Acts 21:26-40
…the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him… (v. 27b) My first thought – the “Jews from Asia” again…!! I was remembering Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe from Paul’s first missionary journey (Acts 13:45, ff.). Then I thought further, that Paul was also hassled by the Jews in Philippi (Acts 16:22, ff.) and in Thessalonica (Acts 17:5, ff.) and in Corinth (Acts 18:12, ff.) and in Ephesus (Acts 19:23, ff.). Seemingly, wherever he went he was hassled by the Jews! Yet he kept on. That’s perseverance!!
Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” (v. 39) In the midst of this uproar and with his safety now secured Paul could have simply gone in with the tribune and the soldiers and explained the situation. As a Roman citizen, he may have even been set free. Instead Paul saw this near-riot as an evangelistic opportunity! The Romans became his bodyguards and secured crowd control for him. Again, Paul’s perseverance for the Gospel. Awesome!!
I particularly appreciated that Paul spoke Greek to the Roman official and Hebrew to the Jewish crowd. An example of “code switching” between the two groups via language and their own cultural contexts. We need to develop this sensitivity to our listeners. And if we don’t have that background, then I think we need to listen first to learn before jumping in.
Amen to that!