They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus" Acts:18:23
Journey to Rome
The Doctor/ Evangelist/ Historian St.
Luke who was St. Paul’s co-worker in the preaching the Gospel and traveling
companion, records St. Paul’s journey to the Rome the very capital of the
Roman world.
St. Paul’s party having been
shipwrecked had wintered on the Island of Malta, when the spring came, they
were able to find passage on an Alexandrian ship whose stern was adorned with
the gods Castor and Pollux. Stopping briefly at Syracuse in Sicily for
three days then a stop at Rhegium and then to the Italian mainland at
Puteoli.
"After three months we put out to
sea in a ship that had wintered in the island—it was an Alexandrian ship with
the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. We put in at Syracuse and
stayed there three days. From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The
next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached
Puteoli."Acts:28:11-13
St. Paul’s travel to Rome
provided the Apostle with time to spend with the Christian Community in
that part of Italy and to give them instruction and encouragement strengthening
both theirs and St. Paul’s faith.
"There we found some brothers and
sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to
Rome." The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming,
and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet
us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged."(14-15)
Ministering Under Guard
St. Luke records that upon
arrival in Rome, St. Paul is placed under house arrest with a Roman guard
to look after him. St. Paul, however, is permitted to carry out his ministry without
interference while guarded by a Roman solider.
"When we got to Rome, Paul
was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him”. (16)
This arrangement allowed St. Paul
to meet with, and pray with his traveling companions, or to write and send
letters and as well as to read and study whatever copies of the Scriptures
might have been available to him.
The Hope of Israel
About three days after St. Paul's
arrival in Rome the Apostle issues an initial invitation to the
Jewish leaders of the Synagogues around the area to came and met with him,
so that he might explain and give them clarification regarding the
message about Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.
During this first meeting St. Paul
defended his ministry and explains the circumstances which led to his appeal to
Caesar and being brought to Rome to the assembled leaders.
"Three days later he called
together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them:
“My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the
customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the
Romans. They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of
any crime deserving death. The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an
appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own
people." (17-19)
St. Paul asserts to the Jews, that
it is for the very "Hope of Israel”,
that is, all that they as a people have wanted and sought for and have
awaited for from the calling of Abraham to that very hour is the "Hope", for which he is imprisoned.
"For this reason, I have asked to see you
and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with
this chain.” (20)
St. Paul used this idiom "the Hope of Israel" to get their
attention and to attempt to demonstrate that the "Hope of Israel" is the very "Hope" that he and all who
are a part of the Christian movement have set their hearts upon. Here St.
Paul was trying to build a bridge and a means to have a meaningful dialogue
with the Jewish leaders so that he might have opportunity to speak to them
about Jesus, whom St. Paul understood to be the "Hope of Israel" fulfilled.
St. Paul’s conversation with the
Synagogue leaders leads to arranging another meeting for them to assemble and
hear more of what St. Paul has to say.
"They replied, “We have not received any
letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from
there has reported or said anything bad about you. But we want to hear
what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against
this sect". (21-22)
On a Certain Day
On a Certain Day a meeting is set
for the leaders to come to St. Paul’s quarters and hear what he has been
preaching. There is a large response, many of them have heard reports
about the spread of Gospel and are aware of Christian Churches being
established throughout the Empire and they have come to find out more. All of
this is taking place under the watch of a Roman Guard who has oversight of St.
Paul.
"They arranged to meet Paul on a certain
day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He
witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of
God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them
about Jesus." (23)
On that "certain day" they gathered and St. Paul used
their own Scriptures, that is, the Law and the Prophets, to direct the
assembled Jewish leaders to the person of Jesus Christ showing them that
he is the very "Hope of Israel" that they
have awaited all these many centuries.
On this "certain day”, some of them, through the Gospel message
encountered Jesus Christ. From their vantage point this "certain day" may have been what was "convenient" for them, but from the vantage
point of eternity this "certain day" had
divine intent.
