Acts 10

Cornelius

In its most simplest terms, the Bible is a history of the relationship between God and humanity- a story with four main plot movements.

First, as creatures made in the image of God.

Second, as rebels who scorned obedience to our creator in favor of following our own path.

Third, as repentants who, through faith in Jesus, are returning to right relationship with God.

And finally, Fourth, as redeemed and resurrected creatures, worshiping in adoration for all eternity our loving and gracious God.

I have in my life found no other persuasive or compelling narrative that so tracks with my experience as to what it means to be a human, nor have I found anything else in the world as satisfying, as healing, as comforting, or as powerful as the Gospel that is found in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

And here in our text today we have one of the pivotal texts in the entire Bible with regard to the third movement- humanity coming to Christ. And specifically, non-Jews, Gentiles, coming to Christ and how the Lord is going to accomplish that. This is a story that frequently is discussed and debated in theological circles about its significance with regard to how the Lord saves and whom the Lord saves.

It is a lengthy story, and rich in detail, for Luke clearly recognizes the importance of this event and gives it its due. In a perfect world I would take 2 or perhaps even 3 sermons to speak on it, but, alas, this Jeremiah/Acts series is already, as they say, over time and over budget.

The core of this story is something that we take for granted now as Christians- but for our brothers and sisters in Israel in the first century, this was a radical and challenging new paradigm that the Lord was leading them into.

And this core, simply put, was that anyone, absolutely anyone, could come to Christ and be saved, and that the job of the Church was not going to be how to create a new set of rules or parameters to be satisfied, such that someone could give their life to Christ once they had fulfilled certain requirements, but rather the job of the Church was going to be to follow the Holy Spirit to the places and to the people that He has prepared in advance, preach the Gospel there- which is to say proclaim Christ, crucified and Risen for you, personally, and then, should someone accept Christ and become a Christian, then disciple them through their lifetime ever deeper and deeper into the true things of God.

Anyone can give their life to Jesus and be saved. There is no worldly barrier to salvation if you are willing to surrender your life to Jesus. It matters not one whit your race, your gender, your nationality, your language, your sexual desires, your customs, your tattoos, your piercings, any and all cultural or genetic dispositions that you have, that make up you, none can stand between you and salvation in Christ if you are willing to make Him Lord of your life, forsaking all other leaders and ideologies as Lord in favor of His Lordship.

At the point of entry of salvation, all are alike, all have fallen far short of the glory of God, all confess their inability to save themselves. There is no difference.

Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

When we put up that sign on the church that says “all are welcome” that wasn’t a thoughtless statement that we put up there, just trying to sound nice. It is, in fact, a theological statement.

Anyone can come into this space because anyone can give their life to Jesus.

Now why would that be a difficult message for the Jewish believers, even the 12 disciples? Were they naturally just prejudicial people, the kind of men who just didn’t like foreigners? No, not at all.

The difficulty is that for centuries, since the time of Abraham really, but even more so since the time of Moses, the Jewish people were shepherded and taught by YHWH Himself, through His Word given to them by His prophets, that they were to be separate from the other nations. That they were not to intermingle, intermarry, or even eat the same foods or wear the same clothing as the other nations. They were given a robust law code, with a good number of these laws designed to draw an unmistakable line between Israel and the rest of the world.

So please understand what God is asking Peter to do here. He is asking Peter to go against God’s Word. Now we don’t think of it that way now at all. We have the benefit of hindsight and the New Testament in its fullness and we can easily see how the Lord fashioned a Covenant with His people to create a nation that could recognize the significance of His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, and would understand what sin is, what idolatry is, what holiness looks like, and so on. And we see, easily now, how the New Covenant is for all peoples in all places, and how of course the Lord does not require of non-Jews laws and customs that would be designed to keep Israel from falling into paganism and idolatry. This is a New Covenant, designed for the world, not just the Jews.

So it is all very clear to us. Not so clear to Peter, born and raised as a devout Jew who would not even think of intentionally going against the Mosaic laws as laid down in the Torah.

This is why, brothers and sisters, as I have mentioned many times regarding the Apostles, this is why the miracles that they were able to perform were so very important and necessary. I am not a cessationist- which is to say that I believe that the Lord still acts in miraculous ways today in the world, but not like He did at this time in this place, because the Lord was specifically and intentionally giving certain people the authority to speak and write with authority so as to usher in the age of the New Covenant and to be able to write letters and Gospels that would be honored as the very Word of God.

