the lost in other lands

Acts 21:37-22:22 (JDV)

Acts 21:37 As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?” He replied, “You know how to speak Greek?
Acts 21:38 Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the unpopulated region?”
Acts 21:39 Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, not a citizen of an insignificant city. Now I beg you, let me speak to the people.”
Acts 21:40 After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew dialect:
Acts 22:1 “Men — brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”
Acts 22:2 When they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even quieter.
Acts 22:3 He continued, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, disciplined at the feet of Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
Acts 22:4 I chased this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail,
Acts 22:5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to bring those who were there tied up to Jerusalem to be punished.
Acts 22:6 “As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from the sky suddenly flashed around me.
Acts 22:7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you chasing me?’
Acts 22:8 “I reacted, ‘Who are you, Lord? ‘ “He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are chasing.’
Acts 22:9 Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
Acts 22:10 “I said, ‘What should I do, Lord? ‘ “The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.’
Acts 22:11 “Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.
Acts 22:12 Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who was testified about by all the Jewish residents there,
Acts 22:13 came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him.
Acts 22:14 And he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his desire, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth,
Acts 22:15 since you will be a testifier for him to all people of what you have seen and heard.
Acts 22:16 And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your failures, calling on his name.’
Acts 22:17 “After I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a condition of ecstasy
Acts 22:18 and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, in view of the fact that they will not accept your testimony about me.’
Acts 22:19 “But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten.
Acts 22:20 And when the blood of your testifier Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval and keeping the clothes of those who took him out.’
Acts 22:21 “He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'”
Acts 22:22 They listened to him up to this point. Then they lifted up their voice, shouting, “Wipe this man off the face of the land! He should not be allowed to live!”

the lost in other lands

The Roman commander, even under the mistaken impression that Paul was a violent agitator, still acted to protect him. His response was shaped by duty, not theology. The Jewish mob, however, was driven by something deeper and more volatile. Paul’s past as a persecutor meant nothing to them. What enraged them was his testimony that God had sent him to bring salvation to the Gentiles. That claim struck at the heart of their theological assumptions. They believed passionately that God’s love was uniquely directed toward Israel, and that conviction prevented them from seeing the wideness of God’s mercy. Their anger was not fueled by a misunderstanding of Paul’s actions but by a rejection of the gospel truth he proclaimed.

This moment exposes a recurring pattern in Acts: the gospel challenges deeply held cultural and religious boundaries. Paul’s message did not deny God’s love for Israel; it revealed that this love was never meant to be exclusive. The promise to Abraham had always included “all nations,” but centuries of cultural identity had narrowed that vision. When Paul declared that Gentiles could come to God without becoming Jews, the announcement collided with long‑standing assumptions about who could belong to God’s people. The mob’s fury was the reaction of a community unable to imagine that God’s grace extended beyond its own borders.

The same challenge confronts the church today. God continues to call people to carry the gospel across cultural, linguistic, and national boundaries. Yet believers can easily fall into patterns of thinking that mirror the attitudes of that Jerusalem crowd—assuming, often unconsciously, that God’s deepest concern aligns with their own community, their own nation, their own priorities. When that happens, the global mission of God becomes secondary, and the needs of those in distant lands fade from view.

But the gospel refuses to be confined. It pushes outward, crossing borders and breaking down dividing walls. It calls the church to go, to send, to support, and to love those whom God loves—people in every land, speaking every language, shaped by every culture. The resistance of the Jerusalem mob stands as a warning: theology can become a barrier when it is shaped more by cultural loyalty than by the heart of God.

Lord, forgive the blindness that ignores your love for those in other lands, and awaken in your people a renewed commitment to your global mission.