Peter’s encounter with Cornelius was a momentous event. It was momentous first of all from the standpoint of Church history: this was the first experience of the Kingdom by a person who had no connection with the Jewish people...
Peter’s encounter with Cornelius was a momentous event. It was momentous first of all from the standpoint of Church history: this was the first experience of the Kingdom by a person who had no connection with the Jewish people. One might, of course, also recall the Ethiopian eunuch, but nothing is said about his experience at the moment of baptism. Here, however, the sacred writer essentially describes a new Pentecost on a local scale, connected with the household of Cornelius. It would be more accurate, though, to call this event a continuation of Pentecost, which this time touched people who were faithful to the God of Israel but had no connection with the Jewish people. Peter sees in this the fulfillment of what the ancient prophets had spoken about.
Even before the Babylonian exile, it had been revealed to them that with the Messiah’s coming God would become the God not only of the Jews, but also of Gentiles seeking truth, whatever nation they belonged to. Now that time had come, although not quite in the way many believing Jews had expected. At the time, most Jews, including Jewish Christians, were convinced that anyone seeking the Messiah and the Kingdom must first become a Jew by embracing Judaism. Jewish identity in those days was an ethnoreligious phenomenon, and anyone who embraced Judaism in its fullness was considered a Jew. Only afterward, having become a Jew, could a person hope for something greater. In reality, however, things proved otherwise.
God clearly showed Peter that for Him there is no insurmountable barrier between a Jew and a member of any other nation, provided that the person is seeking the Kingdom. Judaism is only a means, not an end. It is needed as the form in which Revelation is clothed. But this form is not absolute, and it may well happen that recent Gentiles find the Messiah and enter the Kingdom without identifying themselves with it in any way.
That is what happened with Cornelius. He did not embrace Judaism or become a Jew, but the breath of the Kingdom descended upon him, and he entered the Kingdom. Only baptism remained, for to become an inhabitant of the Kingdom one must part with one’s former life, and without baptism this is impossible. But God required nothing more from Cornelius or his household. Faithfulness to God and to Christ proved sufficient. This is understandable: the Kingdom is founded not on religion, but on this faithfulness.
