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Acts 28:23
“When [the Roman Jews] had appointed a day for [Paul], they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.”
Having arrived in Rome for his hearing before Caesar, Paul did not go to the emperor right away. Instead, he was kept under house arrest and allowed to receive visitors. The Apostle deeply loved his fellow Jews and sought their salvation, so unsurprisingly, Paul spent only three days without visitors before calling the Jewish leaders in Rome to come see him so that he could tell them about the hope of Israel (Acts 28:16–22; see Rom. 9:1–5).
In today’s passage, we see that the Jewish leaders set an appointment with Paul to come back and hear from him. So “from morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets” (Acts 28:23). Paul’s going straight to Jesus after telling the Jews that he was there to inform them about the hope of Israel indicates that Jesus is the hope of Israel, and that the entire Old Testament finds its fulfillment in Him. Thus, it will be helpful to consider what it means for Jesus to be the hope of Israel.
First, we should note that the concept of the “hope of Israel” is not a longing for something that may or may not come to pass. In normal everyday conversation, we tend to think of “hope” as a desire that might not be fulfilled, but the biblical concept of hope is different. Theologically, hope refers to a certainty that is yet future or that is unseen. For example, David says that we hope in God not because God might or might not exist and might or might not assist His people but because we do not see our invisible Creator (Ps. 39:7). Paul calls the return of Jesus Christ the “blessed hope” not because there is any chance that He might not come back but because the second advent is yet future (Titus 2:13).
Jesus is the “hope of Israel” because He is the certainty for which the old covenant people of God waited. Ancient Israel looked forward to the installation of the Son of David as king over all the nations (Ps. 2:1–12). Believing Israelites yearned for God to rescue them from the curse of exile, and not simply for their return to their land but for forgiveness of the sin that had put them into exile (Jer. 31:34). They longed for these things because they knew that they would mean the end of death and a new creation for all worshipers of the true God (Isa. 25:6–12; 65:17–25). As the hope of Israel, Jesus is the Son of David set over the nations, the One through whom we have forgiveness and who will one day receive the new creation (1 Cor. 15:20–28).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The promises of God have begun their fulfillment in the first coming of Jesus and in the church, and they will reach their final consummation in the new heavens and earth. Yet we can sometimes find ourselves doubting these truths. Regular participation in the local church where people continually point us to the truth of Christ will help us fight and put these doubts to rest.
For further study
- Job 13:15
- Psalm 130
- John 5:45–46
- Romans 5:1–5
The bible in a year
- Jonah 4–Micah 2
- Revelation 9