16We arrived in Rome, and Paul was allowed to live in a house by himself with a soldier to guard him.
17Three days after we got there, Paul called together some of the Jewish leaders and said:
My friends, I have never done anything to hurt our people, and I have never gone against the customs of our ancestors. But in Jerusalem I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans. 18They looked into the charges against me and wanted to release me. They found that I had not done anything deserving death. 19The Jewish leaders disagreed, so I asked to be tried by the Emperor.
But I don't have anything to say against my own nation. 20I am bound by these chains because of what we people of Israel hope for. That's why I have called you here to talk about this hope of ours.
21The leaders replied, "No one from Judea has written us a letter about you. And not one of them has come here to report on you or to say anything against you. 22But we would like to hear what you have to say. We understand that people everywhere are against this new group."
23They agreed on a time to meet with Paul, and many of them came to his house. From early morning until late in the afternoon, Paul talked to them about God's kingdom. He used the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets [b] to try to win them over to Jesus. 24Some of the leaders agreed with what Paul said, but others did not. 25Since they could not agree among themselves, they started leaving. But Paul said, "The Holy Spirit said the right thing when he sent Isaiah the prophet 26to tell our ancestors,
`Go to these people and tell them:
You will listen and listen, but never understand.
You will look and look, but never see.
All of you have stubborn hearts.
Your ears are stopped up, and your eyes are covered.
You cannot see or hear or understand.
If you could, you would turn to me,
and I would heal you.' "
Paul said, "You may be sure that God wants to save the Gentiles! And they will listen." [c] 30For two years Paul stayed in a rented house and welcomed everyone who came to see him. 31He bravely preached about God's kingdom and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one tried to stop him.
A couple things stand out in this text...
First, Paul makes it clear that he is a prisoner....not because of anything he has done...but because of the great hope of Israel, the Messiah.
In other words, if Paul was a bad Jew and didn't believe in the promise of Messiah he would be home free. but, since he was faithful he found himself on the horns of a dilemma. The rest of Israel didn't have a clue of who Messiah might be, and Paul knew...so there was trouble.
Which seems weird. What the religious leaders were actually saying was "we don't have a clue who Messiah might be, but we know it's not Jesus!"
To which Paul's response might well have been naive when he thought they'd all appreciate what he had to offer on the subject.
Second, Paul made it eminently clear that failure to recognize Jesus was neither the fault of tradition nor scripture, but a stubborn unwillingness in the people to open their hearts to the truth. The Holy Spirit got through to some, but not all.
Which brings me to the application...
If we honestly don't know, are we willing to listen?
Has what we do know ever really cost us anything?
The first answer will let us know if God can ever really use us. The second answer will let us know if God ever really has...
Live boldly out there today...
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