Read Acts
13:26-41
26 “Fellow children of Abraham and you
God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.
27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in
condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every
Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked
Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written
about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God
raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he was seen by those who had
traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our
people. 32 “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors 33 he
has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in
the second Psalm: “‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’ 34 God
raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has
said, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ 35 So
it is also stated elsewhere: “‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’ 36
“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep;
he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God
raised from the dead did not see decay. 38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you
to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39
Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification
you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. 40 Take care that what the
prophets have said does not happen to you: 41 “‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and
perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never
believe, even if someone told you.’”
Regarding this speech, John Stott argues that: ‘Luke is evidently
anxious to demonstrate that Paul’s message to the Jews was substantially the
same as Peter’s.’[1]
- Do you agree with him? If so, why might Luke be keen to do so?
- Reread Paul’s whole speech and imagine you are a Jew listening to it. How do you think you would have responded?
If you have a bit longer :-)
Here Paul is speaking to people living in Galatia.[1] In his letter to the Galatians we discover that he
was sick at this time. It is not clear exactly what his illness was but clearly
it affected his eyes (Gal. 4:15). Further there is the suggestion that it was
highly unpleasant as people could have been tempted to mock him (Gal. 4:14).
Elsewhere in Acts it is clear, however, that God used Paul to perform many
miracles (e.g. Acts 19:11).
- Why then does God not heal Paul now? Is there anything we can learn from this?
- How do you think you would have felt if you were Paul and God was using you in incredibly powerful ways and yet you were painfully sick? Have you had experiences like that? If so, how did you respond?
No comments:
Post a Comment