“God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.’
At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. ‘You are out of your mind, Paul! he shouted. ‘Your great learning is driving you insane.’“
Acts 24:22-27
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JUNE 20, 2025
As we have seen this week, Paul’s “defense” is a clear presentation of how God has worked in his life and community through Jesus. We’ve seen in his concise, clear words some things that feel like “Gospel 101” to us, such as God opening our eyes, asking us to repent, offering us forgiveness. We’ve seen some things that might feel a bit different from how we have learned to understand the gospel, like the need to demonstrate this forgiveness through our deeds and work, and the scandal of following a suffering Messiah, a God who saves through allowing Himself to be humiliated out of love rather than be violent towards His enemies.
Today we see two more scandalous components of the gospel: this suffering Messiah will be “the first to rise from the dead” and will “bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
We can’t blame Festus for thinking Paul was out of his mind! Have you seen any dead friends come back to life? We know this doesn’t happen. Yet Paul is saying that God’s anointed one not only suffered humiliation and death, not only was resurrected, but was the first to rise from the dead—implying that there is more resurrection to come!
And not only this: The resurrected Christ is alive in order to bring light to His own people and to the Gentiles.
Friends, we are the recipients of God’s amazing love and grace. We are the enemies of God that He chose not to fight or destroy, but to lay His life down to save. We are the outsiders who were not deported but welcomed in when we didn’t deserve a place at His table. We are part of the beloved creation that God is determined to redeem, even if it kills Him—and having received this love, we are the ones sent into the world to shout this good news:
God is good, gracious, and compassionate, full of steadfast love and mercy! God stands not with the proud and powerful but with the weak and brokenhearted! God is bringing light into darkness! God is changing our hearts so that we can fill our lives with good deeds, not destructive deeds! God is with us until the end of the age—and His resurrected life is ours, too.
No wonder Paul was not afraid of anything in life or death.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- What is the good news of Jesus, and where do you see Paul describe it in Acts 26?
- How have you seen this good news be good in your own life and community? How has the power of this good news changed your life and community?
- How does this good news of God seem counterintuitive and even wrong compared to how we typically think about God—as it was for Festus?
Church Reading Plan:
- Today, June 20: Deuteronomy 25; Psalm 116
- Saturday, June 21: Deuteronomy 26; Psalm 117-118
- Sunday, June 22: Deuteronomy 27:1-28:19; Psalm 119:1-24