Acts 21:27-36

Some people are so easy to manipulate, they should have “USE ME” tattooed on their forehead. I know that sounds harsh, but that does not make it any less true. Every time the opposition to the gospel wanted to stir up trouble, there were people willing and ready to form a mob. They belonged to a portion of the population that was continually discontent. Some were suffering from, what today we label as, victim mentality. Others were simply malcontents and troublemakers.

There were many poor and downtrodden people in the Roman Empire. This has been true of every society that has ever existed. The degree of poverty and despair does vary, but there has been and always will be people who have less than what they desire, or even what they need. Poverty was not the cause of the unrest among the Jews. It was a combination of victim mentality, (blaming the Romans for their misfortune), their attitude of superiority, (we are God’s chosen, we should be in charge) and unrighteousness that kept some of them perpetually in a state of social unrest.

Any city with a large Jewish population was just one rabble-rouser away from rebellion. As had happened many times before, troublemakers were able to stir up a crowd and then turn the whole city against Paul. When the commander of the Roman guard tried to restore order, he could not get to the truth. Some in the riot yelled one thing and some another. He could not discover why they were beating Paul or even who Paul was.

Historically, some, while claiming to be Christians, have justified bigotry and prejudice against Jews based on their behavior in the Book of Acts. Such bigotry and prejudice is wicked and unrighteous. They did not riot because they were Jews; they rioted because they were sinful people with unrighteous attitudes. The same is true today for Hindutva extremists in India, communists in China, and Muslims in Syria. The Christian response is the gospel, not bigotry.