Acts 28,28 — Why? 185 The secondary or subordinate purpose of Jesus’ public life is expressed in the second part of 16,16: kai; pa'" eij" aujth;n biavzetai (34). The better expression of this role of Jesus occurs within a confrontation with certain Pharisees and Scribes (Luke 5,30-31). To them Jesus says, “I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners”. This call to repentance, which is the “urging” in the word biazetaiΔ is related to the divine pleasure “because he has fixed a day v when the whole world will be judged (35) in uprightness by a man he has appointed. And God has publicly proved this by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17,31). Given the theological understanding of the plan of God in Luke- Acts, it is difficult not to see in most all of what Jesus says and does calls, encouragements to repentance so as to pass the Final Judgment and enter into the Kingdom of God. Here is found the good news that Jesus offers to Israel. It is doubtful that Luke would have changed Jesus’ emphasis on encouragement to repentance, once Luke moved into the story of Acts. On the contrary, one reads Acts with this Gospel reality in view. It seems more logical to read 28,28 against the tendency of Luke to offer encouragement to repentance (36). Paul himself had expressed a goal for his life identical to that of Jesus: “…to open eyes… to turn from darkness to light, from dominion of Satan to God, that… they may obtain forgiveness of sins and a portion among God’s people” (Acts 26,18). This speech before Agrippa is written as a final reminder of the essence of Paul’s work, and so the expression within it of Jesus’ reason for sending Paul is of the greatest importance. If, then, Paul knew his role to be that of one to motivate to repentance, it seems best to understand 28,26-28 under this same rubric. * ** The remarks of Paul to departing Jewish leaders (finally widened to pleivone") in Rome lead up to, and conclude with a sentence introduced by ou\n; it is also an expressed (though third-person) (34) The sense of the verb biavzetai is best understood as “being strongly encouraged”; Jesus has this as his daily purpose. Cf. the comment of FITZMYER, Acts, 1117, who cites others in support of this interpretation. (35) ou|tov" ejstin oJ wJrismevno" uJpo; tou' qeou' krith;" zwvntwn kai; nekrw'n. (36) Cf. Acts 5,31; also, “To the very end Paul remains faithful to the Lord’s calling to bear witness to both Jews and Gentiles…Neither Jewish rejection nor Roman imprisonment prevents him from preaching ‘with all boldness’ in response to this call”, TANNEHILL, Narrative Unity, II, 352.