By Kevin Harris, pastor of the Illawarra Community Baptist Church in Wollongong, NSW
And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
Acts 18:6
The Apostle Paul is in Corinth on his second missionary journey. As is his custom, he first offers the word of the Lord to the Jews in their synagogue. Our verse today shows the response the majority of them gave.
Focus in with me on Paul’s response. Did he go into an emotional meltdown? Did he continue to seek to persuade them?
Rather we find a threefold response:
- A summary of where they stood at that moment
- A summary of where he personally stood at that moment
- His plan to offer the word of life to others
From Cain’s murder of Abel (Genesis 4:10) we are introduced to the concept that someone must take responsibility for human bloodshed. When someone is murdered, the Lord holds the victim’s blood against the murderer.
All life belongs to God. It is a serious offence to murder one of God’s creations because it is taking from God what is His. Man is just a little lower than the angels and higher than all animals and plants (Psalm 8). Therefore he is a very valuable possession of God.
Our understanding is expanded by Leviticus 20:9-12 and 2 Samuel 1:16 where guilt for certain crimes requires bloodshed, and the criminal is responsible for their own blood being shed. It’s like the Lord is saying, ‘I’m holding you responsible for living in such a way that your life (which is really Mine) had to be cut short.’
Here, in saying ‘Your blood be upon your own heads,’ Paul is saying that when God poured out His judgment on these Jews of Corinth, they would be held accountable to God for their own demise in hell. He personally was clean. He had relieved himself of his duty to witness to them.
He believed what Ezekiel 3:18 says, ‘When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.’ See also 33:4-9.
How many around us are committing the greatest crime of all in rejecting the Lord Jesus’ free gift of salvation? Their crime is heightened because they are robbing God of their eternal praise in heaven. Justice demands their eternal condemnation in hell and it’s their own fault.
To be clean, I must warn them!
Father, I must not be guilty of withholding from Your creations news of Your gracious offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Help me to give each person You bring into prolonged contact with me a clear presentation of Jesus Christ. If some oppose themselves and reject Christ, help me to move on to others and tell them too. May I stand before You at the end of my life and be able to say, ‘I am clean’ to Your honour. I ask this in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
This article was written by Kevin Harris Dapto pastor of Illawarra Community Baptist Church.