Acts 44. Acts 21.27 - 22:21

By -
4. Paul called his speech a “defense” (22:1; Greek: apologia). Summarize what he said to the Jews in 22:1-21. 
Mentioned his origin and education in Jerusalem
Mentioned his zeal for Judaism, even persecuting Christians to Damascus
The events of the Jerusalem road and his interaction with Ananias, a devout Jew who told him 'The God of our Fathers' had a plan for him
A miraculous encounter with God in the temple warning him about his danger from the Jews and commissioning him to go to the Gentiles 
 
5. How did Paul shape this speech to appeal to the Jews? Observe the details in 21:40–22:21.
He spoke in Hebrew
He mentioned his Jewish origins and upbringing in Jerusalem, his interaction with devout Jews
He mentioned the authority of the Jewish religious rulers 
HIs commisioning by the Jewish God
His reception of a message from God in the Temple
His surprise of being rejected by Jews and the sending away to Gentiles. 
 
6. Why did 22:21 make the Jews interrupt with rage? 
 The mention of Gentiles. This was the cause of their initial anger.
 
7. What might make people of your country react as in 22:22 to an evangelist? What aspects of the gospel seem offensive or unethical to your people? 
 Muslims would react to mention of the Koran or Muhammad not being the final prophet/revelation
Aspects of the gospel that affect lifestyles people have invested in (homosexuality, fornication).
Anything that threatens identity, tradition, exclusivity. 
  • Jeremiah’s hearers (Jeremiah 26:7–11) threatened judgment against the Temple
  • Jesus in Nazareth (Luke 4:24–29) told people they were not exclusive in God's plan
  • Pharisees and Jesus (John 8, Matthew 23) exposed their sin, appeared to be blaspheming by claiming divinity
  • Stephen’s Speech (Acts 7:51–58) exposing sin
  • Paul in Ephesus (Acts 19:23–28)  threatening livelihood
 
8. Paul might have known that 22:21 would infuriate the Jews. Why do you think he risked his life to say 22:6-21, instead of just refuting the charge of defiling the temple?
For Thought and Discussion: In 22:1-21, why do you suppose Paul didn’t defend himself against the charge of defiling the temple (see 21:28)? What was the real issue at stake? 
 
 He had not preached in Jerusalem since his initial conversion in Acts 9. He still wanted to bring the gospel to his own people. He wanted to explain his calling to them. His priority was to be a faithful witness to God's work and commission in his life, not just to defend himself from harm.

He loved his fellow Jews and was willing to be damned for them (Rom 9-11)
 
He was willing to suffer for proclaiming the truth: that Israel was sinning by rejecting God's inclusion of Gentiles into His people.
 
Optional Application: For what three important things had God chosen Paul (see 22:14)? To what extent have you been chosen for these? How should you respond? 
  • to know his will, 
  • to see the Righteous One (3:14, 7:52, cf. Is 24:16, Is 53:11) and
  • to hear a voice from his mouth;  
= "for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard."

Likewise, we too should be asking the Lord what we are meant to be and do as an overarching goal in our lives. 
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

QC and accountability (29/4/16)

By -
Joyce and I shared about our attending the wake of a son of a Christian couple I had known from my JC days. This young man had been having problems at work and had just broken up with his long-standing girlfriend. We saw the broken hearts of the parents and remembered also our own bereavement when Doreen died. Suicide is always the hardest way to die in how it affects the family of the deceased. I know we have spoken on this issue before, but we again affirmed that suicide is not an unforgivable sin - but one in which the sinner has no chance to repent. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is truly unforgivable, is when the sinner has no desire to repent.So the believing Christian who is truly saved should be saved even if he/she sins and takes his/her own life. Not every one of us will have the opportunity to confess our sins if we die suddenly, after all. We also did a brief recap of "why bad things happen to good people". Our response then is: 1. There are no good...
Read more

Study 12 ("Reaching people where they are")

By -
We continue our studies of the Biblical perspectives on evangelism. Paul writes in 2 Cor 5:11-21 that evangelism is “the ministry of reconciliation”. This carries the presupposition that we are at enmity with God and that evangelism aims at restoration of a broken relationship. His motivations for evangelism (v. 11-15) are ·          the fear of the Lord (v. 11, c.f. 7:1) who will judge and reward us (v.10) for our deeds, including the deeds of sharing the gospel. This judgement is not to determine salvation or condemnation, but to establish how faithful as stewards we have been and how our rewards will be like (c.f. 1 Cor 3:12-15) ·          to establish the credibility of the true gospel in contrast to false teaching (v.12) ·          the controlling love of Christ (v.14) who died and was raised for our sakes. We now are free to no longer live for o...
Read more

Paradigm 2: Mentoring the Orientation of Life (14/12/18)

By -
We started with Question 3 then moved to Question 2 before ending with personal sharing on Question 1. I asked the question: What is it (except for the last red/blue part characteristic) about the blue bar column that is distinctively Christian? Put another way, can a non-Christian be a 'blue-bar' person, or can only Christians be 'blue-bar' people? Our answer was that non-Christians can indeed have blue-bar characteristics, but never for the reasons and basis on spiritual truth that Christians have. For a disciple of Christ, every aspect of his or her life - both blue and red bars - is radically God-centered. All we do in both in our outer appearance to others and our inner lives is done before the face of God. We need both external accomplishments as well as inner substance. We did say that it was not helpful to be very spiritual but quite useless in a job! We also asked if this whole idea of red and blue bars was a Biblical idea at all? Certainly the Bible celebr...
Read more