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 seems that he spent some time in Damascus after his conversion preaching in the synagogues until he escaped from the city after the Jews sought to kill him. Then he spent three years in Arabia before returning to Damascus and finally then coming to Jerusalem – noted today in verse 17. So in Paul’s telling the story in today’s reading there is a major gap between verses 16 and 17: (Paul’s quoting Ananias in v. 16) And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. (Paul’s continuing with his story in v. 17) When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance… We can only wonder as to why Paul left out that 3+ year gap. My sense is that Paul felt that his Damascus/Arabia activities were not relevant to this Jerusalem audience.

If I may add one more verse to today’s reading, the one immediately following: Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” (v. 22) It’s confusing to me also why the Jews listened to Paul “Up to this word…”. Maybe “this word” goes back to verse 17, Paul’s claim of a trance and a conversation with the Lord. Maybe the Jews were effectively charging him with blasphemy for this claim? That’s my best guess…!

Slava Bohu!

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!!

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 when Paul and his companions appeared before James and the Jewish Christian leaders in today’s reading.) However, Paul’s traveling companions also offered a second benefit – they were from Achaia, Macedonia, Asia, and Galatia and could corroborate Paul’s stories about his missionary work with the Gentiles. Paul could tell the stories and they could confirm him and bring other anecdotal evidence to bear, especially those instances where Paul was deserving of more credit than he was willing to claim.

…how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. (v. 20b) We typically think of the last half of the book of Acts with a focus on Paul and his missionary activities among the Gentiles. But those apostles who stayed behind in Jerusalem were having their own ministry. Thousands of those who believed and were baptized on Pentecost Day were probably visitors from Judea, Galilee, and parts beyond. But many were probably from Jerusalem, especially those who were not among the ruling elite, and now some 20-30 years after Jesus’ Ascension we have thousands (literally, tens of thousands) among the Jews in and around Jerusalem who are now counted as believers. So the Lord was working throughout the entire known world!! GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

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 next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. (v. 8) You may remember Philip from Acts 8, the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. That incident ends with verses Acts 8:39,40: And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. So Philip ends up in Caesarea and we don’t hear of him again until today’s reading. Presumably he has made a home in Caesarea these 20 to 30 years and has become known as “Philip the evangelist”. Nice title…!

Mnason – a footnote in history…: And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge. (v. 16) This verse contains the only mention of Mnason that we have in the New Testament. Who was he? He was an early disciple – how early we don’t know, maybe even Pentecost or maybe even before Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. He was from Cyprus. Who else was from Cyprus? Barnabas! Paul’s first missionary companion! I looked online and saw that Mnason has been a topic of research discussion through the ages, both the questions I have asked and even more concerns about where his house was. As you read various translations, you can infer that he was from Caesarea or Jerusalem or somewhere in between. It was a two-day journey from Caesarea to Jerusalem, so some writers have suggested that he lived in a village along the way. Whatever! We learn (1) that he was faithful – an early disciple and (2) that he was generous – housing the entire group of Paul’s traveling companions. One name, one mention, but a forever wonder…! Fun!!

Slava Bohu!

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 testify to the Gospel! And if he continues to do that, he appears to be willing to end this life on earth whenever the Lord calls him home. Simple. Straightforward.

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (v. 35) These words from Jesus are spoken regularly at our church services prior to the Offering. I wondered and my Study Bible confirmed, these words ascribed to Jesus by Paul do not appear anywhere in the four Gospels. However, I have no doubt that Jesus spoke these words. They’re just not recorded – as are hundreds of thousands of words that He spoke.

The other item in verse 35 that struck me was …by working hard…we must help the weak… There seems to be a lot of resistance in our society to helping the weak, both here and abroad. I remember asking my classroom students, “Why are some people poor?” I got the natural variety of answers that you might expect, but I also got one unexpected: “Some people are just sorry.” By “sorry” this student meant lazy, welfare dependent. And I will grant you that some people are “sorry”, but I daresay that 90% of the men on welfare would prefer a good job to receiving welfare checks (sorry, I cannot speak for the women). And by “good jobs”, I mean good wages, no matter how hard the work. But I typically get nowhere if I try to make that argument with folks who are “anti-welfare”. I wonder what would happen if I appealed to Scripture instead of economic theory. I wonder…

Slava Bohu!

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, then on to Corinth, from where he wrote Romans. We now have him leaving Corinth and going back through Macedonia, then by way of Ephesus traveling to Jerusalem.

Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. (v. 4) For our purposes the individual names are not so important; however, what we need to know is that Paul now has traveling companions from Achaia, Macedonia, Galatia, and Asia as he is carrying funds for the relief of the believers in Jerusalem.

These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. (vv. 5-6) We have another set of “we” pronouns here, presumably Luke reflecting himself. In these two verses it is Luke traveling with Paul. Later in verses 13 and 14 the “we” is Luke without Paul. Then we pick up Luke and Paul together again in verse 15. So in summary, the “we/us” pronouns are Luke and Paul, except in verses 13 and 14.

