Timely, Striking Word About Jesus

Our text is still our focus and here it is again. Provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix. Acts 23: 24

We are at the place where the commander listens to all that Paul’s nephew tells him and makes his own plans, diffusing and canceling the treacherous conspiracy against the life of the Lord’s servant, Paul.

Let’s listen to what the commander orders for prisoner Paul.

Provide mounts for Paul. There was to be not one mount, but more than one, be it two, or more. Here we observe, not just the commander’s authority and power in this situation, but his freedom to do as he sees fit. It is from this one command, provide mounts for Paul, that we are brought:-

To surrender all that we have been holding and not holding, before Jesus our Lord.
To seek forgiveness from Him, for our disdain and dishonour of His Authority and Power.
To show complete faith and trust in His Lordship.

Holy Lord, even as I begin to listen, believe and obey, in childlike trust, I ask You to please forgive my doubts, fears and total disrespect of You, Lord. You are LORD. You, O Holy Spirit, know all things. Who am I, a worthless worm, to gainsay You? Forgive me Lord, and grant me learning, in faith and trust please, Jesus. Amen!

Mounts, refer to the mode of transportation used in this particular setting. Mounts would be any beast that can be mounted. The horse was not the common mode of transport for the poor person or the prisoner. The mule or donkey was the used mode for such persons. This was an unusual situation. These were extenuating circumstances and the commander used his power and authority, to put his prisoner on a mount. We are not told this outright, but the thoughts, words and actions of the commander, speak volumes about the kind of commander he is. Let’s reason here.

Provide mounts for Paul. The commander is free to use his power and authority to make a decision which the law cannot uphold. He makes what many, bound by law, will call an unlawful decision. Remember, he is the person who is responsible for Paul’s safety. He has to ensure that Paul gets out of the holding place before the conspirators have a wink of knowledge that he is gone. Will he not choose the faster of the mounts? Will he not choose a horse, before a mule or donkey? The commander is free from the binds of the law to make and implement this change. By law, the prisoner is not accorded the pleasure of a horse as a mount. However, the law does not confine the commander.

Jesus is your Commander. Jesus is free to use His Power and Authority to make a decision which the law cannot uphold. He has been given charge over your life, for He is Lord of your life. He knows the evil one’s conspiracy for your life and so He acts, not according to the confines of the law, but according to the freedom of love. To save you from your conspiring enemies, He bestows upon you what is not yours by right. Just as the commander has the freedom to use the law to save a prisoner’s life, so too, believe that Jesus has the freedom to use the law to save you, the sinner’s life.

Cast your minds back to Jesus and the Sabbath rule. Jews were forbidden to do any manner of work on the Sabbath. But when Jesus’ disciples were hungry, He allowed them to pick corn and eat, as they walked along with Him. The Sabbath law did not bind Jesus, nor those who were walking with Him, in His Light. However, for all who lived by the law, Jesus was doing what was unlawful and breaking the Sabbath laws, in teaching His learners, what was sinful to do.

Jesus is your One and Only Saviour and He saved and still saves you on love and by love, never by law.