JESUS MESSIAH IS LORD!
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Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, speak to me through the Scripture passage I reflect on today. Help me to hear what I need to follow Jesus with greater faith and conviction.
Read ACTS 21:37–22:11
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Paul Speaks to the Crowd
37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”
“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. 38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?”
39 Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”
40 After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic[a]: 22 1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”
2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
Then Paul said: 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’
8 “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
10 “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
Footnotes
- Acts 21:40 Or possibly Hebrew; also in 22:2
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What about your conversion experience compels you to tell others about Jesus?
Paul is an impressively educated man. He speaks to the Roman officer in Greek and to the crowd in Aramaic, knowing that it is the only way they will listen and understand. He relates to the Roman in a way that will get his attention: Paul is a Roman citizen from an important city. He identifies as Jewish, both to show the Roman that he has the right to speak to the Jewish crowd, but also to calm the crowd and gain their attention. He shows his impressive religious credentials. He understands the passion of the crowd and relates to them. He grounds himself in Jewish tradition and hierarchy, mentioning his relationship to Gamaliel and the Jewish authorities—and he even tells the crowd that he persecuted the church.
The unspoken question is: ‘Why would such a zealous Pharisee turn against his God and the law?’ The answer is that he did no such thing. Notice how many times he uses the term ‘Lord’ as he describes his encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road. As a Jew, he worshipped the Lord God: using the term Lord is significant. Jesus Messiah is Lord: Paul recognized this for the first time. He immediately asked the Lord what he should do in response. Paul yearns for his fellow Jews to do the same.
More impressive than Paul’s intelligence, however, is his steadfast faith. He is committed to fulfilling what the Lord has asked him to do. The Lord had revealed that Paul would preach before gentile kings and would suffer much for the name of Jesus.1 Paul had faith that God would complete the work begun in him and did not flinch from sharing in the suffering of Christ. This hostile encounter was one more step on his journey of faith.
Apply
What has the Lord called you to do? How are you responding? What testimony do you have to share about your faith in Jesus? Are you prepared to share it?
Closing prayer
Everything I am and have I offer to you, my only Lord Jesus, my joy and righteousness. What can I say and do to show my love for you today?
1 Acts 9:15, 16
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