Good morning. Then all the city was provoked, and the people
rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple,
and immediately the doors were shut. While they were seeking to kill him, a
report came up to the commander (in command of 1000 troops) of the Roman cohort
that all Jerusalem was in confusion. That was a big deal - that a non-Jew would
come into the part of the temple that was for Jews only. The commander brought
troops with him; and when they saw him and the soldiers, they stopped beating
Paul. They bound Paul with two chains; and the commander began asking who he
was and what he had done. Everyone being upset, they shouted out their reasons;
and as is normal, there was disagreement concerning what the fuss was all
about. The commander ordered him to be brought to the barracks where it would
be quieter. Paul said to the commander, may I say something to you? He said, do
you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who stirred up a revolt?
Obviously it was not a normal thing for a common person to speak Greek. It was
probably reserved for the highly educated, whose parents had been well off. I
am a Jew of Tarsus. Allow me to speak to the people. The crowd was quieted, and
Paul spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic). To the crowd, that
probably meant that he was one of them and not some outsider. Next time we will
see what Paul had to say to them. Father thank You for all the people who gave
their lives to obtain or to defend our freedom. We especially thank You for
that One who gave His life for our freedom!
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
Comments
Post a Comment