Paul Before Agrippa

PRAYER PRACTICE

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

Acts 26:1-32

DEVOTION / REFLECTION

The Damascus Encounter that Changed Everything

by Judy Webb

It must have taken a lot of courage for Paul to face King Agrippa like he did, seemingly calm and in control. Surely Paul knew this king's heritage, that he was the great grandson of the king who tried to have the baby, Jesus killed. What's more, his grandfather had John the Baptist beheaded and his father had the apostle, James, martyred. Certainly, King Agrippa wasn't going to be overtly inclined to go easy on Paul. So, why was Paul so pleased to find himself in this situation? What gave him the courage and guts to stand before the man and seem happy?

This was a tremendous opportunity for Paul. His audience was not only King Agrippa, but also Festus, Bernice, commanders of the Roman army, and many prominent men of Caesarea. Paul was pleased to preach the gospel to these kings and rulers. He was doing what Jesus had prepared for him to do. 

Paul confessed to this audience, his past role in persecuting Christians. He shared how he was a member of the Sanhedrin and voted against Christians who stood before the Sanhedrin. Paul testified to his conversion, and he told this powerful audience how he came to believe in Jesus and how sorry he was for the nature of his treatment of those who followed the Christ.

Our personal story is a powerful witness and I suspect Paul's words did not fall on all deaf ears. I would like to believe at least one person heard and changed their life because of Paul's testimony that day--or they at least considered the possibility. 

"But God has helped me to this very day; so, I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” (Acts 26:22-23)

Consider how Paul was blinded by the light of Jesus on the day of His transformation. Reflect on the fact he was sent by God to share the Light to a dark world. As are we.