A Cup of Eau Claire

Finally, at the end of Acts, Paul makes it to Rome! In these chapters, we hear Paul’s various stages of defense of his case, as he is passed from the court of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, to the governor’s court in Caesarea, appearing before King Agrippa, and finally to Rome. Interestingly, we don’t hear about the trial in Rome, or any audience with Emperor Nero. The point of Paul’s journey to Rome, after all, is for him to witness to God’s saving work in Jesus, as God told him in last week’s reading (23:11). The accusation against him (that he is turning people away from Jewish tradition, and has defiled the temple by bringing Gentiles into it), and the ensuing trials are merely the vehicle by which he gets to Rome. Once again, Paul uses the channels available to him, this time his Roman citizenship and right to be heard before the Emperor, to get to a place where he can proclaim the gospel. While God does not rescue Paul from imprisonment this time, as had happened...

The end of Ch. 22 begins Paul’s trial. He has been arrested because the religious leaders are out to get him—much as he set out for Damascus in ch. 9 to “arrest any followers of the Way, men or women, and bring them bound to Jerusalem”. Now, as a follower of the Way himself, Paul is the target. This trial will take up the rest of Acts, as Paul is bounced between governors, kings, and even the Emperor, Nero. God promises that Paul will get to Rome, to the center of power in the Roman Empire, to proclaim Jesus, as Paul did in the center of the Jewish power, Jerusalem. It’s under arrest and on his way to trial, but Paul does indeed get to Rome. Some parallels with Jesus’ arrest and trial continue: it is the Jewish leaders who are bringing charges, and who conspire against Paul. When one leader doesn’t know how to proceed, he consults with others. Pilate and Herod sent Jesus back and forth between them; here Ananias the high priest and Felix the governor debate about the app...

These chapters are a transition. Paul has completed his third missionary journey, and is now on his way to Jerusalem to rejoin with the Jewish community there for the Passover celebration. From there he plans to go, at long last, to Rome. Along the way, Paul is warned or delayed several times by the Holy Spirit, because Jerusalem will be dangerous for Paul. This is an echo of the Jesus story, when he sets his sights on going to Jerusalem although he knows of the danger. Once Paul does arrive in Jerusalem, he must do some extraordinary and unusual rituals to prove his loyalty to his Jewish heritage, as his credentials are at stake. He has proclaimed that the Gentiles do not need to follow Torah fully, as agreed upon by the leaders in Jerusalem in ch. 15. The word on the street about Paul, however, is that he has also allowed or encouraged Jews living in Gentile areas to be lax about their Torah observance. We can see that it will be a problem to have two sets of standards for Chris...