Acts #28 - Cornelius

Acts 10:1-8 (NIV)
Read by: Tammy Eckhart

How does God respond to those with power?

Today on Daily Read like a new scene in a movie Luke’s narrative pans the camera over to a new character. Cornelius. Cornelius is a roman centurion station in Caesarea, and he’s about to get instructions from the Lord that will change everything for him, and probably for us.

But first we’ve got to have in our minds what a roman centurion really is. A centurion was a soldier in the roman army that held a high office, like a century has a 100 years, a centurion commands around 100 men. Centurions make much more money than an average soldier. So they are powerful, they are wealthy, the rules work in their favor, and there are a lot of them. Cornelius is stationed in Caesarea, which at the time had about 3000 men stationed there, to give you some perspective, Jerusalem only had 600 at the time.

Now the disciples watched Jesus be brutally executed on a roman cross, at the hands of roman soldiers. And in today’s passage the God is going to call a guy in a town that’s named after Caesar and has 6 times more soldiers?!

Given all that might keep this man far from God and what’s happening in Jesus, there is something the LORD sees in him and moves towards.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What surprised you in this passage?

2. The angel said that Cornelius’ prayers and gifts to the poor had “come up as a memorial offering to God.” It seems that even if they don’t have all the information or right answers about theology, the LORD hears the prayers and sees the good works of those who fear him. How does that challenge or encourage you?

3. The LORD doesn’t just use the angel to share the good news. He wants to involve Peter, a Jew, who would consider Cornelius an enemy. Why do you think God wants to do that? As you consider that, become aware of how this passage stretches you.

----------GO DEEPER----------

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