CORNELIUS THE ROMAN
CENTURION: THE MILITARY
CHRISTIAN Acts 10
Ted Schroder, October 11, 2015
On Governor’s Island in New York there is an
Episcopal Chapel named after Cornelius, the Roman
Centurion evangelized by Peter. On the reredos behind
the altar are paintings of three military men: St. Martin
of Tours, St. George of England, and St. Cornelius.
They remind us that the Gospel is available to all men whatever their ethnicity or occupation.
Cornelius was a Roman – a member of the occupying force deployed to keep the peace in
a foreign land. A task that is needed even today. He was a military leader of 100 hardened and
highly trained soldiers of the Italian Regiment. He was an alpha male. He was a successful career
soldier who had to have earned his position in order to keep it. There was nothing weak about
this man. He needed to be used to command, to make
decisions, and to be courageous enough to carry out his
orders. He knew his responsibilities in the chain of
command. He was a humble seeker who is described as
devout, God-fearing, a man of prayer, and generous to
those in need. Jesus said of such seekers: “If anyone
chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my
teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my
own” (John 7:17). Such men are not normally visited
by an angel in a vision at three in the afternoon, but he
was. This emissary from his commander-in-chief, the
Supreme Lord of Heaven and Earth gave him explicit
orders to find Peter and bring him back to his house.
This he did, sending three of his men to Joppa where
Peter was staying.
In the meantime Peter is experiencing another vision in which all the dietary rules he had
been taught all his life as distinctive of his identity as an Israelite were swept away. This
signified that the barrier between Jew and Gentile was abolished through the Cross of Christ. The
people of God were to be multi-racial and international. Then the Spirit commanded him to go
with the three men who had come for him.
Entering the house of Cornelius Peter found a large gathering of relatives and close
friends. The Roman Centurion fell at his feet in reverence. Peter the fisherman, not used to such
honor from a Roman military official, made him get up. Then he told them the good news of
peace through Jesus Christ who is Lord of all. The story of Jesus is summarized: how God
anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power; how he was killed but God raised him from the
dead and he was seen alive by witnesses; how he commanded them to preach to people and to
testify that he is the one whom God appointed judge of the living and the dead; and how all the
prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins
through his name.
Then a remarkable thing happened. The Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.
What had happened in Jerusalem at Pentecost, and in Samaria, now repeated itself in Caesarea in
a military commander’s house. As Peter explained later to those who criticized him in Jerusalem:
“If God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I
to think that I could oppose God.” So he baptized them with water as they had been baptized
with the Holy Spirit. Peter established a church in that military household.
Cornelius by all accounts was a good man, a religious man, a man given to good works, a
successful man in his chosen military career; yet he was incomplete. He was still seeking. He
needed to hear the Gospel of peace through Jesus Christ. He needed the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. He needed to be baptized and join the church.
There are plenty of people like Cornelius around us today: good people, religious people,
successful people in their careers, yet they are incomplete. They need to hear the Gospel of peace
through Jesus Christ. They need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They need to be baptized and
join the church – the fellowship of Christ.
Cornelius knew all about war and keeping the peace. What he didn’t know and needed to
know was that all the conflict in the world, and within each person, needed to be defeated, not by
military arms, for that is temporary, but by the Prince of Peace. “Christ himself is our peace,
making peace through the Cross. He came and preached peace to those who were far away and to
those who are near” (Ephesians 2:14-17). He and the armies of heaven wages war on all who
oppose his rule. Those who follow him and allow him to rule their hearts will know that “the
peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
When we come in faith, trusting in the Gospel, “we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Do you have peace? Does the peace of God guard your hearts
and minds? I see so many Christians who are worried, who have conflicts within themselves and
with others. I see so many who suffer from insecurity and fear for their wellbeing. So many fear
that they are going to die. They have no peace about the future. Why is that? Why can we not
wholeheartedly embrace the gift of eternal life give us in the resurrection of Christ? Why are we
cowards in the face of illness, aging and the inevitability of death? Why is the prolongation of
this life our highest value? Why are our expectations about the length of our lives so unrealistic?
A military man has to face the prospect of death in every assignment. Are we not all called to be
soldiers of Christ? Do we not face danger every day? Are we not part of the armies of heaven
waging war under Jesus Christ who is Lord of all, ruler of the kings of the earth? Jesus places his
hand upon us and says, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was
dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades”
(Revelation 1:17,18). Do you believe that?
Pray for the Holy Spirit to come upon you to assure you of the good news of peace
through Jesus Christ who is Lord of all. “And this is the testimony, God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that
you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13). Jesus says to you, as he said to
Cornelius the soldier: “Peace be with you!”
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