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Peter began to speak to Cornelius and the other Gentiles: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
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This is a reading selection that appears each year on Easter Day (Years A, B, and C). It can assume the Old Testament position (as a “First Lesson”), or it can take the Epistle position (as a “New Testament” classification). As this analysis is relative to Easter Day, Year C, the Old Testament selection would be from Isaiah 65:17-25, where one verse sings, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent-- its food shall be dust!” The Epistle (if not this reading from Acts 10) will come from 1 Corinthians 15:19-26, which includes a verse that says, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Both of these readings (where only one will be read) are unique to Easter Day, Year C. One of them will accompany a singing of Psalm 118 (which is another choice for all three years on Easter Day), which sings, “I will give thanks to you, for you answered me and have become my salvation.” All will be read along with a Gospel story of the day Jesus is found risen, coming either from John 20:1-18 (possible to be chosen for reading all three years) or Luke 24:1-12 (only possible on Easter Day, Year C).
In 2018, I published a short analysis of this reading. It can be found by clicking on this link. Just last year, I published a more in-depth analysis, which can be read by clicking on this link. I am sure either would be good reads for today, as nothing has changed in the text written, which will be read aloud on Easter Sunday. Today I will take a simpler approach.
There are ten verses in this mandatory Easter Day reading selection. In my observations posted in 2021, I delved into the Greek text and made explanations that brought out the depth of meaning that is missed by paraphrasing into English. When I go to such depth of explanation, it becomes difficult for a casual reader to follow what I write. Once confused, a casual reader will click off the article and go on his or her merry way. A casual reader of Scripture is going down the right path (versus not doing any deeper investigation at all); but that rejection becomes like Jesus is shown to have said when he observed a Pharisee and a Publican in the Temple, where the Pharisee praised God for making him wealthy and important, while the Publican beat his chest and silently prayed for God to forgive him … but he just did not know how to stop sinning. When Jesus said the Publican was closer to the kingdom of God, many Christians are taught: “Begging God for forgiveness is the way to go.” However, always begging God for forgiveness means always continuing to sin; and, realizing that makes that lesson actually be as if Jesus said, “Trying to investigate Scripture (but giving up in frustration) is the way to go … BUT the way to go ain’t there yet.”
When I first began to understand how to read divine scripture, it was not by reading the text of the Holy Bible. It was by reading the quatrains of Nostradamus, followed by then learning to read two letters he wrote that explained his poems. Nostradamus was a prophet, in the same mold as this reading points out both Peter and Cornelius were. There are no known writings by Cornelius, like there are by Peter; but if there were, more people would jump on the boat that would plan and plot to sink Cornelius as some shyster who was led by demon spirits to write. This would be true if writings by Cornelius were discovered today, after so many Christians had been raised to only recognize the ones they had been taught to know. It is always easier to reject the new, without doing anything to test the new for proof of truth.
The proof is not in the man or woman writing, but in the way he or she writes. Nostradamus (I was divinely led to realize) was just like Peter explained in this reading. Nostradamus was a soul married to Yahweh, who had been given Jesus’ soul to be resurrected within his soul. The Nostradamus I was led to know makes every so-called Christian I have met (since I first began speaking the name "Nostradamus") reveal himself or herself to be a vile representation of demonic possession … far from being Anointed by Yahweh as His Son reborn (the truth of being "Christian"). Nostradamus was a Saint in that manner. He then wrote what Yahweh told the Son within Nostradamus to write; and, Nostradamus did that, not once worrying about what people would think about him in the Twenty-first Century.
Because I was led to understand the writings of Nostradamus, I found the same syntactic systems (divine syntax) apply to all holy writings. The problem I had when I tried to explain to people what Nostradamus meant in his writings was people were easily confused when I went word by word, explaining how improper paraphrases had to be changed to a divine meaning. All that explanation led me to always be interrupted, with the impatient listener commanding me: “Tell me the simple version." The simple version always led to people then asking, “How did you get that from that?!?!” To return to explaining what each word meant people would be giving up in frustration and walking away. The same thing happens when I explain the Biblical writings.
