Peter Preaches To The Household Of Cornelius

Peter Preaches to the Household of Cornelius

Acts 10:34-43

The bringing of the gospel message is one of the watershed events in all of history. Up to this point, the gospel was preached to the Jewish nation. Luke later describes the Jewish-Christian witnesses he brought to Cornelius’ house as the “of circumcision faith.” The unfolding of Jesus command to the disciples in Acts 1:8 to be his witnesses “first in Jerusalem, then Judaea and Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth” had already seen the spreading of the gospel to Judaea and Samaria and also to the Ethiopian Eunuch. The Samaritans were not Jews but were descendants of the other ten tribes of Israel, at least in part. They could be seen as a fringe group to the Jews. The Ethiopian Eunuch may also have been of mixed Jewish blood as many of the Jews who escaped the Babylonian Captivity escaped to southern Egypt near Ethiopia. Also the Queen of Sheba who came to hear Solomon may have brought back the Israelite faith and incorporated it into the religion of the country. Proselytes to the Jewish religion heard the message at Pentecost.

One could argue, I suppose, that these groups were so remote to the center of Judaism that the Gospel had already been opened to the Gentiles. When one considers that Matthew records that all the region of Syria heard of the fame of Jesus that even Jesus had preached to Gentiles. And Jesus did preach to Samaritans and interacted with a Syrophonecian woman and a Roman Centurion. So why is this event portrayed as so central when there is precedent already set in reaching out to the Gentiles? Perhaps we should see this in relationship to circumcision and the law of Moses. To this point, at least some Gentiles could enter into the covenant, but this would mean becoming a Jew to some degree. There were already many God-fearers in the Roman Empire who believed in the God of Israel. They were afforded a quasi-legitimate status among the Jews. They could overhear the synagogue teaching in silence from the back of the synagogue. But to become of equal status, the men would have to submit to circumcision and vow to submit to the Law. Of course women and the eunuch could never rise to this status.

What makes the preaching to Cornelius’ household isn’t so much that they were Gentiles, per se, but rather their being able to enter into full covenant relationship in the Christian faith without being compelled to become part of the Jewish covenant which God made with Israel through Moses.

God had been at work preparing for this event. He prepared Cornelius, a Roman Centurion for it by his interest in the God of Israel. He was a God-fearer, which is a significant step considering that the Centurion had to make an oath with Rome, the Emperor, and the gods of Rome to join the military. To have any allegiance to another god could evoke suspicion. But many of the Roman Centurions showed themselves to be noble in the sight of God. The Bible always mentions centurions in a positive light. Cornelius showed interest in the Scripture and also was familiar with the events going on in Palestine as were those who Cornelius has invited to his house. Peter says as much when he says in his sermon to them “You yourselves know the events which happened in Galilee. They knew about John the Baptist, and had some knowledge of Jesus and the events concerning Him. God had prepared Cornelius well, and I wonder if the others whom Cornelius invited had heard these thing previously by Cornelius himself.

God had to prepare Peter as well. Peter had his faults, but he showed himself to be a loyal Jew. He also became a loyal follower of Jesus, despite his miserable failure of denying Jesus three times. Peter saw everything about Jesus through the lens of Judaism. On many occasions, he and the disciples had to be corrected, especially concerning how Jesus was the Messiah. The Jews had many erroneous opinions about the coming Messiah, especially that the Messiah would overthrow the Roman occupation of their country and restore Israel’s independence and glory over the nations. It would be quite an undertaking to get Peter to talk to a Gentile, a Roman Centurion, and a leader of the occupation. Peter had to be told everything three times it seems in order for things to sink in. So God gave the hungry Peter a threefold vision of mixed clean and unclean beasts with the command to kill and eat. Peter was indeed horrified, but the Lord Jesus told him not to call anything unclean which God had cleansed. He was told to let the men sent by Cornelius who had also seen a vision into the house he was in, a kosher house, and without question, and to go and lodge at Cornelius’ house. Of course, this was forbidden in Judaism, but God had the final word on the matter.