Archive for the ‘Acts of the Apostles 24’ Category
Above: Herod Agrippa II
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART LXXII
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Acts 23:23-26:32
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One motif in the Acts of the Apostles is that attempts to prevent the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ failed. They created new opportunities for that proclamation instead.
Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast, was the official seat of the procurators of Judea. The germane procurators were Antonius Felix (52-60) and Porcius Festus (60-62).
Meanwhile, Herod Agrippa II (b. 27 C.E.) ruled as a Roman client king over various territories from 50 to 100 C.E. Herod Agrippa II, who appointed the high priest in Jerusalem, conducted an incestuous relationship with Bernice, his sister. Herod Agrippa II, who died childless in 100 C.E., was the last ruler of the Herodian Dynasty.
St. Paul was a prisoner at Caesarea from 58 to 60 C.E. The conditions were lenient, though.
Tertullus, from Jerusalem, described St. Paul as “a perfect pest” (24:5) for being a Christian evangelist.
St. Paul, as a Roman citizen, appealed to the emperor–Nero, in this case. Besides, the Apostle’s life remained in danger in Caesarea.
Notice another parallel with Jesus, O reader. Recall that in the Lucan Passion narrative, a series of people–especially Roman officials–proclaimed the innocence of Jesus. We read that pattern repeating in Acts 23:23-26:32.
The irony of St. Paul’s appeal to the emperor is that he could have gone free without it (27:32).
Herod Agrippa II’s response to St. Paul has launched many sermons and bad Gospel songs. (“Bad Gospel songs” is redundant, by the way.)
A little more, and your arguments would make a Christian of me.
–Acts 26:28, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
Recall the Parable of the Sower/the Four Soils (Luke 8:4-9, 11-15), O reader. Not all soils are receptive to the seed.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 3, 2022 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF CAROLINE CHISHOLM, ENGLISH HUMANITARIAN AND SOCIAL REFORMER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIE-LÉONIE PARADIS, FOUNDER OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MAURA AND TIMOTHY OF ANTINOE, MARTYRS, 286
THE FEAST OF SAINT TOMASSO ACERBIS, CAPUCHIN FRIAR
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Above: Icon of St. Luke the Evangelist
Image in the Public Domain
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READING LUKE-ACTS, PART I
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The whole of Luke’s gospel is about the way in which the living God has planted, in Jesus, the seed of that long-awaited hope in the world.
–N. T. Wright, Lent for Everyone: Luke, Year C–A Daily Devotional (2009), 2
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The Gospel of Luke is the first volume of a larger work. The Acts of the Apostles is the second volume. One can read either volume spiritually profitably in isolation from the other one. However, one derives more benefit from reading Luke-Acts as the two-volume work it is.
Each of the four canonical Gospels bears the name of its traditional author. The Gospel of Luke is the only case in which I take this traditional authorship seriously as a matter of history. One may recall that St. Luke was a well-educated Gentile physician and a traveling companion of St. Paul the Apostle.
Luke-Acts dates to circa 85 C.E.,. “give or take five to ten years,” as Raymond E. Brown (1928-1998) wrote in his magisterial An Introduction to the New Testament (1997). Luke-Acts, having a Gentile author, includes evidence that the audience consisted of Gentiles, too. The text makes numerous references to the inclusion of Gentiles, for example. Two of the major themes in Luke-Acts are (a) reversal of fortune, and (b) the conflict between the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of God. The smoldering ruins of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70 C.E. inform the present tense of the story-telling.
Many North American Christians minimize or ignore the imperial politics in the New Testament. In doing so, they overlook essential historical and cultural contexts. Luke-Acts, in particular, performs an intriguing political dance with the Roman Empire. The two-volume work unambiguously proclaims Jesus over the Emperor–a treasonous message, by Roman imperial standards. Luke-Acts makes clear that the Roman Empire was on the wrong side of God, that its values were opposite those of the Kingdom of God. Yet the two-volume work goes out of its way to mention honorable imperial officials.
Know six essential facts about me, O reader:
- This weblog is contains other blog posts covering Luke-Acts, but in the context of lectionaries. I refer you to those posts. And I will not attempt to replicate those other posts in the new posts. Finding those posts is easy; check the category for the book and chapter, such as Luke 1 or Acts 28.