A bit of geography… In verse 6, Philippi is at the northeastern tip of Macedonia (modern-day Greece) while Troas is at the northwestern tip of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Assos is about 20 miles south of Troas by land, but 40 miles by sea. From Assos the disciples hugged the coast of Asia Minor, moving between and around the islands (Chios and Samos, v. 15). Finally, Miletus (v. 15) is about 30 miles south of Ephesus. Presumably Paul did not want to go directly to Ephesus – too many friends there who would have taken up too much time with him visiting them all (v. 16).

Slava Bohu!

Romans 16:17-27

So today we finish Romans! We’ve been just four days short of three months in I and II Corinthians and Romans, Paul’s longest letters. Tomorrow we move back to Acts for a bit. It’ll be a nice change!

Scholars believe that Paul wrote Romans from Corinth. Recall that he had spent 18 months there on his second missionary journey and was now visiting them on his third, so Paul had a lot of friends in Corinth. This we can see, in part, from the number of people who along with Paul send greetings to the Roman church. Two of these, Tertius and Quartus are apparently slaves. Their names mean third and fourth, a common naming process among slaveholders in Rome.

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. (v. 17) My first thought on reading this verse had to do with discussions among believers that sometimes get quite animated – heated, even! And while generating ill will among believers is not good, Paul here is speaking of divisions and obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. That is, he is not ruling out disagreements among believers as to Scriptural interpretations or institutional structures or whatever else is of lesser consequence. He is concerned with doctrinal matters, as we should be also.

Unfortunately we are prone to disagreements resulting from confusions over interpretations, as in what does Scripture say or what does that sentence/paragraph mean? For example, sprinkling or immersion baptism…?? Churches split over issues like this! We need to be careful! In our own recent change from two services to one a substantial number of people moved on to other churches, and we are sad to see them go. However, there are still a number of people who are still with us who may quietly disagree with how we are doing things. And I daresay that each and every one of us has a suggestion as to how to make things better! But better for whom? As I posted a few days ago, we need to be less concerned with what we like or dislike and more concerned with how to bring non-believers into the fold. And in all things let’s not …cause divisions and create obstacles…!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 16:1-16

Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. (vv. 3-4) Prisca (Pricilla) and Aquila, Aquila and Prisca. Yeah, another day of tying things together! We met back in Acts 18. They were tentmakers in Corinth and Paul stayed with them. Then he took them to Ephesus with him and they stayed there while he went on to Jerusalem. Now we find them in Rome. So, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome…! Three of the leading churches in the northern Mediterranean world, and Prisca and Aquila are tied to all three!

But there is also another aspect of their ministry that shows up in today’s reading. Verse 5a says Greet also the church in their house. Paul is writing to the Romans, so Prisca and Aquila have a church meeting in their house in Rome. What’s interesting about this item is that I Corinthians 16:19 also recognizes that Aquila and Prisca host a church that meets in their house: The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. Here Paul is writing to the Corinthians (in Greece/Achaia) from Ephesus/Asia with a note of greeting from the Prisca/Aquila house-church in Ephesus. Beyond those two recorded house-churches in Rome and Ephesus, I have no doubt that Aquila and Prisca also hosted a house-church in Corinth. No wonder …all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks [for them] as well!

Finally, Prisca and Aquila are mentioned one more time in Paul’s letters, in II Timothy 4:19. What a ministry they must have had!!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 15:22-33

…I have so often been hindered from coming to you. (v. 22b) Way back on March 31 I posted that Paul had gone south from Thessalonica to Berea, then on to Athens and Corinth. He was being hassled by Jews in Thessalonica, so much so that The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea… (Acts 17:10) I had argued that Paul’s original intent may have been to continue west on the Egnatian Way so as to go to Rome, bypassing Achaia totally, and this may have been one of those times when he was hindered from going to Rome. We’ll never know – it was a big maybe on my part!

At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. (vv. 25-26) It’s so nice to tie things together. We have been reading in I and II Corinthians about this collection in Thessalonica, Philippi, and Corinth for the relief of the Jerusalem Christians. Now we see mention of it here in Romans and we already knew about it. Nice…

Finally, Paul is asking for prayers by the Roman Christians …that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea… (v. 31a) That did not happen. We will soon learn that he was arrested in Jerusalem because of an altercation with the unbelieving Jews and that he was held in custody for his own protection. He finally did get to Rome, but as a prisoner. So, his prayer request did not get answered in the way Paul had intended. The Holy Spirit had other plans.

Slava Bohu!

Romans 15:14-21

…thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation… (v. 20) So often I look for Paul’s writing with application to our own times. Sorry, not this time! In our sharing of the Gospel, every one of us (except maybe someone like Bethany Tennent) is building on someone else’s foundation! Thankfully we have thousands, millions even, who have gone before us and shown us the way to speak the Gospel to unbelievers. Still, however, we need to rest in the Holy Spirit – trusting that He will guide us with words to speak when opportunities arise.

…the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (vv. 15b-16) Paul is drawing on his Jewish heritage here, essentially linking himself to the Jewish priests who offer animal sacrifices in the temple for the forgiveness of the sins of the Jewish people. In similar fashion, Paul is seeing himself in the role of a priest, but offering the Gentiles as a “human sacrifice”, praying that this sacrifice will be acceptable to God. I can imagine that this “human sacrifice” of the Gentiles is MUCH more pleasing to God than all the animal sacrifices for thousands of years! I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:7) GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!