paul in the hot seat looking at acts 21-23. 2 a very contemporary story … a world of religious...

Paul in the hot seat

Looking at Acts 21-23


A very contemporary story…

A world of religious schools that turn out brutal believers not above resorting to violence (chapter 22:3,4);

…radicalised clerics travelling to other countries to attack the unbelievers (chapter 22:5);

…Government authorities, because of past terror activities, on high alert looking for the Osama Bin Laden of the day, and on occasion, because they're so jumpy, arresting innocent people mistakenly (chapter 21:38);

…and the public, twitchy, confused, easily manipulated, and not beyond of bit of mob justice (chapter 21:30,31). Sound familiar? And in the middle of it is a Christian.


Meet Paul: the cause of the riot

Paul, the apostle, commissioned with making the good news about Jesus known everywhere, up he pops and proclaims Jesus to rioters.

So if you're a Christian, and you want to know how to speak about Jesus in a situation that is anything remotely like this, look at Acts 22.

And if you're not a Christian and you want to know if Christianity has anything remotely relevant to say in a modern, complicated world, look at Acts 22.

What response we should expect? If Paul and this crowd are anything to go by, I predict a riot that rejects Christianity, or a revolution that will transform your heart and life.


What’s going on? The accusation against Paul is in ch 21:28: "Men of

Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place.“

They throw in a false allegation as well: "…he has brought Greeks into the Temple area and defiled this holy place."

He'd not done that, and ironic really, when Paul as a mark of Jewish piety was at the Temple performing purification rites and paying the Temple expenses for four other Jews.


The Gospel…. The mob…and the Law

The Gospel is multi-cultural, not just for the Jews, it's for everyone - God doesn't show favouritism. So you understand their accusations: "He's anti-Jewish, he wants to destroy our religion, our people, our culture."

The Mob begins to become a lynch-mob Rome steps in…. Sustaining the Law It's about culture, citizenship, how you deal with

foreigners, and who's in charge. So when Paul says in chapter 22:1 "…listen now to my defence…" Does Christianity have something to say in this mess?


1. Christianity is not anti-citizenship or anti-culture

Far from being a terrorist, Paul introduces himself as a citizen. See verse 39: "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city."

He respects the rule of law, he respects the authority of Claudius: "Please let me speak to the people…" He doesn't act like a man who is either frightened by government, or principally opposed to it.

Christians are to be good citizens, but there's more….


2. Christianity is not anti-Jewish Paul is a Jew (chapter 22:3). His cultural identity was

important to him. "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in Jerusalem… in the law of our fathers…" Later in Acts Paul summarises the purpose of this visit to Jerusalem - you can read about it in chapter 24:17: "After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings."

Gathering money from Gentile Christians to provide aid for the Jerusalem poor. Doesn't sound like a man who's anti-Jewish or anti- their culture. This is part of Paul's defence - "I'm not anti your culture, I share it…I'm Jewish. I care about Jews."


There is, however, a 'but':

Christianity is not anti-citizenship or anti-culture, but Jesus of Nazareth is Lord. Citizenship and culture can shape us in wrong ways: “I… was just as zealous for God as any of you are today."

And he explains…, "I persecuted the followers of this Way…I even went to Damascus to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem…" Extraordinary Rendition?

And it all flowed out of his cultural identity - how you treat people who are not like you.


High noon

But He was about to find out cultural identity may be strong, but it's not ultimate. Paul's on a collision course with Jesus. They meet, verse 6, like all good showdowns at high noon: "…as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. 'I am Jesus…'"


God is comfortable with culture

"I am Jesus… of Nazareth." God took on an accent and an address that would have made him culturally identifiable, and he seems perfectly happy with that.

Revelation pictures a wonderful city whose gates are always open because it's so safe, we read: "The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it…" It's culturally diverse, God likes cultural diversity.

