Acts
23:1-5 … And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have
lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” And the high
priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are
you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you
order me to be struck?” Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high
priest?” And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest,
for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”
Paul is having great difficulty in communicating in
Jerusalem. He has been repeatedly interrupted by angry listeners. Remember that
these events, in God’s sovereign control, were unfolding after Paul made the
mistake of intending to conform himself to the sacrificial practices of the
temple. God prevented Paul from actually participating in the sacrifice but
these events are a cascade of problems that followed his action.
Paul starts by trying to say that he has not done
anything wrong. His statement in pretty strong and the high priest orders that
he be hit for saying that he is living in good conscience. This Ananias is the
son of Nebedaeus and the Ananias was high priest from AD 48 to AD 59. He was
not a nice guy. This is not the Annas of John 18:13. Ananias was assassinated
early in the war with Rome (AD 66 to AD 70) that culminated with the
destruction of the Temple in the judgment of Jerusalem.
Paul is correct in calling Ananias a whitewashed wall
since he looked good on the outside but served chiefly as an obstruction.
Ananias had acted unlawfully but Paul realized that he should not “speak evil”
of a ruler. As Christians in this century we need to remember that warning.
Calling a ruler a “name” is different from discussing right and wrong actions.
Remember that in our culture it has become common to use “ad hominem”
arguments. They aren’t really arguments but simply name calling events. We
should not call names. We should speak the truth about actions and especially
show respect for the office of a ruler.
Acts
23:6-10 … Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the
other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son
of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead
that I am on trial.” And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the
Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees
say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees
acknowledge them all. Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the
Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this
man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” And when the dissension became
violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them,
commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force
and bring him into the barracks.
Keep in mind that the Tribune is here trying to figure
out what is going on. This didn’t help the Tribune at all except to see that
the ruling council of Jerusalem was deeply divided. Paul made a politically
astute maneuver to pit the Sadducees against the Pharisees. It is hard to see
any benefit for the Kingdom of God in what Paul did but it did assure that the
council would not be able to agree on the fate of Paul. In fact, they nearly
tore Paul apart but the Tribune had his soldiers move in to extract Paul from
the mess he was in.
I think Paul had to be a bit discouraged. Compare this
visit with Paul’s previous visit in which he rocked the world by standing up
for the finished work of Christ. He had ministered to the Church the first
time. He had brought a Gentile with him and taught the Church leadership what
was wrong with requiring the law as if it were needed for justification. In the
first trip he was singing “Nothing but the Blood” but this time he was really
bogged down in very sticky politics. But God is still God and was still
sovereign over all this mess.
Acts
23:11 … The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for
as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify
also in Rome.”
The Lord reassures Paul that his testimony about Christ
was heard. The first Church Council was a hard place but Paul was heard. Even
this time we saw that Paul was able to share with the Jerusalem leadership. Seeds
were planted in the leadership of the Jerusalem Church and it was about time
for God to move Paul out of Jerusalem.
Acts
23:12-15 … When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an
oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than
forty who made this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and
said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we
have killed Paul. Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the
tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his
case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”
So they a cabal formed in a true sense of the word
because the origin of the word is the Hebrew Kabbalah meaning knowledge that
was secret and/or occult. These 40 men
developed this conspiracy and then went to get the chief priests and elders to
by in. They planned an ambush to kill Paul on his way to give additional
information to the council. The Tribune would likely have only sent Paul with a
light guard detail and 40 would probably have been able to murder Paul … if
they weren’t too hungry. However, once again, God is sovereign.
Acts
23:16-22 … Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and
entered the barracks and told Paul. Paul called one of the centurions and said,
“Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” So he
took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the prisoner called me
and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to
you.” The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately,
“What is it that you have to tell me?” And he said, “The Jews have agreed to
ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to
inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not be persuaded by them, for
more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound
themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And
now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” So the tribune dismissed the
young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these
things.”
Children are just about invisible sometimes. God used
Paul’s nephew to protect Paul and to move him out of Jerusalem. It was not
uncommon for relatives to have access to prisoners and Paul was in the barracks
anyway. The Tribune takes the information but keeps it private while he acts.
Acts
23:23-24 … Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two
hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far
as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. Also provide mounts for Paul to
ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.”
Forty hungry men would not have a chance against this
group. In addition, the Tribune moved him at night north to Caesarea on the
coast. This was at least 40 or 50 miles with a road that worked around the
features of the land.
Acts
23:25-30 … And he wrote a letter to this effect: “Claudius Lysias, to his
Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and
was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and
rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. And desiring to know
the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their
council. I found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but
charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. And when it was disclosed
to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once,
ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”
Here we find the name of the Tribune to be Claudius
Lysias. Felix began as a slave but he and his brother were freedmen and rose to
power. Felix was not a nice person. One early historian named Tacitus said that
he was king but had the mind of a slave filled with cruelty and lust. He was
easy to bribe but very violent if someone opposed his power or disrupted the
government.
Acts
23:31-35 … So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and
brought him by night to Antipatris. And on the next day they returned to the
barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. When they had come to Caesarea
and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.
On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned
that he was from Cilicia, he said, “I will give you a hearing when your
accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod’s praetorium.
Antipatris was about 30 miles from Jerusalem. They
soldiers the night and marched back to Jerusalem. The cavalry went on to
Caesarea and then Paul was imprisoned in a building that Herod constructed. It
had prison cells in it.
One thing to always remember in your life is that God is
in control of every detail. Jesus told us that God knows every time a sparrow
falls. It is very hard in the noise of life to keep to keep focused on God and
remain faithful. Remember that the shield of faith is not just a defensive
weapon. You hit and push with it. Your faith can keep the enemy off balance and
subject to the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
From “If” by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your
head when all about you
Are losing theirs and
blaming it on you;
If you can trust
yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance
for their doubting too;
If you can wait and
not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about,
don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated,
don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look
too good, nor talk too wise;
…
If you can fill the
unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds'
worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth
and everything that's in it,
And - which is more -
you'll be a Man my son!
Believing that God is in charge when people are losing their head, doubting, not waiting on God, misrepresenting your actions, and angry with you is hard. But we have seen that it is possible by yielding and standing on the Holy Spirit.
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