Peter just received a Word, a vision, that he was going to have to share with the Church, and it basically said, much like Jesus said in His sermon on the mount, “you have heard it said, but I tell you.” And to say something like that- “Moses told you to do this, but I, a fisherman from Galilee, am going to tell you to do this instead...” that requires a level of authority and trust that, frankly, no Jewish person was ever going to give any of the Apostles, unless they were fully convinced that they were from the Lord.

We gathered here today are believing Christians. We trust the Lord and we trust His Word. We are committed to it. It is the bedrock of our faith in this world. If someone came up to me and said, for example, switched the other way...if he told me that Jesus had spoken to him and had given him a message for the Church, and that message is that the tribulation is coming and now is the time to stop evangelizing. That the time of the greatest commandment is done. Now is the time to protect what remains. To focus on discipleship and make sure the walls of the Church are strong, metaphorically speaking. This person might be the most loving devout Christian I know but I can tell you I am not going to believe them. I am not going to follow their Word over God’s Word. Nobody should. Which is exactly what many of the Jews said to the Apostles. What gives you the authority?

But imagine this same man said I understand that your father has Parkinsons. Take me to him and I will heal him in the name of Jesus. Or we can go to a cancer ward where people are in the final throes of a terrible disease and I will cure whomever you wish, for the Holy Spirit is with me.

Even then, it would be difficult, but if I SEE that kind of power in someone I am going to take them very seriously because, just like they said about Jesus, it’s either demonic power on a level I didn’t know could exist, or it is the Lord doing something new among us, and I need to be aware of it.

And Cornelius IS the world. He is both the best and the worst of the world combined. And we learn from Cornelius that both the best and the worst of the world, all need Jesus to be saved.

Who is Cornelius?

The worst of Cornelius is the easy part.

He is a Roman Centurion living in occupied Israel. He is in charge of roughly 80 men that is a part of a larger Legion of roughly 600 men. It is very likely that he has had to fight and kill Jewish people, it is not unlikely that he has had to be involved in the torture and or execution of Jewish rebels or dissidents. He is a soldier of the Empire who has sworn allegiance to Caesar and to Rome and he is tasked specifically with keeping Israel a client state of Rome.

So, from this moral perspective, Cornelius does not look great. He is an occupier who has sworn allegiance to a pagan Empire.

However, to some degree I think we can have some grace for Cornelius on this front. He was born a Roman, a part of the Empire, he probably started training very young to be a soldier, and it seems unfair to specifically criticize Cornelius for the Imperial ambitions of the entire Empire. There were German soldiers who wanted nothing to do with the Nazi ambitions, but they were soldiers and...there they were, fighting as Germans for Germany. There were American soldiers who did not care who won in Vietnam and did not want to be there, but there they were, Americans fighting for America, and so forth.

Still, for the Jewish people living in occupied Israel, it is not an easy thing to be philosophical or forgiving about the soldiers who are there on their land who are taxing them, controlling them, and killing anyone who dares to defy them. Cornelius is part of that system.

He is also the best of the world. Luke says that he was known to be a devout man who feared God, gave to the poor, and prayed frequently. This is high praise. A man who fears God, who has compassion on those in need, and is aware of his own need of God enough that he is frequently in prayer- this is the textbook definition of what we might call a good man- showing faith, compassion, and humility all at once.

Centurions in particular are shown in a positive light a few times in the New Testament.

Notable examples include the centurion who recognized Jesus as the Son of God at the crucifixion, and the one whose servant was healed by Jesus in Capernaum. Another important figure is Cornelius, a centurion in Caesarea, who became the first Gentile convert to Christianity.

I took a little time to research the position and came across a couple of interesting facts about Centurions that might explain this to some degree.

For one, Centurions were low enough on the totem pole of authority that they were not generally appointed by higher ups. They were usually voted in by their fellow soldiers on the basis of their fighting ability, their courage, and their leadership qualities. In other words, they had to be both competent and well liked.

There were frequently openings for Centurion positions because they tended to be killed. They were expected to lead their men in the charge, out front and on foot, not on horseback. And they would have the distinctive crested helmet that marked them as the leader and therefore also a desirable target for the enemy. So, they didn’t have the longest life expectancy.

