Acts 23:23-35 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night… So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. (vv. 23, 31) …
Monthly Archives: July 2020
July 22 / Acts 23:11-22
Acts 23:11-22 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something …
July 21 / Acts 23:1-10
Acts 23:1-10 I’ve always thought it was clever of Paul to get the Pharisees and Sadducees fighting one another. I’m not sure it was much of an evangelistic tool, but I’m not sure Paul had a great deal of evangelism on his mind at that point – though, certainly, evangelism is never far from Paul’s …
July 20 / Acts 22:22-30
Acts 22:22-30 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him. (v. 29) There is so much in Paul’s background that made him such an excellent missionary. In addition to his …
July 19 / Acts 22:1-21
Acts 22:1-21 Today’s reading is now the third account that we have of Paul’s conversion. The first account takes up most of Acts 9. Paul also recounts his conversion in Galatians 1:13-17. The same exact details are not mentioned in all three accounts, so it is difficult to work completely through his conversion, but it …
July 18 / Acts 21:26-40
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 …
July 17 / Acts 21:17-25
Acts 21:17-25 You may recall from Acts 20:4 that Paul had eight traveling companions (including Luke) who accompanied him to Jerusalem. Presumably they traveled with him as a “safeguard” over the funds that Paul had collected for the relief of the suffering Christians in Jerusalem. (It’s surprising that Luke did not mention this monetary gift …
July 16 / Acts 21:1-16
Acts 21:1-16 The most intriguing item to me today is the detail that Luke reports, especially in the first few verses where he lists sailing activities – day by day, port by port, finally landing at Tyre and staying a week, then another boat trip to Ptolemais, then on to Caesarea and Jerusalem. On the …
July 15 / Acts 20:17-38
Acts 20:17-38 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (v. 24) Paul’s life goals were fairly simple and straightforward, to …
July 14 / Acts 20:1-16
Acts 20:1-16 We’re a bit chronologically challenged with today’s reading. In The Chronological Study Bible the first three verses in chapter 20 fall between I and II Corinthians. That is, Paul was on the move from Ephesus (after the “Demetrius silversmith” riot in Acts 19) to Macedonia (Thessalonica, Philippi) where he presumably wrote II Corinthians, …