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A man named Cornelius

May 02, 2020 By: Kyle Timmons Topic: Uncategorized Scripture: Acts 10:1-8
A statue on the banks of Caesarea Maratima – Photo by Kyle Timmons, November 2019

The story of Cornelius can be found in Acts 10:1-8.

The story takes place about a 40-minute drive north of Tel-Aviv along the banks of the Mediterranean Sea in the current location of Caesarea Maratima.

Cornelius and his family were devout believers in God and according to Scripture very generous as they supported the needy.

Cornelius belonged to the non-commissioned officer class who were the backbone of the Roman army, the Italian Cohort (10:1). (Alexander, Loveday (2007). “62. Acts”. In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 1028–1061.).

The story in Acts shares a vision that Cornelius had when he saw an angel.

The angel told Cornelius that his prayers and generosity came in the presence of God and the angel instructed Cornelius to send men to Joppa (just south of Tel-Aviv) to get Peter.

The story of Cornelius and Peter continues over the next few portions of the Book of Acts, but these verses in Acts 10 share two visionary experiences which both confirmed each other.

While the story shares that Cornelius was a devout believer in God and generous with the needy, something that jumps out at me is the fact that he still needed to hear the way of salvation from a human messenger. The angel intervened and had him call for Peter (the human messenger).

Many claim to be followers of God and many even are generous in giving to the needy; but there’s more to belonging to Christ – and that is hearing and accepting the news of salvation.

Our faith is more than just respecting the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus, it’s having a saving relationship with Him as well.