With Cornelius’
presumed familiarity with the idea about sin and exile and the forgiveness of
sins, and the exclusive application of those things as relating only to Israel,
it would have been quite the unanticipated revelation to hear Peter saying,
“Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone
who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him” (Acts
10:34b-35). Cornelius would have never heard such things said by the Jews
around him, no matter how much they thought of him. All he would have
ever heard, concerning Israel’s God, was that He was indeed a God of
partiality, concerned only with the plight of His special, covenant people, with
this being the case since the days of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the sons of
Jacob.
Following that,
Cornelius hears the familiar term of “good news” (familiar because it was a
common term associated with the Caesar and proclamations concerning him), and
the attendant, parenthetical declaration that, by the way, that man “Jesus
Christ (He is Lord of all)” (10:36b), which would have been another titular
designation of Caesar.
While processing
these things, Cornelius would then hear Peter say that Jesus had “rose from the
dead,” which was a story that must not have been news to Cornelius, as Peter
has already said, in relation to his speech about Jesus, that “you yourselves
know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee” (10:37a).
To his statement about Jesus’ Resurrection, Peter would then add, that “He,”
this living though crucified on a Roman cross Jesus (which would have weighed
heavily on the mind of a Roman centurion that had probably carried out or
overseen crucifixions in the past), “commanded us to preach to the people and
to testify that He is the One appointed by God to be the judge of the living
and the dead” (10:42). The idea that a man that had been crucified on a
cross was the One appointed to such a thing was a fairly unusual idea. As
if that was not enough, in that day and most likely, though he was God-fearing,
in Cornelius’ mind it was Caesar himself that judged who lived and died---the
judge of the living and the dead.
As if that was not
enough to occupy Cornelius’ mind, Peter goes on to tell his hearers that “all
the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives
forgiveness of sins through His Name” (10:43). This would have been new
information for Cornelius. Again, as a Gentile in the land of Israel, and
worse, a leader in the occupying force in the land, Cornelius would probably
have never heard such a thing. He would have undoubtedly heard, over and
over again, that the Old Testament prophets spoke only of Israel and of its
return from exile and the forgiveness of sin therein entailed. Now Peter
is telling him that the forgiveness of sins applies to everyone who recognizes
and calls Jesus Lord, extending beyond Israel to a much wider group of God’s
covenant people, from every nation, and that this was truly the thing of which
the prophets wrote and bore witness.
In these words,
Cornelius hears Peter saying that all peoples, not just Israel, are in exile
from the land (promised blessings) that God has for them, and that return from
exile and entrance into the eternal life that is the forgiveness of sin, is
accomplished through belief in the Lordship of Jesus, which is a gift of the
faith that comes from hearing the pronouncements of the Gospel. One might
inquire as to how all men entered into that exile, when it was Israel that
violated their God-given covenant, suffering exile as a result. With that
inquiry, we are reminded that all men experienced exile through Adam’s failure
to trust God and to fulfill God’s intention for him and for all those that were
created in the image of God.
From Peter, we learn
that belief in Jesus as Lord equals the forgiveness of sins which equals a
return from exile which equals eternal life. This makes a great deal of
sense, especially as we consider that the belief in Jesus stems from the
gifting of faith that comes from an indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit,
which is the cause of, and evidenced by, calling Jesus Lord. The faith
for belief is always brought about by the Holy Spirit, and we are reminded of
this in the forty-fourth verse of this chapter, which says, “While Peter was
still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word”
(10:44). Their belief in Jesus was the evidence that the Holy Spirit
fell, with the “speaking in tongues and extolling God” (10:46b) the secondary
evidence of the falling and working of the Holy Spirit.
The presence of the
Holy Spirit, signified by this confession (Jesus is Lord!), is the signal that
eternal life has been granted, and that the eternal life is right here and
right now rather than something awaiting us on the other side of the
grave. With this signal confession, we (along with Cornelius) are also
made to know that the exile from God’s promised blessings has been brought to
an end, and that the ongoing sin of failing to live according to God’s
intentions for a creation of His own image has been forgiven, with this being
done because Jesus bore the wrath of God (death) that was owed to all who
entered into this sin. With belief in Jesus, a renewed, restored,
redeemed life has commenced, as through that belief, the blessed believer is
made to share in the awesome power that brought about and was sent forth in
Christ’s Resurrection.
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