The Journey Of The Upright: The Case Of Cornelius, The Centurion
FRI Reflection 020521 (The Journey Of The Upright: The Case Of Cornelius)
All
that we know of Cornelius is contained in the Book of Acts (chapters 10 and
11). A centurion was a Roman army officer, theoretically in charge of a hundred
men. Several centurions are mentioned in the New Testament (Matt 8:5 = Luke
7:2; Matt 27:54 = Luke 23:47; Acts 10:1; 22:25; 23:17,23; 22:23; 27:1), and
they are consistently portrayed favorably.
Cornelius is called a God-fearer--that is to say, he
was a monotheist, a Gentile who worshipped the One God. The Jews traditionally
recognized that such Gentiles had a place in the Family of God, and they are
mentioned along with the priests (House of Aaron), the Levites (House of Levi),
and the Jews or Israelites (House of Israel) in Ps 115:9-13, Ps 118:2-4, and Ps
135:19-20. In New Testament times, an estimated ten per cent of the population
of the Roman Empire consisted of God-fearers, Gentiles who recognized that the
pagan belief in many gods and goddesses, who according to the myths about them
were given to adultery, treachery, intrigue, and the like, was not a religion
for a thoughtful and moral worshiper, and who had accordingly embraced an
ethical monotheism -- belief in One God, who had created the world, and who was
the upholder of the Moral Law. Although only a few of them took the step of formal
conversion to Judaism, undergoing circumcision and accepting the obligations of
keeping the food laws and ritual laws of Moses and his rabbinical interpreters,
most of them attended synagogue services regularly.
Cornelius, then, was a Roman centurion, and a
God-fearing man. One day, as he was praying, an angel appeared to him and told
him to send a messenger to Joppa and ask Peter to come and preach to him.
Peter, meanwhile, was given a vision that disposed him to go with the
messenger. When Peter had preached to Cornelius and his family and friends, the
Holy Spirit fell on them, as on the first Christians at Pentecost (Acts 2), and
they began to speak in other tongues. Thus, there was ample evidence to
convince Jewish Christians who hesitated to believe that it was the will of God
that Gentiles should be brought into the Church.
Cornelius was the first Gentile converted to
Christianity, along with his household, and Luke, recording this event, clearly
regards it as an event of the utmost importance in the history of the early
Church, the beginning of the Church's decision to admit Gentiles to full and
equal fellowship with Jewish Christians[1].
In my earlier reflection I talked about dramatic Christian conversions. It
appears that Cornelius had truly converted and the most important recognition of
this was God’s. We understand that the Jews also recognized converted gentiles
as part of the family of God, but the most interesting fact is the 180 degree
turn in their way of life. This is an important mark in the history of the
church, not only because God put a stamp on an inclusion of gentiles, but also
the community recognized this centurion as a God-fearing man.
This
man is an example for all of us, a person with strong moral convictions, piety and
integrity, God showed us that Cornelius was his servant when he sent his angels
to him with a mission. It teaches us that our relationship with God is the most
important. This brought a question in my mind that I had read years ago from
Walter Kaiser’s book: What does the Lord require? In other words, what does God
expect of us if we are to live in his blessed presence? My research brought me
to Ps 12: 8 “On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among
humankind” David was describing the intensity of evil in his day which is
not any different from our own day. 
A few characteristics are of great interest to us: (1) Live blamelessly. (2) Do what is right. (3) Speak the truth. (4) Keep your promises. (5) No slander. (6) No wrongs/reproach. (7) No usury/bribery. In Ps 24:4 David talks also about clean hands, no worship of idols, with a pure heart. The same characteristics show up also in Ps 33: 15 where King David talks about what a Godly lifestyle looks like. Those whose walk is blameless (Ps 15:2)
It does not mean the person must be perfect to enjoy the presence of God, but his lifestyle must be marked by integrity. The word used here in Hebrew is [Tamim], to signal a moral way of life. We see this word in Gen 6: 8: Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, so did Abraham in Gen 17: 1. These men sought after and aspired to making integrity their goal. They did what is righteous, they spoke truth from their hearts [from the center of their innermost selves]
Their walking/living and their doing/speaking pointed to God’s will. God is calling us to live without blame, to do what is right, and to speak the truth. God is calling us to stop all form of slander against everyone, God is calling us to live without reproach trusting our Lord to help us rise above these challenges and refrain from doing any of these wrongs.
Amen.
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