463.) Acts 28

Beautiful Malta!

Acts 28 (New Living Translation)

Paul on the Island of Malta

¹ Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.  (The word Malta means “refuge.”) ² The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.

February 10 is a holiday in Malta, celebrating the Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck to their island.  The bay where Paul supposedly landed is called St. Paul’s Bay, the main cathedral, in Mdina, is dedicated to him, and the patron saint of the island is, of course — him!

³ As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand. ⁴ The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.” ⁵ But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. ⁶ The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

⁷ Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days. ⁸ As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him. ⁹ Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed. ¹⁰ As a result we were showered with honors, and when the time came to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip.

Paul Arrives at Rome

¹¹ It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another ship that had wintered at the island—an Alexandrian ship with the twin gods as its figurehead. ¹² Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days.

Ancient Greek and Roman ruins are easily found today in the area of ancient Syracuse on the island of Sicily.

¹³ From there we sailed across to Rhegium. A day later a south wind began blowing, so the following day we sailed up the coast to Puteoli. ¹⁴ There we found some believers, who invited us to spend a week with them.

Just outside of Naples and not far from Mt. Vesuvius is the town of Pozzuoli, ancient Puteoli. It is the hometown of Sophia Loren and the birthplace of my youngest child, Devlin.

And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵ The brothers and sisters in Rome had heard we were coming, and they came to meet us at the Forum on the Appian Way. Others joined us at The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he was encouraged and thanked God.

¹⁶ When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier.

Paul was chained to a Roman guard who was likely on a four-hour shift.  At first, one thinks to feel sorry for Paul.  But on further consideration, one may pity the guards, who for hours at a time could not escape Paul’s preaching, teaching, and praying!  Paul is the one who has a captive audience!  And the Lord blessed:

Philippians 1:12-14 (New Living Translation)  (written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome)

And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.  For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.  And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.

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Paul Preaches at Rome under Guard

¹⁷ Three days after Paul’s arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders.

This was Paul’s usual practice, to meet the Jewish leaders first in every city he entered.

He said to them, “Brothers, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Roman government, even though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors. ¹⁸ The Romans tried me and wanted to release me, because they found no cause for the death sentence. ¹⁹ But when the Jewish leaders protested the decision, I felt it necessary to appeal to Caesar, even though I had no desire to press charges against my own people. ²⁰ I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted and so I could explain to you that I am bound with this chain because I believe that the hope of Israel—the Messiah—has already come.”

²¹ They replied, “We have had no letters from Judea or reports against you from anyone who has come here. ²² But we want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about this movement is that it is denounced everywhere.”

²³ So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening.

Don’t we wish we could have heard this?!  Paul, explaining how the Old Testament shows that Jesus is sent from God for the salvation of all humankind!  Just as Christ had done before while traveling to Emmaus:

Luke 24:27 (English Standard Version)

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

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²⁴ Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe. ²⁵ And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,

²⁶ ‘Go and say to this people:
When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
²⁷ For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.’

²⁸ So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”

³⁰ For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, ³¹ boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.

Paul’s chains did not matter.  The Word of God was proclaimed without hindrance!

The End of the Book of Acts

What actually happened to Paul?  Acts does not say.  The pastoral letters, however, suggest that he was freed after a first trial (2 Timothy 4:16). Possibly, then, he went to Spain (Romans 15:24), and to Asia Minor (Titus 3:12), Macedonia (1 Timothy 1:3), and Crete (Titus 1:5).

Once back in Rome, Paul was brought to trial a second time and convicted (2 Timothy 4:6, 16).  Finally, ourside Rome, around AD 67, he was beheaded.

Why did Luke leave Acts unfinished?  Some scholars believe the book ends here because Luke wrote it as a “friend of the court” brief for Paul’s trial in Rome.  But does this book end at all?  Do not the “Acts of the Believers, and of the Holy Spirit” continue even now?  We are writing our own chapters in the daily events of our lives!

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St. Paul in Prison, by Rembrandt, 1627 (Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart)

from This Day with the Master,
by Dennis F. Kinlaw

SHACKLED IN ROME

I love the ending of the book of Acts, which is the final story of the apostle Paul in the early church.  Paul was a courageous spokesman for the gospel of Christ.  He had given his life for the message, and at the end of his life he found himself under house arrest in Rome.  In spite of the fact that he had to live shackled to a Roman soldier, he spent his time teaching people about Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.

If you had lived in Rome in those days, where would you have thought the future was?  The typical person would have looked to Nero’s palace for the power and the future, believing that the significant figure was the emperor ruling from his throne.  The reality is that today, two thousand years later, we name our dogs Nero and our sons Paul.  The world’s ways are never the ways of God, and the world’s people are never the people of God.  The one who cast a long shadow over the next two thousand years was one who was tucked away in a simple house and shackled to a Roman soldier, not the one who sat on the throne, dictating to people how they should please him.

Do you feel your life is being wasted?  Are you in some sort of captivity?  If so, take heart.  I am sure that Paul felt exactly the same way.  Instead of taking the gospel to Spain, he was chained to a guard in Rome, influencing only those who came to visit him.  But God’s ways are not our ways, and God used Paul in the place of his captivity, with all its limitations, to change all of human history.

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Music:

“My life is in your hands” — Kirk Franklin.

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Well, what did you think of ACTS as you read it this time?  What seemed new to you?  What spoke to your heart / mind?  Please share your impressions with the rest of us!  Reply by leaving a comment below!  Many thanks!

Next — a couple days of Psalms, then back to the Divided Kingdom and 2 Kings!

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Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Malta.    http://www.lovehabibi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Malta.jpg

Feast of St. Paul Shipwreck parade.    http://malta.world-travel.com.mt/img/square/malta_festa02_big.jpg

ancient ruins near Syracuse, Sicily.    http://destroy.net/photos/italia/siracusa/ruins/roman/siracusa-roman-ruins2-sm.jpg

Pozzuoli.    http://www.emmausonline.net/pages/2010/rome/Pozzuoli.jpg

Road to Emmaus.    http://adventus.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/road_to_emmaus1.jpg

Rembrandt.     http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/complete_catalogue/storia_b/paul_prison.htm

462.) Acts 27

St. Paul’s Shipwreck Church in Malta.  The present structure of the Church was started in 1950 and completed in 1956. However there has been a church on this site for some considerable time. According to tradition the site of the church is where a fire was lit to warm the survivors of a shipwreck, including Paul, in AD 60.

Acts 27 (New Living Translation)

Paul Sails for Rome

Click on this map for a larger, clearer image of the route to Rome.

