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Putting The Right Spin On Things - Acts 23:27
Putting The Right Spin On Things - Acts 23:27
The Roman army seized Paul as the Jews were beating him for supposedly bringing a Gentile into the temple area. They bound him with two chains but then let him address the Jews. He spoke to the Jews in Hebrew, which was probably not understood by the Romans. When Paul mentioned that God had sent him to preach to the Gentiles, the Jews again 'went berserk'. This time the Roman tribune ordered Paul to be 'examined by flogging'. It was after they had stretched him out and were ready to flog him that Paul informed them that he was a Roman citizen. Such flogging of a Roman citizen without proper trial and judgment was illegal. Paul had in fact saved the tribune from some serious trouble.
When the Tribune tells the story it is interesting how he tells it: "This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen" (Acts 23:27). While all of these statements are true, the whole of the understanding it portrays is not.
In one sense it doesn't make much difference, but in another, it was a statement given with the intent to deceive. Today, it would be glossed over as a simple 'spin'. Politicians do this sort of thing all the time. Rearrange the order of events and you look like the hero.
Politicians are not the only people who do this, for in truth we are all tempted to 'spin' the story for whatever advantage we might gain. Even if ALL do it, it doesn't make it right. But, we all know that. Don’t we?
Jesus said: "Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Anything more than this comes from evil" (Matt. 5:37). Paul wrote: "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another" (Eph. 4:25).
Hugh DeLong
