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[2799.18 --> 2805.54] understanding. You will be ever seeing, but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become |
[2805.54 --> 2812.12] calloused. They hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see |
[2812.12 --> 2817.96] with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and I would heal them. |
[2819.22 --> 2826.22] Therefore, I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles and they will listen. |
[2826.22 --> 2832.62] For two whole years, Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. |
[2833.14 --> 2839.28] He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness |
[2839.28 --> 2842.58] and without hindrance. This is the word of the Lord. |
[2848.00 --> 2856.10] And so like I said, this morning we're going to lean into the storytelling side of this series. |
[2856.96 --> 2862.96] But I want to do that with a purpose because Luke tells this story with a purpose and so we're going to do the same. |
[2863.34 --> 2871.86] And my hope is that as we hear this story, what we will begin to see is the telling and the participating |
[2871.86 --> 2879.00] and the viewing of the unstoppable spread of the gospel despite obstacles. |
[2879.00 --> 2886.30] And that this happens right in the heart of the empire because of the mission of God and for his church. |
[2887.36 --> 2894.02] The unstoppable spread of the gospel despite obstacles because this is the mission of God and of his church. |
[2894.02 --> 2901.62] And part of what we read when we started was began with that little phrase, after three months. |
[2902.36 --> 2907.32] And so we know that we're picking up in the larger narrative here. |
[2907.32 --> 2912.90] And like we said, I want to lean back and come back into that larger narrative. |
[2914.36 --> 2919.00] So if you have a Bible, you can flip back and we'll follow along. |
[2919.00 --> 2928.12] Back in chapter 21, Paul has arrived in Jerusalem after his third missionary journey. |
[2928.12 --> 2937.46] And while he is back in Jerusalem, a group of Jewish men from Asia to the north saw Paul at the temple. |
[2938.52 --> 2941.88] And in seeing him and in recognizing him from his missionary journeys, |
[2942.22 --> 2945.58] they stir up the crowds in Jerusalem against him, |
[2945.58 --> 2949.86] saying that Paul has been teaching against the Jews, |
[2949.94 --> 2953.66] been teaching against their ancestors, against the law and the prophets. |
[2954.08 --> 2955.78] He's been teaching against the temple. |
[2955.78 --> 2960.58] And they accuse him actually of bringing Greeks into the temple, |
[2960.82 --> 2963.42] which was a faux pas, was not allowed to happen. |
[2964.82 --> 2971.18] And because of that, the crowd gets all worked up and they go to grab him and to kill him. |
[2971.18 --> 2976.32] Now this is Roman-controlled and occupied Jerusalem. |
[2976.74 --> 2986.28] And so this frenzy reaches the commander of the Roman garrison that is stationed there and hears about it. |
[2986.64 --> 2990.48] And so he goes and intervenes and has Paul arrested. |
[2991.90 --> 2999.46] And he asks them and the crowds what had been done that this man, Paul, deserves death. |
[2999.46 --> 3002.12] And he couldn't get a straight answer from them. |
[3002.64 --> 3009.62] Now in part because, as you read it, the crowd was so raucous and loud that he couldn't make sense of what was going on. |
[3010.50 --> 3015.90] The commander ends up taking Paul back to the barracks to be beaten and interrogated. |
[3016.80 --> 3019.34] Now when there, Paul asks him, |
[3020.12 --> 3025.62] Can you do this to a Roman citizen without a trial to find him guilty? |
[3025.62 --> 3030.84] And when the commander hears that, he has no small amount of panic. |
[3032.68 --> 3034.72] Let me zoom out a little bit further. |
[3035.78 --> 3042.08] In the second century BC, so 250 years or so before this takes place, |
[3042.60 --> 3047.24] the Roman Republic established what's known as the Porcian laws. |
[3047.24 --> 3051.32] Now these laws give all citizens of Rome, |