¹ When the time came, we set sail for Italy. Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of a Roman officer named Julius, a captain of the Imperial Regiment. ² Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was also with us. We left on a ship whose home port was Adramyttium on the northwest coast of the province of Asia; it was scheduled to make several stops at ports along the coast of the province.

³ The next day when we docked at Sidon, Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit with friends so they could provide for his needs.

It is likely that Paul was different from the other prisoners.  He was an uncondemned man, on his way to see Caesar.  The others were probably condemned to death, perhaps on their way to the Roman arena.

⁴ Putting out to sea from there, we encountered strong headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland. ⁵ Keeping to the open sea, we passed along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia. ⁶ There the commanding officer found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria that was bound for Italy, and he put us on board.

⁷ We had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty we finally neared Cnidus. But the wind was against us, so we sailed across to Crete and along the sheltered coast of the island, past the cape of Salmone. ⁸ We struggled along the coast with great difficulty and finally arrived at Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. ⁹ We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it.

Mid-September through mid-November was considered dangerous for sailing; after mid-November, all sailing stopped until spring.  In his various journeys, Paul had spent considerable time at sea, so he could speak to the ship’s officers as a quite experienced traveler.

¹⁰ “Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.” ¹¹ But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul. ¹² And since Fair Havens was an exposed harbor—a poor place to spend the winter—most of the crew wanted to go on to Phoenix, farther up the coast of Crete, and spend the winter there. Phoenix was a good harbor with only a southwest and northwest exposure.

The Storm at Sea

¹³ When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete. ¹⁴ But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a “northeaster”) burst across the island and blew us out to sea. ¹⁵ The sailors couldn’t turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale.

¹⁶ We sailed along the sheltered side of a small island named Cauda, where with great difficulty we hoisted aboard the lifeboat being towed behind us. ¹⁷ Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it. They were afraid of being driven across to the sandbars of Syrtis off the African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and were driven before the wind.

¹⁸ The next day, as gale-force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard. ¹⁹ The following day they even took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard. ²⁰ The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.

No sun, no stars — their only tools for navigation gone.  No wonder they felt all hope was lost.

²¹ No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. ²² But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. ²³ For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, ²⁴ and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ ²⁵ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said. ²⁶ But we will be shipwrecked on an island.”

Paul believed God when there was nothing else to believe.  He couldn’t believe the sailors, the ship, the sails, the wind, the centurion, human ingenuity or anything else – only God and God alone.  This was not a fair-weather faith; he believed God in the midst of the storm, when circumstances were at their worst.  Paul would say along with Job: Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him (Job 13:15).  His terrible situation was real, but God was more real to Paul than the dreadful circumstances.
—David Guzik

The Shipwreck

²⁷ About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were being driven across the Sea of Adria, the sailors sensed land was near. ²⁸ They dropped a weighted line and found that the water was 120 feet deep. But a little later they measured again and found it was only 90 feet deep. ²⁹ At this rate they were afraid we would soon be driven against the rocks along the shore, so they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight.

³⁰ Then the sailors tried to abandon the ship; they lowered the lifeboat as though they were going to put out anchors from the front of the ship. ³¹ But Paul said to the commanding officer and the soldiers, “You will all die unless the sailors stay aboard.” ³² So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away.

³³ Just as day was dawning, Paul urged everyone to eat. “You have been so worried that you haven’t touched food for two weeks,” he said. ³⁴ “Please eat something now for your own good. For not a hair of your heads will perish.” ³⁵ Then he took some bread, gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it. ³⁶ Then everyone was encouraged and began to eat—³⁷ all 276 of us who were on board. ³⁸ After eating, the crew lightened the ship further by throwing the cargo of wheat overboard.

There goes their hope of profit, now that the grain is at the bottom of the sea.

³⁹ When morning dawned, they didn’t recognize the coastline, but they saw a bay with a beach and wondered if they could get to shore by running the ship aground. ⁴⁰ So they cut off the anchors and left them in the sea. Then they lowered the rudders, raised the foresail, and headed toward shore. ⁴¹ But they hit a shoal and ran the ship aground too soon. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was repeatedly smashed by the force of the waves and began to break apart.

⁴² The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners to make sure they didn’t swim ashore and escape. ⁴³ But the commanding officer wanted to spare Paul, so he didn’t let them carry out their plan. Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land. ⁴⁴ The others held onto planks or debris from the broken ship. So everyone escaped safely to shore.

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Music:

Hmmm, a song for a shipwreck . . . I doubt if you want “My Heart Will Go On” from the movie Titanic!  How about Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald”?  Much better!

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore – 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they’d been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T’was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it’s too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it’s been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
The church bell chimed, ’til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.

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Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

St. Paul’s Shipwreck Church.    http://www.alphaschoolmalta.com/uploads/RTEmagicC_7e9f4627af.jpg.jpg

map to Rome.    http://www.agapex.com/michaelquattlebaum/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/shipwreck_map.jpg

sailing in the Mediterranean.    http://image62.webshots.com/62/9/11/50/545791150iDalvY_fs.jpg

Here I Stand.    http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0452011469.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif

St. Paul and the shipwreck.    http://ouestmeetswest.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/st-paul-shipwreck.jpg

461.) Acts 26

“Paul on Trial before Agrippa” by Nikolai Bodarevsky (1875). Notice that Bernice also is on a throne.

Acts 26 (New Living Translation)

¹ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.”

So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense: ² “I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today

Paul stands before Herod Agrippa II, whose great-grandfather had tried to kill Jesus as a baby; his grandfather had John the Baptist beheaded; his father had martyred the first apostle, James.  Paul is being quite generous in his evaluation of Agrippa’s open-mindedness towards people who followed Jesus!

One more thing — for the “no one is all bad” bag — Herod Agrippa II gave extensive information to Josephus which then made its way into his history, Antiquities of the Jews.

against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, ³ for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!

⁴ “As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem. ⁵ If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion. ⁶ Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors. ⁷ In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope! ⁸ Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?

⁹ “I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene. ¹⁰ Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death.

“I cast my vote against them” clearly implies that Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin, having a vote against Christians who were tried before the Sanhedrin (like Stephen in Acts 7).

If Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin, it also means that at that time he was married, because it was required for all members of the Sanhedrin. Since as a Christian, he was single (1 Corinthians 7:7-9), it may mean that Paul’s wife either died or deserted him when he became a Christian.

—David Guzik

¹¹ Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.

¹² “One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.

