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[00:00:00] David:

[00:00:48] Well, John, I'm not sure if it's a significant milestone but we've made it to Acts chapter 10, which we've been hinting at for a long time.

[00:00:58] John: Yes, it's nice to move to a new number, isn't it? Except, except when it's your birthday, I suppose. But it is nice to move to a new number. So, fabulous. I'm, I, I am bouncing with excitement on this one. I have been so, so looking forward to heading chapter 10 especially off the back of some of, Beautiful.

[00:01:16] I think rich conversations we've had around chapter nine and Saul's conversion and what all of that starts to say in the book of Acts. So it's a, it's a great shift. It's a great moment. But I suspect we could be spending quite a long time in chapter 10. Who knows?

[00:01:31] David: Yes, yes. Yeah. Maybe we should we should let our listeners know that we have our own thoughts as to how long it'll take us to get through this, but we won't release those thoughts. Or maybe once we get to the end, we can say how close we were to our

[00:01:44] John: Yes. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

[00:01:48] David: we're gonna break down the reading of the chapter into smaller chunks so that it sort of stays a little fresher as we talk about those particular, those particular moments.

[00:01:56] Alright, so today we're gonna read from ACT chapter 10 verses one through eight.

[00:02:01] John: Yeah. Beautiful.

[00:02:03] David: And and so we'll jump into that. We'll start at, we'll start exploring. What comes from that once it's fresh in everybody's mind. John, I realize we were super organized and excited talking about Acts 10. We never decided who is actually going to read this.

[00:02:16] So can I put you on the spot and let you jump in?

[00:02:19] John: you can. Of course you can. I would love to. I would love to. So here we go. It says this X 10 verse one. At Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian regiment. He and all his family were devote in God fearing. He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

[00:02:43] 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. 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. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon, who is called Peter.

[00:03:12] He is staying with Simon the Tanner, whose house is by the sea. 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. He told them everything that had happened and he sent them to jpa.

[00:03:32] David: There we go. There we go. I mean, my first sort of thought is the potentially, if you've not been paying attention to acts, the almost whiplash of. Of the start of chapter 10, like, well, wait a minute. Why, why are we in Caesar Ria? Right. Why are, why are we in Caesar Ria with a man named Cornelius?

[00:03:57] He's clearly, I mean, if you're paying attention again, Cornelius not a Jewish name. Right? And and, and he's a centurion. I mean, this is getting. And forgive me if this comes across wrongly, but this is getting worse, not better. Right? Cesia, Cornelius, Centurion, and just in case you're not sure, Centurion from the Italian cohort, right?

[00:04:21] John: it is. It's, it's fascinating and it, it, it does sort of, follow our little geographical trajectory that we picked up in chapter nine, where you see Peter moving from Jerusalem. Sort of northwest ish towards Lida from Lida, further west, Northwest onto the coast in Joppa. And then if, if you do look at a first century map of Israel, Caesarea is about a hundred miles or so north of Joppa.

[00:04:52] So you've got this, the, there is a sense in which. A bit like we saw with the Ethiopian Munich, there's a geographical trajectory that mirrors this sort of spiritual trajectory. There's almost, these two things run beautifully hand in hand. And so we end up in Caesarea, which is, which is sort of, a major administrative center at Roman Administrative center of the region.

[00:05:18] So, although Jerusalem would've been the capital of Israel in that respect, Rome's administrative powerhouse was in Caesarea. So it's a fairly influential, significant place in, in the context. Of that. And so we've moved further up the coast and we're now at Caesarea, the sort of Roman government of the country.

[00:05:42] And of course it's beautiful that we're not only in the center of Roman government, but we bump into a Roman at the same time. So it's, it's, it really is quite poetically geographically and now spiritually and missionally just beautiful. It all collides together in a gorgeous.

[00:05:58] David: I mean, am I pushing it too far to say, and I might be being governed by knowing what Luke's general agenda seems to be. But there's even a sense that, as you say, it's the, it's, it's cia. It's a, it's, it's a, a Roman, but he's also a Roman centurion. And the only reason a Roman centurion is in Caesar Ria is in order to oppress Jewish people.

[00:06:26] I mean that's, that, that's my reading of this story. So, so it's not only is it Siia, which is an offensive place to exist for your average devote Jew it's a Roman man who's in Israel. But as a centurion and he's commander of a cohort, this cohort are not there because, they like the dry heat of Israel.

