Friday, September 30, 2011

Acts 23 -- Paul Causes More of a Stir

In school they teach you about the building action of a plot, leading to the climax.  Chapter 23 clearly provides a significant portion of that building action.  First, Paul stands before the Sanhedrin, a religious supreme court of sorts.  It was made up of 70 men and led by the High Priest.  I found it interesting that Paul speaks so aggressively in verse 3, then backpedals so quickly when he is informed that he got mouthy with the High Priest.  I'm not sure quite what to make of that...we didn't see Jesus back off like that.  On the other hand, Paul and Jesus are not apples to apples.

I also wonder what happened to the forty involved in the murder plot against Paul.  They vowed not to eat or drink until he was killed.  So when we learn their plot fails, did they go back on their word, or did they starve to death?  Thank God for Paul's brave nephew who I have to assume risks his life to save Paul's. 

Lastly, how about the size of the caravan that transports Paul to Caesarea.  200 soldiers and 200 spearmen, with 70 horsemen?  Paul is not simply some under the radar troublemaker.  He and his cause are a big deal.  Big enough to put 470 Romans on the march.  That alone makes it seem pretty unlikely that the events in Acts could have been fabricated much at all.  These events were the kind that had people's attention to the point they would remember them for many years to come. 

Next week....Paul on trial.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Acts 22 - Another Cliffhanger Ending

Previously in the book of Acts....when we left Paul he was about to deliver a speech to the assembled crowd in Jerusalem.  As he lays out his story of how Jesus spoke to him and grabbed hold of his life, the mob listens, apparently fairly quietly, until he talks of being sent to the Gentiles.  It's still hard for me to wrap my brain around the venom these people had for the Gentiles and anyone who would associate with them.  "Rid the earth of him!  He's not fit to live!"  (verse 22).  Unbelievable.

So naturally, they begin shouting, throwing off cloaks and "flinging dust into the air" to the point where the the commander gets Paul out of there.  And naturally, rather than simply questioning Paul, he is to be flogged and then questioned. It's the imminent flogging that provides Paul the opportunity to reveal his status as a Roman citizen (due to his birth in the city of Tarsus, which provided for automatic citizenship), which was an alarming revelation for the commander who got the report from his centurion.  At that point the flogging plans go out the window, and there is a realization that the Romans better do their homework and figure out who this man is.  Paul is brought before the chief priests and religious leaders and ordered to stand before them.  And chapter 22 ends there, with another cliffhanger ending.  Can't wait to read more next week.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Acts 21 - Trouble in Jerusalem

First observation: Bible translations tend to be pretty conservative when it comes to figurative language so when it reads "After we had torn ourselves away from them" at the beginning of verse 1, that tells me there's a pretty serious bond that's formed between the Ephesian leaders and Paul and his assistants.  Pretty serious indeed.

Next: we've mentioned this before, but the inclusion of extraneous details like, "he had four unmarried daughters who prophesied"  (v. 9) is pretty compelling evidence for the accuracy of the historical account.  That detail doesn't seem to add much to the story -- certainly not the kind of item that someone would have included if the story was a fabrication made up many years later.

Finally: as Paul makes his way to Jerusalem, the trouble that he encounters there is eerily reminscent of the scene as Jesus is arrested and taken into custody.  Mobs of people, mass confusion, accusations of blasphemy or false teaching, etc.  And the chapter ending with Paul about the address the people has me on the edge of my seat.  This book of Acts really does read like a great adventure story.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Acts 20 - Man on a Mission

Paul gets out of Ephesus and winds up spending three months in Greece before winding up in Troas.  In Troas, we see Paul's preaching come into question as a young man falls asleep as Paul goes "on and on".  Sounds amusing until young Eutychus falls out the window and dies, before being brought back miraculously by Paul.  I bet that bought him some credibility with the audience for sure.

Determined and "in a hurry" to get to Jerusalem, Paul heads that way but desires to say goodbye to the church leaders from Ephesus, whom he knows he'll never see again.  He sends for them, and delivers a stirring farewell.  He encourages them, warns them, thanks them, and reminds them of the supreme importance of living out one's calling.  "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me -- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."

Amen. 

Next time, on to Jerusalem.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Acts 19: Preaching, persecution and a bizarre riot

Reading chapter 19 this week, one thing that jumped out at me was the opening phrase, "While Apollos was at Corinth...".  It's these types of seemingly insignificant details that help convince me that this account is reliable.  The original readers might say, "Oh yeah, I remember when Apollos was in Corinth", and it provides context for them.  I look at it and think that if the book were unreliable, it would do the author no good to include details like, "While Apollos was at Corinth". 

Moving on, we see Paul again suffering persecution at the hands of the synagogue leaders, and consequently setting up daily lectures elsewhere in Ephesus for two years.  I've covered this in other posts, but I have always tended to think of Paul as a traveler, which he certainly was.  But I don't often picture him setting up and spending 2 years anywhere.  That's a long time to shut down one's travels and invest in one particular group of people.  I marvel at the way Paul is led by the Spirit from place to place for such varying lengths of time. 

Finally, Demetrius the silversmith gets his mention in Scripture, albeit not an especially flattering one as he stirs up his fellow craftsmen with the fear of losing their livelihood.  "Soon the whole city was in an uproar" (v. 29).  The riot builds from there, "Some were shouting one thing, some another.  Most of the people did not even know why they were there" (v. 33). 
And for two hours the people shouted "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"  Two hours is a very long time to chant anything.  I can't even imagine.  Apparently the riot leads to not much due to some quick thinking by the city clerk (v. 35-41).  Good job, city clerk.  Way to diffuse the situation.