New Testament Challenge, Day 24 – Acts 22-28
We finish yet another section of the New Testament today. With the four Gospels and the Book of Acts complete, we have heard the message of God’s plan for our salvation. Remember how Saint Luke began Acts as if he were continuing where he left off? “The former account I made.” (Acts 1.1) We should therefore read Acts as “The Gospel According to Luke, Part 2” in order to grasp the complete benefit. It is meant for us to deepen our understanding of the mission of Christ and therefore the mission of the Church: to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes that task will be easier said than done, as was Saint Paul’s case here in today’s readings. Although he had done nothing deserving of punishment, that did not keep those who hated his message from attacking him. The same is bound to happen to us as well. The comfort we should embrace, as well as the reality of suffering, comes from the Lord who said, “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.” (John 15.18)
This is not to say that we will always suffer for no benefit. Today we also read of his preaching while in prison in Rome where, “some were persuaded by the things which were spoken. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.” (Acts 28.24,30-31)
Doesn’t it make you want to go out and start preaching? We’re all called to spread the Gospel. In the spirit of Saint Paul, begin with your family and expand your outreach from there. You never know who might be listening.
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