Paul wrote Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy Titus, Philemon.
*“My friends and leaders of our nation, listen as I explain what happened!” When the crowd heard Paul speak to them in Aramaic, they became even quieter. Then Paul said:
I am a Jew, born and raised in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia. I was a student of Gamaliel and was taught to follow every single law of our ancestors. In fact, I was just as eager to obey God as any of you are today.
I made trouble for everyone who followed the Lord’s Way,[a] and I even had some of them killed. I had others arrested and put in jail. I didn’t care if they were men or women. The high priest and all the council members can tell you that this is true. They even gave me letters to the Jewish leaders in Damascus, so that I could arrest people there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
One day about noon I was getting close to Damascus, when a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice asking, “Saul, Saul, why are you so cruel to me?”
“Who are you?” I answered.
The Lord replied, “I am Jesus from Nazareth! I am the one you are so cruel to.” The men who were traveling with me saw the light, but did not hear the voice.
I asked, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
Then he told me, “Get up and go to Damascus. When you get there, you will be told what to do.” The light had been so bright that I couldn’t see. And the other men had to lead me by the hand to Damascus. In that city there was a man named Ananias, who faithfully obeyed the Law of Moses and was well liked by all the Jewish people living there. He came to me and said, “Saul, my friend, you can now see again!”
At once I could see. Then Ananias told me, “The God that our ancestors worshiped has chosen you to know what he wants done. He has chosen you to see the One Who Obeys God[b] and to hear his voice. You must tell everyone what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up! Be baptized, and wash away your sins by praying to the Lord.”
After this I returned to Jerusalem and went to the temple to pray. There I had a vision of the Lord who said to me, “Hurry and leave Jerusalem! The people won’t listen to what you say about me.”
I replied, “Lord, they know that in many of our meeting places I arrested and beat people who had faith in you. Stephen was killed because he spoke for you, and I stood there and cheered them on. I even guarded the clothes of the men who murdered him.”
But the Lord told me to go, and he promised to send me far away to the Gentiles The crowd listened until Paul said this. Then they started shouting, “Get rid of this man! He doesn’t deserve to live.” They kept shouting. They waved their clothes around and threw dust into the air.* -Acts 22:1-22
* Paul got up. He motioned with his hand and said: People of Israel, and everyone else who worships God, listen! The God of Israel chose our ancestors, and he let our people prosper while they were living in Egypt. Then with his mighty power he led them out, and for about forty years he took care of them in the desert. He destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave their land to our people. All this happened in about 450 years.
Then God gave our people judges until the time of the prophet Samuel, but the people demanded a king. So for forty years God gave them King Saul, the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. Later, God removed Saul and let David rule in his place. God said about him, “David the son of Jesse is the kind of person who pleases me most! He does everything I want him to do.”
God promised that someone from David’s family would come to save the people of Israel, and that one is Jesus. But before Jesus came, John was telling everyone in Israel to turn back to God and be baptized. Then, when John’s work was almost done, he said, “Who do you people think I am? Do you think I am the Promised One? He will come later, and I am not good enough to untie his sandals.”
Now listen, you descendants of Abraham! Pay attention, all of you Gentiles who are here to worship God! Listen to this message about how to be saved, because it is for everyone. The people of Jerusalem and their leaders didn’t realize who Jesus was. And they didn’t understand the words of the prophets that they read each Sabbath. So they condemned Jesus just as the prophets had said.
They did exactly what the Scriptures said they would. Even though they couldn’t find any reason to put Jesus to death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed.
After Jesus had been put to death, he was taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb. But God raised him from death! Then for many days Jesus appeared to his followers who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Now they are telling our people about him. God made a promise to our ancestors. And we are here to tell you the good news that he has kept this promise to us. It is just as the second Psalm says about Jesus,
“You are my son because today
I have become your Father.”
God raised Jesus from death and will never let his body decay. It is just as God said,
“I will make to you
the same holy promise
that I made to David.”
And in another psalm it says, “God will never let the body of his Holy One decay.”
When David was alive, he obeyed God. Then after he died, he was buried in the family grave, and his body decayed. But God raised Jesus from death, and his body did not decay.
My friends, the message is that Jesus can forgive your sins! The Law of Moses could not set you free from all your sins. But everyone who has faith in Jesus is set free. Make sure that what the prophets have said doesn’t happen to you. They said,
“Look, you people
who make fun of God!
Be amazed
and disappear.
I will do something today
that you won’t believe,
even if someone
tells you about it!”* -Acts 13:16-41
No comments:
Post a Comment