Welcome.

Welcome to everyone reading through the New Testament in 2007. Each day, there will be a new post for the day's reading. You are invited to share your thoughts about what you've read, by adding comments to that post.

If you'd like a PDF version of the Introduction/Outline to Revelation, click here.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Allow me to speak. Acts 21.

Please allow me to speak to the people. (Acts 21:39b NET)

I admit that this sentence blows me away every time I read it. It's so unexpected. I have a hard time imagining myself saying it. Paul, the Jew who was a Roman citizen, who had rights that could be enforced by the Roman officer who now had him in custody. I expect to hear different words. "Sir, I am a Jew of Tarsus, a citizen of an important city. I'm a Roman citizen." And at that moment, Paul's rights as a Roman citizen would be an obligation for the officer. Instead, Paul asks to speak to the crowd.

This shouldn't be a surprise after reading about the earlier episodes and adventures in Paul's life. Even in the beginning of this chapter, Luke shows us Paul's resolute desire to face what awaits him in Jerusalem, in spite of the expected outcome - bound up and handed over to the Romans. And yet...

How many moments in my life, have I stepped away from the opportunity to speak up? Caught up in something else, including self-preservation, or a demand for my rights? Too many. I think what Paul understood is that there are only so many opportunities to speak when someone will be listening. And he never stopped seeing those opportunities, even when someone else wouldn't view a situation as such.

"Please allow me to speak to the people."
Posted by at
Labels:

5 comments:

nodines said...

Acts 21:4 "Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem."
If they were speaking in the Spirit then how come Paul went against the wishes of the Spirit?
I understand that Paul was willing to die for the name of the Lord Jesus but to be forwarned and go on anyways seems foolish.
If God chooses to warn us of an event that might bring harm to us, aren't we supposed to heed that warning?

7:13 PM
hook said...

Great question. Does anyone want to jump in and answer? I'll wait a day to post my own thoughts.

10:15 PM
steve warren said...

The disciples at Tyre are just part of many warnings that Paul receives. In Acts 20:23 Paul notes that he has been receiving this warning in "every city" and his face is still set to go to Jerusalem (not unlike Jesus during his ministry). Paul's commitment to return to Jerusalem and report on his ministry among the Gentiles plays a part in his determination to go. Also I believe that the forewarning is just that and is God preparing Paul for what he will face in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit did not forbid him to go to Jerusalem, it only says that the Holy Spirit was testifying to him in every city about what awaited him.

11:43 AM
nodines said...

I wish I could know with the same clarity and conviction as Paul. Sometimes I feel compelled to act but then am advised against that action. If more than one person advises against an action, I usually take that as message to not to continue.

6:04 PM
hook said...

Oh, that hoped for clarity.

Steve gave us an excellent answer for Paul's actions:
1. He had committed to go to Jerusalem.
2. In many instances, if not all, the warning Paul receives is preparation for what's ahead, not a warning not to go. (I'm not sure about 21:4.)
3. Implicit in what Steve wrote, is that the believers hearing these prophecies were also being prepared for what was to come.

Back in Acts 20:16, we learn that "Paul had decided." We don't know the basis of that decision. Since we've been told on other occasions about the Holy Spirit's activity in Paul's life and direction, my thought is that this was a time when Paul made the decision, without a direct intervention, such as a vision, from the Holy Spirit. But he was confident in that decision.

Personally, I think it's important that we remember that God has given us wisdom, some more than others, and that His will at a given moment might be "use the wisdom I've given you, and the precepts you know from My Word."

In spite of everything I've just written, and what Steve wrote before, this does remain a counter-intuitive event upon which to meditate. One of the people in class decided to watch Paul's missionary journeys and make a note of how and why he went from one place to another. That's a sound idea.

10:40 AM

Post a Comment