Wednesday, May 27th

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Wednesday, May 27

Acts 26:1-11
So Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: "I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

"My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

"I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

The doctor who helped my wife deliver three of our four sons is a friend of ours through our church. I will never forget that when our last son was born he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, “Every one is a miracle!” I remember being so touched and encouraged that a man who had seen thousands of babies come into the world still saw my son’s birth as a miracle!

Sometimes I think those of us who have been around the gospel or have been preaching the gospel for most of our lives can forget that the gospel really is a life and death issue. We can forget that every single person who comes to faith in Jesus is, indeed, a miracle.

In reading and studying the Book of Acts, I don’t think Paul ever forgot or took for granted the miracle of the gospel. Notice how he begins his defense before King Agrippa:

Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? "I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul begins with a confession. He reminds his audience of the atrocities that he had gladly committed against the followers of Jesus. He does so for two reasons. First, Paul never forgot that he was a man of “raging fury” before he met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. Although he had come to know the grace and forgiveness of Jesus in his own soul, he never forgot the depth of pride and hatred he had descended to in his misguided ambition.

But second, I think he begins with this confession because of the question he poses at the beginning of his statement.

Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

He is obviously referring to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead here; the very cornerstone of the Christian gospel. Paul knew that King Agrippa knew the claims of resurrection made by Jesus’ followers but, like many today, simply dismissed those claims as being “impossible.” But I also think that Paul is referring to the change in his own life as a kind of resurrection from the dead. I think he is saying there is a direct correlation between the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the transformation in his own life.

Paul would later say it this way in his letter to the Ephesian church:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2:1-5 (selected)

Paul never forgot that the gospel was not about making him “a better person;” or about “getting a little religion into his life.” Paul knew the gospel is about making the spiritually dead live again. The gospel is about death and resurrection. The gospel is about spiritual rebirth.

And that’s why every single person who can say, “Jesus saved me” is a miracle!


Pastor Brian Coffey