The story so far
The plot to kill Paul continues and the Roman commander has just ordered for Paul to be sent to Caesarea by soldiers during the night, they handed him over to the cavalry who handed Paul over to the governor who said he would wait for his accusers to get there to hear his case.
Reading: Acts 24
In chapter 24 we get to hear what Paul was being accused of by Tertullus who was a special prosecutor called to present the case for the religious leaders who were plotting to kill Paul. Paul was accused of being a troublemaker, stirring up riots among Jews around the world, they also said that he was the ringleader of an unrecognised religious sect that was against roman law and lastly they accused him of trying to desecrate the temple.
Paul was being accused of lots of things that he knew were not true.
For Paul this must have been hard.
If you have ever been accused of something you didn’t do, you could understand what that might feel like. With this Paul tries to defend himself like any person would do, asking them to prove the accusations being brought.
In the last chapter, God revealed to Paul that he would be instrumental in bringing the gospel to Rome and he wasted no time getting started. What I love about Paul is that no matter his situation, good or bad, he always used the situation to preach the gospel, even if it left him worse off. Even as he was in chains, he was using every opportunity to share the good news with the people around him.
Let’s never miss out on an opportunity to show or tell people the good news, that Jesus died for them so that they could have a relationship with God.
The Bible tells us that knowing and accepting this truth will set us free.
We want everybody to experience the same freedom we have found.
Contributed by Ps Hannah