Acts 25

“But they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive” (v19).  In the multicultural Roman Empire, diverse religions were tolerated as long as they didn’t spark political rebellion.  Paul wasn’t preaching violence, so Festus described the situation as simply a Jewish religious squabble.  Yet these “points of disagreement” changed the whole world.

If Jesus was really alive, the power to control people by their fear of death was broken.  Secure in God’s love, Jesus’ followers boldly lived out their new identity as citizens of His kingdom (Eph 2).