I have to imagine, therefore that Centurions probably were more likely to be men possessed of a certain amount of wisdom who worked their way up from the rank and file, a certain amount of humility because they were replaceable, and also probably, like all soldiers but perhaps even more so, acutely aware of their mortality.

Be that as it may, this Centurion had in some context somewhere, had some sort of experience of God in some capacity or other, and had been drawn to God. And though the sentence is brief we can find something of what Jesus tells us are the greatest commandments being observed in this man’s life- loving God with everything He has, and trying to love others as well as indicated by his generosity to those who have less than him. Is he Jewish? Most certainly not. But he may have Jewish acquaintances or friends who are teaching him about God.

Probably if you had known this man, you would have had a hard time finding fault with him. Probably. He was probably likable, generous, honest, and brave. Like as not in his capacity as Centurion he sometimes had to do or give the command to others to do terrible things. But he probably took no pleasure in these things and probably agonized about them before this God whom he had come to fear and follow.

We know people like this today, too. I know plenty of people who are basically, good people, by our standards, by human reckoning. They, too, are kind. They, too are wise. They may even help out at a food pantry sometimes or adopt some children in need. They are good people. Cornelius, it seems, was a good man.

We are sometimes tempted to think of the people that need Jesus as being the people whose lives are so clearly and openly being destroyed. Who needs Jesus? The homeless alcoholic. Who needs Jesus? The lonely widow who is addicted to painkillers and contemplates suicide. Who needs Jesus? The runaway teenager who was abused as a child and is just looking for a place to call a home.

Who needs Jesus? The respected soldier who prays every day and gives generously to the poor? This man needs Jesus?

Acts 11:11–14 “And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’”

Yes, this man needs Jesus. And he knew it. Don’t quickly skip over or take it as religious speak- the fear of Cornelius. He was a man who ‘feared’ God. And when he saw the angel of the Lord he ‘stared at him in terror.’ Granted, that is a common reaction to a messenger of God, but Luke uses an unusually long phrase to convey the extent of the terror of Cornelius. Cornelius had fear. And it was good and right and proper for Cornelius to fear the Lord, because Cornelius cannot give enough food to the poor, he cannot pray enough devout prayers, to save his soul from judgment. He is as trapped in sin as any of us but for the saving work of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the only way to the Father. Jesus is the only path to salvation. And Jesus is calling Cornelius and his household to Him.

Now some will ask the question, and pastors and theologians debate the question, was Cornelius among the elect, called to salvation, such that, if he had died before Peter could ever reach Joppa, would he have been saved nevertheless?

In other words, if someone has a heart that would receive Jesus if they heard the Gospel, then does the Lord reveal Himself to them after death and they are saved, or is it NECESSARY for someone to receive the Gospel before their physical death in order to be saved?

Now, the best possible answer to this question is to not worry about it. In other words, to let God be God and to let you be you, and just know that your calling as a disciple of Jesus Christ is to make more disciples of all the nations and to love God and to love your neighbor, and to not engage in trying to second guess who is saved, when and why. Because reasonable people, faithful, Biblically educated people can disagree on this point because the Bible does not sketch out an answer to this question.

That said, to be filed under what it is worth, it is my honest and, I believe, Biblically sound opinion, not Biblically certain, mind you, but I believe Biblically sound, that there are people in the world whom are called, elected by God to eternal salvation, even though they may never get the opportunity to ever hear the Gospel in their lifetime.

And this sermon is not going to be an exposition of that belief of mine, but as it flies in the face of a lot of evangelical theology I feel I should give a brief defense. For one, I believe in election and predestination. I believe in it, because it is clearly laid out in the New Testament. It is impossible, as I see it, to take Scripture seriously and not believe in the doctrine of election- I honestly don’t know how one does that. I also believe in our free will

Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”

I don’t believe that invitation is given to people who have no choice.

So I believe in election. Cornelius was chosen by God, before the creation of the world, to be a worshiper of God for all eternity. And, he chose that. But what if, then, he did die before hearing the Gospel?

I have a hard time understanding how dogmatic my brothers in Christ can be on this point, because it seems to me to be rooted more in tradition than Biblical exegesis, that if one does not hear the Gospel in this lifetime then you are eternally damned. There is no question that everyone needs to accept Jesus as Lord in order to be saved. There is no other path to salvation. There is no second way. The only question is, can this experience happen after death? For myself, I see plenty of reason to believe it can.

