Unsung Heroes in Scripture: Cornelius the Centurion
Unsung Heroes in Scripture: Cornelius the Centurion.
“The Lord made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He hid me. And He made me as a polished arrow; in His quiver He concealed me.” (Isaiah 49:2).
There are so many characters in the Bible that have been hidden from us, so many unsung heroes who have been destined to be underappreciated and overlooked. Like Ananias, they have a pivotal role in a limited event and then they disappear from us. Like Abigail, they are often celebrated by one group of believers and completely ignored by another group of believers. Like Barnabas, they might be overshadowed by a strong, more compelling personality. Like Cornelius, they might have set the stage but were not the main event. Like Bezalel, they might be supremely gifted for one particularly crucial task, after which their usefulness seems to end. Like Shiphrah and Puah, they might rise heroically to the challenge of becoming human saviors but then humbly point to the person that they saved. Like Caleb, they might have their moments of profound faith and courage and then seem to be written right out of the script. The Scripture is full of unsung heroes, relative unknowns, hidden in God’s quiver. These polished arrows are actually more numerous and often more significant than the heroes who are more commonly sung by the faithful. After all, where would the skyscrapers be were it not for the hidden pillars of support?
“God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as inferior or beneath me, as common or unclean… I am beginning to see now, and nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! He is completely impartial! It makes no difference who you are or where you’ve come from – if you revere God and are ready to do what’s right, the door is open! That word that He sent to the children of Israel – that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again, that there is peace with God through Jesus – He is doing that now everywhere, among everyone! He is Lord and King of all!” (Peter speaking to Cornelius; the whole story is found in Acts 10).
This, the longest narrative in the Book of Acts, is the earth-shattering story of Peter and Cornelius the Roman centurion. Cornelius was the Gentile who converted to Messiah Jesus and was baptized in his home in what is called the second Pentecost, or the Pentecost of the Gentiles. For Peter, this was the scene of his second conversion, growing from one type of believer of the closed-door variety, to another more complete believer with an open door policy.
Cornelius was a Roman military leader in charge of 100 soldiers, stationed in the port city of Caesarea. He was considered a “God-fearer” by the Jews in his community, someone who worships the Jewish God, is a member of the local synagogue, a devout believer, but not a full convert to Judaism. He prayed regularly, led his family in worship, and gave generously to the poor and needy. His character and integrity were unimpeachable and was highly respected by the local Jews, even if he did not feel the need to follow the Mosaic Law in matters like circumcision or the dietary kosher regulations.
Peter was the famous apostle who was the leading spokesman for the early Christian community after Jesus ascended. He was full of the Holy Spirit, and duplicated much of what Jesus had done during His earthly ministry. Peter traveled to many parts of Israel and beyond, preaching the good news, healing the sick, casting out demons, and performing many miracles. Soon before his crossing paths with Cornelius, he had healed a paralyzed man and raised a Christ-follower from the dead (Acts 9). At this point in time, probably about eight years after Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2), Peter liked staying with a friend named Simon, a tanner who lived in Joppa. It’s interesting that Peter had no problem befriending or staying with someone whose occupation was considered unclean according to Jewish law.
The Vision of Cornelius. One day, during his customary time of prayer at 3:00 pm, Cornelius witnessed an angel coming to him and telling him that his prayers and acts of charity have ascended to God and received by Him as offerings. Cornelius was completely open and receptive to whatever the angel had to say. The angel then told Cornelius to send some of his men to the town of Joppa thirty miles away, to go to the house of a tanner named Simon, and ask there for a man named Peter. Cornelius’ men were then instructed to bring Peter back to Cornelius’ house in Caesarea, and he, along with all of his friends and family, were to carefully listen to whatever Peter had to say. Cornelius was good at taking orders, so that’s exactly what Cornelius did.
