May 28thDevotion Acts 28:17-22 Faithful To The Call Part 2

Acts 28:17-22 – Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. 18 They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. 19 The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. 20 For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”  21 They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. 22 But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.”

“For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”  Paul told them that he was in chains because of the “hope of Israel.”  This was a term they would have understood.  The hope of Israel was the Messiah.  What Jews longed for, what the devout Jew hoped for, more than anything else, is for the Messiah to come and rescue them from Roman rule and for them to live in peace. (Isaiah 11:1-5, 9:6-7, 32:1, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Zechariah 9:9, Isaiah 61)  So Paul was telling them that hope of Israel, the Messiah, had not only come, but that He died for the sins of the people and that He was resurrected and is living and makes intercession for all His people. (1 John 2:2, Hebrews 7:25) Paul was telling them that he had great news for them.  He sincerely hoped they would embrace the Truth.   He hoped that they would listen to and embrace the Good News that they Messiah had come and that He is still available for everyone to come to Him and be saved.

“They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you.  22 But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.”  The Jewish leaders replied that they had not heard anything bad from Judea about Paul.  Were they honest?  It seems dubious that they would hear that people are talking everywhere about the The Way but had not heard about Paul and about his conflicts with the Jewish leaders.  It seems, maybe too improbable that Jerusalem, who hated Paul so deeply, knowing that he was going to Rome, would not have alerted the Jewish leaders in Rome.  Yet, it is possible.  After all, they did not come to Rome to pursue charges against him.  But it is presumed that they reason they didn’t is because they knew that had no influence in Spain.  They could intimidate local authorities, but not Caesar.  Another possible reason that they may not have been alerted is that a letter from the Jerusalem leaders to the leaders in Rome could have been on the ship that was destroyed and had all the cargo thrown overboard.

Another consideration is that the leaders in Rome were not anxious to cause any waves.  About 49 A.D. Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from the city of Rome.  The Roman historian Suetonius recorded the reason they were expelled is because they had caused disorder (riots) in the city because of the teaching of Chrestus.  Many think this is a reference to Christ Jesus.  So they were causing riots over their war against Christians.  So, if that is so, yes they already knew about Christians, but not because they heard about this “sect” but because they had already been thrown out of Rome because of disorders surrounding their hatred for the teachings of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord.

Either way, they were not violent toward Paul.  They were willing to listen.  Which again would suggest that what they said was true, they had only heard of Christianity and wanted to know more about it.

Paul was not a perfect guy.  He was subject to anger.  He was not Jesus, but he is one of the best of all Apostles or disciples of Jesus that ever lived.  He had a strong and very personal relationship with Jesus.  The Lord spoke to him.  And Paul was an expert in the Word.  Paul wrote a large part of what would become the New Testament.  He loved God.  He loved the Word of God.  To serve the Lord was what burned in His heart.  It is easy to say that serving the Lord also burns in our hearts, but do our lives bear that out?  Or would a jury say there was not enough evidence to prove that?  Or would the jury be a “hung jury?”  More importantly than what we think, or other people think, is what does God say?  What would our God who knows everything about everything say concerning our passion for Him?  Oh Lord, help us to be all that You want us to be.

Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord!

Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Your God.

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”