Acts 21, 22

Acts 21, 22

Overview:  Paul travels to Jerusalem.  Paul is beaten by a mob, arrested and addresses a Roman tribunal.

"When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly." (Acts 21:17)
Paul travels to Jerusalem and checks in with the leaders of the Jerusalem church.  Things seem to be going well as Paul and the Jerusalem leadership are working out what it means to be a follower of the Way for Jews and for Gentiles in terms of religious practice.  It's a warm welcome, which has to be a good thing and they are making progress on the issues at hand.  So how can a good visit go bad quickly.  Paul goes to the Temple, a riot breaks out, false accusations are hurled, Paul is beaten and then Paul is arrested.  Yet another biblical example of a faithful follower of Jesus having a less than stellar day.  As is often the case it is not simply that a follower of Jesus can have a bad day, it's that this follower of Jesus is having a bad day specifically for what he is doing as a follower of Jesus.  I would say again that it is not universally true that we have to get in trouble to be sure we are following Jesus, but it is abundantly clear that smooth sailing and no trouble in our life is NOT an indication that God likes us better than other less faithful people.  Christian faith and practice is essential in our lives in good times, in challenging times and in times that can only be described as bad.  Further there may well be times when we find ourselves in those challenging and bad times not in spite of, but because of our faith.  Faith is hard.  Rewarding and life fulfilling like nothing else.  But hard.