Let us testify with the help of God.

[Acts 26:1-23]

There was a theologian and hymn writer in Germany named Bonhoeffer who devoted his entire life to the struggle to overthrow Hitler's dictatorship.  He boldly preached the following: ‘A madman is driving a car.  If you were at the scene, as a Christian, would you just follow and care for the injured people caused by the car, providing healing and prayers?  Or would you pull the mad driver out?’  Eventually, Bonhoeffer was executed.  However, a story he reportedly saw during a vision just before his death has been passed down.  In the story, God acted as the judge, and Hitler stood at the judgment seat.  God said, ‘You, Hitler, have caused much suffering to many people and shed much innocent blood, so you must go to hell and suffer.’  At that moment, Hitler cried out, ‘God, I didn't know there was such a world after death.  If I had known, I would not have committed such sins.  But no one told me about this.’  At that moment, Bonhoeffer, striking his chest, repented, saying, ‘Lord, I only tried to pull him out, but I failed to pity his soul and consider preaching to him’ (Internet).  Through this story, I have come to agree with and derive an important lesson: that we should have compassion and preach to one soul.  So, what is preaching?  According to one internet website, ‘Preaching is sharing the message of salvation with Christ's love, holy, and inevitable compassion for our neighbors who are spiritually thirsty and struggling.’  Furthermore, the author of the article states that preaching is the most precious act that testifies to the love of souls (Internet).

In today's passage, Acts 26:1-23, we see the apostle Paul, a gospel preacher who loves souls, standing before King Agrippa II, his sister Bernice, and high officials.  He confesses, "I stand here and testify to small and great alike, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles" (vv. 22-23).  Here, when Paul mentions receiving God's help to testify among both the high and lowly, he is referring to testifying about Jesus Christ.  More specifically, Paul's testimony, aided by God's help, is about the suffering, death, and resurrection (the core of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ (v. 23).  In other words, with God's help, Paul testified to people of all ranks about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The central message of this Gospel is the hope of resurrection. Before King Agrippa II, his sister Bernice, and the high officials, Paul states that he is now being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead, a hope promised by God to the Jewish ancestors (v. 6).  He expresses the fervent desire of the twelve tribes of Israel to serve God day and night, hoping to obtain the fulfillment of the promise (v. 7).  Essentially, Paul is asserting that he is undergoing the current trial due to the promise God made to the Jewish people about the resurrection of the dead, as mentioned in the Old Testament (Yoo).

Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead?  Do you truly believe in the fact that the dead can live again?  In the Corinthian church that we know, it was mentioned, 'Some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead' (1 Cor. 15:12).  In other words, there were people in the Corinthian church who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.  Therefore, Paul wrote a letter to the saints of the Corinthian church.  In particular, in the chapter known as the resurrection chapter (1 Cor. 15), the apostle Paul speaks about what conclusion we would reach if there is indeed no resurrection of the dead.  The conclusion is that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ Himself did not rise again (v. 13).  And Paul says that if Jesus Christ did not rise again, then the conclusion is that our preaching is in vain, our faith is also in vain (v. 14), we are found to be false witnesses (v. 15), we are still in our sins (v. 17), those who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ have perished (v. 18).  Furthermore, if our hope in Christ is only for this life, then we are of all people most to be pitied (v. 19).  Those who do not believe in the resurrection of the dead ultimately do not believe in the truth that Jesus Christ, after dying on the cross, rose again on the third day.  Therefore, Paul, while testifying before King Agrippa and his sister Bernice and the high officials who were listening to his testimony in Acts 26:8, said, “Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?”  As he asked this question, Paul confessed that before encountering the risen Jesus in the Damascus road, he had lived according to the strictest sect of the Jewish religion, being a Pharisee (v. 5), and he had persecuted the Christians who had hope in the resurrection (vv. 9-12).  In fact, Saul (Paul) considered opposing the followers of the Nazarene Jesus, who claimed that the dead had risen, as a sacred duty given to him by God (v. 9).  So, he actively opposed those who believed in Jesus, arresting and imprisoning them (v. 10), forcing them to renounce their faith in Jesus (v. 11), and even participating in violent actions that led to their execution (v. 10) (Yoo).  However, while on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians, Paul encountered the risen Jesus.  At that moment, Paul underwent a transformation, received a new life, and received a calling from the Lord to be a witness of Jesus Christ (vv. 13-18).  The risen Lord appointed Paul as a 'servant and witness' (v. 16).  The Lord sent Paul to Israel and the Gentiles (v. 17), opening their eyes from darkness to light, turning them from the power of Satan to God, granting forgiveness of sins, and sanctifying them through faith in Jesus, making them a holy people (v. 18).  Therefore, Paul, as a servant and witness of the Lord, received this mission from the Lord, first going to Damascus, then to Jerusalem, and to all the people in Judea and the Gentiles, calling them to repent, turn to God, and perform deeds appropriate to repentance (v. 20).

Among the verses we read today, an interesting one is in the second half of verse 14.  It is the statement that the risen Jesus spoke to Paul on the Damascus road: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  This statement, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads,” is a well-known proverb among Romans and Greeks.  It is an expression that reminds individuals that resisting the fate determined by the gods is a foolish act with no benefit to oneself. Just as kicking against a goad only results in wounds, obeying the will predetermined by the gods is the proper conduct for humans (Yoo).  How did these words of the risen Jesus resonate with Saul (Paul), who was persecuting those who believed in Jesus?  Even before hearing these words, Saul (Paul) was actively opposing the followers of Jesus, going against the divine will and persecuting those who believed in Jesus, similar to kicking against a goad.  The risen Jesus spoke to Saul (Paul), saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?  It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  Saul, who considered opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth as a divine duty (v. 9), realized the error of his divine calling when he heard the voice of the risen Jesus in the Damascus road.  He came to understand that the true divine calling is not to oppose Jesus and the gospel but to love Jesus and proclaim His gospel.

So, what is the divine calling given to you and me?  What is the mission that the Lord has given us?  It is none other than to testify to Jesus.  We are witnesses of Jesus (1:8).  What should witnesses of Jesus do?  We must proclaim Jesus with our mouths.  We must proclaim the gospel of Jesus.  With the help of God, we must testify to the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross.  This is the divine calling given to us.  Wherever we go, whatever we do, we have the responsibility to fulfill this divine calling.  And to fulfill this responsibility, we absolutely need the help of God.  I hope and pray that we may receive God's help not only to testify to Jesus with our lips but also to live a life that witnesses to Jesus through our actions.

Feeling the urgent need for God's help,

James Kim

(Wishing for the proclamation of Christ's gospel through lips and life)