<p>10:34 <i>And Peter opened his mouth and said: Of a truth I perceive that God<em>- </em></i>Peter was so powerful as a preacher, always alluding to his own weaknesses of behaviour and understanding. Consider this example here: &ldquo;I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that fears him and works righteousness, is accepted with him Peter alludes here to Old Testament passages such as Dt. 1:17; 10:17; Prov. 24:23 and Is. 64:5. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel&hellip; that word, you know&rdquo; (Acts 10:34-37). Peter is saying that he only <em>now</em> perceives the truth of those well-known Old Testament passages. He is admitting that the truth of his Lord&rsquo;s criticism of him, that he had been so slow of heart to believe what the prophets had spoken. And yet Peter masterfully goes on to show solidarity with his readers- he tells them that they too had already heard &ldquo;the word&rdquo; and yet now they like him needed to believe the word which they already knew. In doing this, Peter is bridge building, between his own humanity and that of his hearers. And the wonder of it all is that it seems this happened quite naturally. He didn&rsquo;t psychologically plan it all out. His own recognition of sinfulness quite naturally lead him into it.</p><p><em>Is no respecter of persons</em>- Later, Peter reminds his Jewish readers that their prayers ascend to a Father &ldquo;who without respect of persons judges according to <em>every</em> man&rsquo;s work&rdquo; (i.e. Jew or Gentile, 1 Pet. 1:17). He was asking them to learn what he had so slowly and falteringly come to accept.&nbsp;In this was the power of his pastoral appeal- for the things he teaches are all what he had himself come to accept after much failure and struggle.</p>