Jerusalem’s leading men – the Sanhedrin – want Jesus condemned to death, but the evidence is severely lacking. So the High Priest demands to know if he claims to be God’s Son. Yet the man will not name God in
Silence is golden
In the darkness of night, away from the city, following a violence encounter, in the hands of armed enemies and with no support, Jesus could meet his end. However, it will not be so. His opponents – Israel’s leaders –
Slave to love
Jesus is God’s eternal Son (He 1:1-4). Yet his life on earth was slave-like (Ph 2:6-7), lived under the brutal authority of worldly powers and often utterly exhausting. Why? In order to save his people from sin (Ph 2:8; 1Jo
The church before the world
How did the first Christians see their relationship with the society around them? Here in Acts 24, we see three things in Paul’s words and actions which give a partial answer to that question Firstly, they saw themselves as witnesses
Final justice
God is triune, three who are one: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Hence, when God made man in his image, he made us not simply as solo creatures but for community. This means that others affect our behaviour. In our
Tertullus
Caesarea was a lavishly built port which King Herod developed on Judea’s coast. A very Gentile city, it was the main residence of the Roman governor of the land. At the time of Paul’s arrest this is Marcus Antonius Felix
Cat among the pigeons
The tower of Babel is the Bible’s true story of a very ancient and very arrogant human empire, which God pulled apart through a confusion of language (Ge 11:1-9). Later, the Bible records other sinful societies brought down by God,
Igniting anger
Certain words, phrases or ideas can get us excited. Public speakers know this and make use of the trait. With a weak speaker that may be their way of masking the poverty of their words. The trait can also be
Witnessing and evangelising
There are events which shape history; Stephen’s appearance and death fit into that category. He triggers a personal turmoil for Saul, a young (Ac 7:58), law-keeping, studious (Ph 3:4-6) and rich (Ph 4:12) council member (Ac 26:10) who is left