[Linux4christians] Friday - Acts 22

Thu Nov 3 20:21:07 EDT 2011

    Friday

      Acts 22

Paul's Defense

22:1 "Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense that I now make to 
you." 22:2 (When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they 
became even quieter.) Then Paul said, 22:3 "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus 
in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under 
Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God 
just as all of you are today. 22:4 I persecuted this Way even to the 
point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison, 
22:5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify 
about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, 
and I was on my way to make arrests there and bring the prisoners to 
Jerusalem to be punished.

22:6 As I was en route and near Damascus, about noon a very bright light 
from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 22:7 Then I fell to the ground 
and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting 
me?' 22:8 I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' He said to me, 'I am Jesus 
the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.' 22:9 Those who were with me saw 
the light, but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking 
to me.

22:10 So I asked, 'What should I do, Lord?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up 
and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything that you 
have been designated to do.' 22:11 Since I could not see because of the 
brilliance of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of those 
who were with me.

22:12 A man named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well 
spoken of by all the Jews who live there, 22:13 came to me and stood 
beside me and said to me, 'Brother Saul, regain your sight!' And at that 
very moment I looked up and saw him. 22:14 Then he said, 'The God of our 
ancestors has already chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous 
One, and to hear a command from his mouth, 22:15 because you will be his 
witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. 22:16 And now 
what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed 
away, calling on his name.'

22:17 When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell 
into a trance 22:18 and saw the Lord saying to me, 'Hurry and get out of 
Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about 
me.' 22:19 I replied, 'Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and 
beat those in the various synagogues who believed in you. 22:20 And when 
the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing 
nearby, approving, and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.'

22:21 Then he said to me, 'Go, because I will send you far away to the 
Gentiles.'"

The Roman Commander Questions Paul

22:22 The crowd was listening to him until he said this. Then they 
raised their voices and shouted, "Away with this man from the earth! For 
he should not be allowed to live!" 22:23 While they were screaming and 
throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust in the air,

22:24 the commanding officer ordered Paul to be brought back into the 
barracks. He told them to interrogate Paul by beating him with a lash so 
that he could find out the reason the crowd was shouting at Paul in this 
way. 22:25 When they had stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to 
the centurion standing nearby, "Is it legal for you to lash a man who is 
a Roman citizen without a proper trial?"

22:26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commanding officer 
and reported it, saying, "What are you about to do? For this man is a 
Roman citizen." 22:27 So the commanding officer came and asked Paul, 
"Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" He replied, "Yes." 22:28 The 
commanding officer answered, "I acquired this citizenship with a large 
sum of money." "But I was even born a citizen," Paul replied. 22:29 Then 
those who were about to interrogate him stayed away from him, and the 
commanding officer was frightened when he realized that Paul was a Roman 
citizen and that he had had him tied up.

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

22:30 The next day, because the commanding officer wanted to know the 
true reason Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and 
ordered the chief priests and the whole council to assemble. He then 
brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

      Prayer

Lord, the apostle Paul confronted the people with Your truth and they 
hated him for it. May I remember that Jesus warned His followers that 
those who rejected Him would also reject us as His messengers.

      Summary & Commentary

Paul's defense began with a presentation of his mentoring and 
performance as a member of the religious leaders and their most 
aggressive persecutors of Christians.

He then shared the story of Jesus confronting him on the road to 
Damascus and how another man, respected by Jews-of-the-law, named 
Ananias delivered God's healing of his sight and led him to be baptized.

Paul continued to share, noting that God spoke to him in the Temple, 
saying "get out of Jerusalem ... because they will not accept your 
testimony about Me."

Paul protested to God that the Jews in Jerusalem knew of his zealotry 
against the Christians, even approving the murder of Stephen, but God 
declared that He was sending Paul to the Gentiles.

When Paul mentioned outreach to Gentiles the crowd burst into hysteria 
and Paul was returned to the barracks.

[Note: The Jews had been deceived by the religious leaders into 
believing that despite the clear Word of God they remained His unique 
people - to share God with Gentiles was considered the worst sort of 
betrayal to such a self-important people.]

The Roman commander ordered Paul lashed to force him to explain why the 
people were so angry. Paul informed them that he was born a Roman 
citizen and thus it was a crime against Rome to punish him without a 
trial. The next morning the commander brought him before the Sanhedrin.

      Interaction

        Consider

As long as he did not stray from the "brainwashed" narrative the 
religious leaders had imposed upon their followers they were silent but 
the moment Paul crossed the socio-religious line of outreach to the 
Gentiles they reacted with a mindless corporate rage.

Discuss

Does it trouble you that the Roman commander was more-reasoned than the 
Jews?

Reflect

The people seemed OK with Jesus as long as His message was directed only 
to Jews.

Share

When have you observed the same sort of blind emotional reaction, 
against certain culturally-uncomfortable truths, by people within the 
family of those who associate themselves with the name of Christ?

      Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me an individual, a ministry, or a 
gathering of believers among a certain people-group who are oppressed 
for their faith and/or hindered in sharing Christ freely.

Action:

Today I will pray for a quick harvest of those who remain open to the 
truth as the enemies of truth multiply, seize power, and move to silence 
those who would preach and teach Christ.

I will pray specifically for the individual, ministry, or gathering of 
believers whom the Holy Spirit has revealed to me. [This latter 
population may be in China or Vietnam, most of the middle east, and 
increasingly (though less visible) in the west as well.]

Be Specific ______________________________________________________

    Saturday's text will be:

      Acts 23

-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary!
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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