[00:06:51] They are there to quell rebellions from the people of Israel, aren't they? They're there to remind the people of Israel that they are an oppressed people. It's, so, it's quite an interesting introduction

[00:07:05] John: Mm

[00:07:06] David: Cornelius for us and to chapter 10, because then, So you get these three things, Caesarea, Cornelius, Centurion, and then I think in the brilliance of Luke's rhetoric, he then throws you another sentence wherein you're now given three more things, which if you were a, a gambler, had you just heard, the first passage.

[00:07:30] You do not guess the second passage cuz now your three things. Devout man who fears God, gives arms generously, prays constantly to God. These are not the three things that go with cia, Cornelius Centurion. Do you think that's fair to say?

[00:07:47] John: Oh, it's brilliant. It, I think from Luke, it's a brilliant piece of rating. It absolutely grabs you quickly and you, you do get this dynamic symmetrical contrast. These three sort of statements of who, who he is, where he is, who he is, his rank. And, and some, some of our, our listeners will know the detail around that, but Centurion roughly commanded a hundred men.

[00:08:11] It, it, it could be somewhere between 80, 88 and a hundred, generally speaking, but, but roughly a hundred man, a, a cohort by the way was 600. So generally six centuries made up a cohort and just to complete the biblical language, if you've come across this before, a Allegion would've been then this idea of, of 10 cohorts together.

[00:08:37] So Allegion was 6,000, cohort, 600 a Century a hundred. So you're getting a sense. The influence of this man and the fact that he as a centurion would've fought his way to that.

[00:08:54] So Centurions didn't become centurions because their fathers were wealthy. If, if your father was wealthy, you didn't start at Centurion.

[00:09:03] So Centurion were battle hardened. Centurions generally had fought their way to that position, earned that position earned, literally earned their stripes and battle. So it wouldn't be a stretch to consider the fact that this man had probably been in battle and. Killed people in battle. So you've got a battle hardened Roman in the center of the Roman Administrative Center.

[00:09:31] And then we're told feared God. Gives generously and press continuously. It's magnificent introduction. It just knocks you off your feet and you go, whoa, I didn't see that coming. And, and again, our, our, our listeners will probably be aware of our passion around Luke, where Luke is. Is always both in the gospel and the Book of Act surprising us with these marginal characters.

[00:09:57] So these people who sit on the margin and yet surprise us with their attitudes or surprise us with their responses. We, we've already encountered the Ethiopian Munich, which is just absolutely gorgeous. One of my favorite. Couple of podcasts we did together. They were gorgeous. And, and of course in the, in the stories and miracles of Jesus, we've touched on some of the, some of the stuff in, in the Gospel of Luke.

[00:10:22] So we're nice surprised again by a gentile. This gentile is a real shocking paradox for us. He is literally holding. The first, the first half of the verse, he sounds like a gentile. And the second half of the verse, he sounds like a two.

[00:10:38] David: Yes. Yeah.

[00:10:40] John: Do you know what I mean? It's like he's, it's like he's straddling two worlds in the most amazing way, and he now comes into focus for us because, because those,

[00:10:50] David: in just on that for a second, John? Just as you were saying that, I was thinking you referenced the Ethiopian. But the way you phrased it there, as you were talking about Ethiopian, I was thinking about Acts two and this prophetic image that this is where we're going right from the start of the book. We're gonna have multiple languages praising God, multiple peoples. But you just said there, he, he looks like a gentile, sounds like a Jew. Right. Think about what was going on in Acts two. It was a group of people that looked like Jews sounding like Gentiles, as they praised the Lord.

[00:11:21] And, and, and I mean, that's me just picking up on your resonance. But isn't that a beautiful parallel actually, that you, you've got this inversion going on of, of Cornelius. Has been anticipated since Act two, that eventually you're going to see people in these languages praising God, and yet still, when he arrives in Act 10, it's a little surprising.

[00:11:44] John: It's, it's wonderful. And I, and, and I love, I love the optics that Luke is creating because if me and you just looked at the centurion on the basis of what we knew about occupying force centurions, Then we're already probably jumping though. None of us would want to admit we ever do this. We're already jumping to some stereotypical frames that we're gonna place him in.