Because I have already written about this reading, somewhat in-depth, I will now simply tell you what each verse means, in a paraphrased way that is based on the truth of what was actually written. You can ask, “How did I get that from that?” and then click on a link to the 2021 interpretation. Or, you can walk away, closer to the kingdom of heaven, but still with no cigar.
Verse thirty-four:
Peter did not speak as someone who was very intelligent; as one who had figured some things out. None of the Apostles-Saints spoke for themselves. All were reborn as Jesus (his soul resurrected within many souls of followers, each individually), so all spoke as Jesus had in the flesh, saying, “I speak for the Father, as the Father is within me and I within the Father.” Peter admitted that without this divine presence of Jesus within him, he would know nothing of value. Based on what Jesus allowed Peter to know (at that point) was God (Yahweh) does not show favor or disfavor to anyone, neither because they are born of a specific religion (Judaism or Christianity) nor not so blood worthy. Therefore, Peter had been divinely led to walk away from his Judaic beliefs and meet with a Roman (Gentile) centurion … welcoming that encounter in Cornelius’ home.
Verse thirty-five
Peter said that all over the world (where Judaism, thus Christianity had not yet spread) anyone who feared losing his or her own soul and did the works of faith were good. Doing good deeds, knowing a Supreme entity was watching one’s actions in life, then impressed Yahweh (whether they knew Him by name or not). Thus, all acts of righteousness received favor from Yahweh. This is the same as James wrote: "Faith without works is dead" - an invaluable lesson to those whose claim to God' assumed favor is in human bloodline or having been told as a child they are saved. Salvation demands the works of faith.
Verse thirty-six
Here, Peter referred to “the sons of Israel.” Peter lived in Galilee, but received divine insight that led him to meet Cornelius, while Peter was in Joppa (now called Jaffa). Cornelius was in Caesarea, which was about fifty-seven kilometers north of Jaffa, with both on the Mediterranean coast. This means Peter was in Judea and Cornelius was in Samaria, neither of which was in “Israel.” This means “the sons of Israel” is a statement of Apostles and Saints, who were all brothers (men and women), from having all been reborn as Jesus (a masculine spirit-soul - the Son), thereby made to act righteously, becoming those "Who Retained God" (as Yahweh elohim – the soul of Jesus within them). The name "Israel" means "He Retains God" or "God Is Upright." With that title given to all souls in flesh (“the sons of Israel”) – not meaning Jews – Peter said the presence of Yahweh’s Son (el - "God") within led all to announce the Good News (the “Gospel”), which was the message that eternal “peace” comes by being reborn as “Jesus,” from Yahweh’s “Anointment (being a “Christ”). Eternal “peace” meant the assurance of Salvation for one’s soul, in exchange for that soul's total submission to Yahweh’s Spirit and surrendering that soul’s control over his or her body of flesh, so Jesus could lead him or her to righteousness. With that transformation made, then Jesus becomes the “Lord” over each and every (all) Apostle-Saint. As “Lord,” Jesus was the new soul controlling one’s body of flesh, to make it act as Yahweh Willed.
Verse thirty-seven
Peter then spoke assuredly of what all like souls knew, knowing all souls possessed by Yahweh (in divine marriage to their souls) and His Son Jesus (through his soul being reborn within, as the Son born through His wife-souls) were the living proof of what had first been preached in Judea, having begun in Galilee, by John the Baptist. That preaching was, “I baptize you with water, but there will be one who comes after me that baptizes with a Spirit Holy.” The presence of the Spirit within, from a divine union between souls and Yahweh, then brought forth the most holy soul of Jesus, with that presence being the fulfillment of the promise of “baptism by the Spirit Holy.” John preached that message, because he knew the "one after" was already within his being, having Spiritually Baptized John's soul. So, John spoke as a witness to this personal experience. Peter and Cornelius (and all the Saints at that time) were proof that what John said, as they too had come to be so Baptized Spiritually.
