Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 26-28.

The first thing that struck me about this passage is the insights we get about sailing on the Mediterranean Sea during the First Century, including a bit about how decisions were made on ships.  I’m not going to write about those details, I just wanted to bring up the ways in which Luke’s writing provides us insight.  So, now that I have covered that I will get on with the heart of my study for today.  Paul’s testimony in his own defense before Governor Festus and King Agrippa teaches us a lot.  While Paul’s testimony is about his specific calling, I believe that some aspects of it apply to all followers of Christ.  Our first calling is to turn people from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God.  Some of us are called to do so by speaking, teaching, and preaching, as Paul was.  Others of us have been called to do so by our actions, demonstrating what it means to live in the light by the power of God.  However, whichever way we are called as our primary ministry, we need to do the other as well.  Those of us who are called to reach people with words need to live according to what we preach.  Those of us who are called to reach people though our actions need to speak so as to make clear what motivates us to take those actions.

Of course, we also need to take note of the reaction which Paul received here.  Festus thought Paul was crazy, and Agrippa essentially said, “Well, I’ll think about it.”  In response to Festus’ skepticism about God’s power (Festus thought Paul was crazy for saying that Christ was raised from the dead), Paul appealed to Agrippa, for whom Festus had already demonstrated respect for his opinion, and whom Paul knew to believe in God’s power (as well as having been in the area when Jesus was crucified).  Paul reacted to Agrippa’s hesitancy by saying that he wished everyone listening would accept Christ’s teaching, no matter how long it took.  Despite the resistance to Paul’s message, he did not become discouraged.  We see that by the fact that almost the first thing he did when he arrived in Rome was to reach out to the Jewish leaders there and preached to them.

I want to add that when Paul spoke to the Jews in Rome, he used the Old Testament in his attempt to persuade them about Jesus.  Which once again reminds us of the importance of reading and studying the Old Testament.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.