Commanded By The Lord

So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come.  Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord. – Acts 10:33  (ESV)

It is likely that we have read these words dozens of times, yet have never taken their full measure or grasped the significance and importance of what it is that is being said here.  What is significant is not only what is said, but by whom it is being said.  These are the words of a man named Cornelius, a Roman centurion and commander of the Italian Cohort.  Cornelius speaks these words to the Apostle Peter, who has been brought to his house from Joppa, having just received a vision from the Lord in regards to things clean and unclean.

Earlier in this chapter of Acts, we read that Cornelius “saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, ‘Cornelius.’  And he stared at Him in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’”  (10:3-4a)  That statement is worth noting because of the consistent, underlying message that we find in the New Testament, which sets Jesus in contrast to Caesar.  In that day, “Lord” (kurios) was a title that was reserved for Caesar.  Yet here we find this title on the lips of one of Caesar’s soldiers, as it is directed to the “angel of God.”  Then we see him using the title again in our text above. 

Now Cornelius was in Caesarea.  As a ranking military official in the land in which the events of the life and death of Christ had taken place, it would be unreasonable to think that he was unaware of the things that were being said about Jesus, or that he was unaware of the activities of the main proponents of that message.  He would have known the claims that the followers of Jesus were making for Him.  Indeed, the speech that he made in welcoming Peter to his house indicates his awareness of the message of Jesus that Peter carried, and perhaps of his growing understanding of the significance of the claim, as he says, using official, military language, that “we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”  Clearly, Cornelius, the Roman centurion and subject of Caesar, with his use of both “God” and “Lord” and “commanded,” makes a distinction that shows us that he himself had come to think of Jesus as “Lord.”  Coming from him, as the commander of up to one thousand soldiers of Lord Caesar, this would be no light matter.

Having been encouraged by Cornelius to speak of the Lord Jesus, “Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘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’.” (10:34-35)  With that as a preface, Peter continues and says, “As for the word that He sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)” (10:36).  Here, before a Roman military commander, and likely, before a group of Roman government officials and probably some soldiers as well, Peter uses some startling language.  He speaks of the “good news of peace.”  This is the Gospel of peace.  For the Roman hearer, this would be the good news of the Caesar and of the peace (pax Romana) that he brings.  Peter applies it to Jesus.  Then, in the same breath, while a number of his hearers are contemplating the depth of this statement and its inherent challenge to the Lordship of their emperor, Peter extends his claim and says frankly that it is Jesus that is “Lord of all.”  A bit later, Peter adds that Jesus “is the One appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead” (10:42b).  This claim is made in stark contrast to the well-known fact that it is Caesar, the all-powerful ruler of the world, that has the power to judge, and who has the power of life and death. 

While it is said of Cornelius that he was “a devout man who feared God” (10:2a), and that he used the language of “Lord” in reference to Jesus, this would not necessarily apply to all those that were around him, so Peter is being quite bold.  Cornelius himself is being quite bold, revealing his revolutionary beliefs to the people closest to him, inviting certain scrutiny, possible persecution, and probable removal from his position.  This should tell us something about the revolutionary and resolute faith that is demonstrated by those that confess their belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Just as “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power” (10:38a), He does the same for all those that choose to testify of His Son.  

Everyone Who Believes (part 2 of 2)

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.    

Everyone Who Believes (part 1 of 2)

To Him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name. – Acts 10:43  (ESV)

Forgiveness of sins is for everyone, with the caveat to that being that it only comes to those who believe in Him, that being Jesus.  What is it that must be believed?  In its most basic form, what must be believed is that Jesus is Lord, that He is supreme above all other rulers and authorities, and that His Lordship extends to the whole of creation (human, animal, vegetable, mineral).  With the words of our text, we find that Peter is speaking here to a man named Cornelius, a Gentile, and presumably, to a group that consisted predominantly of Gentiles, consisting of “his relatives and close friends” (10:24b). 

Peter, of course, is a Jew, a member of the nation of Israel.  Cornelius was a Roman centurion who lived in Caesarea, and was said to be “an upright and God-fearing man” (10:22b).  In addition to that, he was “well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation” (10:22c).  To that, we can add that he “feared God with all his household” and “gave alms generously to the people” (10:2b).  His being well-spoken of by the whole Jewish nation is obviously hyperbole, meant to inform us that the people with whom he dealt on a regular basis were quite fond of him.  This was probably due in part to his giving of alms to the people.  Clearly, he was a shrewd man that knew how to deal with the people that were, in some sense, subject to his authority. 

Owing to all of this, it is highly likely that Cornelius was familiar with the great, national aspirations of the people of Israel, their understanding of their plight of ongoing subjection to pagan rulers, and the continued exile from the promises of their God that such subjection represented.  With that, it is reasonable to presume that he well understood the way that Israel generally looked upon Gentiles, which goes back to what had to be one of the main factors in his generous contribution of alms. 

If he did in fact understand these things, then it is also likely that he had a very basic grasp on the importance of Israel’s national symbols of circumcision, land, Torah, and Temple.  We must also hold to an idea that Cornelius would be quite surprised to be instructed to send for a Jew to come to his house, as Jews did not generally enter the house of a Gentile, and especially the house of a Roman centurion, who would represent their hated oppressors.  Not only would the instruction be a surprise, we would have to figure that Cornelius would also be surprised with the fact that Peter did in fact come into his house.  This makes the fact that upon meeting Peter, Cornelius “fell down at his feet and worshiped him” (10:25b), all the more interesting.    

Peter addresses an obvious sense of relief on the part of Cornelius when he says, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.  So when I was sent for, I came without objection” (10:28-29a).  With this, Peter is, of course, referring to the vision he had received while on the roof of the house of Simon, in Joppa.  In that vision, Peter heard God say to him, “What God has made clean, do not call common” (10:15b).  When Peter was found by the men that Cornelius had sent to bring him to Caesarea, he immediately connected the words of God with future association with Gentiles, so he did not hesitate to answer the request to come.  One has to wonder what happened to this willingness to extend the fellowship of the Gospel (Jesus’ Lordship over all nations and peoples) when we find out about his behavior in Antioch, which we learn about in the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians.     

Returning to the subject of exile, it must be pointed out that exile was one of the results of the sin of Israel, and their faithlessness to God’s covenant with them.  When we look through the books of the Hebrew Scriptures that chronicle the history of Israel, whenever we find the people in subjection to foreigners, whether in their land or outside their land, they are considered to be in a state of exile.  This exile will always be connected with sin, usually idolatry.  When the people would have the yoke of subjection and oppression broken, and are either enabled to overthrow those who ruled them in their own land, or to return to their land (in the case of the Babylonian exile and the return under the Persians), we find that it was because the people were said to have repented from their sin, receiving the forgiveness of their God.  So return from exile was equated with the forgiveness of sins.  We can surmise that Cornelius, with all that is said of him, was familiar with this idea.