The life of Paul is just an amazing story. From his conversion to his near-death experiences, from his speeches to his letters... it's all phenomenal. Today's reading stands out for me though.
We left off yesterday with him being arrested in Jerusalem after a riot breaks out among the Jews. As he's being taken to the army barracks for detainment, Paul speaks to the commander in Greek, requesting permission to address the mob. Until that moment, the commander had believed Paul to be an Egyptian guilty of leading 4000 people to revolt against Rome, but Paul's knowledge of Greek stops him in his tracks and Paul has the opportunity to clarify his identity. The commander then grants him permission to give his testimony.
And what a gripping testimony it is! A Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, taught by the best and smartest Pharisee, persecutor of people who believe the way he does now... Paul openly admits to overseeing the stoning of Stephen and killing other Christians, but then he tells the crowd about how Jesus Himself confronted him on the Damascus road and changed him forever. The people are hanging on his every word. Their fury has died down and now they're really listening. He has their attention.
And then he goes and wrecks it all by saying God told him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
Wow, if the mob was angry before, they are absolutely INCENSED now! How DARE Paul give their salvation to swine!!! How dare he offer God's promises to anyone other than pedigreed Jews! Again, they try to kill him and again, he's whisked away by unbelieving soldiers, who, this time, stretch him out and prepare to flog him to get a straight answer out of him.
But they are stopped dead in their tracks when he points out that punishing a Roman citizen without fair trial is against the law and that he just so happens to be a citizen of Rome by birth ~ he didn't even have to buy his citizenship like the commander had obviously done. Now they're afraid of him and what will happen to them when it's discovered they've put a fully legitimate citizen in chains without trial. I can just imagine the colour draining from their faces; the fear and uncertainty they must have been feeling. I wonder if Paul was a little but smug here? Did he think, "HA! Didn't figure on THAT little twist, didja??! How ya feel about killin' me now, ya buncha goons?!"
Yeah, probably not. I would have been tempted to. But I think Paul only sees the Holy Spirit at work here. He seems to see and greedily grab every single opportunity to share the gospel, regardless of what's going on around him and to him.
So we assume Paul spends the night in protective custody ~ probably not in chains though! ~ and because the problem seems to be between Paul and the teaching of the Jewish religious leaders, the commander brings Paul to the Sanhedrin to get to the bottom of it all. He can't figure out why everyone wants Paul dead because as far as he's concerned, Paul hasn't committed any crime deserving punishment of any kind, let alone death.
Then Paul makes this absolutely astounding statement: "I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good consicence to this day." Wow! Can you imagine being able to claim that? Especially if you'd been preaching something entirely different from what the religious leaders wanted everyone to believe about God!! For Paul to even have the confidence to make this claim is evidence that the Holy Spirit was right there with him, speaking through him.
Then he launches into a bit of a tirade against the high priest, which of course, does nothing to help his cause. Good thing he's not concerned about his own personal comfort and safety!
There's an uproar in the Sanhedrin, and once more Paul is rushed out by the soldiers into protective custody. I think this commander quite liked Paul. Several times here in this account, he does things for Paul he wouldn't have had to do. Sure, he might have just been upholding the Roman law, but I dunno. Something tells me he wanted to preserve Paul's life for another reason.
Paul spends another night in the barracks and here comes the sentence that really blew me away. "...the Lord stood near Paul" and encouraged him. The Lord stood near Paul. God, Himself! Not "the Holy Spirit was with him;" not an angel sent to strengthen him... The Lord Himself comes to stand by Paul. Isn't that incredible?? What He says isn't particularly comforting (in my opinion, anyway!), but His physical presence must have been an indescribable comfort and encouragement.
The next day, Paul is transferred to Governor Felix in Caesarea, and look what care the commander takes to ensure Paul's safety en route: 470 soldiers!!!! For ONE prisoner!
That God had planned for Paul to spread the good news of the gospel to the Gentiles is pretty obvious.
I don't know about you, but this is one Roman commander I'm very thankful for! I hope he became a believer somewhere along the way. It may have been unwittingly, but he was certainly instrumental in ME hearing the gospel centuries later!
How will WE influence future generations ~ accidentally or on purpose?
Tomorrow's passages: Acts 24-26
1 comment:
How did I not notice the verse that says "the Lord stood near Paul"?! Wow!!
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