Acts 28:17-22. After three days in Rome, Paul calls together the Jewish leaders there. He tells them he has been delivered to Rome as a prisoner because the Jews in Jerusalem wanted him dead, even though they could bring no charge against him. He wants to speak with the Jews in Rome, he says, "since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain." The Jews respond that they have received no letters or reports against Paul, but they do desire to hear from him because they know that this new sect of which he preaches is spoken against everywhere.

The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, remember, had been in a murderous frenzy over Paul. They tried everything to kill him or have the Roman authorities kill him, which is why Paul appealed to Caesar and ended up here in Rome. But now we learn that they did not even write to the Jews in Rome about Paul, nor send any messengers. As soon as Paul left Jerusalem and was out of their hands, it seems, they put him out of their minds. It's obvious they had no real charges against Paul, or they would have been certain to send them to Rome. Their fury, rather, was purely emotional. It was the same fury that led to Stephen's death and Paul's many persecutions during his travels. It is the result of fear, hatred, and division sown by the devil.

As we see this same kind of unfounded hatred and rage rising again today, one lesson we can learn from this reading is that getting ourselves out of the locale of the rage can go a long way to calming things, at least temporarily. Paul could have chosen to be tried by the Jews in Jerusalem, but everyone knows how that would have ended up - they were going to kill him even before he came to trial. So he appealed to Caesar and was sent to Rome. As soon as he left, the Jews in Jerusalem had no focal point for their hatred, so they had to go back to their daily lives. Their anger was still there, I'm sure, but there was nothing they could do about it because Paul was no longer in their midst, so they had to move on, for a while at least. None of this is to say that the problem has been solved, if Paul went back to Jerusalem right now, it would all start up again.

Christianity will always be hated and its followers persecuted somewhere in the world. Today we see that hatred rising in our own country, and even sometimes our own families. We know the storm is coming, if not here, but this just gives us more opportunity to try to act like the early disciples. When we find ourselves in a situation such as Paul did, our best bet is to get out of it if at all possible - get off the phone or off of Facebook; don't willingly hang out with people who will attack you; leave the party when the discussion turns divisive and angry. It is good to debate things in good faith, as the disciples did about circumcision, but it is never good to try to dialogue with the devil. From reading Acts, we can recognize definite situations where there is no reasonable debate to be had. When people get to the state that the Jews in Jerusalem did, the best thing to do is deprive them of their scapegoat.