By Lisa Thayer
In
Chapter 20, we saw that Paul’s companions tried to convince him not to go to
Jerusalem. And today we see Paul being
questioned by the very people he had been a member of. These men of the council were supposed to be
an example of the Law of Moses. The command to have Paul struck was in fact
both contrary to both the spirit and the letter of the law. Deuteronomy 25:1-2 says only a man found
guilty can be beaten, and Paul had not yet been found guilty.
I
read that it has been 20 years since Paul had been away from the council. Perhaps Paul didn’t recognize Ananias as the
high priest. But perhaps the way these
people were conducting themselves made it difficult to tell based on their
actions. As Christians, we are to
represent Christ. When those around us
say, “I did not know you were a Christian”, we have failed to represent Him as
we should. We are not merely Christ
followers, we are His representatives to others.
I
cannot help but think, ‘Paul, why didn’t you listen?’ Then I think, am I as stubborn as he
was? Am I willing to step into a hostile
situation just to represent Christ? It’s
a good thing Paul had the insight to see the council was a mix of Sadducees and
Pharisees. This is an example of the
power that Jesus promised to believers (Mark 13:9-11). God will help us when we are under fire for
our faith. Like Paul, we should always
be ready to present our testimony. The
Holy Spirit will give us power to speak boldly.
Paul
had gotten himself into a messy predicament, but God is always going to be
glorified. These men had made a vow to
kill Paul. Yet, God sends Paul’s nephew
to his rescue and Paul gets transferred to Caesarea. By the Roman army no less!
God’s
ways are not our ways. Ours are
limited. When God intervenes, anything can
happen.