Michelangelo’s “Conversion of St. Paul”

Here is the third account in Acts of Paul’s conversion
(see also chapters 9 and 22).

¹³ About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.’

¹⁵ “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.

“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. ¹⁶ Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. You are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future. ¹⁷ And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles ¹⁸ to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’

¹⁹ “And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven.

“When the Lord reveals His will to us and we obey, our mission will be a success regardless of the results.”
- Chinese house church leaders, Back to Jerusalem movement

²⁰ I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do. ²¹ Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me. ²² But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen—²³ that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”

These are the three main themes of Paul’s preaching:  Jesus’ death, Jesus’ resurrection, and the spreading of the gospel to the whole world.

²⁴ Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!”

²⁵ But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth. ²⁶ And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner! ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—”

²⁸ Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”

²⁹ Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”

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Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor iron bars a cage;

Minds innocent and quiet take

That for an hermitage;

If I have freedom in my love,

And in my soul am free,

Angels alone that soar above

Enjoy such liberty.

–Richard Lovelace, English poet  (1618 – 1657)

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³⁰ Then the king, the governor, Bernice,

Bernice was Agrippa’s sister.  They lived together “in too great familiarity,” as one Bible commentator has said . . .

and all the others stood and left. ³¹ As they went out, they talked it over and agreed, “This man hasn’t done anything to deserve death or imprisonment.”

³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could have been set free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.”

from Peculiar Treasures,
by Frederick Buechner

AGRIPPA

There’s something a little sad about seeing anybody for the last time, even somebody you were never particularly crazy about to begin with.  Agrippa, for instance.  He was the last of the Herods, and after him that rather unsavory dynasty came to an end.

When Saint Paul was on his way to Rome to stand trial, King Agrippa granted him a preliminary hearing, and Paul, who was seldom at a loss for words, put up a strong defense.  He described how on the road to Damascus he had come to believe Jesus was the Messiah and how all he had been doing since then was trying to persuade other people to believe he was right.  He said the fact the Jews were out to get him showed only that they didn’t  understand their own scriptures because the whole thing was right there including the prediction that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead just the way Jesus had.

After he finished, Agrippa came out with the only remark he ever made that has gone down in history.  “Almost thou persuadest me to become a Christian,” he said (Acts 26:28).

Almost is apt to be a sad word under the best of circumstances, and here, on the lips of the last of his line the last time you see him, it has a special poignance.  If only Paul had been a little more eloquent.  If only Agrippa had been a little more receptive, a little braver, a little crazier.  If only God weren’t such a stickler for letting people make up their own minds without coercing them.  But things are what they are, and almost is the closest Agrippa ever got to what might have changed his life.  It’s sad enough to miss the boat at all, but to miss it by inches, with a saint right there to hand you aboard, is sadder still.

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Music:

The old hymn, “Almost Persuaded,” is one I remember very clearly from my childhood, as the Lutheran country church my family was a part of had revival meetings every year with Lutheran evangelists coming to preach.  They were wonderful meetings, full of people who loved the Lord and had a heart that all should have their names written in the Lamb’s book of life.  This hymn addressed the urgency of salvation!   It was written in 1871 by the American composer and evangelist Philip P. Bliss, who also wrote the hymns “Hallelujah!  What a Savior!”  and “Wonderful Words of Life” — as well as the tune for Horatio Spafford’s hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul.”   Here it is sung by Josh Turner.

1. “Almost persuaded” now to believe;
   “Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;
   Seems now some soul to say,
   “Go, Spirit, go Thy way,
   Some more convenient day
   On Thee I’ll call.”
2. “Almost persuaded,” come, come today;
   “Almost persuaded,” turn not away;
   Jesus invites you here,
   Angels are ling’ring near,
   Prayers rise from hearts so dear;
   O wand’rer, come!
3. “Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!
   “Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last!
   “Almost” cannot avail;
   “Almost” is but to fail!
   Sad, sad, that bitter wail—
   “Almost,” but lost!

_________________________

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Bodarevsky.     http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Nikolai_Bodarevsky_001.jpg/220px-Nikolai_Bodarevsky_001.jpg

Michelangelo.    http://www.utdallas.edu/orgs/catholicsfortruth/index_files/patronsaintpaul_files/michelangelo_st_paul.jpg

bright vision from heaven.    http://www.ezthemes.com/previews/v/visionsheaven.jpg

bird singing in cage.    http://www.rddezign.com/images/bird%20cage.JPG

missed the boat.    http://www.theapprenticeireland.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/missed_the_boat.jpg

460.) Acts 25

Paul knows he is not guilty. The judges see he is not guilty. Then why doesn’t he go free?

Acts 25 (New Living Translation)

Paul Appears before Festus

¹ Three days after Festus arrived in Caesarea to take over his new responsibilities, he left for Jerusalem, ² where the leading priests and other Jewish leaders met with him and made their accusations against Paul. ³ They asked Festus as a favor to transfer Paul to Jerusalem (planning to ambush and kill him on the way). ⁴ But Festus replied that Paul was at Caesarea and he himself would be returning there soon. ⁵ So he said, “Those of you in authority can return with me. If Paul has done anything wrong, you can make your accusations.”

Try this perspective on Paul’s imprisonment:   These past two years were a sabbatical, of sorts, for Paul, after his years of exhausting missionary journeys.  He was also safe there from the Jewish leaders and their murderous plans.

⁶ About eight or ten days later Festus returned to Caesarea, and on the following day he took his seat in court and ordered that Paul be brought in. ⁷ When Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around and made many serious accusations they couldn’t prove.

Second verse, same as the first!

⁸ Paul denied the charges. “I am not guilty of any crime against the Jewish laws or the Temple or the Roman government,” he said.

⁹ Then Festus, wanting to please the Jews, asked him, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there?”

¹⁰ But Paul replied, “No! This is the official Roman court, so I ought to be tried right here. You know very well I am not guilty of harming the Jews. ¹¹ If I have done something worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die. But if I am innocent, no one has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me. I appeal to Caesar!”

It was the right of every Roman citizen to have his case heard by Caesar himself, after initial trials and appeals had failed to reach a satisfactory decision.  This was in effect an appeal to the “supreme court” of the empire.
—David Guzik

¹² Festus conferred with his advisers and then replied, “Very well! You have appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar you will go!”

—or did Paul just want a caesar salad?

¹³ A few days later King Agrippa arrived with his sister, Bernice, to pay their respects to Festus. ¹⁴ During their stay of several days, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. “There is a prisoner here,” he told him, “whose case was left for me by Felix. ¹⁵ When I was in Jerusalem, the leading priests and Jewish elders pressed charges against him and asked me to condemn him. ¹⁶ I pointed out to them that Roman law does not convict people without a trial. They must be given an opportunity to confront their accusers and defend themselves.

