While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth. ~ Acts 26:24-25
A lot happens between chapters 21 and 28, when Acts ends. Paul gets arrested and over and over has to defend himself. He gets shipwrecked and he goes to Rome.
In the midst of that, his truth-telling never changes.
Throughout Acts we see all the ways in which God is going a new thing. We see how outsiders become insiders and insiders become outsiders.
We see a small band of followers become a religion.
But through it all, something never changes. Not for Paul, not for the disciples, not for the fledgling church.
For this church, the radical claim they made guided everything they did: Jesus is Lord.
Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.
In Greek, this became the acronym "Ichthys."
You probably know it as the Christian Fish Symbol.
The Ichthys was used as a secret symbol for one Christian to be able to know another. It didn't appear until the second century, when being a Christian became dangerous.
But the truth of it was something Paul and the early Christians claimed out loud.
Jesus Christ is Lord. Not Caesar, who claimed to be.
Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.
Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, help me to speak your bold truth in all areas of my life. Amen
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