[00:12:07] But then Luke completely blows our minds. I I, I, I was reflecting recently, it's a slightly different thing, but it's what Luke does beautifully. I was reflecting recently in my own devotions on Luke chapter one, where it talks about Zechariah and Elizabeth. They, it says, says they were both righteous and according.

[00:12:24] According to the law, living the law, they were blameless, but Elizabeth was Barron and they were both old and Luke. Luke contrasts this idea that their barrenness might suggest they're sinful, they've sinned in some way. According to the theology of the day. But like, but yet Luke shows No, no, don't, don't settle on the optics of their barrenness and their, the, the, the, the situation.

[00:12:47] But actually, these are good people, righteous people, people of capital law. And it's the same. He, he's doing it here. If you went on the optics with the centurion, you're gonna make a judgment. But Luke goes, now, before, before you jump to your stereotypical conclusion, let me just tell you three amazing things.

[00:13:05] A and of course that sense of arms giving righteous actions, dev, devotion, and prayer. I mean, these are, these are. These are fundamental Jewish markers of spirituality. This idea of, of prayer and arms giving, living righteously being a person who practices righteousness. It, it sounds incredibly Jewish as we're introduced to this man.

[00:13:32] David: abs. Absolutely. And that's what I think is so powerful about this text, because if you've been paying attention to acts, you. You know what's going to happen here, right?

[00:13:45] Luke, has been hinting to you for quite some time now that the spirit is disrupting and the spirit is, is pushing in these faces. And so there's these markers of Cornelius that I almost feel like when you're reading up till now, if somebody feels like they don't fit,

[00:14:03] John: Mm.

[00:14:03] David: pay close attention to what's

[00:14:05] John: Mm

[00:14:07] David: , the strain of the Holy Spirit to push back these walls that we've created to find people that. That, that need him and that want him and that and that more importantly actually, that God wants really, you know, and, and I'm struck John even by um, you and I were having before we started recording a conversation about Jonah, right?

[00:14:31] And, and actually this attitude that we see in Acts. Is the attitude that we see from God in Jonah. The, the, the, the nites are in a bad way. We need to rescue them. And, and Jonah now plays the part in a very, very different way than Peter does, but this natural human tendency to think about being.

[00:14:54] Inhospitable rather than hospitable. Right. And we're gonna get to Peter shortly, but, but, but I was struck by what, what we're seeing gorgeously in acts is actually the Holy Spirit letting loose into something that God has been hinting at all the way back into prophets all the way back in the Old Testament.

[00:15:15] So it's, it's a revolution that has been long, long, talked about. Isn't.

[00:15:20] John: Oh, for sure. And, and to, to pick up one we thread of Jonah, Jonah chapter four. He, he essentially complains to God and he says, I knew you would do this. I, I knew you would save the innovates. And it, it's, it's essentially we realize what's really going on. That he, he doesn't just hit the innovates really, but he knows that God of heaven and he knows that God of heaven is.

[00:15:43] He's gracious. He's slow to anger and he's abounding and loving kindness and faithfulness. And Jonah knows if that message, if that God gets anywhere near than innovates, then innovates are gonna respond. And you get this lovely sense that the God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding loving kindness and faithfulness now demonstrated through Jesus and now, His church led by the power of the Spirit.

[00:16:07] We, we see now people like the Romans centurion coming into focus, people who may have been absolutely excluded from the conversation Now coming into focus, and, and Luke of course, has done this before. He, he likes centurions. They keep popping up in his narrative. And centurions have, have really, in Luke's gospel, Jesus holds up a centurion who has greater faith in anything he's seen in all Israel, probably acknowledging him as Messiah.

[00:16:36] So, so these sort of centurion, fringy, marginal themes keep popping up. And I think it's this relentless idea that the son of man didn't come to be served but to serve that he came to seek and to save if that which was lost. And Cornelius represents, again, in the lostness of the type of person that he's come to save.

[00:16:59] And and he now comes into focus for us. So it's, it's a beautiful, beautiful.

[00:17:04] David: we shouldn't be hugely surprised even within acts that this marginal sort of thing is happening. But what I really like about Acts chapter 10, I think, is that here, We're now in a space, and by the time we've done this chapter and got into chapter 11, the Gentiles, the marginalized, the previously excluded, are no longer just hinted at.

[00:17:28] It's not like a, oh look, they're speaking the words of God in our own language. And I don't say that to be dismissive of those moments. And it's not, oh, here's. Ethiopian eunuch that's heading home down into, down into Africa. And then we'll get back on with the rest of the story, or that could be how you'd read it so far.

