Daily Bread 2010 - Acts 25
Daily Bread 2010 – Acts 25
Paul Before Agrippa
23The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high ranking officers and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24Festus said: "King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. 26But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. 27For I think it is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him."
As Paul continues to move up the ladder of power in his imprisonment (an ironic twist), he continues to rely on his Roman citizenship to keep him from falling into the Jews hands, who at this point want to ambush and kill him. With each step into a higher authority, Paul gets a chance to recount his story and preach the Gospel on a bigger stage.
In the last chapter as Paul preached to Felix, the Holy Spirit started to work on Felix’s heart. In this chapter, Paul is brought before King Agrippa 11, the great grandson of Herod the Great, the king who attempted to kill baby Jesus, and did in fact kill many baby boys in Judea under the age of 2.
Just as his great grandfather wanted to hear Jesus, probably to be entertained by him, so too this is probably what King Agrippa II had in mind when he said, “I would like to hear him myself.” Tomorrow, we will hear Paul again using this opportunity to share his testimony and how Agrippa reacts.
We hear the saying a lot, “Everyone gets their fifteen minutes of fame”. (coined by Andy Warhol in the 60’s) We see Paul’s uses this strategic moment to plant a seed of and for the gospel. After Acts, we will learn about the church in Rome, the center of the world at this time. When God gives you a few minutes of fame, how would you use it? Would you use it as an opportunity to give the Gospel more influence in the world? We never know when we share the Word of Christ with someone how it might affect our generation. As Paul says, “The Word is near you and it is in your heart and on your lips.” (Romans 10:9)
Dear Jesus, make us aware of those “kairos” moments, those “divine encounters”, where we might get a chance to share a glimpse of Your love with others. We know Your Holy Spirit will give us Your Word to share if it is near to our hearts and on our lips, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Paul Before Agrippa
23The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high ranking officers and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24Festus said: "King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. 26But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. 27For I think it is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him."
As Paul continues to move up the ladder of power in his imprisonment (an ironic twist), he continues to rely on his Roman citizenship to keep him from falling into the Jews hands, who at this point want to ambush and kill him. With each step into a higher authority, Paul gets a chance to recount his story and preach the Gospel on a bigger stage.
In the last chapter as Paul preached to Felix, the Holy Spirit started to work on Felix’s heart. In this chapter, Paul is brought before King Agrippa 11, the great grandson of Herod the Great, the king who attempted to kill baby Jesus, and did in fact kill many baby boys in Judea under the age of 2.
Just as his great grandfather wanted to hear Jesus, probably to be entertained by him, so too this is probably what King Agrippa II had in mind when he said, “I would like to hear him myself.” Tomorrow, we will hear Paul again using this opportunity to share his testimony and how Agrippa reacts.
We hear the saying a lot, “Everyone gets their fifteen minutes of fame”. (coined by Andy Warhol in the 60’s) We see Paul’s uses this strategic moment to plant a seed of and for the gospel. After Acts, we will learn about the church in Rome, the center of the world at this time. When God gives you a few minutes of fame, how would you use it? Would you use it as an opportunity to give the Gospel more influence in the world? We never know when we share the Word of Christ with someone how it might affect our generation. As Paul says, “The Word is near you and it is in your heart and on your lips.” (Romans 10:9)
Dear Jesus, make us aware of those “kairos” moments, those “divine encounters”, where we might get a chance to share a glimpse of Your love with others. We know Your Holy Spirit will give us Your Word to share if it is near to our hearts and on our lips, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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