Today is the Feast of Cornelius the Centurion. In point of fact, it is a feast of
Cornelius. The Roman calendar recognizes
him on February 2 (already a busy day of observances) and the Orthodox Churches
place this feast on September 13. The
Anglican calendar chooses today. It’s
not a bad day to celebrate his life.
Acts 10 tells his story. According to verses 2 and 3, Cornelius was a devout man who feared God
with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed
constantly to God. He resided in
Caesarea. In a vision he received a
command to send servants to Joppa to fetch Peter. While this was going on Peter had a vision
while a guest in Joppa. In this vision,
Paul had a three-time revelation about being commanded to eat what he understood
to be ritually unclean food. Each time
he protested there was a voice that instructed him that What God has made clean, you must not call profane. (verse 14)
When he woke Peter received the delegation from Cornelius at
God’s command. The next day he accompanied
the servants to Caesarea. Cornelius
explained his own vision and in verse 34 made the now-famous statement I truly understand that God shows no
partiality. He preached to a small
crowd and the Holy Spirit came upon them.
Peter baptized them and remained with them several days.
So, Cornelius and his household were among the first Gentile
converts (the narrative concerning the Ethiopian Eunuch is in chapter 8). The events in Caesarea caused a great
controversy, as you can imagine. But in
the end, the Gentile believers were accepted by the early church and the door
opened for a larger Gentile mission.
Eunuch or Centurion, someone has to be first. The universal grace of God is sometimes
revealed in stages. The recognition of
Cornelius’ profession changed the complexion of the church for ever.
Thanks be to God.
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