[00:17:49] Now it's like front center. This is now shaping the story. And once you cross the threshold of Acts chapter 10, there's no going back. The act is not returning from what's about to happen in the next few chapters. Is it? It's we're, we're off and we're, we're outta here, 

[00:18:07] John: for sure. And, and as if to emphasize that, I mean, I think if you look at the narrative of X, the story of Cornelius's conversion is the longest single narrative.

[00:18:19] And then it's, it's, it's repeated in massive detail by Peter in chapter 11. So it, you, you almost. This long story repeated twice, and it sits right at almost the heart of the book of X.

[00:18:35] If you think in, in, in terms of X, in terms of chapter size, this, this is coming pretty close to the middle, so it is a sort of a tipping point moment. It's a seminal moment as far as the direction of the church is concerned. And and I think Dr. Luke maybe being a gentile, wait, this towards Gentiles, allows this story to become one of the dominant narrative pieces 

[00:18:58]

[00:18:58] in the whole o of that.

[00:19:00] So I think that reinforces how important this story becomes, and the fact that then it opens in such a dramatic way, this beautiful paradoxical symmetry of the opening verse. Grabs our attention and shows us not only is God now going after Gentiles strategically, but actually Gentiles are ready to be, to be, to be pursued.

[00:19:25] Gen Gentiles are ready to receive. Gentiles are ready to respond. In fact, people like Cornelius are out there. Right now and they're ready for harvest. And you get this sense of, of this sort of moment of, of crossing the border geographically, but also crossing the border in terms of mentality into, into a phenomenal missional opportunity.

[00:19:48] David: I'm struck about the, the double telling of the story of Cornelius and the contrast of that with this sort of triple telling of the conversion of.

[00:20:01] John: Mm.

[00:20:02] David: Who we, who, who we come to know as Paul. We know that the story of Paul is hugely significant to act, and, and I love the idea that that what you're bringing out there is that based on the model of why we know the story of.

[00:20:17] Paul is significant is that it's repeated the fact that the Cornelius story is repeated, but repeated right next to each other. It's like, I'm gonna tell you the story and then I'm gonna tell you the story again. So Paul's story, you get it three times spread over the kind of, last two thirds of the book.

[00:20:35] It's as if Peter puts it at almost the middle of the story and then repeats it so it becomes. But in, in a weird way, it becomes indicative of who Cornelius is, cuz on one hand, Cornelius is. Is, from Caesar, he's a Roman name. He's a Roman centurion, and on the other hand, he's a God Fearer, who prays regularly and, and, and, and gives generously.

[00:21:06] He is the clashing of the two orders, like Cornelius is beautifully. In his own life, an image of what's actually going on in the church. That, that, that we have the, this overlap. We're, we are at this point now where Peter's staying at a Tanner's house. We've, we, we'll get to that eventually, you know that Peter is being a.

[00:21:27] Push to the edge of his boundaries. He's, he's moving into his own view of marginalized space and what he's meeting there is not what he expects to meet there. He's at the Tanner's house. That's big enough for him, but he's about to meet this God-fearing Romans centurion and, and, I mean, it's, it's as if all of the, all of the nicely held division lions are crumbling are crumbling between themselves and I, and I, so when I'm reading that, I can't help but be drawn and I mean, and I, I am anticipating here, John, so forgive me if it's, if it's too much, but I am.

[00:22:09] I am thinking about what Paul then does in Ephesians two. Ephesians two 13, now in Christ Jesus, you who are once far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. He is our peace in his flesh. He has mo made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall. That is the hostility between us.

[00:22:32] I mean, it, that's what's going on here, isn't.

[00:22:35] John: It totally is. And, and in fact, in the, in the Book of Acts narrative, the, the not, not only do you have the story of Cornelius's conversion back to back, but then the chapter itself, what we call chapter 11 itself concludes with the magnificent beginnings of the church at Antioch.

[00:22:54] David: Yes.

[00:22:55] John: And of course our, our friend Saul, slash Paul will come back into focus with that church.

[00:23:01] Barnabas will reappear with that church. Somewhat argue, Antioch becomes the first genuinely multicultural church in the New Testament. Certainly has a multicultural leadership. And it becomes, of course, the platform for. Global missional strategy that absolutely launches into the gentile world. So, so not only did he get this microcosm of Cornelius becoming a follower of Jesus, which we're about to see, but but then you get this world that he represents in Antioch, sort of, comment of you.