So you can look forward to standing beside me as I play the bagpipes for the glory and honour of God. Things like art, literature, the Brazilian style of attacking football, the English style of defensive cricket, EMO music, Chinese food, they are part of life in God's present and future creation.


Jesus and culture

Jesus of Nazareth claims Lordship over every area of life. Remember Abraham Kuyper's famous words: "In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, 'That is mine!'"

That's what Paul discovered: his plans, shaped by his culture, put him at loggerheads with God.


God’s planning

And in the middle of this kind of world, Paul says God has a plan to restore the world. Doesn't that sound like good news? Don't you want there to be a God who could fix things? Those plans, proclaims Paul, are found in Jesus of Nazareth. And it's open to everyone.

And when these rioters hear their cultural identity is not the ultimate, that they need to submit to Jesus, they say in verse 22, about Paul, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!"


3. Jesus is either the terrifying Judge or transforming Saviour

Paul gets to Damascus in the story, a Jewish Christian, Ananias, comes to him, and among other things, he says to Paul, "The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One [Jesus] and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard." (Acts 22:14,15) you understand how that works: Jesus appears to Paul, Paul has to pass on what he's heard to everyone else.

Jesus is either a terrifying Judge or a transforming Saviour.


Terrifying Judge (ch 22:6-9).

In a world that proclaims truth is relative, that with a few exceptions moral choices are nothing more than personal preferences, that right and wrong should be replaced with 'right for me' and 'not compatible with my lifestyle', verses 6-9 come as a bit of a shock. God gave his judgement on 'right for me and my lifestyle'.

See, it's one thing to be blasé about God when he seems to be out of the picture. It's quite another story when he's shown up and smacked you to the ground, and tells you the verdict on your life is guilty of rebelling against the Lord: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"


What shall I do Lord?

V10 is not a casual request. This is more like a voice laced with the sound of panic and asking, "Is there any escape?" Paul has just met Absolute Truth, and he appears to be a terrifying judge.

The point is, Jesus is Lord. He claims every life for himself. One day (“Soon and very soon”) we will meet the king. He will deal with things personally. So if he's judging everyone yet, you begin to understand why Jesus is showing his power to judge.

It's a warning. He showing this so that people like Paul will ask the question, "What shall I do, Lord?" And they'll find that Jesus, the terrifying Judge, is also a transforming Saviour.


Transforming Saviour (22:16)

The instructions to Paul are interesting: twice he's told to get up (verses 10 and 16). If Jesus knocked Paul down, it wasn't to knock him out, it was to restore him. Verse 16: "Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away, calling on his name."

The Judge who has just delivered a guilty verdict now provides forgiveness for sin in his name. Being forgiven and starting to live for Jesus. He really appears to be a transforming Saviour. If you've not noticed it before, that's what Paul has been telling us, explaining who he is and what he's done.


He scrubs up well- doesn’t he? Here's a man who says to a crowd who've just tried to kill him, "I

was… just as zealous for God as any of you. I used attack other people." But now he's risking his own life to tell his would-be killers how to find forgiveness in Jesus. Anti-Jewish? No, risking his life to help them.

Here's a man who loves his Jewish cultural heritage, but who knows Jesus Christ would love and save all people. So in his letters sent all over the world he'll call all people brothers and sisters. Here's a man who understands the responsibility of being a citizen, because he knows the one he's ultimately responsible to.

He scrubs up well, doesn't he?


Doesn’t that sound like the life we want?

Jesus has done that, and he'll do it in your life too. God's rescue in Jesus is open to everyone. So how are you responding to him? If you're a Christian, are you starting to see that transformation? You'll spot it in little ways, and it'll start with thinking, "What does Jesus want me to do?

If you're not a Christian, the five most arresting words you'll hear -." They are "I am Jesus of Nazareth." But it's the next five words that'll determine your future: will they

be "Rid the earth of him!" or "What shall I do Lord?"

paul in the hot seat looking at acts 21-23. 2 a very contemporary story … a world of religious...

Documents