Bible Study With Jairus Acts 24

Acts 24 tells the story of a Jewish high priest, elders, and a lawyer named Tertullus accusing Paul when he was brought to Governor Felix to make his defense. The verse that we are discussing this time is: 24:15 and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. (NIV) A member of our bible study asked, "What did Paul mean by this statement?" In particular, we are questioning the phrase: "the same hope in God as these men themselves have." Who are "these men" referring to? As we were discussing this verse, the Holy Spirit gave us insight. A person who experientially knows and understands resurrection was being accused by people who only knew about the resurrection written in black and white. They had no personal experience to back it up. This is true of those in churches today. Some experientially know the power of the resurrection, and others only go by the written letter. Let's discuss this. I think that "these men" refers to the Jews. Paul's name was Saul before he became a Christian. He was a Pharisee like them (Philippians 3:5). The Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but the Sadducees didn't. Even though the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, they didn't accept Jesus, who proclaimed himself to be the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). They knew the doctrine of the resurrection but failed to see Jesus, who was the resurrection. There is a parable in China called "Lord Ye Loves Dragons." The parable is about a person who loves dragons so much that he fills his house with them, but when the dragon visited him, he was terrified and drove the dragon away. A person can be full of positive talk about a particular thing but, in actuality, not like it at all. The dragon is a negative image in the Bible and Western culture. I used the Chinese parable to illustrate a story. The Pharisees are "Lord Ye who Loves Dragons." They outwardly spoke of their hope for resurrection, but when Jesus came to them as the resurrection, they rejected Him. Paul was like this before his conversion. He passionately defended Judaism, even calling for the arrest of those who believed in Jesus. Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and transformed his life. He went from a persecutor of Christians to an apostle of Christ. Paul finally understood the resurrection not only in black and white but from personal experience. What happened here? Why can a spiritual experience completely change a person, yet the wealth of knowledge that he possessed before conversion didn't change him? Do you really know the resurrection through experience or only as words on the page? If Christians today truly understood the power of the resurrection, their attitude about life would be totally different. They wouldn't be so eager to cling to the things of this world.