- I know far more about the four canonical Gospels, especially in relation to each other, than I will mention in the succeeding posts. I tell you this not to boast, but to try to head off anyone who may chime in with a rejoinder irrelevant to my purpose in any given post. My strategy will be to remain on topic.
- My purpose will be to analyze the material in a way that is intellectually honest and applicable in real life. I respect Biblical scholarship that goes deep into the woods, spending ten pages on three lines. I consult works of such scholarship. However, I leave that work to people with Ph.Ds in germane fields and who write commentaries.
- I am a student of the Bible, not a scholar thereof.
- I am a left-of-center Episcopalian who places a high value on human reason and intellect. I value history and science. I reject both the inerrancy and the infallibility of scripture for these reasons. Fundamentalists think I am going to Hell for asking too many questions. I try please God, not fundamentalists. I know too much to affirm certain theological statements.
- I am a sui generis mix of Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican theological influences. I consider St. Mary of Nazareth to be the Theotokos (the Bearer of God) and the Mater Dei (the Mother of God). I also reject the Virgin Birth and the Immaculate Conception with it.
Make of all this whatever you will, O reader.
Shall we begin our journey through Luke-Acts?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 20, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY OF ADVENT
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT
THE FEAST OF BATES GILBERT BURT, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF BENJAMIN TUCKER TANNER, AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL BISHOP AND RENEWER OF SOCIETY
THE FEAST OF D. ELTON TRUEBLOOD, U.S. QUAKER THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF JOHANN CHRISTOPH SCHWEDLER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT MICHAL PIASCZYNSKI,POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1940
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Above: Stamps of Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Image in the Public Domain
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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Genesis 7:11-24 or Acts 24:1, 10-23, 27
Psalm 131
Revelation 3:7-13
John 8:12-30
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We Gentiles need to be very careful to push back against any Anti-Semitic interpretations of our assigned readings from Revelation 3, John 8, and Acts 24. We may need someone to remind us that the struggle within the Gospel of John was intra-Jewish. So was the conflict between the Jewish Christian community that produced it and the Jews around them. We may need a reminder that St. Paul the Apostle was Jewish, too.
The church at Philadelphia was Gentile. It was also small, poor, and at odds with many local Jews. Conflict produced invective.
Being small may or may not be beautiful. What is beautiful is being faithful. And Christ promises to honor that faithfulness.
–Ernest Lee Stoffel, The Dragon Bound: The Revelation Speaks to Our Time (1981), 34
If we stop thinking about importance in human terms, we will do well spiritually. Large does not equal important, in the eyes of God. Neither does wealthy. Neither does successful. Neither does being free. Neither does being popular.
St. Teresa of Calcutta said that God calls us to be faithful, not successful. Many people have worshiped at the altar of success, long a popular idol. The heresy of Prosperity Theology has appealed to many people for a very long time. Yet the prophet Jeremiah, by human standards, was a failure. So was Jesus.
Does anyone reading this post want to argue that Jeremiah and Jesus were failures? Not I.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 20, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT FABIAN, BISHOP OF ROME, AND MARTYR, 250
THE FEAST OF SAINTS EUTHYMIUS THE GREAT AND THEOCRISTUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOTS
THE FEAST OF GREVILLE PHILLIMORE, ENGLISH POET, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF HARRIET AUBER, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF RICHARD ROLLE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL WRITER
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/01/20/devotion-for-proper-15-year-d-humes/
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Above: Judah and Tamar, by the School of Rembrandt van Rijn
Image in the Public Domain
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The Collect:
O God, our eternal redeemer, by the presence of your Spirit you renew and direct our hearts.
Keep always in our mind the end of all things and the day of judgment.
Inspire us for a holy life here, and bring us to the joy of the resurrection,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 52
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The Assigned Readings:
Deuteronomy 25:5-10 (Thursday)
Genesis 38:1-26 (Friday)
Psalm 17 (Both Days)
Acts 22:22-23:11 (Thursday)
Acts 24:10-23 (Friday)
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Let my vindication come forth from your presence,
let your eyes be fixed on justice.
