Acts 10:38 Explained

"How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." — Acts 10:38 (KJV)

The whole life of Jesus summarised in one clause, by a man explaining it to a gentile soldier who had never heard it.

Read it in context: The Book of Acts. Also gathered under verses about healing.

Acts 10:38 in context

What does Acts 10:38 mean?

Given one clause, Peter chooses 'went about doing good'. Not taught, not founded, not died — though he gets to the death two verses later. The phrase is ordinary to the point of plainness, and the participle suggests a habit rather than a campaign: going around, doing good. The healing is then specified as a rescue from oppression, which is how Peter reads it.

What is the context of Acts 10:38?

Peter is in the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion — the first gentile household to hear the gospel, and Peter had needed a vision to make him go. He has to compress three years into a few sentences for people with no background at all.

How do I pray Acts 10:38?

Pray it as a description of a day rather than of a career. Ask what going about doing good would look like between now and this evening, in the actual places you will be. It is a deliberately unglamorous summary and it was chosen by someone who had watched the whole thing.

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