¹⁷ “When his accusers came here for the trial, I didn’t delay. I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in. ¹⁸ But the accusations made against him weren’t any of the crimes I expected. ¹⁹ Instead, it was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive. ²⁰ I was at a loss to know how to investigate these things, so I asked him whether he would be willing to stand trial on these charges in Jerusalem. ²¹ But Paul appealed to have his case decided by the emperor. So I ordered that he be held in custody until I could arrange to send him to Caesar.”

—or perhaps a slice of Little Caesar’s pizza?

²² “I’d like to hear the man myself,” Agrippa said.

And Festus replied, “You will—tomorrow!”

Agrippa will hold a hearing, as a favor to Festus, and not a trial; the king has no jurisdiction over Paul.

Paul Speaks to Agrippa

²³ So the next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived at the auditorium with great pomp, accompanied by military officers and prominent men of the city. Festus ordered that Paul be brought in. ²⁴ Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are here, this is the man whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both here and in Jerusalem. ²⁵ But in my opinion he has done nothing deserving death. However, since he appealed his case to the emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome.

²⁶ “But what shall I write the emperor? For there is no clear charge against him. So I have brought him before all of you, and especially you, King Agrippa, so that after we examine him, I might have something to write. ²⁷ For it makes no sense to send a prisoner to the emperor without specifying the charges against him!”

Festus wants the paperwork in order when Paul is sent to Rome!  Remember, he’s still new on the job and trying to do everything according to the letter.

_________________________

Music:

It would be easy, in the midst of long months of imprisonment and numerous death threats, for Paul to become discouraged and wonder if God had forgotten to take care of him.  Frankly, I would guess that it would take much less than that to discourage most of us!  But Paul had confidence in the Lord whom he had met on the road to Damascus, and he had given the Lord full freedom to own him and lead him wherever God wanted.  Twila Paris’ song, “Not My Own,” encourages me to think more like Paul.

I am not my own
I am bought with a price
I am not my own, not my own

I am not my own
I cannot hold to pride
I am not my own, not my own

Take this false desire
Burn it in Your righteous fire
I am not my own, not my own

This is not my home
This is not Paradise
This is not my home, not my home

This is not my home
I have been far and wide
This is not my home, not my home

Make this longing true
Turn my wistful heart to you
This is not my home, not my home

When I turn to find Your eyes
O Lord, O Lord
I begin to realize
Once more, once more

I am not my own
I am bought with a price
I am not my own, not my own
Take this false desire
Burn it in Your righteous fire
I am not my own, not my own
I am not my own, not my own

_________________________

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Not guilty.    http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000302517/polls_not_guilty_2720_356976_answer_2_xlarge.jpeg

salad.    http://www.babble.com/food/food-photos/salad-recipes/images/caesar-salad.jpg

pizza.    http://www.caesarconnect.com/img_content/LCE/id4098_1_little_caesar-7893061.jpg

459.) Acts 24

In the “Walk Thru the New Testament” seminar, we remember Felix the governor by twisting the whiskers of Felix the cat.

Acts 24 (New Living Translation)

Paul Appears before Felix

¹ Five days later Ananias, the high priest, arrived with some of the Jewish elders and the lawyer Tertullus, to present their case against Paul to the governor. ² When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented the charges against Paul in the following address to the governor:

The high priest, some of the Jewish elders, and a top-notch lawyer — these folks are serious about getting Paul out of their hair!

“Your Excellency,

Felix!  Born a slave, the emperor Claudius made him a freedman.  Felix went on to marry the granddaughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and became the first slave in Roman history to be appointed a provincial governor.  The ancient historian Tacitus says that he ruled as  “a master of cruelty and lust who exercised the powers of a king with the spirit of a slave.”  As we read on, we will see Felix’s propensity to try to turn any situation to his personal advantage.

you have provided a long period of peace for us Jews and with foresight have enacted reforms for us. ³ For all of this we are very grateful to you. ⁴ But I don’t want to bore you, so please give me your attention for only a moment. ⁵ We have found this man to be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the cult known as the Nazarenes. ⁶ Furthermore, he was trying to desecrate the Temple when we arrested him. ⁸ You can find out the truth of our accusations by examining him yourself.” ⁹ Then the other Jews chimed in, declaring that everything Tertullus said was true.

Plenty of accusations.  But where is the supporting evidence?

¹⁰ The governor then motioned for Paul to speak. Paul said, “I know, sir, that you have been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years, so I gladly present my defense before you. ¹¹ You can quickly discover that I arrived in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago to worship at the Temple. ¹² My accusers never found me arguing with anyone in the Temple, nor stirring up a riot in any synagogue or on the streets of the city. ¹³ These men cannot prove the things they accuse me of doing.

¹⁴ “But I admit that I follow the Way, which they call a cult. I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets. ¹⁵ I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous. ¹⁶ Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people.

_________________________

Music:

One of my favorite hymns, because it is so full of truth and so singable.  “In Christ Alone” was written in 2002 by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty.  Here is a presentation from First Baptist Church here in Orlando.  Lyrics follow.

IN CHRIST ALONE my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!

_________________________

¹⁷ “After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people and to offer sacrifices to God. ¹⁸ My accusers saw me in the Temple as I was completing a purification ceremony. There was no crowd around me and no rioting. ¹⁹ But some Jews from the province of Asia were there—and they ought to be here to bring charges if they have anything against me! ²⁰ Ask these men here what crime the Jewish high council found me guilty of, ²¹ except for the one time I shouted out, ‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!’”

²² At that point Felix, who was quite familiar with the Way, adjourned the hearing and said, “Wait until Lysias, the garrison commander, arrives. Then I will decide the case.” ²³ He ordered an officer to keep Paul in custody but to give him some freedom and allow his friends to visit him and take care of his needs.

²⁴ A few days later Felix came back with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. Sending for Paul, they listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened. “Go away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for you again.” ²⁶ He also hoped that Paul would bribe him, so he sent for him quite often and talked with him.

“St. John the Baptist Rebuking Herod” by Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908) Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, Italy

This brings to mind Herod Antipas’ interest with John the Baptist.  Herod “was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him”  (Mark 6:20).  The difference is that Felix’s end motive was simple greed.

²⁷ After two years went by in this way, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And because Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jewish people, he left Paul in prison.