For one thing, you have every single person in the Old Testament, the entire Jewish race and beyond, who never heard a thing about Jesus, and clearly some of them were saved. No one is arguing, that I know of, that David and Jacob and Moses and Ruth and Esther and Rahab by the way who is not even Jewish and so on are damned for all eternity because they did not hear the full Gospel or have heard the name of Jesus. So it seems exceedingly strange to me that Jesus would come into the world and after His Resurrection and Ascension, that at that point everyone who hasn’t heard the name of Jesus is damned. That seems to me to be the opposite of Good News. That is a fresh terror.

And if Jesus has sheep that are not of this fold (John 10:16) is it not possible that some of those sheep are men and women who have passed away? Is there any Bible verse that seems to indicate that Jesus can or possibly will, preach to the dead that they might have opportunity to hear and be saved?

[1Pe 4:4-6 NIV] 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to the dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

So let us bring this all back then to Cornelius, who, much like David, seemed to have a heart for the Lord, a proper fear of God, and a living faith that was on display through Cornelius’ compassion for others.

None of this is sufficient to save Cornelius. He needs a saving trust in the only Lord and Messiah, Jesus Christ, and he needs the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So, by the way, did King David and Solomon and Ruth and all the other saints of the Jewish people. But...his genuine love for God, and his humility and so forth, all meant that he would recognize Jesus, and quickly and gratefully, make Christ His Lord, and at that moment Cornelius is saved.

And because faith is contagious, a majority, or perhaps all of his household were baptized as well. And the reason they were baptized is because when Peter shared the Gospel with them, the Holy Spirit fell upon them in a way that was visible and unmistakable, much like He had done at Pentecost, not to put on a show, but specifically so that Peter would not have any doubt, with the combination of his vision of being told to eat food that was ceremonially unclean, with the coincidence of then directly after being invited to Cornelius’ house, and now the Holy Spirit falling upon these Gentiles, by the way the only time in the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit falls upon a people BEFORE being baptized- usually that order is reversed- the LORD is making it abundantly clear to Peter that the Gentiles are being saved and that Jewish customs and laws are not going to be a part of that salvation process. That Christianity is Jewish, yes, because there is only one God and we believe in the OT Scriptures, but that salvation through Jesus Christ is not contingent upon following Jewish Law.

This is why the Church looks the way it does- which is to say, this is why we here are not Jewish. So then what of the Law? What does this mean with regard to the Law? This means that you have the freedom to study God’s Law to learn about the heart of God and to learn who God is and to let the Law of God be a guide for you into wisdom, into holiness, into faithful living, all the while knowing with life giving confidence, that your salvation rests not upon any law of any kind, but upon the rock solid once and for all sacrifice of the Cross, that your hope is built on nothing less than JESUS’ blood and righteousness, not your own. This is the message of Peter’s call to Cornelius. Salvation would be built upon the saving work of Jesus Christ, and worked out in the lives of believers through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. (Possible end)

And really, sometimes we make things far more complicated than we need to. Our relationship with Old Testament laws is not difficult to navigate. Most of it is common sense. Obviously with Jesus as our eternal High Priest, the once for all sacrifice we no longer have any need of any of the laws pertaining to the temple or the priesthood that were designated to manage the Temple and its sacrifices. All those laws have been fulfilled, permanently. Not done away with- fulfilled.

And Peter’s vision here tells us specifically and unambiguously that all the laws designed to keep the Jewish people separate from the nations...in other words not moral laws, but cultural practice laws, are all no longer needed as well. Christians are not going to be keeping themselves separate, now we are being sent out into the nations...and like Paul we say that we will become all things to all people in order to preach the Gospel. So all the dietary laws or clothing laws or border laws, etc., these are all no longer applicable for the Church. All then that is left are the moral laws...which even those our salvation does not rest upon us following them perfectly, but they remain relevant because they show us the heart of God...they are guideposts to morality and they expose our sinfulness so that we can repent and be purifed and draw closer to the Lord by studying them and learning from them.

The moral law finds its fullest expression in the 10 commandments and there is tremendous worth and merit in studying those laws and formatting your life around them.