What, in the end, are we to make of the apostle Paul? Luke, who loves him, is not shy about telling us of Paul’s occasional foolishness and blind spots. Paul has been converted, but like any convert, the old self still shows up with dispiriting frequency. Recently I had a chance to chat with the … Continue reading Acts 25:23-26:32 Sweet friendship
The profound anticlimax of Acts continues, with more bureaucratic jostling by Roman officials whose names begin with the letter F. As a reader, I find myself longing for the beginning of Acts, those wonderful forty days when the risen Jesus was with the disciples, teaching and interacting, and everything was miraculous, bathed in a golden … Continue reading Acts 25:1-22 The primary world of the Kingdom of God
Poor Paul. He gets stuck in prison for two years, and Felix, the governor, who is a rather feckless person, seems to be in no hurry to resolve his case. So Paul, and our story, comes to a grinding halt. Like I said, the end of Acts is a bit of an anticlimax. But since … Continue reading Acts 24:1-27 Resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous
I don’t know why I'm finding the ending of Acts so anticlimactic. Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading it through a contemplative lens, and there’s nothing very contemplative about what’s going on here. We get told about maneuvers by the Roman authorities to keep Paul safe, and there’s something of the potboiler about this section, … Continue reading Acts 23:12-35 Playing with status
The very last line of this passage might seem like an odd little coda, but to me it’s the whole point. This is the second meeting between Paul and Jesus that we’ve heard about in Acts. Their encounter on the Road to Damascus was much more dramatic and strange, and the low-key nature of this … Continue reading Acts 22:30 – 23:11 Paul and Jesus have a private chat
KPB Stevens 