumanity to man as well as treason to God. To be false to our charge will cast us into the deepest condemnation—to be hurled from a pulpit into Hell will be to perish, indeed! See to it, then, that both the congregation and the preacher are peculiarly in God's Presence in their solemn assemblies and feeling and acting accordingly. Pray for us and for yourselves that we both may so behave before the Lord that our assembling together may not increase our sin, but may prove to be a rich and lasting blessing.

The word - That is, this is the Word, or “the doctrine.” Few passages in the New Testament have perplexed critics more than this. It has been difficult to ascertain to what the term “word” in the accusative case τὸν λόγον ton logon here refers. Our translation would lead us to suppose that it is synonymous with what is said in the following verse. But it should be remarked that the term used there, and translated “word,” as if it were a repetition of what is said here, is a different term. It is not λόγον logon, but ῥῆμα rēma - a word, a thing; not a doctrine. I understand the first term “word” to be an introduction of the doctrine which Peter set forth, and to be governed by a preposition understood. The whole passage may be thus expressed: Peter had been asked to teach Cornelius and his assembled friends. It was expected, of course, that he would instruct him in regard to the true doctrines of religion - the doctrine which had been communicated to the Jews. He commences, therefore, with a statement respecting the true doctrine of the Messiah, or the way of salvation which was now made known to the Jews. “In regard to the Word, or the doctrine which God sent to the children of Israel, proclaiming peace through Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all), you know already what was done, or the transactions which occurred throughout all Judea, from Galilee, where he commenced his ministry after John had preached, that this was by Jesus Christ, since God had anointed him,” etc. Peter here assumes that Cornelius had some knowledge of the principal events of the life of the Saviour, though it was obscure and imperfect; and his discourse professes only to state this more fully and clearly. Unto the children of Israel - To the Jews. The Messiah was promised to them, and spent his life among them. Preaching - That is, proclaiming, or announcing. […]