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“…But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust…”   - Acts 24:14-15

We watched yesterday as Paul insisted on returning to Jerusalem, even against the warnings of his friends and fellow laborers.  His reception there was as Agabus had predicted: Paul was arrested and bound for trial on charges of “teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place,” and even that he “brought Greeks into the Temple and has defiled this holy place.”  They permitted him to speak in his own defense until he declared that the LORD Himself had sent him to preach to the Gentiles.  

Today’s reading picks up the following day, when the Roman Tribune calls Paul and the chief priests to sort out the accusations against him.  I don’t want to give too much away.  My encouragement for you is to read this today as pure story, a narrative of history and politics and intrigue and religion and power.  You’ll see nefarious plots and daring rescues.  You’ll see Paul brilliantly split the Sanhedrin against itself.  You’ll meet Roan governors and yet another Herod, and you’ll see how friend and foe try to exploit their mangled priorities.  Listen as Luke relates the motivations behind each action – and how the Lord looked out for Paul.   

And be patient, for Jerusalem is not Paul’s final destination: while still in Macedonia, he resolved in the Spirit that he must see Rome.  After his arrest in Jerusalem though, likely awaiting mob execution rather than an official trial, this goal would be immaterial except that the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

In the background is the intensifying breach between the Jews and adherents to “The Way,” or “Nazarenes” as their called today.  Paul consistently defendshimself as a committed Jew who believes in the resurrection of the dead according to The Way not as a replacement for the God of Our Fathers, but as the fulfillment of God’s promises.  Yet the Jews want to kill him all the more.  As Acts approaches the finish line, this tension seems far from a resolution.

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Acts 23 through 25.  Now let’s read it!

In chapter 20 Paul moves through Macedonia to Ephesus, where he had previously spent two years proclaiming the gospel.  Determined to go to Jerusalem, his parting words for the Ephesian elders capture the zeal that appears to have driven his life:  I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.  Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

The grief and anxiety crests at Tyre when we’re reacquainted with Agabus, the prophet from chapter 11 who had foretold the famine in the days of Emperor Claudius.  His vision today is even more foreboding: that the Jews at Jerusalem would bind Paul and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.  Though Luke asserts that “we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem,” Paul was indignant: “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

There is a lot of movement today so I encourage you to keep an eye on Paul, and the activity surrounding him.  Since the chapter 13, when the Jerusalem church fell under sever persecution, and coincidentally Paul and Barnabas were commissioned from Antioch, Luke’s focus has been on Paul’s journeys.  This is perhaps due to his proximity to Paul’s work, but it is also evidence of how dangerous things had become for the church in Jerusalem.

That danger fills the second half of today’s reading.  Paul is determined to tell the Jews of all he had seen on his journeys, even after hearing that he is a marked man.  He is discovered and imprisoned, ironically while fulfilling the ritual purification rites.  The scene is eerily similar to that of Jesus’ final night: an angry mob, conflicting accusations, and Romans whose arrest of Paul ironically protects him. 

Paul’s discipline to purify himself for Temple worship exemplifies the ambiguous tension between Judaism and the Christian church.  Paul emphatically insists to the Jews that he is one of them: raised in Jerusalem, taught at the feet of Gamaliel, a celebrant of Stephen’s stoning.  But he cannot avoid his experience on that road to Damascus, when about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me…” 

The crowd listened, respectfully, until he announced that in this very Temple the LORD had commissioned him to a task so despicable that they determined “he should not be allowed to live!”

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Acts 20 through 22.  Now let’s read it! 

In chapter 20 Paul moves through Macedonia to Ephesus, where he had previously spent two years proclaiming the gospel.  Determined to go to Jerusalem, his parting words for the Ephesian elders capture the zeal that appears to have driven his life:  I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.  Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

The grief and anxiety crests at Tyre when we’re reacquainted with Agabus, the prophet from chapter 11 who had foretold the famine in the days of Emperor Claudius.  His vision today is even more foreboding: that the Jews at Jerusalem would bind Paul and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.  Though Luke asserts that “we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem,” Paul was indignant: “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

There is a lot of movement today so I encourage you to keep an eye on Paul, and the activity surrounding him.  Since the chapter 13, when the Jerusalem church fell under sever persecution, and coincidentally Paul and Barnabas were commissioned from Antioch, Luke’s focus has been on Paul’s journeys.  This is perhaps due to his proximity to Paul’s work, but it is also evidence of how dangerous things had become for the church in Jerusalem.