–Psalm 17:2, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)
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Genesis 38 serves several functions. One is to mark the passage of time between Genesis 37 and 39. Another is to make people squirm. What should one make of a story in which Tamar, the heroine, the wronged woman denied what was due her according to levirate marriage (described in Deuteronomy 25), had to resort to posing as a pagan temple prostitute to seduce her father-in-law to get the child(ren) she deserved, according to social customs meant to protect childless widows? Due to problems with her first husband’s brothers the duty fell to Judah, her father-in-law.
I remember that, in 1996, at Asbury United Methodist Church, north of Baxley in Appling County, Georgia, an adult Sunday School class read the Book of Genesis at the rate of a chapter per week. One Sunday that summer the time came to ponder Chapter 38. The leader of the class skipped to Genesis 39, for he found the contents to be too hot a potato, so to speak.
The story of Judah and Tamar continues to make many readers of the Hebrew Bible uncomfortable. Tamar remains a troublemaker of sorts, long after her death. Perhaps modern readers who struggle with the tale should think less about our comfort levels and more about the lengths to which certain people need to go to secure basic needs.
St. Paul the Apostle got into legal trouble (again) in Acts 21. The trumped-up charge boiled down to him being a troublemaker, a disturber of the peace. As Tertullus, the attorney for chief priest Ananias and Temple elders argued before Felix, the governor:
We found this man to be a pest, a fomenter of discord among the Jews all over the world, a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He made an attempt to profane the temple and we arrested him.
–Acts 24:5-6, The Revised English Bible (1989)
Were not those who plotted and attempted to kill St. Paul the real troublemakers? He planned or committed no violence toward those with whom he disagreed. The Apostle knew how to employ strong language, but he avoided resorting to violence after his conversion.
How we deal with alleged troublemakers reveals much about our character. What, then, does this standard reveal about your character, O reader?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 3, 2016 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILL CAMPBELL, AGENT OF RECONCILIATION
THE FEAST OF SAINTS LIPHARDUS OF ORLEANS AND URBICIUS OF MEUNG, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOTS
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF UGANDA
THE FEAST OF SAINT MORAND OF CLUNY, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND MISSIONARY
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Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/devotion-for-thursday-and-friday-before-proper-27-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/
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Above: Antonius Felix
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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
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The Assigned Readings:
1 Samuel 13:1-18 (July 28)
1 Samuel 14:47-15:9 (July 29)
1 Samuel 15:10-35 (July 30)
Psalm 67 (Morning–July 28)
Psalm 51 (Morning–July 29)
Psalm 54 (Morning–July 30)
Psalms 46 and 93 (Evening–July 28)
Psalms 85 and 47 (Evening–July 29)
Psalms 28 and 99 (Evening–July 30)
Acts 23:12-35 (July 28)
Acts 24:1-23 (July 29)
Acts 24:24-25:12 (July 30)
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A Related Post:
1 Samuel 13-15:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/week-of-2-epiphany-monday-year-2/
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In 1 Samuel we read two accounts of how Samuel and Saul fell out with each other. (These things happen in parts of the Hebrew Scriptures due to the editing together of different sources.) The first story tells of Saul making an offering Samuel should have performed. The other version entails Samuel and his soldiers not killing enough people and livestock. How making an offering or not killing more people and livestock is supposed to offend God eludes me beyond a purely historical-literary critical level of understanding texts and traditions, for I am a liberal Christian and a generally peaceful person. Violence offends me and ritual sacrifices are foreign to me.
But the rejection of Saul by God occupies the readings from 1 Samuel. The story of Saul, which ended badly, began with Samuel warning the people that they really did not want a monarch. Saul’s reign seems to have proven Samuel’s case. And the reigns of subsequent kings did likewise.
Rejection and violence also figure prominently in the Acts lessons. Paul evaded plots on his life yet remained in custody for two years. His offense was, asThe New Jerusalem Bible translates part of 24:5, being
a perfect pest.
That did not justify such extreme measures, though.
Rejection and violence unify the sets of readings. The God of these lessons is, in the words of Psalm 99:4 (The New Jerusalem Bible), one who
loves justice
and has
established honesty, justice and uprightness.
I recognize that description in Acts 23-25 but not in 1 Samuel 13-15. That does not indicate a fault within me.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 5, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE SAINTS AND MARTYRS OF ASIA
THE FEAST OF HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK, NORTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR
THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH, 1972
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Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/devotion-for-july-28-29-and-30-lcms-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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