The Vision of Peter. At the same time in Joppa, at the house of Simon the tanner, Peter was on the rooftop for his time of prayer. Unexpectedly, Peter fell into a trance. The word for trance here in Acts 10:10 is “ektasis,” where we get the term ecstasy, and it means “to be taken to another realm.” So Peter was in a completely different state of mind during this trance on the rooftop. Peter saw the skies open up, and a huge linen tablecloth, or sheet, drop down to earth. The four-cornered tablecloth represented the four corners of the earth. This extra-large sheet contained a wide variety of creatures such as wild beasts, creeping things, and birds. Peter recognized some of the animals as being ceremonially unclean, so when he heard a voice from heaven telling him to kill these animals and eat them, Peter’s reaction was understandable: “No, Lord!” As a faithful Jew, it was unthinkable to even consider eating unclean animals. So the Lord repeated the vision, and Peter once again said “No!” Finally, after the Lord repeated the same vision a third time, it sunk into Peter’s stubborn brain that this was an important message from God… anything cleansed by the Lord is no longer unclean. Peter seemed to accept this new word from God, but that doesn’t mean he fully understood it, for 10:17 reports that he was genuinely “perplexed.” The Greek word here is “diaporein,” which means to be at a loss, very unsure, puzzled, unable to decide. This seemed to be a completely new direction from God, and Peter would trust its truth, but at the same time he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Peter’s Visitors from Cornelius. During this uncertain time of Peter’s perplexity, the men sent from Cornelius stood at the gate to the tanner’s house in Joppa. Peter’s mind was still spinning from his trance, and now he wasn’t sure what to do with these unknown, unexpected visitors, who appeared to be Gentiles! But the Holy Spirit spoke clearly to Peter and told him that he could go with these men, that God sent them to him specifically, and it’s okay because the Lord is right in the middle of all that’s going on. Since it was late in the day, Cornelius’ men stayed the night at the tanner’s house, and they all started on their thirty-mile hike to Caesarea the next morning. Peter took some friends with him to serve as witnesses to whatever was going to happen.
Peter’s Elevator Speech. After arriving at Cornelius’ home, Peter discovered that the house was full of Gentiles everywhere he looked: Cornelius’ friends, family, and even fellow soldiers in the Roman army. So Peter offered as good a short summary of the ministry and mission of Jesus as has ever been uttered: God doesn’t play favorites, and He doesn’t show partiality between Jew and non-Jew; God sent His word to the Jewish people first, that’s true, but Jesus came to join together in peace all people, and He is Lord of all, not just some; Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with divine power. He did wonderful, beautiful things among the people, healing them and casting out demons from those who were harassed by the Evil One. I, personally can vouch for this, says Peter, because I and the other apostles were all eyewitnesses! Finally in Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified on a cross, but God raised Him from the dead three days later. He then appeared to us and proved that He indeed was risen! Jesus ordered us to preach the good news and spread the word of Him being the judge of the living and the dead. And we know now that everyone who believes in the Messiah Jesus receives complete forgiveness of sins “through the power of His Name.” But then Peter was interrupted by the Holy Spirit, and he could go no further with his sermonette.
The Second Pentecost. Others call this next event in the house of Cornelius the “Pentecost of the Gentiles.” Peter was speaking and he had to stop in mid-sentence, because the Holy Spirit chose that time to fall on all those in the house! All those Gentiles began to speak in tongues and passionately praise God, just like at the Pentecost for Jews in Jerusalem eight years earlier! The Jewish brothers who came with Peter were astounded that the Spirit was being poured out on people who weren’t Jewish.
All were baptized! Peter knew what to do, and he immediately supervised the baptisms of all who just received the Spirit. Biblical scholars report that during that time, baptisms were largely self-administered as they were supervised by whomever was responsible for the baptisms taking place. So all those Gentiles baptized themselves in the power of Jesus’ name as Peter managed things. At the request of the newly baptized, Peter and his friends remained in the house of Cornelius for a few more days without the slightest fears of becoming unclean.
Cornelius the Missionary. It has been said that Cornelius most likely returned to Rome at some point in the near future after his conversion. Roman leaders were only temporarily stationed around the Roman empire at that time, and then they were returned to Rome after their military stint. The conversion of Cornelius no doubt brought him into contact with many people in Rome, and surely he helped spread the gospel in the very pagan capital city of the Roman Empire.
The Divine Bridge. It is impossible to underestimate the importance of this story, of Peter crossing paths with Cornelius. It changed the face of Christian history, a new chapter written by God Himself. In the eyes of the religious Jews, the God of Abraham had been closed to non-Jews for centuries. But with Cornelius, a monumental change has been confirmed… In Messiah Jesus, Jews and Gentiles are now united in one fellowship and one faith. Despite numerous hints at universal redemption in their Hebrew Bible, and the fact that Jesus Himself brought the good news of His salvation to Gentiles like the Samaritans, the Greeks and the Romans, there remained a chasm between the Chosen People, the Jews, and the non-chosen people, everyone else. Gentiles were viewed as 2nd-class citizens culturally and religiously. Despite the presence of the Court of the Gentiles in the Temple, non-Jews were nonetheless considered unclean, and even social contact was minimized. So for Jewish Christians who had been trained to think like this for centuries, old habits died hard and change came slowly. It was very difficult for a Jewish Christ-follower to even consider that God did not play favorites. As St. Paul said later, this was the “mystery of the gospel:” “In past generations, it was not made known to mankind, as the Spirit is now revealing it to God’s holy apostles and prophets; This mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together with the Jews in God’s promise in the Messiah Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:4-6). As it turned out, it was Peter and Cornelius who first helped to unravel this mystery.
