Daily Devotion for Lent 2020 - Day 31

Scripture Reading: Acts 22:17-30 (NRSV)

Paul has been addressing the mob that wanted to kill him, first identifying with them and then relating his conversion story.  In verses 17-21, we have an interlude of a flashback to Paul's arrival in Jerusalem.  He tells of receiving a vision of Jesus where Paul is given instruction to leave Jerusalem.  Paul actually argues with Jesus (similarly to how Ananias reacts to being instructed) by telling him, "They'll listen to me because I was just like them!"  Jesus doesn't respond to his line of reasoning but just exclaims, "Go!"  Paul is going to the Gentiles.

Paul is arguing with Jesus because he wants his Jewish audience to believe.  He wants the message to ease their anger so that they can be transformed as he has been transformed.  His compassion may remind us of Abraham bargaining with God on the fate of Sodom.  After Abraham continues to bring down the number he needs to instigate their salvation, I like when he finally says, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more."  But just as Abraham doesn't find the ten righteous that he needs, Paul is about to find out that he should have listened to Jesus.

We discover that the crowd is ready to kill Paul.  Jesus should know what he is talking about because he had faced a similar crowd some years earlier.  Luke 23:20-23 seems to resonate here:

Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again; but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him.” But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed.

Sometimes you get a better deal
if you are local or know the culture.

Here the tribune is about to have information beaten out of Paul but Paul's citizenship once more comes to his aid.  We see that while his foreign status (being from Tarsus) was not necessarily helpful to a Jewish audience, his Roman citizenship was beneficial for where Jesus was sending him.  It reminds me of Moses being raised as an Egyptian and then is able to later negotiate with Pharaoh likely because he knows the ways of the court.  Martin Luther King, Jr. was educated in Boston but returned to his people in the south to lead them to freedom.  Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi was educated in England and then brought freedom to his people first in South Africa and then in India.  Here we see Paul being sent to the Gentiles - people of an empire which was familiar to him.

If you were to examine your background, would you find experiences and commonalities that would help you relate to certain people today?  How can you bring this to light?  Do you ever argue with Jesus about what you are to do or say?  Who do you know - with whom are you familiar - that needs to hear a good word from you today and might receive it well?

Prayer for the day:

For a clearer vision of the work you have set before us and for a better understanding of your gospel, Lord direct us.
For a deeper commitment in your service and a greater love for all your children, Lord direct us.
For a fresh understanding of the task before us and for a sense of urgency in our proclamation, Lord direct us.
For a greater respect and acceptance among Christians of different traditions and for a common goal in evangelism, Lord direct us.
Amen.

Prayer from liturgy of the Anglican Province of the Indian Ocean

Photo by Graham Milldrum via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.