Acts 26:1-18 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Acts 26:1-18. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Acts 26:1-13 (NIV)
1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense:
2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,
3 and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem.
5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.
6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today.
7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me.
8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.
On verses 1-13: As Paul addresses King Agrippa, a small part of Paul probably hoped that King Agrippa would understand where Paul was coming from, since King Agrippa was a Jewish ruler who understood the customs, controversies, culture and religious thinking of the Jews, as opposed to Governor Festus who knew very little about these matters and had already secretly been siding with Paul’s opponents.
I say a small part of Paul probably had this hope, because at the same time Paul’s ultimate hope didn’t rest in any fallible person, but in his God. It’s a reminder that as much as we think certain people might be able to help us, we must place our hope not in them but in the God who is always faithful and knows best.
To the extent that Paul hoped King Agrippa would understand where Paul was coming from because King Agrippa was Jewish like Paul, let it be a reminder that you and I have a king who knows exactly what it is like to live in our shoes, because He did. Jesus Christ, our great high priest and king, sits at the right hand of the Father and is able to relate to and sympathize with all that we go through. That’s what makes Jesus the perfect mediator between us and God, and the perfect intercessor on our behalf. As Hebrews 4:15 says “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.”
What a gift that we get to stand in the court of a powerful king and speak to him about our struggles, knowing that he understands where we’re coming from. As Hebrews 4:16 goes on to say, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Acts 26:14-16 (NIV)
14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.
16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.
On verses 14-16: What is the meaning of that saying in verse 14 “It is hard for you to kick against the goads”? This was a phrase found in ancient Greek and Latin literature. A “goad” was a thin rod made of timber that was pointed on one end. Farmers would push the pointed end of the goad into their cattle in order to push them – “goad” them – into going in the direction the farmer wanted them to go. If the cattle resisted going in the farmer’s direction, the more the cattle would get “goaded” even more. Thus “it is hard for you to kick against the goads” suggests that idea that it’s tough to fight against God’s will. Or, in sci-fi movie terms, “resistance is futile”. God is sovereign and it is ultimately more painful for us to resist God’s will than to follow it.
Acts 26:17-18 (NIV)
17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them
18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
On verse 18: When we believe in Jesus Christ, how He died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the grave, we “receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in” Jesus. Jesus promises forgiveness of sins and a place in heaven with God’s family for those who trust in Him. So instead of trusting in your own finite efforts and imperfect performance, place your trust in Jesus to save you and sanctify you (i.e. make you holy and blameless in God’s sight).
Jesus, thank You for being the King I can come to and pour my heart out before, knowing that You know my story and understand where I am coming from. Thank You that in You I have forgiveness and a place in Your kingdom. Since it is more painful in the end to resist Your will than to obey it, may I go Your way. Not my will, but Yours be done. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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