Read
“A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned.
“I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.”
(Acts 25: 13-19)
Think
It’s worth noticing what all this drama looks like from the point of view of outsiders – the new Roman governor Porcius Festus goes to the Jewish leaders to find out why Paul has been in prison for 2 years and why they were demanding he be condemned – Festus finds that…
…they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive…
And here’s the point – the gospel can sound like nothing more than a trivial argument between some backwards religious types. Some points of dispute a dead man that someone claims is alive. It clearly gets religious types all hot and bothered, but right thinking people can ignore it and get on with something important. That may be your own take on what Christians say about Jesus – or it may be the reaction you’ve encountered when you tell people about him – but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Why are the Jews so furious with Paul that, two years on, they still want him dead? Why is Paul willing to go through all this for this ‘point of dispute’? Because their dispute is about the answer to death. It’s one group committed 100% to the promise that God will one day come to rescue the whole world, and another committed 100% to the belief that he has done so, appearing as the man Jesus of Nazareth. The Jews fiercely defend their faith, determined to protect God’s reputation from any who falsely claim to come in God’s name. Paul and his fellows are determined that the Jewish hope has been fulfilled in Jesus – that in him the Jewish faith finds its fulfilment, and extends far beyond Israel to the ends of the earth.
So what does Jesus look like to you? Is he just some dead man that a bunch of people claim is alive? Or is he the son of God, the rescuer, the promise and the fulfilment? Is he a superstition to ignore, an offence to be fought against, or the one worth committing yourself to at any cost? Why don’t you join us on a Sunday as we continue to explore who Jesus is and the things he said – the reasons we can trust him, and the enormous difference he will make if you do.
Pray
Father, thank you that there are answers to the big questions – is there a God, why are we here, what happens after we die – and that these questions find answers in the bible and in your son Jesus, his death and resurrection. Help us to see the truth, that the life of Jesus is not just some religious dispute, but the cornerstone that makes sense of everything else.
Help us to see more clearly what Jesus has done – give us faith, open our eyes, and may it lead us to lives that are more fruitful, more meaningful, more satisfying than we’ve yet known.
Amen
