For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain."—Acts 28:20
Paul’s chains were in Christ...the hope of Israel. He was bound because of his belief in Israel’s Messiah. Simeon in Luke Chapter 2 calls the Messiah, the Consolation of Israel. Of all of the titles for Christ I think this one is my favorite. The word “consolation” always brings the sweet picture to my mind of a child receiving and finding comfort and solace on his mother’s lap. Jesus is truly my consolation in every way...He is the One who dries my tears and in whose lap I find solace. No matter what I might be facing in my daily circumstances, His Presence in my heart is its rejoicing. There are no words for the comfort He brings and no measure for the peace He provides me moment by moment. I can lose everything...but Jesus is my stay. He does not change. He is the same...yesterday, today and forever. He comforts me as I walk through this vale of tears, guides me with His counsel and will receive me in glory.
My heart breaks for God’s chosen people as I read this chapter...for the irony of it all. Israel rejects their Consolation...the One they had been waiting for forever...year in and year out. The One whose word they had studied. The One who had answered the cry of their hearts time and again. The One who was their Comfort. The One whose very word predicted their rejection. The One to whom they had sacrificed...the One who was their God and who desired to be their God forever.
Verse 17 begins Paul’s sixth and final defense to the Jews in regard to the charges against him. He draws his day long defense to a close with these words from Isaiah.
"The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
"saying,
'Go to this people and say:
"Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them."
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
Verse 24 tells us that some were persuaded but others disbelieved. For the Jews who heard Paul’s defense and disbelieved, this prophecy from Isaiah was fulfilled. Jesus’ lament in Matthew 23 echoed in my ears as I read it.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate.
For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
God wasn’t looking for religious externalities. God was looking for a heart that was tender and broken...a heart that trembled at His word. A heart that desired to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Oh Father, give me this kind of heart always!
Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:1-2 ESV)
Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word: "Your brothers who hate you and cast you out for my name's sake have said, 'Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy'; but it is they who shall be put to shame. (Isaiah 66:5, ESV)
Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23, ESV)
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him”—John 4:23
