Slices
Prepare
Today’s passage escalates quickly! Before the storm, spend time preparing by listening for the same ‘still small voice’ Elijah heard (1 Kings 19:12, NKJV).
Bible passage
Paul arrested
27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28 shouting, ‘Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.’ 29 (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)
30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33 The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35 When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, ‘Get rid of him!’
Explore
Despite Paul’s endeavours, his time of purifying camaraderie comes to a shuddering halt. The language here hints at the brutality: ‘seized’ (v 27), ‘shouting’ (v 28a), ‘defiled’ (v 28b), ‘aroused’, ‘running from all directions’ and ‘dragged’ (v 30), all the while ‘trying to kill him’ (v 31). In short, chaos: Jerusalem in disarray. It’s reminiscent of the occasion of Jesus being arrested and led before a madding crowd.
Some of the masses seem to have been roused without fully realising what was going on. ‘When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul’ (v 32). Guilty consciences? Do we, too, jump on this ‘irate crowd’ bandwagon overly easily, perhaps in indignant condemnation on social media? Can we ‘be more Paul’?
The unsuspecting army commander also appears unaware of who this insurgent might be, asking the crowd ‘what he had done’ (v 33). The mob shows its division, yelling conflicting claims and counterclaims such that the hapless officer is unable to ascertain the truth. In a last-ditch attempt to restore order, Paul is bound – Agabus’ prophetic words partially realised – and whisked away into the (relative) safety of the barracks.
Respond
In CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, Mr Beaver famously says of Aslan: ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.’ Are we living too comfortably? Where do we need to step up and be counted, even at some personal risk, like Paul?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Chronicles 28,29; Psalms 70,71
Pray for Scripture Union
The Forge is a new mentoring programme, developed in partnership with M10. The Forge aims to equip men in the church to walk alongside lads in their communities, supporting them as they explore faith, life and purpose. Pray that this will result in lasting transformation in the lives of young men.
Because a strong start begins with smart preparation
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