Paul: Testifying in Chains

“Having received the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic, ‘Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.’ When they heard him speak in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are. I persecuted the followers of the Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison.” (Acts 21:40; 22:1-4. NIV Reads Acts 21:27-22:1-30).

Paul arrived in Jerusalem, and even though he had set his face steadfastly to go there, his reception was two-fold. His Jewish fellow believers received him with gladness, but the Jewish people in general, and especially the temple rulers, were lying in wait for him. He had once been among them, as Paul said on one occasion, “A Jew of the Jews.” They did not like it that Paul had departed the Jewish faith to become a Christian and a missionary, and to them that was a gross crime, worthy of punishment by death. A mob gathered, and Paul was stoned. Such a riot broke out that the Roman commander had to step in to rescue Paul and cast him into the Roman barracks for protection from the mob.

When the commander learned that Paul was a citizen of Tarsus and not an Egyptian insurrectionist who had led a revolt, he gave Paul permission to speak to the crowd.

Paul, no doubt bloody from the stoning and the ill treatment from the mob, stood and spoke in Aramaic to the angry crowd. His testimony recounted how he had once been a devout Jew trying to stop the Christian movement and finding Christians to persecute. But on the Damascus road he came face to face with the Lord in a mighty light and voice from heaven. After that experience, Paul was assigned a new life, that of being a witness to the Gentiles. Paul’s testimony under duress was and continues to be a thrilling account of God’s work in his life. When the commander learned that Paul was a Roman citizen, it put a new light on his position. He was entitled to a hearing, a trial. And so Paul was released from his bonds and allowed to appear the next day before the assembled Sanhedrin.

Hard times bring out either the best or the worst in a person. One can fall apart under duress or face problems and find a way with God’s help to overcome. Paul chose to handle the Jews’ opposition against him by standing up for the Lord and telling what God had done for him. We have occasions where we, too, must choose. May we, with God’s help, stand firm for the Lord as Paul did.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Friday, May 7, 2010

The Journey and the Arrival in Jerusalem

“Then Paul answered, ‘Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus’. When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, ‘The Lord’s will be done.’ …When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard this, they praised God.” –Acts 21:13-14, 17-19 (NIV. Read Acts 21:1-26).

Paul and those with him made their journey from Troas to Jerusalem. Acts 21 gives the record of their itinerary and the people they greeted along the way. At Tyre, they had a seven-day layover while the ship unloaded its cargo. There the believers begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem, knowing the Jews were lying in wait to have him arrested. A tender scene took place there, for the believers (or the church at that place) went to the ship with Paul to bid him farewell. We get a beautiful picture of them kneeling on the beach and praying.

At Caesarea they were guests in the house of Philip the evangelist. He was the same person chosen to be a deacon (Acts 6:5-6), and who preached in Samaria and witnessed to and baptized the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). Philip’s four daughters were prophets. And Agabus, the prophet whom we met first in Acts 11:27-29, gave an object lesson by using Paul’s belt to bind his own hands and feet. This showed that Paul should not go to Jerusalem because of the arrest and binding awaiting him there. Still Agabus’ warning did not deter Paul from his purpose.

When the missionary team arrived in Jerusalem, they were received warmly by the church of which James was pastor. The gathered assembly heard Paul’s report as he told how the Gentiles where he had been gladly received the Word. But permeating the glad reunion with Paul was the threat from the Jewish authorities.

The church leaders urged Paul to go through the Jewish purification rites, with four among them who had made vows, and to furthermore pay the temple charges for the ceremony of purification for himself and the four others. This was just before the storm erupted for Paul. But Paul had kept his intent. He was in Jerusalem. He knew this was God’s will for him and he was ready for whatever would come at the hands of the Jewish authorities. Suffering and denial of self are at the heart of Christian commitment. Paul is an example to us of total commitment to the Lord’s calling. Self-interest is laid aside to follow God.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Thursday, May 6, 2010