Readings for today: Acts 24-26
Felix. Festus. Agrippa. Bernice. Caesar. Religious leaders. Pagan governors. Roman emperors. The Apostle Paul testified before them all. On what charges? Was he stirring up violence? Was he an insurrectionist? Was he calling for rebellion? No, he simply was sharing the gospel. I love how Paul sums things up when the religious leaders accuse him of being a “plague” and an “agitator” and a “ringleader” of a new sect. Paul doesn’t get angry. Paul doesn’t throw a fit. Paul doesn’t lash out or respond with violence or seek to use his leverage to destroy his accusers. He simply says, “But I do admit this to you: I worship the God of my ancestors according to the Way, which they call a sect, believing everything that is in accordance with the law and written in the prophets. I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous. I always strive to have a clear conscience toward God and men.” (Acts 24:14-16 CSB)
The way of Jesus has always been a stumbling block to the Jewish religious leaders and absolute foolishness to pagan Gentiles. Why? Because literally no one believes a crucified Messiah makes any sense. The Jewish leaders reject it out of hand because they believed God’s Messiah would come to re-establish the Kingdom of Israel on earth. They believed He would kick out the Romans and sit on David’s throne and rule forever. They were looking for a political savior more than anything else so when Jesus is crucified by the Roman authorities, it effectively ended any claim He had to Messiahship in their minds. The pagan Gentiles rejected the cross because it was the ultimate sign of humiliation and defeat. It was the most shameful and painful way ever devised by humanity to execute another human being. It effectively made the victim a non-person. It de-humanized them in every way possible. Naked. Beaten and bloody. Slowly suffocating over hours if not days. All on public display. How in the world could anyone claim such a person to be the Savior of anything? Much less the world? The answer, of course, is resurrection. Only the resurrection makes sense of the cross. Only the resurrection sets Jesus apart from every other would-be messiah in the world. It was his encounter with the Risen Christ outside of Damascus that changed Paul forever and it’s why he became a follower of the Way and a proclaimer of the gospel.
Let me ask you an important question. If you were put on trial, like Paul, would there be enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian? The reality is that all of us find ourselves on the stand in the courtroom of public opinion every single day. The way we interact online. The way we relate to others at work or at school. Our reputation in our neighborhood. The love we show our family and friends. As you think about all the people God has placed in your life, do they know you are a Christian? Have they heard your testimony? Do they know why you believe the way you do? How can you pray for opportunities to share your faith with them today?
Readings for tomorrow: No devotionals on Sundays