Verse thirty-eight
Here, Peter turns the focus on Jesus, which is a name that means “Yah[weh] Will Save" or "Yah[weh] Saves." Jesus was one who Peter said clearly was baptized by God, not John. John was baptized by God, and led to prophesy in the same way Peter and Cornelius and all Saints do. They did so once their souls had been washed clean of sins by divine union with Yahweh. His Spirit makes all souls Yahweh divinely possesses become “Holy.” Jesus was born baptized by Yahweh’s Spirit, thus he was “Holy” at birth. That state of being allowed Jesus to have the “power” of that Spirit at his disposal, by the Will of the Father. That Will meant giving Jesus the power to dispel the illness cast over souls in bodies of flesh, which was demonic possession, where the soul of the devil had possessed many, making them spiritually ill. Jesus did not do any miracles alone, as some god on earth. Jesus did the Will of Yahweh, as His instrument of spiritual healing, placed in the flesh of a human being. A body of flesh possessed by the soul of Jesus (the Yahweh elohim created in Adam) is always (and only) the extension of Yahweh’s hand on earth.
Verse thirty-nine
Here, Peter made a most important statement about Apostles and Saints being “witnesses” to what Jesus did, does and will do. Peter was a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth and walked the same dusty roads that Jesus walked. It is most likely that Cornelius was the centurion who came to Jesus about a sick Jewish slave and then called Jesus righteous as his body hung dead on the cross. Still, none of that was “witnessing.” To be a “witness” one must have personal experience of Jesus doing miracles. Watching that be done by an external Jesus (when he lived in his own flesh) is the equivalent of hearsay witnessing; and, that is not what Peter meant. Peter was saying he and the other Apostle-Saints “witnessed” Jesus perform miracles through their own flesh (not as Jesus of Nazareth, but as Jesus reborn in flesh). Their souls watched over the soul of Jesus’ shoulder, as he performed miracles in their flesh, which they watched as "witnesses." While Jesus did plenty of miracles when he was alive, Peter pointed out that Jesus was crucified to death; so, Peter was “witnessing” Jesus still doing miracles (beyond death), but in the flesh of others, in whom Jesus had been resurrected.
Verse forty
In this, Peter said the soul of Jesus was raised up, where “the third day” needs to be understood as meaning more than the linear timeframe of seventy-two hours having been dead. While that is a true timing element, the “third” must be seen as how the soul of Jesus was “raised up” and placed into other souls. When a soul is one, its body of flesh is two, then the presence of the soul of Jesus is a “third” presence. That "third" is the "Spirit," connecting the Father (Yahweh) and the "Son" (a soul in flesh reborn). Therefore, that "third" reflects upon the Trinity, which means Divine Possession. The element of “day” is then the light of truth and the awake state of eternal salvation, where there is no night (the symbol of death) to worry about. Thus, when Peter said “God made him manifest to be born” (the deeper meaning of the Greek word “genesthai”), that is Peter telling that Jesus was raised up by God to be reborn in Apostles and Saints. His “appearance” was known only to those souls who “witnessed” this rebirth.
Verse forty-one
The element of selectivity is then stated in this verse, where Peter said Jesus did not “manifest” (as “reborn within”) to everyone. Jesus was “witnessed” only by those souls in flesh that had married Yahweh and come into union with His Spirit, thereby becoming clean of all past sins, allowing for that resurrection to take place in their souls-bodies. When Peter said those who were reborn as Jesus “had been chosen beforehand” (“prokecheirotonēmenois”) “by God,” one must remember Peter’s earlier statement about God not showing favor to anyone. When that truth is factored in, “having been chosen beforehand” becomes a statement of a prior ‘engagement’ with Yahweh. A marriage proposal is made to divinely unite one’s soul with Yahweh’s Spirit; but that ‘engagement’ demands the works of faith that prove one’s commitment. Commitment is relative to the marriage contract – the Covenant – which is non-negotiable. Thus, well prior to Jesus being reborn within a soul, that soul has to prove to Yahweh its total subjection, before the marriage vows can be exchanged and all one’s past debts are erased by one’s new Holy Husband (Yahweh). That makes the element of “choosing” be a two-way street, where Peter and Cornelius had chosen to serve Yahweh, before they could ever entertain the aspect of being reborn as the Son of Yahweh. Therefore, for Peter to talk about eating and drinking with Jesus, after he had risen from death, that means the soul of Jesus entered all of his followers, transforming them into him reborn; so, everything they did (including eating and drinking) they did with Jesus's soul being one with theirs. Because all souls alone in their bodies of flesh are mortal, they then are born of death; so, having the soul of Jesus be resurrected within that state of death means their souls likewise have been raised from death.