This gathering was not an
accidental gathering, but had been ordained by God himself. They were
gathered together by God for the purpose of meeting Jesus, in and through the
Gospel presented by the Apostle St. Paul. This is as the Reformer John Calvin
declared " Christ comes to us clothed in his own Gospel”.
This means that on any "certain day" when we hear the Gospel
message preached; we are encountering Jesus
Christ himself. Jesus is both the subject of
the message and the active agent of the message through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus came to them, and comes to all of
us, in the presentation of the message and he reveals himself to us. Jesus is
there giving us a glimpse of the divine love of God for each and all and the
glorious "Hope" which our God has given us in Christ
"on the certain day" which we hear the Gospel
preached.
The "Hope of Israel" is
the "Hope" of all people, whatever nation they arise
from, it is God's divine intent on whatever "certain day" we hear the Gospel preached is to
encounter Jesus through the Gospel, and come to believe as some of the Jewish
leaders did and encountered Jesus and believed and embraced him as their very
"Hope" but some "would not".
"Some were convinced by what he said, but
others would not believe. They disagreed among themselves and began to
leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the
truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:
‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them."
“Therefore, I want you to know that God’s
salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen" (24-28)
On Our Certain Day
When we Christian today come and assemble
together, on our "Certain Day", whatever
day that may be, are we aware of God's divine intent for us to encounter Jesus
Christ? Do we perceive God's divine intent being carried out, do we encounter
Jesus, or are too focused on the human instrumentality which
stands before us and fail to recognize who it is that
truly speaks to us? Are we hearing what God has gathered us together to say to
us?
Again, as the Reformer John Calvin wrote, that “Jesus
comes to us clothed in his own Gospel”. That is, when we hear the message about
Christ, we are encountering the living Jesus in the message.
Some of the Jewish leaders missed
out on God's divine intent and as the narrative says "they would not believe" . These Jewish
Leaders did not believe because they did not accept who it was that was in truth speaking to them out
of the Scriptures and through St. Paul. The Jewish leaders who would not
believe only perceived a Jewish man bound in chains under the watchful eye of a
Roman soldier.
We can be the same way today, we may
only look upon the human instrument and miss the One who in truth is
speaking to us "on a certain day", and is so
doing we miss what our Lord might have to say to us.
Throughout the entire word of God, the
Holy Spirit is speaking to us about the person of Jesus, for it is through
Jesus that all that God has to reveal about himself is made known.
"I have many more things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now. "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He
will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative,
but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to
come. "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it
to you.…Jhn:16:12-14
Through the agency of the Holy Spirit,
God speaks, through and to humanity, about his love for us demonstrated in the
person of Jesus. St. Paul wrote of this appeal of God to all the world
thru the preaching of the Gospel message.
"We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,
as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s
behalf: Be reconciled to God."2Cor:5:20
God works through those who are
ordained and commissioned to proclaim to the world Jesus Christ that they might
experience the reconciliation that God has accomplished for humanity in his
Holy Son.
We should be ever ready to hear what
God is saying "on a certain day" . Israel as
a nation had a "certain day" when the Gospel
was preached to them and yet they did not receive it just as the Jewish leaders
did not on their "certain day"
" Therefore, since the promise of
entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to
have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us,
just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because
they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed
enter that rest, just as God has said,
“So, I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the
world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On
the seventh day God rested from all his works. “And again in the passage above
he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
Therefore, since it still remains for some to
enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to
them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day,
calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David,
as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Heb: 4:1-7
Some of those Jewish leaders who came to St. Paul
"on a certain day" were much like their
ancestors in the wilderness who heard, but refused the One who spoke even when
he spoke of the very Hope for which they had long sought.
On whatever the "certain day" is for us, let us always be
willing to hear the one who truly speaks to us, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Benediction: May we each and all be attentive
to hear the voice of our Lord on whatever the “certain day” he speaks to us,
today, tomorrow and for evermore Amen.
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Rev.Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma
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