That danger fills the second half of today’s reading.  Paul is determined to tell the Jews of all he had seen on his journeys, even after hearing that he is a marked man.  He is discovered and imprisoned, ironically while fulfilling the ritual purification rites.  The scene is eerily similar to that of Jesus’ final night: an angry mob, conflicting accusations, and Romans whose arrest of Paul ironically protects him. 

Paul’s discipline to purify himself for Temple worship exemplifies the ambiguous tension between Judaism and the Christian church.  Paul emphatically insists to the Jews that he is one of them: raised in Jerusalem, taught at the feet of Gamaliel, a celebrant of Stephen’s stoning.  But he cannot avoid his experience on that road to Damascus, when about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me…” 

The crowd listened, respectfully, until he announced that in this very Temple the LORD had commissioned him to a task so despicable that they determined “he should not be allowed to live!”

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Acts 20 through 22.  Now let’s read it! 

Throughout the long history of the Old Testament you’ve become familiar with names that move southward and eastward from Judea: Egypt, Edom, Moab and Ammon; Aram and Damascus, Assyria and Nineveh, Elam, Babylon, Media and Persia.  These were the people and places that had intersected with Israel; they were also the centers of culture and power of the time.

But during the five centuries between the fall of Babylon and the rise of the church, new powers had emerged – Athens, and Rome – whose culture and influence emanated from the Mediterranean basin, to the west.  The world’s cultures intersected on the Greek and Apennine peninsulas.  This is where ideas were heard, vetted, and disseminated; this is where Paul wants to go.

His second missionary journey continues today in the port cities of Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus.  In each place Saul – now named “Paul” – goes first to the Jewish synagogue to reason and persuade them about the kingdom of God.  When this is unsuccessful he goes to the heathen marketplaces and halls of debate, such as the Hall of Tyrannus in Ephesus.  

As the word of the Lord continued to increase, so did the resistance to it.  Inquiries are launched and riots are instigated by those who have something to lose from adherence to “The Way.”  Heathen magistrates see through the Jews’ tactics, but Luke is making a case that the strongest reception for the gospel comes from outside the synagogue.  This perhaps influences Paul’s observation in chapter 19, “I must also see Rome.”

I want to invite you to read carefully when Paul finds himself in Athens, that great ancient center of debate, early in today’s reading.  He intends to simply wait for Silas and Timothy, but his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was full of idols.  He begins to reason with them, both in the synagogue and in the marketplace.  He takes on Stoics and Epicureans.  He receives an invitation to debate at the Areopagus, the ancient rock of deliberation, investigation, and trial. 

There, overlooking Athens, Paul begins: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way, you are very religious…”  

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Acts 17 through 19.  Now let’s read it! 

Throughout the long history of the Old Testament you’ve become familiar with names that move southward and eastward from Judea: Egypt, Edom, Moab and Ammon; Aram and Damascus, Assyria and Nineveh, Elam, Babylon, Media and Persia.  These were the people and places that had intersected with Israel; they were also the centers of culture and power of the time.

But during the five centuries between the fall of Babylon and the rise of the church, new powers had emerged – Athens, and Rome – whose culture and influence emanated from the Mediterranean basin, to the west.  The world’s cultures intersected on the Greek and Apennine peninsulas.  This is where ideas were heard, vetted, and disseminated; this is where Paul wants to go.

His second missionary journey continues today in the port cities of Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus.  In each place Saul – now named “Paul” – goes first to the Jewish synagogue to reason and persuade them about the kingdom of God.  When this is unsuccessful he goes to the heathen marketplaces and halls of debate, such as the Hall of Tyrannus in Ephesus.  

