Paul's Arrest

Christian Commitment
in Today's World


Acts 21:27-36 (The Message)
 ²⁷ The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him, ²⁸ yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple—and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles.^{" 29} (For earlier that day they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and they assumed Paul had taken him into the Temple.)
 ³⁰ The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him. ³¹ As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul.
 ³³ Then the commander arrested him and ordered him bound with two chains. He asked the crowd who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some shouted one thing and some another. Since he couldn’t find out the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered that Paul be taken to the fortress. ³⁵ As Paul reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent the soldiers had to lift him to their shoulders to protect him. ³⁶ And the crowd followed behind, shouting, “Kill him, kill him!”
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For Reflection
So there is the crux of the problem, disobeying law, speaking against the temple, defiling the holy. It seems to be the essence of religious conflict even in today's world.  How bound are you to your closely held religious beliefs?  How tangled are they in cultural expectations? How do you handle conflicting opinion?  In the face of challenging beliefs, would you yell, "Kill him!  Kill him?"
 

Pray for understanding in the face of conflict. Pray for the right to challenge and be challenged.  Pray for the Lord to lead you continually into the face of conflicting ideas and to guide you to grow into the grace He offers.