Roman Citizenship for Such a Time as This
Scripture Passage: Acts 22:12-29 (NASB)
12 “Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And [i]at that very moment I looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a message from His mouth. 15 For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name.’
17 “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, 18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You. 20 And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ 21 And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22 They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!” 23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered that he be brought into the barracks, saying that he was to be interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. 25 But when they stretched him out with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27 The commander came and said to Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” 29 Therefore, those who were about to interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.
SUMMARY
As the Jews from Asia caused an uproar against Paul, the commander of the army wanted to take him into the barracks. Paul, however, uses this platform and shared about his encounter with the Lord Jesus, which happened on his way to Damascus. He shared how Ananias prayed for his sight to return and revealed God’s plan to be a witness for Him. Before Paul can go further, the crowd once again wanted to do away with him and the commander ordered Paul to be flogged. Paul stated his naturally born Roman citizenship, as opposed to the Commander, who bought his at an exorbitant price. As a result, the interrogation by flogging was prevented.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
Paul took every opportunity he can, even the hate crimes of the Jews in Jerusalem, to share the gospel of Jesus. He knew very well their intention and misunderstanding because he used to, like them, be zealous for God according to the Law. Unless there is a personal encounter with the Savior, I realized I’m just a member in the crowd. My personal relationship with Christ is just as important as my walk as a member of the body of Christ. How do I live my personal and private life? Are they parallel to each other? Or are they opposite from one another? Paul was the same no matter where he was: in chains, among the angry crowd, among the believers, or in the synagogues. His goal remained the same, to preach the gospel-what he has seen and heard (Acts 22:15).
At just the right time, Paul’s Roman citizenship bought him more time to share the gospel, minus the flogging. I’ve gone through many hills and valleys, and there’s many more to come, but I can testify how good and faithful God has been.
APPLICATION
There’s countless times when I would have thrown in the towel, but just in His perfect time, He made a way of escape for me. I know that my ultimate escape is Christ Himself. I’m only here because He allows me another day. I want to use my time to share the saving grace of Jesus at my home, work and wherever He leads me. As my husband faces many challenges at work, I will trust that He will make a way. This is an opportunity for God to show His power and for our faith to be tested and for it to become a testimony we can share...
PRAYER
Thank You Father for being our Good Shepherd. You lead us to green pastures and still waters. And even in the valleys of our lives, You never leave us or forsake us. Please give us courage to share of Your saving grace, and the hope we have in You. Whatever platform You allow us to have, big or small, help us to use every one of them to be Your mouthpiece.
May Your kingdom come and Your will be done. We love You and worship You.
In Jesus Name, amen.
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