Another Mob, Another Day
ACTS 21:18-36 (July 2)
The news is full of reports each day of angry mobs of people gathering to protest one thing or another. One day we are shouting about which lives matter, the next we are making an angry statement about the value of the unborn. There is anger all around us, brought by the enemy, and many days it threatens to consume the world.
As I read today's Scriptures, I was reminded of another angry mob... the one who shouted to Pontius Pilate, "Crucify Him!" It was a mob consumed with hate for a man who threatened their power and beliefs. And we all know what fear and feeling threatened can make some people do. On that fateful day, they beat Jesus until he was near death, then they nailed him to a cross.
Paul finds himself in the same position. He had been warned by so many that he should not return to Jerusalem. The Jewish officials there were very angry with him (perhaps a little fearful and feeling as if their power was threatened as well).
Paul did not heed the advice of those who warned him. Instead, he went to meet with James and the elders of the Jerusalem church to give them a full accounting of his mission.
They, too, were worried about his safety. They came up with a plan that would convince the Jews that Paul observed the Jewish laws. He was to go with four men who had completed their vow and pay for them to have their heads shaved during the purification ceremony. Paul agreed to do this.
When the seven days allotted to their ceremony were almost up, some Jews from the Provence of Asis saw Paul in the Temple. They got an angry mob riled up against him. They grabbed him, yelling, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple - and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles."
This put the whole city in an uproar, causing a riot. Paul was dragged out of the Temple. He was beaten. The commander of the Roman regiment joined the crowd, arrested Paul and ordered him bound with two chains. When he was not able to determine why Paul was being beaten, he had Paul taken to the fortress, as the crowd was still trying to get at him. When they reached the stairs, the soldiers had to lift Paul over their shoulders to protect him from the violent crowd that was shouting "Kill him, kill him!"
"Kill him, kill him!"
"Crucify him, crucify him!"
Two different words ... the same meaning. One angry mob ... another angry mob.
And still today ... another and another and another angry mob.