Daily Dose of Hope

December 23, 2025

Scripture – Acts 22

Prayer: Almighty God, We come before you this morning with awe and humility. Help us remember all you have done for us. We are nothing without you. We need you desperately, Lord. Help us gather our scattered thoughts today as we focus on you. In these next few moments of silence, help us remember that we belong to you. Help us lay our worries and cares on the throne of your grace...We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus, 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 walk through Acts 22.

The chapter starts with Paul speaking to the crowd in Aramaic. His knowledge of their language demonstrates that he is one of them. All the lies are just that, lies. He shares his background as an educated Jew and then tells his conversion story. Remember, no one can ever argue with your conversion story. It's your story! Paul uses this time to talk about how Jesus led him to share the Gospel with the Gentiles.

But when he gets to this part --- mentioning the Gentiles --- things get heated again. They demand that he be killed for his blasphemy. It's now that the Roman commander demands that he be arrested and flogged. But just as this is about to take place, Paul mentions that he is a Roman citizen by birth. This changes things.

The scholars have mixed opinions on how being a Roman citizen in that day and time determined one's treatment by governing authorities. Certainly, in Paul's case, it kept him from being flogged and lynched. In fact, the commander seems frightened when he finds out that the man he is about to whip is a Roman citizen by birth. (I would have hated to see what they did to the non-citizens. It was a brutal world.)

But one thing Paul could not get out of was being sent before the Jewish high council. I'm sure the Roman commander would be relieved to give Paul to the Jewish leaders. Let them be the ones faced with the repercussions of dealing with such a controversial figure. What will it mean for Paul to go before the high council? The council, also referred to as the Sanhedrin, was led by the high priest and consisted of Pharisees and Sadducees. This group had broad authority, overseeing criminal, civil, and religious cases. This was a group that would not be sympathetic to Paul. Part of their role was to discern when the Messiah returned and they clearly did not think Jesus was it. Hearing Paul preaching Jesus as Lord would be deemed blasphemous.

Will their distain keep Paul silent or make him soften his message? I think we can all guess that the answer is no! Paul is resolute in what God has called him to do. No amount of persecution, oppression, or intimidation will keep him from teaching about Jesus. So our question for the day-what keeps us from speaking boldly about Jesus?

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki