Acts 24:17-22
English Standard Version (ESV)
17 Now (A)after several years (B)I came to bring alms to (C)my nation and to present (D)offerings. 18 While I was doing this, they found me (E)purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But (F)some Jews from Asia—19 (G)they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should
they have anything against me. 20 Or else let these men themselves say what
wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, 21 other
than this one thing (H)that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to
the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”
Paul continues to state his case
before Felix. In this we can see a
little about the faith that Paul had. He
mentions that he was away from Jerusalem for several years. That must have been difficult as it was the
foundation of his childhood faith. Without the Jewish faith he may not have
ever worshipped God. He had a good
upbringing, probably even a wealthy one because he was well educated. He left Jerusalem with a great lifestyle and
became a nomad for several years. Now he
has returned knowing that he will be imprisoned. He came to do good but now is being accused
of being a rebel.
Have you ever had good intentions
that turned against you? Have you ever
been accused of doing something wrong when the accuser was more in the wrong
than you? That is the situation that
Paul found himself in. He tried to make
sure he was following all the rules being purified before entering the temple
even though he was purified through Jesus Christ our Lord he always followed the
Jewish traditions. He had good
intentions to make things better but yet those who did not agree with him
turned on him and falsely accused him.
Do you know of anyone else who was falsely accused by the Jews? Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we are accused of doing
wrong we need to make sure that these are false acquisitions. Sometimes they are just a misunderstanding of
what we said or did. However, when we
are falsely accused we don’t have to sit silently and let those accusations
fester and ruin our name because we carry the name of Jesus with us. Yet we also need to remember that we need to
answer those accusations with truth and understanding. It is not us that is really be accused but
rather our Lord Jesus, standing trial
once again. Why is it that people think
they are bigger than God and can judge Him?
Someday they will see that He is the judge and every knee will bow
confessing that He is Lord.
As you seek Him know that Jesus
Christ, our Savior, our Judge is the only One that we answer fully to and He
knows all things. One day there will be
no false accusations because the One who Judges knows our hearts.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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