Genesis 26, Matthewe 25, Esther 2, Acts 25

Themes of Acts 25:

False accusations (v. 7),

Entrapment (v. 3),

Injustice (v. 8).

Sound familiar?

In the various accounts of the trials of Jesus throughout the Gospels, there are noted similarities to Paul’s trial in Acts.

Acts 25:27 ~ “For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him” – Festus

Luke 23:4 ~ Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

Acts 25: 10b ~ “I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.”

John 18:23 ~  “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?”

I couldn’t help notice similar general weaving themselves through the trial of Jesus and Paul. I am not suggesting the two are mirror images, but the comparisons are certainly there. False accusations, entrapment, injustice.

More pertinent and relevant than the similarities, is the idea and theme in my own life of experiencing the trials of Jesus to become more like Him.

I think that Paul was intentionally allowed to experience this “trial” to grow, be changed, and experience more of the life and death of Christ.

The battle cry of enduring all to be more like Him, to

know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Phil. 3:10-11

To become like him in his death as I submit to my parents,

To become like him in his death as I listen to a friend unload their life,

To become like him in his death as I make time to rest. Cease striving. Admit that I am not God. And allow Him to take His rightful place.

And hopefully, through these trials, through these tiny “deaths to self,” that the resurrection of Christ may be more revealed in me. As I die. And He becomes my life.

– christiancourier517

from the archives, January 25, 2011