Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.
I had no idea Paul was an uncle. Can you even imagine having a "crazy uncle Paul" who is always going on long journeys and getting in arguments with tons of people. I can imagine Paul's sister tried at times to isolate her son from her brother who was in-and-out of jail and always causing chaos.
And despite all this, Paul must have made a deep impression on his nephew. For here we see him desperately trying to save his uncle from getting into trouble once again. Can you imagine having this conversation with your uncle:
"But, uncle, they're going to kill you!"
Paul shrugs his shoulders and smiles broadly. "Isn't like they haven't tried that before... did I ever tell you about the time I was stoned?"
"But, uncle, you're not as young as you used to be. Don't you think you ought to be a little more careful?"
"Been reckless all my life, don't see any point in stopping now. Might as well finish what I started..."
I can imagine leaving that conversation deeply confused, and maybe even a little bit upset. What could possibly make this "Jesus" so important that it's worth losing an uncle over? And yet, Paul was such an incredible influence that maybe years after his death after I gradually came to realize the immensity of what he had accomplished. Maybe it would gradually start to make sense.
But even still, I can imagine calling him "my crazy uncle Paul" for the rest of my life.
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