21:34 But among the crowd
some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out
the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the
barracks. 35 When he got to the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because
of the violence of the mob; 36 for the multitude of the people kept following
them, shouting, “Away with him!”
Odd isn't it? The crowd was in agreement that Paul needed to
die but they couldn't agree on why. There was such confusion that the Roman
commander ordered to have Paul removed from the situation so he could attempt
to figure out what was going on.
These are adults. These are at least in name, believers. They
claim to represent the One True God. Really? How do things like this happen?
How does an entire culture lose it's collective mind?
We may not like the answer but it's actually pretty simple.
Religion talks a lot about witnessing, about drawing others
in, about sharing their beliefs so as to entice others to believe the same way.
I wonder what impression their "witness" was having on the Roman
commander and his men that day?
Here's how things like this happen - truth gets left in the
dust.
Think about it. The crowd is incensed because Paul has taken
their religion and given it to the "Gentile dogs". That's really the
bottom line. Prejudice is the underlying cause of their "righteous"
indignation. What does that have to do with leaving truth in the dust?
In their sacred writings is a book about the prophet Jonah.
He was called to preach to the Ninevites (Gentile dogs) about God. He refused
to go. Finally through an extraordinary set of circumstances he did go and he
did preach and they listened and they turned from their violence and evil.
Jonah was angry. He did not want them to change. He wanted them to die. He
hated them.
God did not and He did His best to help Jonah have some
compassion.
Love for their enemies and love for the "Gentile
dogs" was clearly taught in their own sacred writings. Truth was the
antidote but they left truth in the dust.
Martin Luther was the now famous Catholic priest who back in
the 1500's discovered a Bible chained to the wall at the University and began
to read. Religion in his culture was a buy and sell. Heaven was for sale and
you could buy it either with law keeping or with cash. Pay the church enough
and they would forgive any and all sin. Martin did not have money so his only
hope was law keeping and he knew in himself that this was a hopeless path.
As he read the Bible he found a different Story. He found the
Story of faith. He found forgiveness not as a commodity to be bought and sold
but as a gift provided by Jesus, the Lamb of God. The Bible verse that he found
summed up his new faith was "The just shall live by faith". The verse
is almost always quoted from Paul's writings in Romans 1 but few realize Paul
was actually quoting from the Old Testament (Habakkuk 2:4) It was a truth the
Jews had in their sacred writings all along. A truth they had left in the dust.
You see truth is the antidote to error and confusion. Had the
Jews of that time embraced the two truths that God loves all men and that His
love for us is a gift of grace not a commodity to be purchased, they would have
been cheering Paul on instead of trying to kill him.
Truth.
"You will know the truth and the truth will set you free
and you will be free indeed" - Jesus
We are either a champion for truth or a confused angry
embarrassment, a threat to ourselves and to others, a walking mess of
confusion.
Forget about the obsession with who the president will be. We
don't need a human hero. We need to seek the Truth.
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