"Some Dead Man Named Jesus"
Continuing Paul's journey on a Sunday.
Luke 14:25-35 | Acts 25:1-22 | Gospels during Lent: None, worship with the Church today
Happy Sunday to you.
Are you enjoying reading Paul’s trials in the latter chapters of Acts? It’s a lot, several chapters of pretty much complete narrative. It can feel like there is little to glean from it in terms of applicable nuggets for one’s life or even for the life of the Church. But perhaps that’s because we’ve over-extended the application of scripture. Of course scripture is good for such things, but it’s also the narrative retained by the Church for perpetuity. If nothing else, keep reading and appreciate Paul’s faithfulness. We’re almost done.
Jesus has some more tough words for us today in Luke 14. Of course he’s not encouraging people to hate. In fact, in what we know of the totality of his teaching and example, he came out of the Father’s love and to make it known.
But his point is important, often to love fully means to reject fully that which wants no participation in love. It led Jesus all the way to the cross.
Luke 14:25-35
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. Turning to them, he said, “Whoever comes to me and doesn’t hate father and mother, spouse and children, and brothers and sisters—yes, even one’s own life—cannot be my disciple. Whoever doesn’t carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
“If one of you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first sit down and calculate the cost, to determine whether you have enough money to complete it? Otherwise, when you have laid the foundation but couldn’t finish the tower, all who see it will begin to belittle you. They will say, ‘Here’s the person who began construction and couldn’t complete it!’ Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down to consider whether his ten thousand soldiers could go up against the twenty thousand coming against him? And if he didn’t think he could win, he would send a representative to discuss terms of peace while his enemy was still a long way off. In the same way, none of you who are unwilling to give up all of your possessions can be my disciple.
“Salt is good. But if salt loses its flavor, how will it become salty again? It has no value, neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. People throw it away. Whoever has ears to hear should pay attention.”
Acts 25:1-22
Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. The chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul. Appealing to him, they asked as a favor from Festus that he summon Paul to Jerusalem. They were planning to ambush and kill him along the way. But Festus responded by keeping Paul in Caesarea, since he was to return there very soon himself. “Some of your leaders can come down with me,” he said. “If he’s done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him.”
He stayed with them for no more than eight or ten days, then went down to Caesarea. The following day he took his seat in the court and ordered that Paul be brought in. When he arrived, many Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him. They brought serious charges against him, but they couldn’t prove them. In his own defense, Paul said, “I’ve done nothing wrong against the Jewish Law, against the temple, or against Caesar.”
Festus, wanting to put the Jews in his debt, asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to stand trial before me concerning these things?”
Paul replied, “I’m standing before Caesar’s court. I ought to be tried here. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you well know. If I’m guilty and have done something that deserves death, then I won’t try to avoid death. But if there is nothing to their accusations against me, no one has the authority to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
After Festus conferred with his advisors, he responded, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.”
After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea to welcome Festus. Since they were staying there for many days, Festus discussed the case against Paul with the king. He said, “There is a man whom Felix left in prison. When I was in Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priests and elders brought charges against him and requested a guilty verdict in his case. I told them it is contrary to Roman practice to hand someone over before they have faced their accusers and had opportunity to offer a defense against the charges. When they came here, I didn’t put them off. The very next day I took my seat in the court and ordered that the man be brought before me. When the accusers took the floor, they didn’t charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they quibbled with him about their own religion and about some dead man named Jesus, who Paul claimed was alive. Since I had no idea how to investigate these matters, I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to stand trial there on these issues. However, Paul appealed that he be held in custody pending a decision from His Majesty the emperor, so I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar.”
Agrippa said to Festus, “I want to hear the man myself.”
“Tomorrow,” Festus replied, “you will hear him.”
Prayer
God,
You are a God of community, expressing love both within yourself and to the world. You established your people in Israel and then broke it open for the whole world in Christ, a community for all people who would follow Jesus. Help us as we follow him, seeking & finding love together in our fellowship & sharing.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.