Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Advent Archive: Acts 23

-Amber Allen

There won't be a lot of personal application in this one. Sometimes when I read scripture, I read something that just makes me contemplate for awhile. There are two things in this chapter that did that, so I thought I'd share them. First I noticed the Sadducees; they are staunchly against the resurrection, and it made me think, why? The fact that these men put Jesus to death probably has a big part in that. If they murdered Jesus and He were to raise from the dead, they would be held responsible as murderers of God and not just supporters of capital punishment. No wonder they didn't "believe" in the dead resurrecting. If it were true, they'd be in some hot water. The second thing I noticed was these 40 people that vowed not to eat until they killed Paul. The funny thing is, after this trial, Paul completes two more missionary journeys, writes multiple books of the Bible, and dies 8 years or so later...hmmm....did they starve to death? This would be like army men saying, "We're not gonna eat until we kill Osama Bin Laden!" (in 2001). What a silly vow, huh? I don't know what happened to them, but that sure is a silly thing to say when you're mad. Scripture really comes alive when you stop and think about it for awhile. As you read tomorrow's chapter, let me challenge you to stop and contemplate part of it in depth to help it become real to you.

Food For Thought: What reason did Mrs. Amber give for why the resurrection would be “inconvenient” for the people in Acts 23?

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