Acts 25 – Brandon Hatmaker “Justice is Served”
Thursday, May 15, 2008
“Paul answered: "I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!" – Acts 25:10-11
Paul was a Roman citizen. And he knew he would be judged as one. This would bring comfort when standing before Roman authorities if above reproach. Paul knew this. But he also was aware of the brutality that awaits anyone who is found guilty in a Roman court.
The leadership of the Roman Empire believed heavily what they believed to be justice. All they had built and were striving to build upon depended on this authority structure. I found it interesting Festes’ desire to not only see justice, but also to act within reason. In verse 27 he said, “For I think it is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him."
While we all have our opinion of law systems and government today, regardless of our faith background, most would agree in doing what is just and what is reasonable. In fact, what is just many times is defined by what is reasonable in a society. It all starts with an established point of truth, law, or standard of what is right.
This is a very important concept for us to understand in order to comprehend God’s plan as it relates to us personally in our world and for eternity. Many times as we think about the love and joy of Jesus, we forget to consider the Justice and Righteousness of God. We forget that it is our actions that creates the gap between us and a Holy God. His justice demands a provision in order for us to stand before Him, and His Graciousness provides it through Jesus.
I truly believe that true joy, peace, comfort, and even true humility as a believer comes through thanksgiving. Perspective is everything. Perspective is indeed our reality. We are most thankful when we remember that if Justice was served without Christ, we would not have eternal life. But it’s the gift of God that we do.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
I believe that there are moments that we all fall short because of a lack of faith. I guess one could say that we “don’t believe enough”. That’s an awful indictment that stings to think about because I’m a believer, I have faith in Christ, He is my only hope, and my goodness, I’m a Pastor! But I would argue that the lack of our desire or ability to live out our faith fully has just as much to do with our lack of being thankful as it does a lack of belief. Don’t get me wrong, I know we're thankful and have a desire to be fully committed followers of Christ. But there are moments of each of our lives that show a lack of belief, thanksgiving, or trust. When I find myself in moments of selfishness, I find that it’s in moments that I’m not being thankful. When I choose not to follow the Spirit, I’m not being thankful. When I lose my temper, say something stupid, get lazy, take credit for something God did, I’m simply not being thankful. It's in those moments that I've lost perspective.
Father, today I am thankful. I wonder how long it will last. I fear that in my humanity it will lapse. I’ve prayed before, dear God, for your perspective each day. Thank you for the reminder of your Justice and Grace.
Posts
Poor yet Generous
-
Not long ago I was in line at a downtown Wendy's when a homeless guy cut in
front of me. He literally acted as if he didn't see me. He stepped up to
the co...
I think Paul had a clear spirit. He knew that he had done nothing wrong in the eyes of the only One that meant anything to him, Jesus. He knew that no matter what, even if the court was twisted and put him to death, he had a clear spirit. That is what I think we must strive for. Are there going to be times when we feel like we have been taken advantage of? Sure, that is life. Are there going to be times when we feel we have been wrongly accused? Yes, when it comes down to he said she said, people usually don't have the same thing to say. In the end it comes down to who are we trying to please? Are we trying to please the world? OR are we trying to please the very One that gave us this life in the first place? I don't think that this gives us the right to do whatever we want and not care what others think about us. Jesus was NOT that way. We need to find our purpose and focus in how our lives look to Jesus not to the world.
ReplyDeleteI think that being selfish is truly who we are by birth. Look at our family tree. Weren't Adam and Eve selfish? Now, that is not a reason to go around doing whatever we want and saying, "Blame Adam and Eve." I think it goes to show how long the battle between truly selling out 100% to God and the tricks that Satan will use to take us away from God has been going on. It is hard to 100% sell out and let it go in true following of God. That is the ultimate act of perfection. Only One has been able to do 24/7/365, Jesus.
"The accusers came at him from all sides, but their accusations turned out to be nothing more than arguments about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who the prisoner claimed was alive."
ReplyDeleteSitting with this chapter today, I kept thinking about what this whole moment might have looked like to Festus, Agrippa and Bernice. I mean, you've got a bunch of crazy religious people yelling about a bunch of crazy religious things and demanding punishment of a man who insists that some dead guy named Jesus is really alive. I can just see Festus shaking his head and saying, "Can't you people just get along? I seriously have way more important things to deal with right now."
But reading on, there's two big points here that stood out to me:
1. A sold-out follower of Jesus will offend Pharisees; and
2. A sold-out commitment to the gospel will always elicit a response
Here's what I mean...Paul's preaching of the gospel so threatened the established religious order that it caused otherwise rational, God-fearing men to whip themselves up into such a passionate and emotional frenzy that they were literally demanding the extermination of another human being. The freedom the gospel offers - the radical and subversive message of Jesus - the finality of the cross - all of these things chip away at foundation of the complex and oppressive systems of man-made religion. And when you're losing your grip on the pomp and power which that system provides, you'll stop short of nothing to hold on.
Secondly, Paul's sold-out commitment to the gospel struck a chord with both Festus and Agrippa. Seeing his cool, level-headed confidence in the midst of the accusations and cries for execution peaked something in these guys. It drew them nearer. Festus stood up for a fair trial. Agrippa wanted to see Paul and hear his story.
Whenever and wherever Christ is confidently preached, defended, and lifted up, the world takes notice. An encounter with the real Jesus will always elicit a response. The world will either draw closer, ask questions, be intrigued...or it will recoil, become threatened and fight against it.
So be bold in your belief. Take courage in the truth of the gospel. And trust that God is always working to gently draw people nearer in those moments.