Thoughts - Acts 28:17

“After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, 'Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.'” - Acts 28:17

I felt compelled to read this passage last night, even though I wasn't exactly sure why. What struck me there is, to me at least, fascinating, and so I thought I should share it.

It won't be news to most people that the life of the Christian is all about relationship. Obviously, the first and foremost relationship is that with God. Beyond that, the Scriptures also have a lot to say about our relationships with fellow Christians and with the world at large. There is, however, in relationship an element that, I find, is very easy to miss: identity. And in this passage, Paul subtly but effectively addresses what happens with one's identity when one joins with Christ.

First, the rather obvious, but important, background information. Paul was a Jew. Judaism had (and has) a peculiarly strong self-identity, having survived persecution, deportation, and dispersion by clinging to the knowledge of one God and to the law He had given. Beyond that, Paul was a Jew's Jew, a Pharisee who had studied under a man who is still well-noted even today, Gamaliel. In other words, Paul lived deeply into a group that took its identity very seriously. Thus it was that, when a new “sect” appeared to threaten to tear apart Judaism, Paul was zealous in trying to destroy it and save his people. His plans, however, were upset by Jesus in a very powerful way, and, in a noteworthy switch, it became his mission to reach the Gentile population with the Gospel.

After many circumlocutions and go-arounds, Paul got himself arrested in Jerusalem, and was forced to appeal to Caesar to pull his fate out of Judean politics. To appear before Caesar, one had to go to Rome, and we join the story three days after Paul got there, after a very hazardous journey. We don't know what he did those first three days, but on the fourth day, Paul called together the local Jewish leadership. It was kind of a “getting to know you” meeting, Paul's hope being to convince them to let him share the Gospel with the entirety of the Jewish population in the area. And he was successful – until he gave the actual message to the group and the inevitable split reaction and conflict broke out, that is.

The important thing to note here is Paul's way of addressing the Jews in the two messages recorded. In verse 17, they are “brothers”, fellow Jews and co-heirs of the promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets. Later on, though, when a fair number of them had decided to adamantly reject his message, Paul refers to “your fathers” (v. 25) - “yours”, not “ours”. From this, I see three important lessons.

First, joining with Christ fundamentally changes a person's identity. The change of allegiance in the spiritual realm makes it impossible for one to comfortably fit in one's old way of life. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Second, this change doesn't mean that we cannot or should not reach out to our former compatriots. Paul, although he knew that his mission was really to the Gentiles, nonetheless insisted on reaching out to his people first. That's why, if you go through Acts, Paul routinely enters a city and heads straight to the synagogue. Generally, what would happen is that a significant group would reject him and start a ruckus, but he at least felt that he had to try. And, as it was, though there wasn't usually a mass acceptance of Christ, at least a few would generally be willing. I imagine this fact is what convinced Paul to keep trying in each new place.

Third, when it became evident that he had done all he could, Paul was willing to lay aside his identity with the group in favor of his identity with God. Because he recognized the fundamental conflict between being Christian and being Hebrew, when he saw hearts hardening in rebellion to God's plan he was quick to separate himself from them. It's not that he ceased to be Jewish; it's that he recognized that these fellow countrymen who refused Christ couldn't be part of his highest identity, and he had chosen to value his identity in Christ over any other.

In other words, Paul had a previous, overarching identity, and one that was, in general, a good one. Even so, he recognized that, having joined Christ, his citizenship was in heaven. (Philippians 3:20) So, while the new citizenship did not mean that he couldn't relate to his former people, it did make it impossible for him to ever again be fully accepted into that group, or to fully accept them. Until, and this is most important, he could show them and bring them into the new relationship as well. And that proved a very effective motivation for his life and ministry!