Fighting fire with … water

Acts 24:1-23

¹ Five days later Ananias, the high priest, arrived with some of the Jewish elders and the lawyer Tertullus, to present their case against Paul to the governor. ² When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented the charges against Paul in the following address to the governor:

“You have provided a long period of peace for us Jews and with foresight have enacted reforms for us. ³ For all of this, Your Excellency, we are very grateful to you. ⁴ But I don’t want to bore you, so please give me your attention for only a moment. ⁵ We have found this man to be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the cult known as the Nazarenes. ⁶ Furthermore, he was trying to desecrate the Temple when we arrested him. ⁸ You can find out the truth of our accusations by examining him yourself.” ⁹ Then the other Jews chimed in, declaring that everything Tertullus said was true.

¹⁰ The governor then motioned for Paul to speak. Paul said, “I know, sir, that you have been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years, so I gladly present my defense before you. ¹¹ You can quickly discover that I arrived in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago to worship at the Temple. ¹² My accusers never found me arguing with anyone in the Temple, nor stirring up a riot in any synagogue or on the streets of the city. ¹³ These men cannot prove the things they accuse me of doing.

¹⁴ “But I admit that I follow the Way, which they call a cult. I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets. ¹⁵ I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous. ¹⁶ Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people.

¹⁷ “After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people and to offer sacrifices to God. ¹⁸ My accusers saw me in the Temple as I was completing a purification ceremony. There was no crowd around me and no rioting. ¹⁹ But some Jews from the province of Asia were there—and they ought to be here to bring charges if they have anything against me! ²⁰ Ask these men here what crime the Jewish high council found me guilty of, ²¹ except for the one time I shouted out, ‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!’ ”

²² At that point Felix, who was quite familiar with the Way, adjourned the hearing and said, “Wait until Lysias, the garrison commander, arrives. Then I will decide the case.” ²³ He ordered an officer to keep Paul in custody but to give him some freedom and allow his friends to visit him and take care of his needs.

This would have been very intimidating. The High Priest himself, plus an expensive lawyer, plus a whole group of supporters to back up whatever he says. Having read the story this far, we know that their accusations are completely false. We know that the accusation that Paul stirred up riots is the reverse of the truth – he was often in great danger from riots stirred up by his opponents. They even get the name for Christians wrong (“Nazarenes” rather than what they call themselves throughout Acts, “followers of the way”.) So, how should Paul respond? Should he call out the injustice of the trumped-up charges? Should he accuse his accusers of malice and lying?

Paul responds in a stunningly opposite way. He simply tells the truth.

It’s natural to want to fight fire with fire, accusation with accusation, anger with anger. But time and time again, God’s way is the opposite of the world’s way. Jesus overcame all the injustice, hatred and violence of human sin, not with greater violence, but by taking it on himself and putting it to death on the cross. He overcame hatred with love. He overcame death with resurrection life. And he calls us to be followers of his radically counter-cultural way.

Paul said to the Roman church, “² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” … “²¹ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” (Romans 12:2, 21)

Holy Spirit, please transform my mind so that I live and act and speak like you. In the face of injustice. Give me your words of justice and mercy and grace. In the face of hatred, give me your words of love. In the face of lies, give me your words of truth. Jesus. let my life and actions and words reflect what you’ve done for me, and what you’re doing in me.

Written by David Cornell