TRANSITION & CORNELIUS
The episode concerning Cornelius is vital to the transition and change seen in the book of Acts. It has been called “one of the great turning points in the history of the church.”[1] As Saul (Paul) was not you typical Jewish convert, so Cornelius is not your typical Gentile convert in the salvation experience. While he is devout and God fearing, he is not a proselyte. He is completely Gentile, yet respected the God of Israel. I see the purpose as twofold:
- To provide a confirmation to the Jewish remnant that God is opening a door to the Gentiles apart from Israel. Up to this point, the Gospel had been preached only to Jews (Acts 11:19).
- The setting up a defense for a ministry to the Gentiles by the Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. It is Peter that defends Paul before the council based upon the Cornelius experience (Acts 15:7-11).
It is something that Peter does not do on his own, he could not understand it. Like Paul’s conversion, this move was directed by God through a special revelation. But once Peter experiences it, it becomes the high water mark for Peter’s defense of the mission of Paul at the Jerusalem Council. The conversion of Cornelius must be seen as the first step toward an acceptance and endorsement of Paul and his call as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Witherington observes, “It is one of the purposes of Luke’s historical writing in Acts to show how people like Theophilus had and should come to be involved in a religious phenomenon which began as a Jewish messianic movement.”[2] The conversion and the commission of Paul is the reason for this event; Cornelius is the needed step toward the reality of salvation to the Gentiles without becoming proselytes. The clear order is Paul’s conversion and then Cornelius’s salvation. This order was needed to convince Israel that Paul’s “no distinction” ministry was valid.
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