Layers Upon Layers

Acts 21:27-22:29 is a veritable labyrinth of lies and confusion; follow this for a second:

Acts 21:29 - We find out that Paul is arrested for allegedly bringing a Greek person into the temple courts.

Acts 21:30 - "The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions."

Acts 21:34 - The Roman soldiers got there to break it up but no one in the crowd knew why they were beating Paul to death. (Actually, everyone thought they knew what was going on, but when asked to explain their behavior they all had a different story.)

Acts 21:38 - The Roman gaurd is shocked that Paul is NOT the Egyptian that led four thousand terrorists into the desert. (WHAT?!? Where did he hear that from? I thought this was about a gentile in the Temple?!?)

Acts 22:2 - The crowd is silenced when Paul speaks in Aramaic. (Why?!? Paul was a Jew is Jerusalem. That would be like me being shocked to find someone speaking English in Charlotte.)

Acts 22:23 - The crowd finally unifies against Paul when they hear him say that he has been sent as an Apostle to the Gentiles. And they say, "Rid the earth of him, he is not fit to live!"

Possible Takeaways:

1) That when dealing with people who are "looking" for a reason to be upset, there is nothing you can do but let them burn through their issues.

2) Sometimes, it's not you!

3) The Scripture is a very rich, exciting and complicated book about people and their strengths and weaknesses. It's pretty clear from this passage that not much has changed about the way people treat each other.

4) fill in your own blank - this is a facinating passage!