THE ONE WHO BRINGS HOPE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them:

“My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

Acts 28:17-20

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Paul had finally made it to Rome. It had to seem like it had been forever since he had encountered God while in Roman custody in Jerusalem and was told to go and testify before Caesar. A lot had happened in between as God’s purposes were fulfilled throughout the trip but now Paul was where God destined him to be.

In yesterday’s message, we learned that he was placed in home by himself but was under constant guard, a version of what we would call house arrest today. And after three days of this captive arrangement, we read where Paul organizes a meeting with the local Jewish leaders and addresses them with these words:

“My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” Acts 28:17-20

I find it very interesting that this is the first official recorded action of Paul after he settles into his Roman residence. I say this because if trouble was instigated in any one place that he visited during his missionary journeys, that trouble was typically started by Jews who wished to persecute and even have Paul eliminated. Paul’s relationship with those that we find him referring to as “brothers” wasn’t exactly great and maybe this is why he assembled the local Jewish contingent immediately, to get out in front of any potential trouble.

So what did Paul want to focus on as he addressed his Jewish audience?

First, we look at the words he used to relate to them, calling them “my brothers”. Paul was a Jew himself even though he chose to take his belief in God to another level by committing himself to Jesus. More on that in a minute but Paul once again wants to make it clear that he is more alike the Roman Jews than he is different.

The second point Paul wants to drive home is that he was innocent. He testified to how he was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans even though he had done nothing against the Jewish people or the customs established by their ancestors. His innocence had been validated through a hearing before the Roman authorities who examined Paul and wished to set him free because he wasn’t “guilty of any crime deserving death.”  

So why wasn’t Paul just released and allowed to go on with his ministry work?

Paul explains in the third main point. For despite what the Romans wanted, the Jews in Jerusalem “objected” which led Paul to “make an appeal to Caesar”.

Now, at this point, Paul could have adopted a vindictive attitude and try and bring trouble on the Jewish religious authorities who had certainly caused him a lot of grief. It was a situation ripe for an eye-for-an-eye type of revenge and from a worldly perspective, no one would have blamed Paul if he adopted that approach.

But Paul didn’t do that and he wanted the Roman Jews know it. Rather than reciprocate wickedness for wickedness, Paul decided not to “bring any charge against” his own people. And he didn’t assemble the Roman Jews to do anything except to testify about what he believed. That was it.

Just in case the Roman Jews wondered why Paul was there and under house arrest, he intended on informing them and answering any and all questions regarding why he was present in Italy’s capital.

So why was Paul there? What led him to make the trip to have an audience with Caesar?

We find Paul answer the question in our final verse for today. For there was one reason and one reason only for why he was being held in bondage within his home and that reason was Jesus, the One who was the “hope of Israel”.

So why use those words? Why not just say “Jesus” instead alluding to Him as the “hope of Israel”?

Because Paul was trying to make the Roman Jews see that Jesus was the Messiah, the One foretold by the prophets, the One who was coming to free Israel from their oppression.

Unfortunately, the Jews thought that oppression freedom would come from the Roman rule they were under but God had bigger plans in mind as He sent His only Son to free His people from the repression of sin and bring the opportunity for salvation. It was this Gospel offer through Jesus that the Jews were so resistant to accept. Instead, they chose to reject Jesus and go after anyone who chose to follow Him.

Paul had hoped to change the hearts of the Roman Jews and move them toward believing in Jesus just as he did. He wanted them to come to trust in Christ, the One who was their hope, not just in the present but for their future.

Today, Jesus remains the hope of not just Israel but every nation and every person. My prayer today is that you know Him as your personal Savior.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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