Daily Archives: September 16, 2013

A Hostage For Hope

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A HOSTAGE FOR HOPE

“Three days later Paul called the Jewish leaders together for a meeting at his house and said, ‘The Jews in Jerusalem arrested me on a trumped-up charge, and I was taken into custody by the Romans. I assure you that I did absolutely nothing against Jewish laws or Jewish customs. After the Romans investigated the charges and found there was nothing to them, they wanted to set me free but the Jews objected so fiercely that I was forced to appeal to Caesar. I did this not to accuse them of any wrongdoing or to get people in trouble with Rome. We’ve had enough trouble through the years that way. I did it for Israel. I asked you to come and listen to me today to make it clear that I’m on Israel’s side, not against her. I’m a hostage here for hope, not doom.'” Acts 28:17-20 (The Message).

Paul was finally in Rome. What would be his first step on this tightrope he was walking across an uncharted chasm? He was not out to curry favour or to get the Jews on his side. He was above that sort of thing.

It was always his earnest desire to set before them Jesus as the fulfilment of their Scriptures and the Messiah they were expecting. But from town to town, city to city across Europe and Asia he had been rejected because of one thing — the cross. No self-respecting Jew was prepared to accept a crucified Messiah. Not all the proof in the world would convince them that the man Jesus, the humble Galilean, was the Son of God and the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old Testament.

It was Paul’s hope that here in Rome he would be able to communicate this truth to the Jewish leaders by his own mouth before they were contaminated by misinformation from their fellow countrymen. Their eternal destiny was at stake. He wanted to share with them the unadulterated truth that Jesus of Nazareth was sent from God, not to get rid of the Romans and make them rulers of the world, but to get rid of sin and make them kings and priests of God.

Because he was already a dead man as far as his own life was concerned, he did not see his imprisonment as a hopeless situation but as a stepping stone to bringing hope to as many people in Rome as he could influence. It did not matter to him where he was or who was in the company. His circumstances were always an explosion of potential and opportunity.

In his letters Paul tried hard to make his readers understand what had happened to them when they bowed the knee to Jesus. Everything changed. This was not a new religion they were espousing but a new domain they had entered. Their allegiance to their old masters, self, sin and the world, had been broken and they had entered a new realm, the realm of God’s rule. They were under the dominion of a new Master, Jesus. He had rescued them from a life of selfishness and self-destruction and set their feet on a new path — loving service fired by a passionate love for Jesus.

They were dead to all their old slave-drivers and alive to their new Master, motivated by His selfless sacrifice for them, and this message was not confined to the Jews but was for the whole world, regardless of their contempt for the Gentiles. They were no better in their hypocritical attitude, as Paul pointed out in his letter to the Romans. Since Jew and Gentile were both guilty before God, Paul’s message was equally applicable to the whole world and he was going to deliver that message, come what may.

It was Paul’s hope that, on the threshold of his sojourn in Rome, whatever the outcome, he would be able to win as many of his countrymen to Jesus as he could before the crazy crackpot Caesar, Nero, decided on his fate. Dying was not his problem. He was ready for that. It was the interlude before his death that occupied his attention and he would do everything he could to win his brothers before he left.

Eternity was a long time to enjoy the fruit of his sacrifice!

The Eternal City At Last!

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THE ETERNAL CITY AT LAST!

“Then we came to Rome. Friends in Rome heard we were on the way and came out to meet us. One group got as far as Appian Court; another group met us at Three Taverns — emotion-packed meetings, as you can well imagine. Paul, brimming over with praise, led us in prayers of thanksgiving. When we actually entered Rome, they let Paul live in his own private quarters with a soldier who had been assigned to guard him.” Acts 28:14-16 (The Message).

Rome at last! The Eternal City, and what a welcome! One would have thought he was a returning hero and not a jailbird on his way to trial.

He certainly was a hero in the eyes of his friends. He was a well-known figure all over the empire. These friends, no doubt, were some of his converts, or converts of converts who had either moved to Rome or were introduced to Jesus through believers who had visited Rome at some time.

His welcome was so riotous that one can imagine a red carpet, with banners and streamers all over the streets — not that it actually happened! The centurion and soldiers must have marvelled at Paul’s popularity. The Christian quarter had been buzzing with the news that Paul was coming to Rome. They had no need of snail mail, e-mail, sms’s, satellite TV news or any of the modern forms of communication. Word of mouth was just as effective when an important person was coming!

They turned out in numbers and in relays to welcome him and show him love and support in his awkward situation. The centurion and soldiers were not his guard; they were his guard-of-honour to herald his arrival in Rome. One would almost have expected Nero himself to be part of Paul’s entourage!

What was the mood among his beloved friends? Joy and celebration! Hugs and tears! For many of them it was the first time they had seen his face, but they knew him so well that they would have recognised him anywhere. His letter to the Roman church was in their hearts, no doubt by now copied and re-copied, carefully preserved and highly treasured for its rich teaching and tender exhortations.

Paul was overwhelmed by their loving and enthusiastic welcome. Forgotten were the years of languishing in prison, the uncertainty of his future, the hardships of the voyage, the peril of the storm and the terrifying experience of being flung into the icy waters of the Mediterranean Sea. His heart was flooded with joy and gratitude. His God was faithful — guiding him safely to Rome.

How long he had wanted and planned to visit Rome, but not this way! Nevertheless he was secure in his Father’s perfect will, and that was a cause for rejoicing. With his feet firmly on Italian soil and surrounded by his friends, he lifted his soul to God in an outpouring of gratitude and praise.

This was the environment of Paul’s life. Praise! Beat him, stone him, throw him in jail; Paul prayed! Buffet him in a stormy sea, fling him into the deep, pound him with mountainous waves; Paul praised! Chain him up to a Roman guard, bring him face-to-face with death; Paul rejoiced! Wherever he went, he was surrounded by an aura of joy.

It was out of his history of trouble and suffering that he built his portfolio of God’s grace. How else would he have been able to share his unshakeable conviction that nothing could separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus? Whatever encouragement, whatever exhortation you may read in any of his letters, you may be sure that he wrote out of deep personal experience.

This life into which we have entered through faith in Christ is a marathon of testing, an obstacle course of opportunity to overcome self, sin and the world, and to be put on display, as Paul was, as proof of the glory of our God. A praising heart is the evidence that we, like Paul, know whom we have believed, and are convinced that He is able to guard what we have entrusted to Him for that day. (2 Timothy 1:12b).