Acts 26:1-8 - Why is it thought incredible that God raises the dead?

26:1-3

Agrippa then invited Paul to speak and explain himself. Paul spoke in respectful terms, getting on the right side of Agrippa so that he would be more likely to listen. He also flattered Agrippa by referring to his knowledge of the ways of the Jews. So he asked Agrippa to listen patiently.

26:4-8

Paul began by referring to his earlier life. From his youth he had been a devout Jew, and many others knew about this. Paul lived as a Pharisee. The Pharisees were the strictest Jewish party, being the most assiduous in following the Law. So Paul is saying that he is not a rebel against the Jewish Law. The whole message of the gospel is that it is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, it is what the Law was pointing forward to. The Old Testament contains many promises to Israel, yet the Jews themselves knew that they had never been completely fulfilled. Even after the return from Babylon and the rebuilding of the temple there were many who still saw themselves as being in exile, at least in a spiritual sense. If we look at the history of Israel since the return most of it, as in New Testament times, was spent under domination of some other nation. Yet the promises still stood. So Paul is saying that he stands accused because of his thoroughly Jewish hope.

Verse 8 is interesting and worth pondering, “Why is it thought incredible that God raises the dead?”. The common claim of the sceptic or atheist is that resurrections don’t happen. It is true that they don’t normally happen, but there is nothing unreasonable amount God, the creator of all things, raising someone from the dead. He is the one who gives life to all.