Pilate condemns Jesus, from the movie “The Passion of Christ”

Felix keeps Paul in prison, even while knowing his innocence.  This brings to mind Pontius Pilate, who condemned Jesus even while knowing Christ’s innocence.  The leaders do what is expedient rather than what is right.

_________________________

Paul’s hometown, Tarsus, was the capital city of Cilicia. The picture above is of Cleopatra’s Gate, built in 41 BCE to welcome her to the city.

from Peculiar Treasures,
by Frederick Buechner

FELIX

Felix was the Roman governor of Cilicia.  When Paul got into a knock-down drag-out with the Jerusalem Jews, Felix was the one that the Roman brass took him to in hopes of getting the matter settled once and for all.  Paul’s Roman passport entitled him to a Roman hearing, and Felix gave it to him  He seems to have listened sympathetically enough and to have had a fairly good understanding of both sides of the issue since on the one hand he already knew about the Christian movement and, on the other, he had a Jewish wife.  Under the pretext of awaiting further evidence, he then placed Paul under custody but went out of the way to see to it that he was well taken care of.  He could do what he wanted within reason, and his friends were allowed to supplement his rations from a kosher delicatessen.

The trouble came during a second interview a couple of days later.  Felix had summoned him to find out how much his release was worth to him in hard cash, but with his usual tact Paul insisted on discussing justice, self-control, and future judgment instead.  “Don’t call me, I’ll call you,” Felix said and sent him back to the pokey.  He dropped in on him there from time to time to pursue his original line of inquiry, but Paul never seemed to zero in on what he was after.

With three squares a day, a roof over his head, and plenty of time to write letters, Paul had no major complaints apparently, and as long as Felix didn’t spring him, the Jews had no major complaints either.  As for Felix himself, after two years he retired on a handsome government pension, leaving the problem of what to do with Paul for his successor to worry about.  Felix, of course, means “the happy one” in Latin, and if happiness consists of having your cake and eating it too, he was well named.

_________________________

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Felix the cat.     http://webspace.webring.com/people/bb/batman1966/Felix/001-felix.gif

Fattori.    http://imagecache6.allposters.com/LRG/15/1507/7M3BD00Z.jpg

Pilate and Jesus.    http://ourfaithinaction.net/wp-content/uploads/2004/02/pilate_condemns_jesus.jpg

Tarsus city gate.    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_N6T5Z2m8Rx4/R1HECSv4LMI/AAAAAAAAAWs/RtYjEd8itzo/s1600-R/IMG_0709.JPG

458.) Acts 23

“Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” — 1 Timothy 6:15.  “VerseVisions” are digital mixed media by Georgia artist Mark Lawrence.  This King of kings and Lord of lords is the One whom Paul is following; he is willing to suffer for the sake of Christ’s name.

Acts 23 (New Living Translation)

Paul before the High Council

³⁰ The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council. He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand before them.

¹ Gazing intently at the high council, Paul began: “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!”

² Instantly Ananias the high priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth. ³ But Paul said to him, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite! What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”

The English Standard Version has the more literal translation of this verse:

Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?”

“Whitewashed wall”!  According to Josephus, the high priest Ananias was unworthy of the office.  He was well-known for his greed:  stealing tithes from the common priests, giving lavish bribes to Romans, and using violence and assassination as tools to achieve his ends.  He reaped what he had sown, however, and was brutally killed by Jewish nationalists.

_________________________

⁴ Those standing near Paul said to him, “Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?”

⁵ “I’m sorry, brothers. I didn’t realize he was the high priest,” Paul replied, “for the Scriptures say, ‘You must not speak evil of any of your rulers.’”

⁶ Paul realized that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!”

_________________________

Music:

I am often struck, as I read the sermons preached by Peter and Paul, by how often they rest their hopes on the resurrection of Christ.  And yet I hear many sermons that never mention Christ’s great victory over sin, death, and the devil!  Let us join the apostles now in praising God for raising Jesus from the grave!  For no matter what may be wrong in your life, no matter what unhappiness or worry you may be carrying, this is most certainly true:  Christ is still risen!

The choir of King’s College, Cambridge sing the rousing Easter hymn  “This Joyful Eastertide”  with words by George R Woodford. The tune is a Dutch melody from David’s Psalmen, Amsterdam, 1685, arranged by Charles Wood.

This joyful Easter-tide, away with care and sorrow!
My Love, the Crucified, hath sprung to life this morrow.
Had Christ, that once was slain,
Ne’er burst His three day prison,
Our faith had been in vain;
But now hath Christ arisen,
Arisen, arisen, arisen!

My flesh in hope shall rest, and for a season slumber;
Till trump from east to west shall wake the dead in number.
Had Christ, that once was slain,
Ne’er burst His three day prison,
Our faith had been in vain;
But now hath Christ arisen,
Arisen, arisen, arisen!

Death’s flood hath lost his chill since Jesus crossed the river:
Lover of souls, from ill my passing soul deliver.
Had Christ, that once was slain,
Ne’er burst His three day prison,
Our faith had been in vain;
But now hath Christ arisen,
Arisen, arisen, arisen!

_________________________

⁷ This divided the council—the Pharisees against the Sadducees—⁸ for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, but the Pharisees believe in all of these. ⁹ So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees jumped up and began to argue forcefully. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or an angel spoke to him.” ¹⁰ As the conflict grew more violent, the commander was afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered his soldiers to go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress.

The Roman commander must wonder.  First, the Jewish crowd went crazy yesterday when Paul said “Gentiles.”  Now today the Sanhedrin breaks apart when Paul says “resurrection.”

¹¹ That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”

I think Paul must have slept soundly that night!  He is guaranteed to live to get to Rome!

But others are up and plotting . . .

The Plan to Kill Paul

Proverbs 6:16-19 (NIV, ©2010)

There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

¹² The next morning a group of Jews got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³ There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy. ¹⁴ They went to the leading priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ So you and the high council should ask the commander to bring Paul back to the council again. Pretend you want to examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the way.”

¹⁶ But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul.

We know very little of Paul’s immediate family, but here is one indication of the love they had for him.  Later Paul will indirectly praise this nephew:   “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” –1 Timothy 5:8

¹⁷ Paul called for one of the Roman officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him.”

¹⁸ So the officer did, explaining, “Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹ The commander took his hand, led him aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

²⁰ Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information. ²¹ But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”

²² “Don’t let anyone know you told me this,” the commander warned the young man.

Paul Is Sent to Caesarea

Ancient Roman aqueduct in Caesarea

²³ Then the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. ²⁴ Provide horses for Paul to ride, and get him safely to Governor Felix.”

