My Notes
What Does Acts 10:40 Mean?
"Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly." Peter preaches the resurrection to Cornelius's household with maximum simplicity: God raised Jesus on the third day and showed him openly. Two facts. One sentence. The resurrection and the visibility. God raised (divine action) and showed (divine display). The rising wasn't secret. The showing was open — not to everyone (v. 41: "not to all the people") but to chosen witnesses who ate and drank with him after the resurrection.
The phrase "shewed him openly" (edōken auton emphanē genesthai — gave him to become manifest/visible) means God made Jesus visible as a deliberate act. The post-resurrection appearances weren't accidental encounters. They were divine displays — God intentionally showing the risen Christ to specific witnesses for specific purposes.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What does 'God raised him' (Father's action) versus 'he rose' teach about the resurrection as divine vindication?
- 2.Why did God show the risen Jesus to chosen witnesses rather than to everyone?
- 3.How does eating and drinking with the risen Jesus provide stronger evidence than just seeing him?
- 4.What does Peter's firsthand testimony ('we ate with him') mean for the reliability of the resurrection claim?
Devotional
God raised him. God showed him. Two divine actions. The resurrection wasn't an accident Jesus survived. It was an act God performed. And the appearances weren't random — they were exhibitions God arranged.
Him God raised up the third day. The subject is God. The object is Jesus. The Father raised the Son. The resurrection is an act of the Father on behalf of the Son — the divine power that created the universe applied to the dead body of Jesus on the third day. Peter doesn't say: Jesus rose. He says: God raised him. The distinction matters: the resurrection is the Father's vindication of the Son. The Father who let the cross happen is the Father who reversed the cross.
Shewed him openly. God displayed the risen Jesus. The word means to make visible, to exhibit, to present for inspection. The post-resurrection appearances aren't ghost sightings or hallucinations. They're curated displays — God choosing specific people at specific times to see the risen Christ in a way that produces reliable testimony.
Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God (v. 41). The showing was selective — not secret but strategic. God didn't parade the risen Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem for Pilate and Caiaphas to see. He showed him to chosen witnesses: the people who would eat and drink with him, touch him, hear him teach, and then testify to the world. The evidence was deposited in specific people who would carry it to everyone else.
Even unto us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead (v. 41). The witnesses didn't just see Jesus. They ate with him. Drank with him. Shared meals. The intimacy of the post-resurrection encounters proves the physicality: you don't eat with a hallucination. You don't drink with a ghost. You don't share a meal with a vision. The risen Jesus had a body that consumed food. And the witnesses consumed food with him — creating the most tangible evidence possible: I know he was alive because we had breakfast together.
Peter is telling Cornelius: I ate with a dead man who was alive again. God raised him. God showed him. And I'm the evidence.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Him God raised up the third day,.... According to the Scriptures, particularly Hos 6:2. The resurrection, of Christ,…
Showed him openly - Manifestly; so that there could be no deception, no doubt of his resurrection.
Him God raised up the third day - He lay long enough under the power of death to prove that he was dead; and not too…
We have here Peter's sermon preached to Cornelius and his friends: that is, an abstract or summary of it; for we have…
him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly( gave him to be made manifest)] The literal translation implies…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture