Rapacious greed and injustice have become the order of the
day in the land. People scheme to take
away the inheritance of others and evict women and children from their
homes. Surely not. If you have ever been around death and
families who have anything at all, you have seen exactly this sort of thing
happen. Desire for stuff is a powerful thing. I have seen cutthroat actions too many times
by people who confess Christ and been heartbroken over finding what really
motivates people. I have been on the receiving
end of such things as well and I only hope that I have never been guilty of
this. When the prophet says, "If a
man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying, 'I will preach to you of
wine and strong drink,' he would be the preacher for this people!" we can
think this is hyperbole but we know, if we watch popular preachers on
television in our day that this isn't hyperbole at all. They may not preach wine and strong drink but
they certainly preach to debauchery in the way of prosperity, seeking stuff of
earth. Some things, like human nature,
never really change.
Commentaries on this request from John the Baptist, who is
in prison, differ depending on when they were written. Older commentaries, like the church Fathers,
believe that John wasn't in doubt at all, he was directing those who had
continued to follow him to Jesus in the belief that when they saw and heard him
they would attach themselves to Jesus. More
modern commentarists believe that John couldn't fit the reality of prison into
his belief about Messiah and now doubted his own faith and testimony of
Jesus. The response of Jesus to their
query as to whether He were Messiah is to do healings and then respond by
pointing to all He has done in connection with the fulfillment of prophecy but
to leave out setting the prisoners free, the one thing John needed. Faith, even when your own situation isn't
dealt with, is required. Jesus then
points to John as great, but greater things have yet to come. We, who are baptized not only in the baptism
of John but in the Holy Spirit, who can testify to the resurrection of Jesus
from the dead, are to do greater things than John because we have a fuller
testimony and the Holy Spirit. What
keeps us from living into that?
Claudius Lysias sends Paul forward to Felix, the governor,
in order to keep him safe from the plot against his life. The report that accompanies Paul states that
the matters at hand are not legal matters for Rome but rather a religious dispute. Claudius has certainly found nothing
deserving of death or imprisonment in Paul but believes that Felix should hear
the matter for himself to make a determination in the matter. The soldiers and horsemen complete their
mission and deliver Paul to Caesarea. Felix
agrees to hear the matter. The Gospel
will be preached to the governor because of this arrest. We never know what God will do with the
circumstance of our lives but we should always be prepared to allow Him to use
them for His glory, even if we suffer.
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