Paul would be safe in Caesarea.  Located about 60 miles northwest of Jerusalem, it was the official residence fo the Roman governors of Palestine.

²⁵ Then he wrote this letter to the governor:

²⁶ “From Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings!
²⁷ “This man was seized by some Jews, and they were about to kill him when I arrived with the troops. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety. ²⁸ Then I took him to their high council to try to learn the basis of the accusations against him. ²⁹ I soon discovered the charge was something regarding their religious law—certainly nothing worthy of imprisonment or death. ³⁰ But when I was informed of a plot to kill him, I immediately sent him on to you. I have told his accusers to bring their charges before you.”

³¹ So that night, as ordered, the soldiers took Paul as far as Antipatris. ³² They returned to the fortress the next morning, while the mounted troops took him on to Caesarea.

“Up to Antipatris [about 25 miles] the country was dangerous and inhabited by Jews; after that the country was open and flat, quite unsuited for any ambush and largely inhabited by Gentiles.”
–William Barclay

³³ When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the letter to Governor Felix. ³⁴ He read it and then asked Paul what province he was from. “Cilicia,” Paul answered.

³⁵ “I will hear your case myself when your accusers arrive,” the governor told him. Then the governor ordered him kept in the prison at Herod’s headquarters.

_________________________

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Lawrence.    http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1299/861926039_d7d4fcc606.jpg

St. John’s Point Lighthouse and Whitewashed Wall, Killybegs, Ireland.   Photo by Richard Cummins.     http://imagecache5.art.com/p/LRG/34/3431/S5DHF00Z/richard-cummins-st-johns-point-lighthouse-and-whitewashed-wall-killybegs-ireland.jpg

my uncle rocks.    http://images4.cpcache.com/product_zoom/383459024v0_400x400_Front_Color-White.jpg

aqueduct at Caesarea.    http://www.bletravel.com/images/x_caesarea3_copy.jpg

457.) Acts 22

Acts 22 (New Living Translation)

Paul Speaks to the Crowd

Someone asked a famous preacher, “What’s the secret of your success?”

“It’s simple,” replied the preacher.  “I read myself full.  I think myself clear.  I pray myself hot.  And I let myself go.”

_________________________

If you have never heard Dr. S. M. Lockridge preach about Jesus, you are in for a six minute treat!

Dr. Shadrach Meshach Lockridge, 1913 – 2000, was the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, a prominent African-American congregation located in San Diego, California, for forty years.  He was known around the world for his preaching.

_________________________

“Brothers and esteemed fathers,” Paul said, “listen to me as I offer my defense.” ² When they heard him speaking in their own language, the silence was even greater.

³ Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today. ⁴ And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. ⁵ The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the Christians from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.

⁶ “As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me.

Michelangelo’s “Conversion of St. Paul”

Here is the second account in Acts of Paul’s conversion
(see also chapters 9 and 26).

⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸ “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.

“And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’ ⁹ The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.

¹⁰ “I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’

“And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’

¹¹ “I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions. ¹² A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus. ¹³ He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!

¹⁴ “Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. ¹⁵ For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷ “After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance. ¹⁸ I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹ “‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. ²⁰ And I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him.’

²¹ “But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”

²² The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!” ²³ They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.

Paul Reveals His Roman Citizenship

A Roman citizen enjoyed a wide range of privileges and protections defined in detail by the Roman state.  He (women were not considered full citizens) had the right to vote, the right to run for public office, the right to make legal contracts and hold property.  Only Roman citizens were allowed to wear a toga.  A Roman citizen could not be whipped or tortured, nor could he be condemned to death, except in the case of treason.  Even then, he could not be sentenced to die on a cross.

_________________________

²⁴ The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious. ²⁵ When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”

²⁶ When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷ So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied.

²⁸ “I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!”

Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”

_________________________

Music:

Paul answered, “But I was born free.”

Yet I am sure that Paul would agree with this song:  “I Am Free”  by the Newsboys.

_________________________

²⁹ The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.

Once again, Paul benefits from his Roman citizenship.  How wise of God to choose a man with such excellent credentials.

Paul before the High Council

³⁰ The next day the commander ordered the leading priests into session with the Jewish high council. He wanted to find out what the trouble was all about, so he released Paul to have him stand before them.

_________________________

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

preaching.     http://cyberbrethren.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/498_preaching_front.jpg

Michelangelo.    http://www.utdallas.edu/orgs/catholicsfortruth/index_files/patronsaintpaul_files/michelangelo_st_paul.jpg

Roman citizen in a toga.    http://www.sbceo.k12.ca.us/~vms/carlton/Rome/patricianm.jpg

456.) Acts 21

On to Jerusalem in Jesus’ Name! The Jerusalem Cross is a design that appeared with the nobles during the First Crusade and was supposed to provide them with divine protection in the Holy Land. It features five crosses, one large and four small, that are said to represent Jesus and the four evangelists.  It also symbolizes the four corners of the world in which Christianity is to be spread.

Acts 21 (New Living Translation)

Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem

¹ After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders,

One commentator has said a better rendering is “after tearing ourselves away from them.”  This was not an easy farewell!  Paul had invested himself deeply in these leaders, and they loved him dearly.

we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara. ² There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia. ³ We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo.

⁴ We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week.

We have not heard, in the chapters we have read, about the beginning of the church in Tyre.  This reminds us that Acts gives only a partial account of all the “acts of the apostles” and of the Holy Spirit during this time!

These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. ⁵ When we returned to the ship at the end of the week, the entire congregation, including women and children, left the city and came down to the shore with us. There we knelt, prayed, ⁶ and said our farewells. Then we went aboard, and they returned home.

⁷ The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day. ⁸ The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.

¹⁰ Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. ¹¹ He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” ¹² When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

¹³ But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”

In the Iliad, Homer tells of Achilles being warned by the prophetess that if he goes out to a certain battle, he will be killed.  “Nevertheless,” answers the Greek hero, “I am for going on.”

No matter what lay ahead, Paul was for going on.

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¹⁴ When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

The warnings from the Holy Spirit were intended to prepare Paul, not to stop him.
—David Guzik

Paul Arrives at Jerusalem

¹⁵ After this we packed our things and left for Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some believers from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to the home of Mnason, a man originally from Cyprus and one of the early believers. ¹⁷ When we arrived, the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸ The next day Paul went with us to meet with James, and all the elders of the Jerusalem church were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, Paul gave a detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry.