[00:23:37] So, so it feels that, it feels like Peter has left Jerusalem, he's gone to. He's gone to Chopper now. He's about to go to Caesarea. We'll, we'll, we'll catch up with that eventually. And then by chapter 11, we are an Antioch. So it's, it feels like, it feels like something is shifting right across here.

[00:23:59] And we now see a church emerge in Antioch, that that sort of starts to take a, a huge influence. I was gonna say preeminent, but that's probably unfair, but certainly a huge influence in the, in the Acts narrative that that once was held by Jeru. 

[00:24:19] David: Mm-hmm. 

[00:24:20] John: now there's a shift of focus towards Antioch, which is, I know it's a bit further down the track for us in terms of podcasts, but that's the trajectory.

[00:24:27] If you read chapters 10, chapter 11 together, that's where you end up as a, as a, as a storyline.

[00:24:34] David: So there's a level to which, what Luke is potentially saying with this story is, you better get used to seeing things like this. This is, this is the, this is the new normal. And I wonder if that's part of the reason why he's so careful in how he introduces Cornelius to us.

[00:24:53] We get very specific definition. , I'm trying to think who else we get in this narrative that gets such a precise introduction, not just in terms of , his personhood, Caesar, Cornelius, Centurion. I'm really curious about this. Verse two, a devout man. Feared God with all his household, gave arms generously.

[00:25:16] So not just giving arms but, but giving arms greatly or, or, or much I think is the, is the Paul, is the Greek there to the people I'm praying constantly to God. I mean, I can't, I can't help but think of of Paul's instructions in First Thessalonians. There is, , of praying constantly.

[00:25:35] But it feels like Luke is at pains to give you an image of Cornelius that is indisputable. Is that the word I'm looking for here, John? That he's not just a God fear her, but, but look, it's actually, it's sunk down into his life. He lives this, I mean, this part of me reads this thinking he must be a terrible centurion and

[00:26:00] John: Yeah. It, yeah, you do, you do sort of wonder, okay, what has happened to this man? Has he had some form of encounter with the Jesus community? Has, has maybe his work in Israel placed him in Jerusalem at some point. Ha has he encountered, has he seen Jesus as a distance? Has something gone on in his life?

[00:26:24] Because there's clearly. A change taking place because th this is a man who e even in Jewish culture, would be regarded regarded as, as a righteous person. It practicing their righteousness in a way that enriches others in a way that odds to others. I mean, these are high ideas in the context of a, of a Jewish community.

[00:26:46] Master of righteousness would be one of the ideas. But it's, it's that sense of this isn't just a good man, this is a man who is seriously and intentionally committed to acts of righteousness and practicing that righteousness. Jesus. I, I, I'm reminded of something that Jesus says, in terms of.

[00:27:07] In, in his sermon on the Mount, if, if your eye is filled with darkness, your whole body will be dark. If your eye's filled with light, your whole body's filled with that. That sense, that idiom, that a generous person is one to have said, to have had a good eye. This, this sense of a good eye.

[00:27:25] And here's a centurion. He's got a, he's, he's, he's, he's devote, he's got a good.

[00:27:30] .

[00:27:30] he's giving generously. He's got a good eye and he's praying to God. There's, there's something deeply spiritual going on with this man and which seems to suggest that, that something's changed in his world and what his interest, of course is.

[00:27:45] Also his house.

[00:27:46] Not just his family, you get this sense of house there. Which might also pull in his attendant, his one of his soldiers. It feels like it's not just the immediate family that had been impacted, but the household has been impacted. So something really significant has happened in this man.

[00:28:06] And and of course what happens next seems. Affirm that in terms of the encounter that he, he then has,

[00:28:16] David: And, and the detail that we get from Luke, including as you point out in verse seven, even one of his soldiers has become devout in this. And, I mean, Luke doesn't make enough of this for us to assume this might be a regular thing. Maybe this is what happens to people that spend time in, in Israel at this time period.

[00:28:37] I, I mean, I do find myself wondering how it affects their, their, their job and ability to do their, the job that they've been sent there for. But it's interesting that Cornelius is . Important, but also a, a sort of extra in the story. So, so he gets this high level of details and .

