My thoughts this morning are centered on the conflict in the Middle East which we see demonstrated in this chapter of Acts.
The crowd listened quietly to Paul’s defense of his actions to the Jews until the end:
21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” 22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”
Acts 22:21, 22 NIV
The fervor of hatred of these Jews for the Gentiles would almost be incomprehensible if we didn’t see it today:
I vow that if I was just an Israeli civilian and I met a Palestinian I would burn him and I would make him suffer before killing him.
Ariel Sharon, former Prime Minister of Israel
Not that there isn’t equal hatred from the Palestinians:
“The Prophet said: the Jews will hide behind the rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: oh servant of Allah, oh Muslim this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him! Why is there this malice? Because there are none who love the Jews on the face of the earth: not man, not rock, and not tree; everything hates them. They destroy everything, they destroy the trees and destroy the houses. Everything wants vengeance on the Jews, on these pigs on the face of the earth, and the day of our victory, Allah willing, will come.”
Shaykh Ibrahim Mudayris
This seems like such a hopeless situation in the Middle East, rooted in 2000+ years of history. But Paul carried the answer in his mission … to preach to all Messiah Jesus and the transformation that is possible in repenting, believing, and following him.
This is the challenge of the gospel! It threatens our very identity. Can you imagine, that the core of your identity is a Chosen Person – by God! – and this man comes and says that God has made a way for anyone to receive his message? Only in Christ can this be overcome. It’s a miracle.
Yes, only in Christ.
Wow!!! Reading those quotes makes one feel very hopeless!! 😞. In Christ alone…. Brought to mind the hymn… my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Our Hope!!