Verse forty-two
Here, Peter said that the presence of Jesus within, having become the Lord of one’s soul and flesh, does not simply offer suggestions and recommendations, as would reading a book do. Jesus within their souls then has him command their soul-bodies he divinely possesses to proclaim this truth of salvation – the only truth of salvation – as personal witnesses (those qualified to testify to the truth). They are to tell others that Jesus exists within them, on behalf of Yahweh – His gift to humanity (not an individual soul-body) – so others will know death means judgment by God. Only those possessed by Jesus (married to Yahweh’s Spirit) will be deemed able to be “living,” as souls eternally saved. All others (souls unmarried to the Spirit and not reborn as Jesus) will be considered to be “dead.” To be “dead” means the best a soul can hope for (when death eventually does come) is reincarnation. That would be when a soul is given another eighty years (estimated animation in a body of flesh) to choose to serve Yahweh (not self).
Verse forty-three
When Peter said, “All the prophets testify about him,” this means more that Jesus was foretold in Jewish Scripture (the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets). All of the known “prophets” were able to “testify about him” because their souls had likewise been filled with Yahweh’s Spirit AND those long dead “prophets” were likewise reborn as Jesus (a name meaning “Yahweh Saves”), well before anyone ever knew Jesus of Nazareth, a man of flesh and blood. They wrote of Jesus returning (prophecy) as Jesus' soul in flesh, long before (a reoccurring return). Because of that being the definition of a “prophet,” Peter was led by Jesus’ soul within his to say all the Apostles-Saints (like Peter, Cornelius, and others) were also “prophets,” who could “testify” as personal “witnesses” to Jesus being within. They were shown the meaning of past Scripture, wrote present Scripture, and knew future “prophets” would understand the truth of prophecy, through the continued resurrection of Jesus' soul in human flesh. All of this is possible by a soul being married to Yahweh (taking on His name – “Israel”) and giving rebirth to His Son (taking on the name of "Jesus" - "Yahweh Saves"), again resurrected in human flesh. This presence then becomes the truth of “faith,” which goes well beyond “belief,” because “belief” is something external convincing one of the truth; but “faith” is experiencing truth, knowing that to be.
This reading being mandatory for Easter Day, when the truth about the risen Lord means more than Jesus walking away from his tomb, alive after death, is because it speaks of the soul of Jesus being resurrected within other souls. That is the truth of Easter Day … when Jesus is resurrected in another soul with a body of flesh. This is then Peter knowing the truth of Jesus’ soul having been reborn into his flesh; but Peter had been seeing prior to this chapter how the soul of Jesus is a Tree of Life, thinking it was only for Jews. Yahweh led him through a vision to see that Tree of Life, in which the soul of Jesus flowed throughout, within and unseen, not only grew fruit that was Jewish. It produced good fruit wherever souls were married to His Spirit. Peter was led to see ‘Jews for Jesus’ was only one branch of righteousness. Cornelius proved to be another branch (one of Gentiles), equally part of that Tree of Life. These ten verses spoken by Peter are then his realization that all fruit coming from the Tree (call it the True Vine) of Life is all who are made possible by being fruit born of Jesus’ blood. All born for this Vine of Life was righteous fruit; and, that fruit was only produced for those seeking Life to consume, becoming new shoots on that Tree.