Good Sunday May seventeenth as we grow in our faith by studying God’s word.
Claudius the rescuer-
Forty men had made an agreement with the Sanhedrin to do what they wanted to do, to kill Paul for teaching the gospel, the word of God which says, Acts 16:31b “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” John 12:44 “Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.” So the gospel message that Paul shared in Jerusalem which Jesus commended him for doing, is that God came into this world in the form of a Son in a man’s body being fully God and fully man and gave the free gift of salvation to all mankind who would believe. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Now these forty plus men had vowed not to eat or drink anything until Paul was dead. Let’s read together from Acts 23:23-30 “And he called for two centurions, saying, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night; and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” He wrote a letter in the following manner: Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell.” Paul’s nephew had shared with Lysias the commander in Jerusalem and he believed the young man. Obvious to him was that there was hatred and anger and cries to kill Paul, and the Jews really had no respect to Rome just this political handshake to allow the Jews to participate in their religious practices. Look what Lysias assembles to protect Paul from this group wanting to kill him. He takes almost half of the garrison in Jerusalem, some two hundred and seventy soldiers, seventy horsemen, possibly special opts men, all to protect this Roman citizen against forty hungry thirsty men. Quite an army, can you imagine forty men seeing Rome’s army before them? Lysias gives a letter to be given to Felix that he is sending Paul, and says basically I saved this Roman citizen from the hands of angry Jews, I am his savior, really no mention he had Paul tied and flogged. Lysias in the letter states he had not found Paul guilty of death. So in the third hour in the dark this army takes Paul to Felix. The forty plus men are sleeping and when they awake Lysias informs them that they need to go to Felix to bring their charges against Paul. What has Lysias done, he took his problem and handed it off to Felix, who by the way is a former slave but because his brother was a friend to Caesar, Felix became a governor. So Paul is now in Caesarea to go before Felix heading to Rome. We have God perfecting us, protected? Remnant