Recently I have been able to listen to several different people tell me about wonderful things that the Lord is doing around the world, works of redemption and reconciliation!  Our God is so powerful;  He is stirring up His people in every nation.  We are seeing events happening that sound impossible:

• vast numbers of Muslims coming to Jesus because He appears to them in dreams and says, “I love you”;

• terrorists in Nigeria laying down their arms because they are following Jesus now;

• Bible classes being taught by former murderers and kidnappers in one of Colombia’s most dangerous prisons;

• Orthodox Jews, including even rabbis, receiving revelation that Yeshua is their Messiah.

I have sat with my mouth open in amazement and my eyes filled with tears of wonder as I have heard these detailed accounts of the things God is accomplishing among the people of the world.

I hope that in Heaven we will be able to hear many more “detailed accounts!”

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Music:

Won’t those be amazing stories?!  We will see how wonderfully the Lord has worked, even, sometimes, through us!  Don Moen sings “Like Eagles.”

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²⁰ After hearing this, they praised God. And then they said, “You know, dear brother, how many thousands of Jews have also believed, and they all follow the law of Moses very seriously. ²¹ But the Jewish believers here in Jerusalem have been told that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. They’ve heard that you teach them not to circumcise their children or follow other Jewish customs. ²² What should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³ “Here’s what we want you to do. We have four men here who have completed their vow. ²⁴ Go with them to the Temple and join them in the purification ceremony, paying for them to have their heads ritually shaved. Then everyone will know that the rumors are all false and that you yourself observe the Jewish laws.

²⁵ “As for the Gentile believers, they should do what we already told them in a letter: They should abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”

Paul Is Arrested

²⁶ So Paul went to the Temple the next day with the other men. They had already started the purification ritual, so he publicly announced the date when their vows would end and sacrifices would be offered for each of them.

²⁷ The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him, ²⁸ yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple—and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles.” ²⁹ (For earlier that day they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and they assumed Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

It was absolutely prohibited for Gentiles to go beyond the designated “Court of the Gentiles” in the temple grounds.  Signs were posted which read (in both Greek and Latin): “No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the temple and enclosure.  Any one who is caught trespassing will bear personal responsibility for his ensuing death.”  The Romans were so sensitive to this that they authorized the Jews to execute anyone who offended in this way, even if the offender was a Roman citizen.

³⁰ The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him. ³¹ As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul.

³³ Then the commander arrested him and ordered him bound with two chains.

That is to say, handcuffed to a soldier on either side.  Did he think of the prophecy of Agabus (verse 11)?

He asked the crowd who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some shouted one thing and some another. Since he couldn’t find out the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered that Paul be taken to the fortress. ³⁵ As Paul reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent the soldiers had to lift him to their shoulders to protect him. ³⁶ And the crowd followed behind, shouting, “Kill him, kill him!”

Paul Speaks to the Crowd

³⁷ As Paul was about to be taken inside, he said to the commander, “May I have a word with you?”

“Do you know Greek?” the commander asked, surprised. ³⁸ “Aren’t you the Egyptian who led a rebellion some time ago and took 4,000 members of the Assassins out into the desert?”

³⁹ “No,” Paul replied, “I am a Jew and a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is an important city. Please, let me talk to these people.” ⁴⁰ The commander agreed,

Once again Paul benefits from his Roman citizenship.

so Paul stood on the stairs and motioned to the people to be quiet. Soon a deep silence enveloped the crowd, and he addressed them in their own language, Aramaic.

This is the Lord’s Prayer written in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.

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Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Jerusalem cross.    http://www.steveschembri.co.uk/Jerusalem2009/JerusalemCross.gif

Acts of the Apostles.  http://www.sacredheartweb.org/img/acts.gif

Achilles.    http://www.ancientsculpturegallery.com/images/0272.jpg

Jesus looking at the earth.    http://churchofchrist-cg-az.com/sitebuilder/images/JesusLookingAtWorld-975×1005.png

Do Not Enter.     http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Do_Not_Enter_sign.svg/600px-Do_Not_Enter_sign.svg.png

The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic.    http://www.catholic-convert.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/Aramaic.jpg

455.) Acts 20

The Church of St. John on Lake Ohrid, Macedonia, dates to the 13th century.

Acts 20 (New Living Translation)

Paul Goes to Macedonia and Greece

¹ When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia. ² While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece, ³ where he stayed for three months. He was preparing to sail back to Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews against his life, so he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴ Several men were traveling with him. They were Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. ⁵ They went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. ⁶ After the Passover ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and five days later joined them in Troas, where we stayed a week.

As Paul visited and encouraged churches he had established, he was also collecting money from them as a gift to the mother church in Jerusalem.  The men who accompanied him as he headed back to Jerusalem were likely representatives of the various churches, coming to bring their greetings personally along with the money.

Paul’s Final Visit to Troas

⁷ On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper.

Something new here!  Believers are meeting on the first day of the week — on Sunday — for the Word and bread and wine.

Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight. ⁸ The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps. ⁹ As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. ¹⁰ Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!” ¹¹ Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left. ¹² Meanwhile, the young man was taken home unhurt, and everyone was greatly relieved.

“To preach for more than an hour, a man should be an angel himself or have angels for hearers.”
–George Whitefield

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Paul Meets the Ephesian Elders

¹³ Paul went by land to Assos, where he had arranged for us to join him, while we traveled by ship. ¹⁴ He joined us there, and we sailed together to Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day we sailed past the island of Kios. The following day we crossed to the island of Samos, and a day later we arrived at Miletus.

¹⁶ Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, for he didn’t want to spend any more time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, in time for the Festival of Pentecost. ¹⁷ But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.

Now Paul will talk with his church leaders, not so much as an evangelist, but as a pastor:

¹⁸ When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now ¹⁹ I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. ²⁰ I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. ²¹ I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

²² “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, ²³ except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. ²⁴ But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

from My Utmost for His Highest,
by Oswald Chambers

It is easier to serve God without a vision, easier to work for God without a call, because then you are not bothered by what God requires; common sense is your guide, veneered over with Christian sentiment.  You will be more prosperous and successful, more leisure-hearted, if you never realize the call of God.  But if once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God wants will always come like a goad; you will no longer be able to work for Him on the common-sense basis.

Paul says he counted his life dear only in order that he might fulfill the ministry he had received.

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Music:

Robin Mark and “Be Thou My Vision.”

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²⁵ “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, ²⁷ for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

²⁸ “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders. ²⁹ I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. ³⁰ Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. ³¹ Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.

Enemies of the gospel — from outside the church, and from inside the church.  Pastors must carefully guard themselves and the people God has entrusted to them!

