Observation: As the Romans bind Paul and are about to torture him for information about the unrest he seems to be causing, this is the exchange between him and the commander of the garrison in Jerusalem. Now ... for a little research ...
At one time, there were classes of Roman citizenship based on how it was acquired. By the mid 1st century, these had been somewhat simplified and had mostly to do with the location of one's birth and its status as a province of the empire at that time, though the rights of individuals still changed based on a hierarchy of citizenship status. Paul, being from Tarsus (a town in modern day Turkey), was born there when it was already part of the Roman empire, and likely had 'Latini' status, giving him some basic legal protections and the right to travel freely throughout the empire, but he could not vote or hold office. By stating he had to buy his citizenship, the commander is LIKELY indicating that he is aligned to the 'Socii' class of citizenship, meaning he was born in a non-Roman area, later annexed by Rome, and that then he acquired citizenship. This makes some sense since the most common means of acquisition was military service, so it's possible this man joined the Roman Legion to gain citizenship (which would, indeed, be a high personal price, and could be called a 'sum of money' if he had to surrender personal property to join the legion).
In fact, given that Judea falls under this classification of territories, it is POSSIBLE this commander is Jewish, and his questioning of Paul includes that context of effectively saying, "we're both Jewish, but you're not in the military so how did you get your legal status?" And yes, in terms of citizenship, this means Paul outranks the commander.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this research is that, while Paul's citizenship status is not very "high" and has limits, the one explicit and special right he has that lesser citizens don't have is ... total freedom of travel. This made Paul interestingly qualified to be Jesus' apostle to the gentiles. Paul was a full Jew and a Pharisee, yet could freely travel the entire Mediterranean simply by showing status as he went, without any need for special permission, and without any interference from government authorities. This combination of heritage, education, and legal status was absolutely rare, and maybe even unique.
And ... that's exactly how the Lord calls people into service. He grants them some level of uniqueness, which might seem meaningless or might not be known even to the individual, then calls them into a role or activity for which that uniqueness somehow prepared them.
Application: This revelation today makes me both excited and depressed. I am excited by the idea that, still in my life, the Lord may have prepared me for some future service and calling, and it's okay that I don't know what that is because I might not be even aware of the preparation. I am depressed because ... I so doubt that to be true, as I believe more and more every day that I am unworthy of being trusted with a call from the Lord.
I am no longer a coordinator of services and outreach activities. I am no longer easily able to move equipment to set up physical spaces for service. I now don't even have an income where I can just write a check and pay for entire programs with an anonymous gift.
Maybe there is some combination of abilities I don't understand, but for which the Lord will someday see the wisdom to call an old man with just those things. I can hope.
Prayer: Lord, I thank you for your mercy in my life. You answer my prayers, forgive my sins, and show both mercy and love toward me, and I am so very, very grateful. May my heart begin a journey to be worthy of your call to service, in some way, more and more every day. Amen.
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