The House of Cornelius

UV 4291/10000 The House of Cornelius And he said, “ Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered before God (so that He is about to help you). Acts 10 v 31 Cornelius was not of the Jewish faith but his devout nature and his acts of charity won him the attention and favour of the Lord God. Cornelius was God fearing and concerned for the poor. He did not know much about God – so much so, he fell at the feet of Peter and worshipped him for he saw him as a representative of God. Peter received an angelic visitation and vision in order to break the barriers in his own mind, concerning the call to visit Cornelius and to accept him into the fold of the faith in Christ Jesus. The same way Cornelius received an angelic visitation and he was obedient to the direction of the angel to send word to Joppa and invite Peter to his house. Cornelius was keen to hear the word from the Lord given through Peter. It is written in the book of Acts that the prayers and gifts of charity to the Jewish people rose as a memorial offering before God. A memorial offering is an offering made in remembrance of the past blessings of the Lord. In order to prepare Peter to meet Cornelius and show him that the Roman centurion was acceptable and favoured by the Lord, Peter saw a vision of a great sheet on which all types of hitherto unclean animals including crawling creatures like snakes. He was directed to kill and eat these. Our attitudes and prejudices can often be a barrier in our work or ministry. The prejudice that was ingrained in Jews against Gentiles, thereby, broke down and Peter understood that the Lord has declared clean the Gentiles. Peter understood that all who feared the Lord in all nations and does what is right is acceptable and welcome to the kingdom of God. We were happy to hear that the Lord regarded our house, our family as the house of Cornelius. It is an endorsement of the Lord to continue acts of charity to the poor. Indeed, whatever we do to the least of our brethren that we do unto Him. It is an encouragement to all of us to do all that we can to convey the love of God for all people, without regard to caste, class, nationality, religion, race or cultural differences. Cornelius was a model of both faith and good works in balance. We will do well to emulate Cornelius and combine our faith in Christ with acts of charity to the needy. This is effective faith, productive or fruitful faith that the Lord will never ignore but rush with angels and visions, as well as blessings and other signs of His favour, to our side.