Acts 19-28
19 - Ephesus disciples baptized. Paul stays 2 years! The riot.
20 - Paul through Macedonia, raises up Eutychus from death. Speech to Ephesian elders.
21 - Christian prophets warn Paul trouble awaits in Jerusalem. Leaders ask him to fund a ritual sacrifice to assuage the circumcision party. He is seized and nearly killed, but arrested by Rome.
22 - Speaking to the Jews in Hebrew, Paul preaches Jesus. Riot at mention of Gentiles, again.
23 - Romans make Paul stand before leaders. He appeals to the resurrection, getting many Pharisees to side with him! Paul's nephew hears of a plot, Paul escapes via Roman guard to Governor Felix in Caesarea.
24 - The Jews' case is weak, but Felix wants to be nice to them, so leaves Paul in jail for a while. Paul preaches convictingly to Felix.
25/26 - New Governor Festus and Herod Agrippa both hear Paul out of curiosity. Festus also wants to favor the Jews, so Paul has to appeal to Caesar to get justice.
27 - Paul sent to Rome by sea, but a storm almost wrecks them.
28 - They survive miraculously, get to Rome, and Paul has lots of time waiting for a hearing to preach the Gospel. Jews are divided, most not believing.
Paul follows the pattern of Jesus at the end of Acts:
- doing miracles of healing
- speaking at length to prominent people (Upper Room discourse, trial with Caiaphas)
- a death and resurrection event at Passover.
This one takes some explaining, but consider:
- All on board are saved because of Paul; the angel of death passed over households.
- 14 days was the special celebration of Passover; the ship was in the storm 14 days.
- And at the end, they eat and it's the Communion sequence: "he took bread and gave thanks to God."
- He goes down into the sea, but comes up saved from a serpentine attack, like Jesus.
- He is preaching the gospel at the end, which Jesus sent him and us to do...
2. I'm listening to some Hillsdale lectures on the Inklings, especially Tolkien and Lewis. Good stuff here by top Lewis scholars, if you want to nerd out on this.
3. Kevin DeYoung on why we should believe in an historical Adam - at Clearly Reformed.
Succinct and solid, DeYoung asserts this as a gospel issue. Paul's whole theology of the first and second Adam, of the covenantal nature of sin, makes no sense if Adam wasn't really there. An important, short read.
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