Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, August 22, 2013 Read – Acts 26:1-11 The proceedings begin with King Agrippa inviting Paul to speak openly. And so begins the final of five speeches by Paul in the book of Acts. This may be the most important of all the speeches. It is more than just a defense of Paul it is a statement of the case for the Christian faith. As we listen to Paul’s speech, we need to remind ourselves that, like all the others, this is most likely not a “verbatim” speech. It is a speech typical of what should be said as anyone attempts to defend the faith. To be sure some things are particular to Paul, and Luke would expect that others would provide similar details from their own experience, but the core of the speech is Luke’s concept of the defense of the Christian faith before the world. Paul begins with just a bit of flattery in considering himself fortunate that it is before King Agrippa that Paul must speak and not some lesser person. On the other hand, it is appropriate that Paul should be making his defense before one who is both powerful in the Roman world and well acquainted with the “customs and controversies of the Jews” (Acts 26:3). Having gotten the pleasantries out of the way, Paul begins in earnest by providing the story of his early life, a story that any well-meaning Jew would know to be true. Once again it is important that we hear that Paul is placing himself squarely in the center of Judaism – he is a Jew! He speaks of the Jews as “my own people” and of himself as a member of the Pharisees sect, the strictest sect of “our” religion. Once again Paul maintains that anyone ought to be able to testify on his behalf about this. Paul maintains that he is on trial on account of his hope in the promises of God made to “our” ancestors, a promise that “our” twelve tribes hope to attain. Paul, the Christian Paul, is not an outsider! He belongs to the people of Israel! From the days of his youth as a member of the sect of Pharisees he believed that God had the power to raise the dead – that is the hope for which he is now on trial. It is crucial that we understand that Paul did not think of himself as no longer being a Jew. Yes, he was a Christian Jew, but that did not make him any less a Jew. That is why it is important that we refrain from using language of conversion when we speak of Paul – he was not converted from one religion to another! Paul did need to think in a different and new way. Paul tells us that he was convinced that it was God’s will that he do whatever he could “against the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:9). Paul thought that followers of Jesus were perverting the Jewish faith – they were a danger to the faith that Paul so dearly loved and to which he was fully committed. And that is what Paul did in Jerusalem and even in foreign cities. Paul speaks of his persecution of Christians, but from the point of view that he was not a persecutor but a protector of Judaism. The Paul we meet in this part of the story is not someone who is struggling with a guilty conscience or who doubts his actions. He is zealous for the faith! He was a defender of Judaism!