And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Acts 28:29

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More literally, it reads, “And he, having said these, the Jews departed, having much disputation among themselves” (CG).

In the previous verse, Paul proclaimed to the Jews who had heard his presentation of Christ Jesus, “Therefore, be it known to you that the salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear” (CG).

Now, Luke records, “And he, having said these, the Jews departed.”

This verse is omitted in some manuscripts, and it is missing from some modern translations because of that (such as the ESV). Doctrinally, it doesn’t change anything either way.

However, if it belongs in the Bible, and it seems unlikely that such a verse would be arbitrarily added, it shows that some Jews were convinced of the truth of the matter concerning Christ, or they at least wanted to search out the matter further. That is indicated in the next words, “having much disputation among themselves.”

In this clause is a word found only here in Scripture, suzétésis. It is a noun referring to a disputation or a mutual questioning. These Jews found themselves questioning what Paul had shown them from Scripture, and there was not an agreement fully decided among them.

Such a dispute would lead, as it always did, to a dividing of the people. There would be some coming to salvation while others continued on the path to condemnation. As Romans 11:5 says that there is a remnant of Jews saved by grace, and as Romans was written for the maintenance of the entire Gentile-led church age, then it remains true that the Jews have not been rejected entirely.

The dispute among them remains to this day, but the movement of the Spirit among the Jews is expanding almost exponentially. The truth of salvation through the shed blood of Christ is finally taking deep roots among His long-wayward people. Healing for the nation is coming and Christ is coming to reign among them.

Until then, this dispute continues on. Many who come to Christ are shunned by family and friends, but Jesus told them that such a cost was to be expected.

Life application: In a society where Christ is openly accepted, one can expect less trouble coming to salvation through faith in the gospel. In fact, quite often exactly the opposite is the case. When a person makes a commitment to Christ, the family rejoices, but when Jesus is rejected, there is true sadness at the anticipated loss.

However, even in openly Christian societies, there are those who come to Jesus out of Islam or Judaism and the family is often angry. Depending on the family, it may even mean excommunication or death.

Muslims, in particular, have a written code that calls for those who leave the faith to be killed. It is not always carried out, but that is because they are not fulfilling the writings of their own religion. For example, this is what it says in Wikipedia concerning this matter –

“Death penalty is the traditional form of punishment for both male and female apostates for leaving Islam. Jaʿfari or Imāmī school – Male apostates must be executed, while female apostates must be held in solitary confinement until they repent and return to Islam. Apostasy from Islam is considered a hudud crime.”

This leaves people with an obvious dilemma. Will they be true to the false religion they were born into, eventually being cast into the Lake of Fire for rejecting Christ, or will they take the chance of being killed for the sake of Jesus but find eternal life through His shed blood?

Judaism doesn’t have any such written code to kill those who depart from their faith, and quite often, Jews don’t profess any faith in God at all. And more, Jews can become Buddhists, Muslims, etc. without losing their status as Jews. However, many Jews say that when a Jew converts and accepts Jesus, he or she is no longer a Jew.

This is a problem that must be considered. Messianic Jews, however, say that they become “completed Jews” when they come to Christ. They now possess the fulfillment of what their ancient culture always hoped for. In coming to Jesus, they are reconciled to God and are on the heavenly path to glory.

So, choices must be made at times. But the right choice is always to come to Jesus. Only He is the path that God has given for fallen man to be saved. This is the Christian message because it is the message of the Bible.

But that brings us to another sad development within the broader label of “Christian.” Liberal churches have now largely rejected what Scripture says. They now say that God accepts people from many paths and that Christ is not the exclusive way to be saved.

Unfortunately for them, they are not true Christians who proclaim this. They will find themselves taking an eternal swim in the Lake of Fire along with all who reject Jesus. Be sure to get the boxes right. There is the “Jesus is the way to be saved” box, and there are all others that lead to condemnation. Be sure to find yourself in the right one.

Lord God, You have sent Your Son into the world to bring us back to Yourself. He paid a high price to redeem us. How can we tread upon the precious blood of Christ through rejecting the offer, or diminishing the act, by saying that there is another path? We cannot! We proclaim that Jesus is Lord and that every knee will bow to Him. Some in salvation and others in condemnation. But we proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord! Amen.