WWBDTJ?

Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Acts 28:7-22 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

Back in the 90s, many Christian young people sported a WWJD (‘What Would Jesus Do?’) wristband to encourage holy living in word and deed. It’s not perfect theologically (much of the time, we can’t do what Jesus would do; some of the time we shouldn’t); but it probably did more good than harm. The conclusion of Paul’s story invites a mirror-image question: WWBDTJ – ‘What Would Be Done To Jesus?’ – for the Apostle’s experience so clearly echoes that of his Lord that we are surely meant to notice the pattern.

Paul heals the sick (vv8-9), keeps the Law with integrity (v17), and proclaims the hope of Israel and the kingdom of God (vv20, 23). Yet he is handed over to the gentile Romans at the instigation of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem (v17). Found innocent, the Roman officials look to release him (v18), but pressure continues for the death penalty (v19) despite the lack of evidence (v17). His case gets passed up from one Roman official to another (v20) and eventually ends, beyond Acts itself, with his judicial murder.

Of course there are significant differences between what happened to Jesus and what Paul underwent. But the similarities are striking and instructive. Faithful followers of Jesus may expect, in some measure, to share in the experience of irrational hatred, cruel rejection, and unjust suffering that He endured.

Today is Holy Saturday: the day the Church remembers that there is nothing which Jesus would not undergo in saving solidarity with us. As the Apostles’ Creed summarises, not only was Christ crucified, died, and was buried, but also ‘descended to the dead’ (traditionally, ‘into hell’). The Lord of Life drained the bitter cup of Death to its very dregs that He might know and experience our death from the inside, to its fullest degree, and overthrow it from within.

In that light, it is no great thing if Paul—or I, or you—suffer for a season in solidarity with Him. We can scarcely compare our experience with Christians who face violent persecution; but if ever we feel cruelly mocked, unfairly judged, discriminated-against, or disliked because of our faith, we should draw strength and comfort from our participating in the pattern set by Jesus and first paralleled in the lives of his Apostles. After all, WWBDTJ.