“And we no longer see each other in our former state – Jew or non-Jew, rich or poor, male or female – because we’re all one through our union with Jesus Christ with no distinction between us.” (Galatians 3:28).
Sons of Noah. Bible translator Dr. Brian Simmons noted that “the three conversions of the Ethiopian dignitary in Acts 8, Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9, and the Roman centurion Cornelius in Acts 10, prove the power of the gospel. One could view these three conversions represent all the sons of Noah: Ham (the Ethiopian), Shem (Saul), and Japheth (Cornelius)… a black man, a Jewish man, and a Gentile, all of them convert to Messiah Jesus.”
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, is inspired in Romans 11:17-24 to provide for us a picture of God’s arrangement regarding the Chosen People of both the Old and New Covenants. The cultivated olive tree represents Israel, and the wild olive tree represents the Gentiles. The farmer tending the cultivated tree enables it to bear fruit by pruning and nurturing it carefully. He trims and discards the branches that are unproductive, and he keeps the roots of the tree intact. Out of tree’s holy root will come the Chosen One. The Gentiles have weak roots, because they are wild and uncultivated. The branches of this wild olive tree were thus incapable of bearing fruit. But then the farmer, out of sheer mercy, took an unproductive branch from the wild tree and grafted it onto the cultivated tree. This grafting would succeed in nourishing the wild branch, giving it new life and enabling it to bear fruit. This is a picture of how Gentile believers can now share in Israel’s blessings through its Messiah, who is the root of the cultivated olive tree. Paul says that the Gentile believers do not replace Israel, that they were grafted onto the Jews through Jesus. Israel remains God’s cultivated tree, His Chosen People even now, and through the Messiah is the source of salvation for all Gentile believers. Christians are branches growing from the Jewish tree, from the root of Christ. Both Israel and the Christian Church are a part of one cultivated olive tree and are given life through Jesus Messiah. Some ideas to consider:
(1.) Jews and Gentiles alike are part of God’s chosen people through the Messiah Jesus.
(2.) The Gospel of grace has grafted the Gentiles, (“branches from a wild olive tree“), onto Abraham’s tree, (“a cultivated olive tree“), through Messiah. Paul expands on this mystery in Romans 11:17-24, and he mentions this mystery in many other parts of his epistles.
(3.) Because of God’s grafting, Jew and Gentile have become equal sharers in the rich nourishment of the roots of Abraham’s tree.
(4.) Both Jew and Gentile are partners together in the same body of faith, the Messiah Community.
(5.) Both Jewish and Gentile believers share equally in God’s inheritance by being called God’s children. As mutual partakers, they both enjoy the promise of God’s eternal blessings, because they are in union with Christ.
(6.) God’s revelation concerning salvation was directed to the Jews first as His chosen people in the early covenant.
(7.) Gentile believers are extensions of God’s chosen people. They are included, but they do not replace the Jews as the original people of God.
(8.) Jewish and Gentile believers are bound together in Christ, in anticipation of the restoration of Israel, when all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26).
(9.) The restoration of Israel will include the blessing of all nations.
(10.) It is Messiah Jesus who gives significance to everything in the body, including Jew and Gentile, which is the basis of equality among the many varieties of believers.
(11.) Gentile believers remain Gentiles, Jewish believers remain Jews, but there should be no division between them, since they are united in Christ.
(12.) To be included in the mystery of salvation, both Jew and Gentile alike must believe in Messiah Jesus. Their body of fellowship is made up of those who call on the name of Christ.
“This revelation about Jesus Christ and His plan for you Gentiles includes this wonderful mystery that has been kept secret since the beginning of time. But now as the prophets foretold and as the eternal God has commanded, this message is made known to all Gentiles everywhere, so that they too might believe and obey Him. All glory to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” (Romans 16:25-27, NLT).