26:24
Festus claims to not be impressed, saying that Paul is out of his mind. It is probably the resurrection that is the main cause of this assessment, or possibly also the claim that the Messiah must suffer. We do not appreciate how ridiculous these things were. People did not rise from the dead never to die again, and why would a messiah suffer instead of being a victorious superhero?
26:25
Paul refutes Festus’ accusation. The gospel is rational and true. The events which happened during Jesus’ ministry were a matter of record, and the resurrection was, and is, a well attested event. Most telling, neither the Romans nor the Jews could produce a body. What Paul said was also rational. It was consistent with the Jewish Scriptures, our Old Testament. Note how often in Acts, and in his letters, it says Paul proved that Jesus is the Christ from the Scriptures. There is a rationality to the gospel, and it is important that both truth and rationality go together. The resurrection is a unique event. Occasionally a person may die and come back to life again to continue their normal life, eventually dying, but no one comes back from the death by crucifixion never to die again. The evidence cannot refute that this is actually what happened, the alternative explanations all have massive flaws in them, as many books on the evidence for the resurrection will attest. But we also need the rationale for the resurrection. Why did it happen? How does it fit into God’s overall plan? This is why those who tend to make the resurrection a stand alone event, downplaying or even ignoring the Scriptural context, are mistaken. The resurrection only makes sense in the light of the Old Testament.
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