As the word of the Lord continued to increase, so did the resistance to it.  Inquiries are launched and riots are instigated by those who have something to lose from adherence to “The Way.”  Heathen magistrates see through the Jews’ tactics, but Luke is making a case that the strongest reception for the gospel comes from outside the synagogue.  This perhaps influences Paul’s observation in chapter 19, “I must also see Rome.”

I want to invite you to read carefully when Paul finds himself in Athens, that great ancient center of debate, early in today’s reading.  He intends to simply wait for Silas and Timothy, but his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was full of idols.  He begins to reason with them, both in the synagogue and in the marketplace.  He takes on Stoics and Epicureans.  He receives an invitation to debate at the Areopagus, the ancient rock of deliberation, investigation, and trial. 

There, overlooking Athens, Paul begins: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way, you are very religious…”  

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Acts 17 through 19.  Now let’s read it! 

In today’s reading the missionary efforts of Paul and his co-laborers are challenged by a variety of outside forces for reasons that, on the surface, have little to do with the gospel.  Remember that Luke is making choices about what to include and exclude in his book: his observations have both a narrative and a teaching quality to them. 

Back in chapter 13, the Jewish leaders in Pisidia had first invited Paul and Barnabas to give a “word of encouragement for the people.”  Even after preaching the Gospel of Jesus they were unchallenged.  But the next Sabbath, when it seemed the whole city came out to hear them, the synagogue leaders were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.  We’ve seen this before, haven’t we?  Today these Jews follow Paul and Barnabas to Lystra, where they stir up trouble even among the Gentiles. 

On Paul’s second journey he comes to Macedonia, to Philippi, where he casts out an evil spirit that’s possessing a slave girl.  When her owners, who had been exploiting her ability to prophesy, saw that their hope of gain was gone, they accused Paul and Silas as troublemakers, landing them in jail.  Follow the rapid details of what happens that night: an earthquake at midnight, the terror of the jailer, Paul shouting in the dark… and the comedic turn of fear onto the heads of the magistrates. 

Also in chapter 16 look out for a subtle change from third person narrative to first person.  It’s a brilliant human touch.  I don’t want to tip you off too much, but it sounds like Paul picked up more friends on this journey than Silas and Timothy. 

In the middle of all this is a journey to Jerusalem, where a decision must be made once and for all regarding the Gentile converts.  What transpires is a most significant turning point, but is more an observation of God’s evidence than a human decision.  The Apostles come to share Gamaliel’s earlier prophecy: “If this plan or undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.  You might even be found opposing God!” 

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Acts 14 through 16.  Now let’s read it! 

In today’s reading the missionary efforts of Paul and his co-laborers are challenged by a variety of outside forces for reasons that, on the surface, have little to do with the gospel.  Remember that Luke is making choices about what to include and exclude in his book: his observations have both a narrative and a teaching quality to them. 

Back in chapter 13, the Jewish leaders in Pisidia had first invited Paul and Barnabas to give a “word of encouragement for the people.”  Even after preaching the Gospel of Jesus they were unchallenged.  But the next Sabbath, when it seemed the whole city came out to hear them, the synagogue leaders were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.  We’ve seen this before, haven’t we?  Today these Jews follow Paul and Barnabas to Lystra, where they stir up trouble even among the Gentiles. 

On Paul’s second journey he comes to Macedonia, to Philippi, where he casts out an evil spirit that’s possessing a slave girl.  When her owners, who had been exploiting her ability to prophesy, saw that their hope of gain was gone, they accused Paul and Silas as troublemakers, landing them in jail.  Follow the rapid details of what happens that night: an earthquake at midnight, the terror of the jailer, Paul shouting in the dark… and the comedic turn of fear onto the heads of the magistrates. 

Also in chapter 16 look out for a subtle change from third person narrative to first person.  It’s a brilliant human touch.  I don’t want to tip you off too much, but it sounds like Paul picked up more friends on this journey than Silas and Timothy. 

In the middle of all this is a journey to Jerusalem, where a decision must be made once and for all regarding the Gentile converts.  What transpires is a most significant turning point, but is more an observation of God’s evidence than a human decision.  The Apostles come to share Gamaliel’s earlier prophecy: “If this plan or undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.  You might even be found opposing God!” 

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Acts 14 through 16.  Now let’s read it!