Taken into Custody

A Living Faith
Who Understands Faith?
Paul before King Agrippa

Acts 22:17-25

The Message

^17-18 “Well, it happened just as Ananias said. After I was back in Jerusalem and praying one day in the Temple, lost in the presence of God, I saw him, saw God’s Righteous Innocent, and heard him say to me, ‘Hurry up! Get out of here as quickly as you can. None of the Jews here in Jerusalem are going to accept what you say about me.’
^19-20 “At first I objected: ‘Who has better credentials? They all know how obsessed I was with hunting out those who believed in you, beating them up in the meeting places and throwing them in jail. And when your witness Stephen was murdered, I was right there, holding the coats of the murderers and cheering them on. And now they see me totally converted. What better qualification could I have?’
²¹ “But he said, ‘Don’t argue. Go. I’m sending you on a long journey to outsider non-Jews.’”

A Roman Citizen

^22-25 The people in the crowd had listened attentively up to this point, but now they broke loose, shouting out, “Kill him! He’s an insect! Stomp on him!” They shook their fists. They filled the air with curses. That’s when the captain intervened and ordered Paul taken into the barracks. By now the captain was thoroughly exasperated. He decided to interrogate Paul under torture in order to get to the bottom of this, to find out what he had done that provoked this outraged violence. As they spread-eagled him with thongs, getting him ready for the whip, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is this legal: torturing a Roman citizen without a fair trial?”

For Reflection

Exasperation!  How often have you felt that?  The Captain could not understand the clamor.  When Paul invoked the Roman law, the Captain was surprised that he had mistaken Paul for a vagabond and had no choice under Roman law but to free him.  Thus, the stage is set for reasoned dialog in the face of irrationality.  Thank God for human law that protects one's human rights.

Why are we so willing to abuse our relationship with God by assigning God's will to unGodly acts?

Pray

for wisdom to see beyond human fear into the truth of God's will for humankind.  Pray that you will find patience, and loving responses in times of conflict.  Pray and seek truth in Scripture.