Acts 10:1
¶ There was a certain man in Caesarea
called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
2 A devout man, and one
that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and
prayed to God alway. 3 He saw in a
vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to
him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4
And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord?
And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial
before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa,
and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose
house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. 7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius
was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of
them that waited on him continually; 8
And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them
to Joppa.
Cornelius was a
centurion, an officer over a hundred men (think century for centurion), in a
cohort or band of six hundred men, and that the title Italian Band suggests
they were all native Romans. They would have been dedicated to serve under the
Roman governor in a place where the subject nation was contentious and
disorderly waiting for a messiah who would throw off the Roman yoke and lead
them back into their former glory. It was not a preferred military posting you
can be certain of that.
Caesarea Martima was
built by Herod the Great to be a major port. It was the administrative center
of the Roman Empire’s province of Judea. It is on the coast of the
Mediterranean south of Haifa in present-day Israel. Caesarea is often called
Caesarea Martima or Caesarea Palastinae to differentiate it from Caesarea Philippi
on the Jordan River. Joppa, also known as Jaffa, was a little over 30 miles
from Caesarea. The servants must have left immediately that afternoon and
arrived the following day around noon so it is likely they traveled by cart and
didn’t stop.
Cornelius was clearly a
Jewish proselyte doing good deeds in the distribution of alms to the poor and
honoring the God of Israel. God blessed him by giving him a vision and speaking
to him. He did as he was ordered and sent men to Joppa to bring Peter to him as
ordered. One thing that is interesting to note is that there were devout Roman
soldiers like Cornelius and he was not alone in his faith.
It would be very hard to be a Roman soldier
and a Jew considering the heavy use of pork in their diets and the imperial
cult where one had to pay homage to the emperor as a god. But, it would not be
impossible if one walked a little on both sides of the fence as many so-called
conservative Christians do today honoring the cult of the state, paying homage
to the gods of the age like entertainment and mammon, and yet going faithfully
to church every Sunday. Cornelius was, however, devout and the other devout
soldier is mentioned.
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