Thoughts for the Day

Paul Defends Himself before Agrippa

Paul stretched began to defend himself: ‘I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defence today against all the accusations of the Jews, because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently.

‘All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, your Excellency, that I am accused by Jews! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

‘Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

‘With this in mind, I was travelling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.” I asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

Paul Tells of His Preaching

‘After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: that the Messiah must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I once stayed with with a family who had four children, who were going stir-crazy after being kept indoors, and a glass topped table was smashed. Mum rushed in, and it was like having four children in the dock being questioned by a prosecutor. “What happened? Who did this?” Mum demanded. She then turned to the eldest expecting he had been the cause of it but the boy stood firm. “I didn’t do anything,". I was never sure if the truth ever really came out. It was an accident, but one lad had encouraged the other to use the table to reach a shelf where sweets had been put out of reach!

I was reminded of this after looking at today’s scripture reading. Although not a legal court since Paul is to appeal to the Emperor as his judge, it is an important hearing, for Herod Agrippa has influence and is knowledgeable about Jewish affairs. We have seen Paul make similar statements against such charges, but this one is almost like a creed. It's succinct, easy to understand, and based entirely on facts. He stresses his upbringing as a Pharisee, confesses to the dreadful sins he has committed in sending Christians to their death, before giving the clearest account of his encounter with Jesus. Finally he gives a reasoned argument of his belief that Jesus is the Messiah who has come save both Jews and Gentiles.

What can we take today from these two 'stories'? Well, when we turn to God at the end of a day how often are our accounts like that of the children, slippery and not exactly truthful, rather than being honest and factual like Paul's account?

Father-God,
sometimes we choose to skate over our day
when we turn to You,
preferring to thank You for Your goodness
or pray for Your intervention and help.
May we not ignore our sins,
but give them due attention,
and ask for Your forgiveness,
before continuing our prayers.
Amen.