Blogger: Aaron Miner
Question: What do you hold most dear?
After Paul meets with the Ephesian elders he starts off on his journey to Jerusalem. Interestingly, Luke parallels Paul’s journey with Jesus’ last journey to Jerusalem. Richard Longenecker in his commentary on Acts points out that the parallels consist of plots by the Jews, a handing over to the Gentiles, a triple prediction of impending suffering, steadfast resolution, and resignation to God’s will.
As it was for Jesus, Paul’s companions and friends entreat him to not go to Jerusalem. Paul’s responds simply, I am not afraid to die. Paul has known from the beginning that he must suffer greatly for the name of his Lord (Acts 9:16). For Paul there is no other choice.
Paul does not die in Jerusalem. However, he does immediately face great and unjust persecution. While Paul purifies himself in the Temple the Jews rise up and seize him. Only because the Roman cohort watches the Temple for any disturbances are they able to rescue Paul from this angry mob. Their concern is not for Paul’s safety or justice but solely to quell the civil unrest that is forming.[1]
What does Paul hold dear? The answer is clearly not his personal safety but rather the name of the Lord Jesus. For Paul, Christ is truly the rock that he stands on, nothing else matters. To some degree you can say that Paul has no other idol controlling his life. Christ’s death on the cross has replaced everything else. This is true life, (Romans 8:10-12) because of what Christ has done. Let us then live and live to none other.
So what do we hold most dear? Is it the name of Christ, so that we may live according to the Spirit? For most of us, we may never have to suffer as Paul did, but what we must give up is far more subtle and thus far more ensnaring. Let us then hold on tightly to Jesus but loosely to everything else.
[1] One Syriac text includes the instructions, “See, therefore, that they do not make an uprising,” as the reason they allow Paul to address the crowd.
Showing posts with label persecution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label persecution. Show all posts
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Acts 9
There is a wideness in God’s mercy.
It is easy to get why God would be gracious to Dorcas. She was the kind of person we all should be, “always doing good and helping the poor.” But Saul—he “breathed murderous threats.” It is difficult for us to understand how radical the grace is to Saul. If you are a disciple, the name of Saul could have well produced an immediate response of anxiety because of his track record of persecution, violence and threats. His persecution of Christians had become famous throughout the region. We see in the passage that Ananias was quite familiar with Saul’s opposition to God’s people.
Or, let’s consider it from this angle. How many people had to suffer before Jesus would make his blinding appearance to Saul? Why doesn’t God heal the other Dorcas’s (the humor in her name is not lost on this author) who die while doing good and helping the poor. Why doesn’t God ________?
A clue might be found in the conversation between Saul and Jesus. In response to the flash of light and the call of his name, Saul ignorantly asks, “Who are you Lord? The flash of light convinced him that he was in the presence of deity. He was just less sure of that deity exactly was. Jesus introduces himself and replies to Saul with a repeated statement emphasizing to Saul that his persecutions are not falling upon aberrant Jews, but rather upon The Lord himself.
Jesus’ reality was that the persecutions fell upon him over and above his people. This should give us a greater glimpse into his love. Jesus so identifies with his church that his church’s experience of persecution is His experience of persecution. That is the beauty of our union with Him. He knows and has infinite capacity to suffer with us, to enter into our pain, our shame and our regrets. He knows them and feels them as if they are His. Knowing this kind of compassion enables you to trust Him doesn’t it?
It did for Paul. He tells this story again in the book of Acts and it is never far from his conscience. Hearing about how Jesus himself felt his actions against God’s people must have been unending reminder of the grace of through his own sufferings. Jesus tells Ananias that Saul would suffer much for the name of Christ. But Saul learned something through his transformation—that his sufferings are never alone—they are always shared by the man of sorrows, the Lord of grace, Jesus himself. In Philippians 3, Paul would later declare, “I want to know the fellowship of sharing in your sufferings,” because that, in some way, is the path to truly knowing Christ.
When things are hard and difficult, it is tempting to not pray, thinking we need to get ourselves together first. That is a trust in a narrow mercy. God’s mercy is wide. Jesus shares in your sufferings. In your strongest moments and your weakest moments, he shares in your victory and your brokenness. Jesus shares in your sufferings—are you willing to share in His?
It is easy to get why God would be gracious to Dorcas. She was the kind of person we all should be, “always doing good and helping the poor.” But Saul—he “breathed murderous threats.” It is difficult for us to understand how radical the grace is to Saul. If you are a disciple, the name of Saul could have well produced an immediate response of anxiety because of his track record of persecution, violence and threats. His persecution of Christians had become famous throughout the region. We see in the passage that Ananias was quite familiar with Saul’s opposition to God’s people.
Or, let’s consider it from this angle. How many people had to suffer before Jesus would make his blinding appearance to Saul? Why doesn’t God heal the other Dorcas’s (the humor in her name is not lost on this author) who die while doing good and helping the poor. Why doesn’t God ________?
A clue might be found in the conversation between Saul and Jesus. In response to the flash of light and the call of his name, Saul ignorantly asks, “Who are you Lord? The flash of light convinced him that he was in the presence of deity. He was just less sure of that deity exactly was. Jesus introduces himself and replies to Saul with a repeated statement emphasizing to Saul that his persecutions are not falling upon aberrant Jews, but rather upon The Lord himself.
Jesus’ reality was that the persecutions fell upon him over and above his people. This should give us a greater glimpse into his love. Jesus so identifies with his church that his church’s experience of persecution is His experience of persecution. That is the beauty of our union with Him. He knows and has infinite capacity to suffer with us, to enter into our pain, our shame and our regrets. He knows them and feels them as if they are His. Knowing this kind of compassion enables you to trust Him doesn’t it?
It did for Paul. He tells this story again in the book of Acts and it is never far from his conscience. Hearing about how Jesus himself felt his actions against God’s people must have been unending reminder of the grace of through his own sufferings. Jesus tells Ananias that Saul would suffer much for the name of Christ. But Saul learned something through his transformation—that his sufferings are never alone—they are always shared by the man of sorrows, the Lord of grace, Jesus himself. In Philippians 3, Paul would later declare, “I want to know the fellowship of sharing in your sufferings,” because that, in some way, is the path to truly knowing Christ.
When things are hard and difficult, it is tempting to not pray, thinking we need to get ourselves together first. That is a trust in a narrow mercy. God’s mercy is wide. Jesus shares in your sufferings. In your strongest moments and your weakest moments, he shares in your victory and your brokenness. Jesus shares in your sufferings—are you willing to share in His?
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