Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 27 October 2014 "Paul taken into protective custody"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 27 October 2014 "Paul taken into protective custody"
Daily Scripture:  Acts 21: Paul Under Arrest
27-29 When the seven days of their purification were nearly up, some Jews from around Ephesus spotted him in the Temple. At once they turned the place upside-down. They grabbed Paul and started yelling at the top of their lungs, “Help! You Israelites, help! This is the man who is going all over the world telling lies against us and our religion and this place. He’s even brought Greeks in here and defiled this holy place.” (What had happened was that they had seen Paul and Trophimus, the Ephesian Greek, walking together in the city and had just assumed that he had also taken him to the Temple and shown him around.)
30 Soon the whole city was in an uproar, people running from everywhere to the Temple to get in on the action. They grabbed Paul, dragged him outside, and locked the Temple gates so he couldn’t get back in and gain sanctuary.
31-32 As they were trying to kill him, word came to the captain of the guard, “A riot! The whole city’s boiling over!” He acted swiftly. His soldiers and centurions ran to the scene at once. As soon as the mob saw the captain and his soldiers, they quit beating Paul.
33-36 The captain came up and put Paul under arrest. He first ordered him handcuffed, and then asked who he was and what he had done. All he got from the crowd were shouts, one yelling this, another that. It was impossible to tell one word from another in the mob hysteria, so the captain ordered Paul taken to the military barracks. But when they got to the Temple steps, the mob became so violent that the soldiers had to carry Paul. As they carried him away, the crowd followed, shouting, “Kill him! Kill him!”
37-38 When they got to the barracks and were about to go in, Paul said to the captain, “Can I say something to you?”
He answered, “Oh, I didn’t know you spoke Greek. I thought you were the Egyptian who not long ago started a riot here, and then hid out in the desert with his four thousand thugs.”
39 Paul said, “No, I’m a Jew, born in Tarsus. And I’m a citizen still of that influential city. I have a simple request: Let me speak to the crowd.”
Paul Tells His Story
40 Standing on the barracks steps, Paul turned and held his arms up. A hush fell over the crowd as Paul began to speak. He spoke in Hebrew.
Reflection Questions:
When Paul got to Jerusalem, the church leaders asked him to show that he was not trying to tear down the Law of Moses. They asked him to take part in a Hebrew ritual (cf. Acts 21:20-24), and Paul agreed willingly. Ironically, during that ritual some of his enemies from Asia saw him in the Temple. They wrongly assumed he had taken a Gentile into the area set aside for Jews only, and urged the crowd to kill him. Only prompt action by Roman soldiers saved Paul from swift, violent death.
As when the Ephesian silversmiths rioted (cf. Acts 19:30), Paul didn't want to run, but asked to speak to the angry crowd. The Roman commander, with his soldiers at hand, let him do it. We read Paul's Acts 22 speech during the first week of this series. He did not win the crowd over. Was it worth having a chance to "plant seeds" in people's minds, even if he did not convince them on the spot? Paul fought the faith before he accepted it. Might that have played a part in his wish to speak even to angry enemies?
It's easy to see the overblown tone of the claims Paul's enemies made in verse 28. Paul cherished his Hebrew heritage, and did not teach "against" the Hebrew people, their law or the Temple. When have you seen others exaggerate the position of people they disagree with, creating a straw man that is easier to discredit? Are you able to differ with someone without falsely portraying or exaggerating what that person believes?
Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Paul's final journey began as he tried to follow a course that would make peace with his enemies. Give me a heart that firmly stands for truth without taking pleasure in creating negative feelings. Amen.
Insight from Donna Karlen
Donna Karlen serves in Campus Communications at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
In this weekend’s sermon message, we heard about Christians “running to the danger.” When it comes to the acts of the Apostle Paul, that’s a bit of an understatement.
For the past several weeks, we’ve traveled with Paul on his missionary journeys to places where he was beaten, threatened with death, stoned and left for dead and generally ran into more than his share of dangers. But still he pressed on – sharing the gospel and telling anyone who would listen (and many who wouldn’t) about the love and grace found in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In Johnson County, Kansas, we don’t have to endure beatings or face crowds of people calling for our heads when we share the Christian message of love and grace. But we have our own “dangers” to face: resistance, rejection, ridicule. And while these are not life-threatening, certainly they can bring pain and discouragement.
I can’t say that I have ever faced even those kinds of dangers in my Christian walk. I’ve always been surrounded by believers and haven’t had to fight the good fight. I don’t know if I’ve been missing hearing God’s call, because I struggle with discerning what exactly that is supposed to sound like. Paul may have had a rough journey, but he certainly heard his calling loud and clear on that road to Damascus!
Like today’s scripture reading, this reflection is going to leave you hanging. I don’t know if I will figure out what God wants me to do (perhaps a stop by our next Spiritual Gifts class might help me to discover the answer). But just like I was compelled to turn the page of my Bible to read what Paul said to the crowd in Acts 22, I will keep turning the pages of my life with a heart open to God’s call.
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