Do we pray zealously for our pastors to be able to feed and protect their flocks with God’s grace and strength?

³² “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

³³ “I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes. ³⁴ You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. ³⁵ And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

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from Wishful Thinking,
by Frederick Buechner

AVARICE

Avarice, greed, concupiscence, and so forth are all based on the mathematical truism that the more you get, the more you have.  The remark of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive is based on the human truth that the more you give away in love, the more you are.  It is not just for the sake of other people that Jesus tells us to give rather than get, but for our own sakes too.

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³⁶ When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them. ³⁷ They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good-bye. ³⁸ They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.

See how they loved him!

John 13:34-35 (English Standard Version)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

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The harbor of Miletus in modern Turkey began its decline in the Middle Ages when silt from the River Meander began filling it up.

“We sensed Paul’s presence more strongly than anywhere else in that desolate stretch of marshland, once Miletus’ busy harbour . . . Perhaps it was the virtual absence of ruins and of tourists, perhaps the very desolation and remoteness of the place, but as you read the speech to the elders about how they would see his face no more, and how he commended them to God and the word of his grace, I felt like joining them in weeping . . . So shall I always think of him there, on that moving occasion, so resolute, so eloquent, so faithful a servant of Christ.”

–from Seeing Through the Eye:  Malcolm Muggeridge on Faith

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Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Church of St. John.    http://www.filigallery.com/d/139165-2/Ohrid+Macedonia+_54_.JPG

Sunday.    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LTSok2PZ5LI/R1BZPAzMXnI/AAAAAAAAALc/CQ9buEa5MDs/s1600-R/sunday.jpg

preaching.    http://www.christisthelight.com/Joy/priest_preaching_behind_podium_hg_clr.gif

catch the vision!    http://www.deeprootschurch.com/Catch%20the%20Vision%20Picture.jpg

in greed we trust.    http://www.truegreed.com/includes/in_greed_we_trust.jpg

love one another.    http://media.photobucket.com/image/Love%20one%20another/persian_rose9/9-14-01_love-one-another.jpg

former harbor of Miletus.    http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/images/miletus/resized/lion-harbor-c-hlp.jpg

454.) Acts 19

This single column and parts of the foundation are all that now remain of the Temple of Artemis (Diana) in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  Archaeologists have been digging in Ephesus on and off since 1863.

Acts 19 (New Living Translation)

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey

¹ While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. ² “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.

“No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³ “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.

And they replied, “The baptism of John.”

⁴ Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”

⁵ As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

Paul Ministers in Ephesus

Few places have made such an impression on me as the ruins of Ephesus. Such a life-like-ness! It is as though all the Ephesians just stepped out.  I nearly expected to run into Paul around the next corner.

⁸ Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. ⁹ But some became stubborn, rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord.

It seems likely that Tyrannus lectured there in the cooler morning hours, leaving the hall to Paul afterward.  Paul may have worked his trade in the morning to support himself, and then taught in the afternoon.

¹¹ God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. ¹² When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.

¹³ A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.

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This fragment of an ancient Greek papyrus contains remedies for an earache.

from Lord, Who Are You?  The Story of Paul and the Early Church,
by Mark Link, S.J.

Roving exorcists were common in Paul’s day, especially in places like Ephesus, where magic and superstitions were widespread.  In his Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare refers to Ephesus as the city of “dark-working sorcerers,” “soul-killing witches,” and “prating mountebanks.”

Ancients used the term “Ephesus Writings” to refer to magical papyri or to magical formulae to be placed in lockets and worn around the neck.  Archaeologists have found papyri scrolls that contain a number of exorcist rites.  One ancient Jewish rite is reminiscent of this Acts episode.  It reads:

Invocation to be uttered over the head of the possessed one.

Place before him branches of olive, and standing behind him say:

“Hail, spirit of Abraham; hail, spirit of Isaac; hail, spirit of Jacob; Jesus the Christ, the holy one . . . I adjure thee, O demon, whoever thou art . . . Come forth . . . and depart . . . I give you over to black chaos.”

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¹⁷ The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. ¹⁸ Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. ¹⁹ A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. ²⁰ So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.

“The Sermon of St. Paul at Ephesus”  by Eustache Le Sueur, 1649 (The Louvre, Paris)

²¹ Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem. “And after that,” he said, “I must go on to Rome!” ²² He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia while he stayed awhile longer in the province of Asia.

The Riot in Ephesus

This is a reproduction of the Temple of Artemis (Diana) from Ephesus (present day Turkey).  The original was beyond beautiful, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, measuring 425 ft long, 220 ft wide, and 60 ft high.

It was described by Antipater of Sidon, who compiled the list of the Seven Wonders:

I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, “Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.”

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²³ About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way. ²⁴ It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy. ²⁵ He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows:

“Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business. ²⁶ But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province! ²⁷ Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!”

²⁸ At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia. ³⁰ Paul wanted to go in, too, but the believers wouldn’t let him. ³¹ Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater.

The mob gathered here, at the Great Theater of Ephesus, which, when completed, seated some 24,000 people.  If you ever sit there, you will hear its excellent acoustics!  It was severely damaged by an earthquake in A.D. 262.

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³² Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there. ³³ The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned for silence and tried to speak. ³⁴ But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

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Music:

Imagine the racket!  The chanting could no doubt be heard all over the city.  Here is a song to answer them:  Chris Tomlin’s “How Great Is Our God.”  Go ahead, turn up the volume and let it ring!

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³⁵ At last the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak. “Citizens of Ephesus,” he said. “Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven. ³⁶ Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash. ³⁷ You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess.

³⁸ “If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges. ³⁹ And if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled in a legal assembly. ⁴⁰ I am afraid we are in danger of being charged with rioting by the Roman government, since there is no cause for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we won’t know what to say.” ⁴¹ Then he dismissed them, and they dispersed.

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Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.

Images courtesy of:

Temple of Artemis (ruins).   http://www.bibleplaces.com/images/Ephesus_Temple_of_Artemis_ruins2_tb_n010500.jpg

Ephesus, main street.    http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9iSDwVnyykxRJKX70vpwug

papyrus.    http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/classics/science-and-empire/prescriptions.shtml

Le Sueur.    http://www.oceansbridge.com/oil-paintings/product/74749/thesermonofstpaulatephesus1649

Temple of Artemis (reproduction).    http://www.eltourismo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Temple-of-Artemis.jpg

Great Theater of Ephesus.    http://www.bibleplaces.com/images/Ephesus_theater_from_west,_tbn010501.jpg