[3051.32 --> 3059.00] and now remember that's usually rooted in the male head of family and anyone related to him, |
[3059.38 --> 3063.82] but they give all citizens of Rome, including those who live in the provinces, |
[3064.64 --> 3068.52] the right of provocatio in Latin. |
[3068.52 --> 3074.08] Now this right means the right to appeal to a higher governing authority |
[3074.08 --> 3084.76] and the right to not experience sort of abusive or barbaric forms of punishment or coercion. |
[3085.18 --> 3088.20] That is, they couldn't be beaten or flogged, |
[3088.22 --> 3092.96] and they couldn't be crucified without a trial, without a right to defend themselves. |
[3092.96 --> 3101.20] And this idea of the Porcian law becomes so rooted in Roman identity |
[3101.20 --> 3109.10] that it is a mark of pride for the people of Rome to establish this and to talk about this. |
[3109.18 --> 3112.64] In fact, at the end of the first century, |
[3113.20 --> 3119.80] Cicero, who's a well-known statesman, a philosopher, and a lawyer, |
[3119.80 --> 3125.84] he writes and records in his book called In Verum, |
[3125.96 --> 3127.44] which means against Verus. |
[3127.56 --> 3129.82] Verus was the governor in Sicily at the time. |
[3131.04 --> 3136.06] In his recording of Verus' trial, he says this, he makes this speech. |
[3136.16 --> 3136.56] He goes, |
[3136.56 --> 3140.52] Does freedom, that precious thing, mean nothing? |
[3141.38 --> 3146.58] Nor the proud privileges of a Roman citizen, nor the Porcian law? |
[3146.58 --> 3150.72] Have these come to mean so little in Sicily? |
[3152.42 --> 3158.90] Right, this is the proud tradition behind what Paul is appealing to in our story. |
[3159.94 --> 3162.92] Because of that, the Roman commander stops, |
[3163.72 --> 3167.26] and the next day he takes Paul back to the Sanhedrin, |
[3168.12 --> 3172.20] and they try to sort out all of what's going on. |
[3172.88 --> 3174.98] Now again, that doesn't go well, |
[3174.98 --> 3178.26] and the commander has to return Paul to the barracks. |
[3179.76 --> 3182.44] And while Paul is back in the barracks, |
[3182.52 --> 3184.68] this time Jesus appears to him. |
[3185.68 --> 3187.48] Now remember, Jesus has ascended, |
[3188.02 --> 3190.60] and so Paul is having a vision of Jesus, |
[3190.60 --> 3194.42] and Jesus speaks to him in Acts 23, verse 11, |
[3194.52 --> 3194.96] and he says, |
[3195.34 --> 3196.02] Take courage. |
[3196.88 --> 3199.34] As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, |
[3199.80 --> 3203.00] so you must also testify in Rome. |
[3203.00 --> 3206.98] Now it's here that I want to just pause for a minute in the story. |
[3208.38 --> 3210.16] Right, when Jesus says to Paul, |
[3210.74 --> 3211.78] You will testify, |
[3212.60 --> 3216.12] he's using the same Greek root word |
[3216.12 --> 3219.92] as when Jesus said to the disciples at the beginning of the book of Acts, |
[3220.32 --> 3223.52] You will be my witnesses in Judea and Samaria, |
[3223.78 --> 3225.04] and to the ends of the earth. |
[3225.60 --> 3229.20] Right, the word witnesses and testify share a root. |
[3229.20 --> 3235.42] And so there's a direct tie between the apostolic mission of the disciples to be witnesses |
[3235.42 --> 3239.22] and the apostolic mission of Paul as a witness. |
[3240.24 --> 3242.34] And all of this, right, |
[3242.42 --> 3247.34] is a fulfillment of a promise that God made long before. |
[3248.22 --> 3249.04] Because you see, |
[3249.40 --> 3250.94] behind the words of Jesus |
[3250.94 --> 3254.14] about being witnesses and testifying |
[3254.14 --> 3256.88] are the words of Isaiah 43. |
[3258.12 --> 3261.20] Isaiah 43, verse 8 through 12, |
[3261.32 --> 3262.46] says this. |
[3262.52 --> 3263.40] I think we have it on the screen. |
[3263.54 --> 3263.64] Yep. |
[3265.52 --> 3268.96] Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, |
[3269.38 --> 3270.90] who have ears but are deaf. |
[3271.72 --> 3273.52] All the nations gather together |
[3273.52 --> 3274.56] and the peoples assemble, |
[3275.08 --> 3277.68] which of their gods foretold this |
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