Appeal to Caesar
Day 527, Tuesday, Jan. 20
Acts 25:1-22
Paul makes a momentous decision in chapter 25 that will shape the rest of his life and even his eventual death. Rather than being turned over to the Jews he exercises his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar for judgment.
We can’t know everything that was going on in Paul’s mind when he did this. After his plea, Festus declares, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
Paul may have done this because he assumed—correctly—that his Jewish opponents were plotting against him. It may be that making the appeal to Caesar would allow him to take his message to the heart of the empire.
It may have been that Jesus felt his best chance of fair treatment lay with the Roman government—after all, he had been raised as a Roman citizen as well as being a member of the Jewish faith.
Later in the book of Revelation we will read of a time when Christians considered Rome to be the enemy—a new incarnation of Babylon. But Christianity owes a lot to the Roman Empire. It was the Romans that provided a period of peace and stability that allowed for the free movement of people and trade that helped Christianity expand far beyond its place of origin. Even pagan Rome’s tolerance of other religions protected the growing Christian movement in its earliest years.

-Rev. Mark Fleming

Tuesday meditation

Psalms 68:1-6
May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him. May you blow them away like smoke—as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God. But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

Prayer focus
Let us be defenders of justice for all.