Daily Dose of Hope

December 22, 2025

Scripture - Acts 21:27-40

Prayer: Dear God, We come to you today with sorrow. We know that we are sinful and broken. We know that we have fallen short. We have been disobedient as individuals and as a church. Lord, please forgive us and show us your better way. How we need you. We are lost without you and our behavior so often speaks to that. Help us seek holiness. Help us love others the way you love them. In these next few moments of silence, Lord, please help us set aside our scattered thoughts and focus on you... In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading. We have been on a journey, reading through the Gospels and the book of Acts. Today, we finish with Acts 21.

It doesn't take long before people see Paul and get worked up. Some Asian Jews, who saw Paul at the Temple, accuse him of bringing a Greek in the Temple (not true) and teaching people to not follow the law (again not true). Who were these Asian Jews? They were most likely from the province of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and quite possibly from Ephesus. They could very well have remembered Paul from his extended stay in Ephesus and the various conflicts that arose.

It doesn't take long for a few rabble rousers to work up a riot. Paul finds himself in the middle of it, being beaten by a mob. When the Roman soldiers hear about the riot, they rush to figure out what's going on. What's interesting is that they also make assumptions about Paul and have been bound, to be thrown in the barracks. It seems no one really cares much for finding the truth.

The main charge brought against Paul was that he brought a Gentile into the Temple. This would be a serious offense. The Jews did not allow women or Gentiles into the central courts of the Temple, believing them to be unclean. Although the Law did not specifically forbid Gentiles from going into the Temple courts, by the first century, Herod the Great had expanded the Temple courts so that there was a large area where everyone was welcome, the Court of the Gentiles.

Despite the fact that the charge is false, no one comes to Paul's defense. None of the Jewish believers, who must have seen the whole thing, say a word. While this was out of fear, for sure, it is still surprising. Silence, as we know, always empowers wrongdoers.

Let's talk about silence for a moment. There is good silence, like being silent before the Lord, and then there is bad silence, like not standing up for what is right. Bullies exist because the majority stays silent. Martin Luther King, Jr., famously said, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends," emphasizing that friends' lack of support is deeply painful and is what enables injustice. Unfortunately, we have seen this over centuries in the church. We saw it with Jesus and the disciples. We see it in the early church. We saw it during the persecutions of the first several centuries and through many wars. How many Christians stood in fear and watched the Nazis murder millions of helpless Jews? How many Christians have been silent in the face of slavery, racism, and gross injustice across our own nation?

What are the main forces of injustice in our world right now? Where has the church stood up and done the right thing and where have we been silent? What about you?

More tomorrow.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki