Friday 16 November 2007

Background

Luke's 'biography' of Paul, which occupies mostof Acts, may not always be totally accurate (like allbiographers, Luke has his own 'agenda') but at the heart of hisaccount of Paul's speech to the Roman Governor Felix there isundoubtedly a bit of authentic Paul.

He had been arrested in Jerusalem as a Jewish trouble-maker, and,having identified himself as a Roman citizen, had been escorted outof the city by the Roman authorities to prevent further violenceand taken to their provincial 'HQ' at Caesarea forquestioning.

At an earlier Jewish trial Paul had declared that his only 'crime'was to believe in the resurrection of the dead - a doctrine thatdivided the Jews of his day. The Pharisees believed it; theSadducees did not. And Paul took the opportunity to focus on thisagain in his address to Felix - "It is about the resurrection ofthe dead that I am on trial before you today".

This, we know, was central to Paul's faith. And not just theresurrection of 'both the righteous and the unrighteous' but,fundamentally, the resurrection of Jesus. His whole life was basedon that conviction: his call to be the 'apostle to the Gentiles'and to travel across the Roman Empire; his struggles with hisfellow Jews and Jewish Christians, and with his own profound senseof Jewish identity; his willingness to face persecution andhardship.

No wonder he wrote, "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Corinthians15:19). But, he goes on to say, "In fact, Christ has beenraised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died" (1 Corinthians15:20).

And it is with this unshakeable conviction, rooted in his ownexperience of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus that Paulstood before the Roman Governor, with 'a clear conscience towardsGod and all people'. He knew he was right, and that Christ was, asit were, standing with him. He could challenge the authority ofJerusalem, and even the authority of Rome. He could riskeverything, because he knew that his redeemer lived.

To Ponder

How important do you think belief in theresurrection of the dead (not just the resurrection of Jesus)should be to Christian faith today?

Do you think this is different from the popularidea of the 'immortality of the soul'?

How might belief in resurrection affect the wayyou live your life?