DEVOTION
THE ACTS OF THE
APOSTLES
KNOWING THE TRUTH
Acts 22:23-30
23 As they were shouting and
throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the commander
ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and
questioned in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this.
25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing
there, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been
found guilty?" 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander
and reported it. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "This man
is a Roman citizen." 27 The commander went to Paul and asked, "Tell
me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I am," he answered. 28 Then
the commander said, "I had to pay a big price for my citizenship." "But
I was born a citizen," Paul replied. 29 Those who were about to question
him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized
that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. 30 The next day, since the
commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he
released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble.
Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.
NIV
We have come to the place in the
life of Paul that had been brought to a boil, so to speak. We do not understand
why the Roman commander thought it was necessary to flog Paul, just because the
crowd was yelling and shouting, "Rid the earth of him, his not fit to live."
However, it is not legal to flog a Roman citizen without a proper trial. So now we are at the point where we will see the Roman commander take Paul to
speak before the Sanhedrin, but for now, what do we learn for our lives
from this situation with Paul and the Roman commander? First, the angry mob of Jews did not have the
full story, the full truth about Jesus, although Paul tried to explain Jesus to
them. They were driven by either fear, because their way of life had been threatened,
they were resisting change, or their hatred for the Gentiles, whom Paul went
to, drove them to respond ungodly, whom they professed to worship. Second, the
commander acted as he believed was justified, but he did not have the whole
truth about Paul, including the fact that he was born a Roman citizen. Our
lesson is about how we act, or respond to situations we face in life, including
within the community of faith. Do we allow any anger to well up within us
because someone said something we vehemently or fundamentally disagree with? Do we respond or take action either toward or
against someone, such as gossip about them, without knowing all the truth about
them? In all reality, gossip is sort of a flogging without the whip, although the
tongue is a form of whip. Everything about the situation Paul was in lacked the
truth that Jesus taught about love. When we live within the command of Jesus,
knowing the truth about loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and body,
and loving our neighbor, that is everyone, as we love ourselves, then all our actions
and responses are driven by love, not anger. We must always live according to
the truth.
