As we continue to see Paul’s story unfold we can see how God is gradually moving Paul towards Rome – the centre of the known world and seat of greatest influence upon it. From the centre of a rioting mob Paul is moved into Roman custody to be flogged. From there he’s transferred to Caesarea to be tried before the Governor Felix. That would eventually lead him to Caesar’s court in Rome. It’s a journey that would cause a good deal more suffering before he would eventually arrive at the place of his calling as we will see over the next few days.

I was very struck by a comment Paul made in the early part of this chapter where he referred to the High Priest as a “whitewashed wall! (v.3). In some ways the phrase is made more complicated because we can only guess at Paul’s tone of voice. It’s also a phrase that I don’t think is in common use these days so I had to look it up to see what it meant. Essentially it equates to Paul calling the High Priest a hypocrite. Whitewash covers up the muck and dirt hidden beneath it. The man who had ordered Paul, who was defenceless at the time, to be punched in the mouth was as corrupt as any man could have been and yet he sought to appear as a righteous man doing only good. Its hypocrisy and it’s ugly.

It made me think about the way we often tend to be. Appearing to be full of goodness and kindness on the outside and yet living as something much less favourable underneath. It’s a part of our nature that we frequently find difficult to overcome. So we whitewash ourselves because appearances are important to us. We want to be right. We mostly want to be good but we’re just not very good at it. So we cover up our muck and dirt and put on a front.

It’s only by leaning on God in the person of Jesus that we can truly overcome the unseemly parts of ourselves. Paul had learned that on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).

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Questions:

Have you covered up the parts of your nature that aren’t pleasant to see? Have you brought your shortcomings before Jesus and left them at the foot of the cross in exchange for a new life?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, forgive me for all that is past. Help me to leave all my shortcomings, failures and the unpleasant parts of my character and being at the foot of the cross.

Lord bless me with a new perspective on life and a better way forward I ask in Your name. Amen.