WONDER OF RESURRECTION
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Opening Prayer
God of Grace, grant me a greater understanding of your Word and help me to apply what you show me.
Read ACTS 26:1–18
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”
So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: 2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. 6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.
12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Footnotes
- Acts 26:14 Or Hebrew
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
‘Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?’ (v. 8)
Paul appeals to the religious heritage that he and Herod Agrippa share—the prophecies and promises passed down from generation to generation on which the faith of Israel stands. As a ruler in Israel, Herod has the example of King David, whose psalms point toward a hope beyond the material—to the eternal pleasures at the right hand of God.¹ It is not just the poor, the prisoner, and the weak who seek hope beyond this life—kings like David long for life eternal.
So many of our hymns and songs lead us to the glory and wonder of the resurrection, the promised gift of God to us, his new creation. Do we consider it incredible that God would raise the dead? No! We believe, and we are not ashamed of this gospel hope—we glory in it! Yet the reality of Christ’s resurrection—and ours—has been doubted and challenged from the onset of Christianity² until today, and not just in the world, but in the church. Herod, despite being a Jew, only sought the earthly blessings of power and prosperity; Paul’s appeal falls on deaf ears. Even if we do not deny the resurrection—as some do—we may struggle to experience the hope of the resurrection in our daily walk of faith. Perhaps we are so tied to our hope for material and temporal blessings that we have forgotten how to hope eternally. Paul speaks with authority and confidence; we can have the same confidence when we put our faith in the gospel message. It may be foolishness to the world, but it is the wisdom and the power of God for those who believe.³
Apply
Think of a song or hymn that glories in this hope of resurrection. Dwell on your hope of resurrection and what it means for you and for the world.
Closing prayer
Forgive me, Jesus, for those times when worldly desires and concerns have clouded my vision for your victory on the cross, for the hope and joy that are mine because of your resurrection. Help me live in the reality of eternity with you each day.
1 Ps 16:9–11. 2 1 Cor 15. 3 1 Cor 1:18.
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