Take Heart! Jesus Cheers Up St. Paul

Take Heart! Jesus Cheers Up St. Paul. 

“The following night, the Lord stood by him, and said, “Keep up your courage (‘Tharseo’), Paul, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must testify also at Rome.” The next day, some of the Judeans formed a conspiracy. They took an oath, saying they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.” (Acts 23:11-12).

One might say that Paul continues to flirt with disaster during this time in his life. But on the other hand, he can’t complain that he wasn’t warned. In Acts 21, Paul was warned a number of times by the Holy Spirit not to go to Jerusalem. He went anyway, and he saw nothing but trouble. Paul usually exhibits what can be called holy stubbornness, but one wonders if in this case it was the holy kind. While in the Temple, he was seized by those who hated him and what he stood for, and a mob tried to kill him. While Paul was being beaten senseless by this religious lynch mob, the Roman troops had to rescue him and arrest him for his own safety. While there in the custody of the Romans, Paul bravely stood up and gave a rousing rendition of his testimony to those who had just tried to kill him, and the mob actually quieted down and was enthralled, until he said God was sending him to the Gentiles. Then the fickle mob attacked Paul again, and once again he had to be rescued by the Romans. Paul was then, being a Roman citizen, allowed to speak in his own defense before the ruling council, the Sanhedrin. Things started out smoothly enough, but then some dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees sent the Sanhedrin into a frenzy, and the Romans once again had to rescue Paul before he was “torn to pieces” by these elders. It was during this time of safe keeping with the Romans that Jesus Himself paid a personal visit to Paul, and, oddly enough, told Paul to cheer up, be encouraged, because the Lord was sending Paul to Rome to testify on His behalf just like here in Jerusalem! In other words… Take heart, Paul, I am sending you from the frying pan into the fire! And then, because of all this animosity toward Paul in Jerusalem, a bloodthirsty group of 40 Jewish leaders formed a conspiracy against Paul, vowing that they would neither ear nor drink until Paul was dead! It’s quite the understatement to say that Paul led a rather adventuresome life in his mission to spread the gospel. Even when Paul got himself into trouble here and there, the Lord stood by him faithfully.