After the resurrection of Jesus, the news of new life began to spread. In Matthew 28, Jesus told about the message for the world. So in Acts 2, an encounter with those who had crucified Christ, we find a message for the guilty. Now in Acts 10, we have a message that Jesus is for the “good.”What do we mean when we say “good”? It’s a relative term. Jesus has said that Jesus said there was no one good except the Father (Mk 10:18). Paul tells us that “There is none righteous, not even one…” (Rom. 3:10). In the sense of righteousness, no one is good. We all sin; we are all in need of grace.But there are people whose lives are lived closer to God’s calling than others. One of those is found in Acts 10:1-2—and he was not a faithful Jew. Instead, he was a Gentile named Cornelius.Cornelius is a centurion in the occupying Roman army. A typical Roman century, a military unit, had 80 soldiers and various auxiliaries and servants. While the word “century” is related to 100, the Roman army century had 80 soldiers as far back as recorded Roman history goes. Now this was an important position and sometimes it is likened to our “captain.”Now Cornelius not only fears God, but also observes some Jewish activities (Acts 10:2, 22). So as a disciple, he feared God and was faithful in prayer. He was a generous man who made generous contributions. So he was a respected person, especially when most Romans were hated by the Jews.But there was something missing. Even his goodness was not enough to save him. So God sent Peter to teach him the Gospel. But before He could send Peter, God had to reinforce teachings that Jesus had taught the apostles, but were not yet practiced. God sent Peter a vision about the “clean and unclean” (Acts 10:9-16). God’s regulations under the Mosaic Law were changed, especially Peter should not consider “Gentiles” as “unclean.” So the Spirit told Peter to go to Cornelius.Peter goes to the centurion’s house and teach the good news to them. The result was that these “Gentiles” believed and were baptized!The good news still today is that this message is for everyone! No barriers! No economic or racial distinctions! No educational requirements! No classification based on abilities!As Paul would later write: “You are all sons of God through ...