[00:28:55] It's important that throughout this narrative, you don't forget the, unusualness of Cornelius because it's the situation at Cornelius's house that is going to change. The story. So unlike Paul, he becomes the character. So the actual story around Paul himself isn't as hugely significant to the narrative as that Paul becomes a Christian and a missionary.

[00:29:22] Whereas with Cornelius, by the end of this story, fades out of the story. It's just that, but, but what has happened is his, his at his house becomes the evidence of the new work of the Holy Spirit in, in the church going forward.

[00:29:37] John: Mm. Yeah. That's so powerful. And, and it's, it's, it's like we are invited into this transformational moment that shows that God is at work right across the board. And, and then as you say, sort of Cornelius. Sort of disappears from the story, but actually it's not really about Cornelius.

[00:29:58] So he's important. It's not really about his house. So that's very important. It's about what God is doing in this moment. It's about what God is signaling. And I have to say, David, David, this might be a bit of a stretch. I was trying to work out what Cornelius's name meant. So I did a bit of research.

[00:30:16] Now I've no experience in Latin whatsoever. But my, my understanding is that his name comes from sort of a Latin root, and the Latin root is corn, which is horn. This idea of a, a horn an instrument to horn. And I, I just had this, this is probably overcooking this far too much, but I just got this lovely sense that Cornelius himself, his story becomes a sort of, I hope this doesn't stretch too far a sofar moment, a, a horn blowing moment.

[00:30:48] I, for, for those who've studied the Old Testament, the sofar was blown at different times, which is like a, almost like a Jewish horn. And, and one of, one of the times it's blown. Is it, is it the beginning of Jubilee, this announcement of grace, the announcement of favor, the announcement of something's going to.

[00:31:08] And I, and I thought that was just a, a lovely little, like, not build your house on idea, but a gorgeous little coincidence that the man who's going to be at the heart of a story where Gentiles come to faith, his name sort of points to the idea of horn, the blowing of a horn. And that in the blowing of sofar that you get this jubilee announcement of Greece and it, it does feel like something's being announced in Cornelius.

[00:31:36] Something is being demonstrated in a way that we've had hinted at very strongly in the text we've had, we've had nudged at in the Ethiopian Munich, but now with Cornelius, this feels like a full on blowing of the horn and.

[00:31:52] David: mm.

[00:31:53] John: Everyone has to stop and pay attention to what God is about to do in and through this man's life.

[00:31:58] And I just, I just thought that was a, a lovely, little weird, wonderful nuance. I don't

[00:32:04] David: You know what, I'd not spotted that, but, but you are right. The, the language of the English word horn comes down to us from the Latin horn hence the word that everybody knows, unicorn literally one horn.

[00:32:18] Right. So, so at, at, at, at some point what happened is the word unicorn arrived in English alongside the word corn. And corn became horn, but unicorn remained as uni unicorn. And that will maybe help all of the parents who at some point have talked to their child. And if your childs anything, like mine have asked, why is it not uni horn?

[00:32:38] And you're like, well actually it is uni horn. And but, but yes, so I had, I had. Connected that in my head, that this is a language of announcement , I mean, it's beautiful when you think of how Paul refers to himself as a announcer of the gospel and this messenger and that what you've described there is what's happening in this story, right? That this, this man is an announcement, both in terms of the history of the church, but even in Acts himself. In Caesar here, there was a man named Cornelius, a Centurian, like, like it's, it's a little, if there was music.

[00:33:15] Set to act, the music would change here. It's designed these first two verses are Luke's rhetorical in narrative horn to blow and wake you up. Something's changing here, pay attention. So, so , I know that you weren't saying that that's exactly what we must do with this text, but I love what you're saying there because it's just a, another beautiful little layer of.

[00:33:39] Of that's exactly what's happening here. Cornelius is a little bit of a blast of the trumpet that is reminding you that something is changing. It's Cornelius is, he is the contradiction. He is the one that should be excluded. He is actually not going to be excluded. And but the way that.

[00:34:03] Introduces him is a bit like Aho far blast. At very least it's gonna knock the cobwebs off you of, of wanting to exclude people like Cornelius.

[00:34:15] John: . Very good. And, and with that blast, of course, it is the, it's the remainder. Of the, the blast that Jesus began, that he announces the year of God's favor and the year of Jubilee for all. And and Cornelius represents in the most dynamic way that all being included in that favor.