The Uncanny Story of Cornelius, Acts 10

It’s sometimes hard to believe stories like the one I read today in Acts 10.  I use the word “uncanny” to describe it, because I think the definition of that word sums it up best (& it alliterates well with the name “Cornelius”).  The word “uncanny” primarily describes something “eerie”, meaning it is “too strange or unlikely to seem merely natural or human”.  Some synonyms for “uncanny” are strange, weird, mysterious, creepy, & supernatural.  Some of my favorite comic book super-heroes were called “The UNCANNY X-Men”.  They were “uncanny”, not because they were super heroes but because they were mutant humans & they derived their powers from their mutations.  That’s a little creepy.

This story in Acts 10 is quite “uncanny”, & by that I mean it is full of supernatural occurrences.  I’m just going to supply the first 8 verses & I will partially describe the rest of it, but let me encourage you to read the whole chapter.

1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.  5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

Cornelius presents a very good lesson for us who are religious.  Let me sum it up like this- You can be devout, God-fearing, give generously, & pray; AND STILL BE LOST.  That’s uncanny!

 Humanly speaking, Cornelius epitomizes the kind of person I think we all want to be.  He was devoted to his religion.  As a Roman Centurion, it seems rather obvious that Cornelius was a Jewish proselyte.  This meant he believed in the God of Israel and respected the moral & ethical teachings of Judaism.  In other words, Cornelius ”feared God”- which meant he sought to obey Him by the way he lived his life.  He gave to the poor from the resources God had given him, & he prayed.  That he prayed means to me that Cornelius was more than religious, he was also spiritual. 

Add all that up & what do you have?  Cornelius is the epitomy of a morally & ethically good, religiously devout, and spiritually sensitive man.  AND HE WAS LOST! This answer is uncanny to the human mind. 

And the rest of the story is uncanny as well.  Cornelius was directed by an angel (I know- weird & creepy right?  but true) to send for a man in Joppa named Peter.  We know Peter as one of the Lord’s inner circle of friends, who denied the Lord but was reinstated by him, & who, after being filled with the Spirit, became one of the leading spokesmen in the early church.  In this chapter, Peter also becomes the first one to reach out across the national and cultural divide to present the Gospel to non-jews.  The story of his trance and vision of the sheet coming down with all kinds of animals & the conversation with the Lord about what is clean & unclean is another uncanny part to this story.  As the trance comes to an end, the Lord tells him there are men waiting for him downstairs and that he should go with them & share the story of Christ with them.  So he goes with them to Cornelius’ house.  This is where I want to pick back up with Cornelius.

We’ve already seen that Cornelius was a devout, God-fearing, generous, & spiritual man; & that he was lost.  But WHY was he lost?  Because naturally, anyone can be like Cornelius- moral, spiritual, giving, etc… But it is only in Christ that a person can be saved, & that is apart from anything we can do.  Salvation is all an act of grace by God wherein He gives us the gift of faith so that we can trust Christ as our Lord & Savior.  And that’s what Cornelius needed.  And that’s what we need.

It doesn’t matter if you are religiously devout, morally and ethically good, and spiritually sensitive- YOU CAN BE ALL OF THAT ON YOUR OWN.  But what you can’t be on your own is SAVED.  This is what Peter came to share with Cornelius’ family & friends.  It’s called the GOSPEL. 

34 Then Peter began to speak: “…You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.  37 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached– 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.  39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen–by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

How UNCANNY is that?  It doesn’t matter if you are devout, God-fearing, generous, or spiritual-

• You still need the Good News of Peace,
• You still need to know Christ as Lord,
• You still need to trust Him to receive forgiveness of sins that is through His Name, and
• You still need the gift of the Holy Spirit that comes by receiving Christ.

So, I know it’s uncanny.  It’s a little weird, a little superstitious, a little mysterious, & maybe a little creepy; but it’s the lesson we all need.  At the end of it all, it doesn’t matter if YOU have been the best person YOU could be- YOU still need Christ.  That’s the Uncanny story of Cornelius.  And that is the UNCANNY message of the Gospel!