What Is Truth?
Today we get to see Paul give his
speech before the gathered rioters as well as the tribune. Let’s deal with the gathered followers
first. Paul’s message is straightforward
and to be honest it is nothing we haven’t heard before or read before in
Acts. And that’s the point. Paul doesn’t change the truth to sway the
crowd. Paul speaks the truth and lets
the chips fall where they may. If Paul
is to be imprisoned, to be beaten, and to potentially die, he is going to do it
for the truth. He has my respect for
that.
What Upsets the Crowd?
Now let’s turn to the crowd. Do you see where it is that they get
upset? They are willing to listen to
Paul until he gets to the part about the Gentiles. It is the heathen in the world (of which I am
one, just for the record!) that clinches Paul’s arrest. The gathered Jews cannot see a future in
which Gentiles are included in God’s promise.
You see, it isn’t an argument about Jesus and His death or resurrection. It isn’t even the accusation that they stoned
Stephen. What this gathered group gets
violent over is the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s promise.
That is sad, really. God told Abraham that through him God would
bless the nations. God called His people
to be a blessing to the nations and to invite them into a relationship with
God. Sure, most Jews allowed for
Gentiles to become Jews. Anyone could
convert to Judaism – and actually people were converting to Judaism fairly
regularly in the Roman Empire. It is
estimated that before the Temple was destroyed that even as much as a quarter
of all the Roman citizens were Jewish.
But the point is that the Jews expected
Gentiles to live up to their own human standards before being able to meet
God. Sure, they would argue that their
standards were not human but rather divinely appointed. In some cases they would be correct. But as we see through the Disciples and
through the Apostle Paul, one need not become a Jew to keep the standards that
God expects to be kept. What have I
quoted often before from Hosea? Hosea
6:6 says “I desire steadfast love not sacrifice; the knowledge of God rather
than burnt offerings.” That’s right out
of the Hebrew Scriptures themselves – and there are other passages like it! God
desires us to live after His heart rather than try to attain human standards.
Are we any different in the Christian
church? We should be, and hopefully we are! But are we?
Do we not have our own traditions we expect others to meet?
- We expect them to give something if they are to be a “member.”
- Sometimes we expect them to dress up to a certain standard.
- Maybe we expect them to have a degree before they are allowed to preach.
- Perhaps we mandate they be a certain gender before being able to lead certain groups or perform certain tasks in the worship of God.
- Maybe we expect people to want to worship our way, or sing our sings, or read out of the Bible translation we prefer.
- Perhaps we even require that they show a specific spiritual gift rather than being content with seeing whatever evidence of the Holy Spirit that God sees fit to equip.
Yes, there are certain standards that
God expects. He desires us to repent of
our sins and humbly become His follower.
That means He desires us to pray.
He desires us to worship. He
desires that we should read His Word. He
desires us to serve in His name. He
desires us to relate spiritually to Him and others. He desires we give sacrificially of ourselves. He desires that we do these things sincerely
and with steadfastness. But beyond that,
does God make requirements? Or do we
establish those requirements? Do we
expect people to meet our standards before we are willing to let them come to
God – all the while God is already coming among them?
Paul and the Tribune
Moving on in the story, Paul is dragged
before the tribune. Paul’s Roman
citizenship saves him a beating. It
doesn’t get him out of complete danger, but it does save him a beating and
allow the process to continue. In some
respects, it also propels him further into true danger, though. When the tribune hears that a Roman citizen
is being accused by the Jews, the matter becomes a whole lot more serious for
him. He is no longer dealing with some
obscure Jewish problem. Now he is
dealing with Roman citizenship and the right endowed to citizens. This is something Rome itself will take
seriously if he doesn’t get right. So
while Paul’s citizenship saves him a beating, it plays a significant role in
pulling Paul into the conflict between the Jews and Rome. No longer is Paul only between the Jews and
the Gentile religiously speaking; culturally he is now in the battle between
Jerusalem and Rome.
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