Apostle Paul Before the Sanhedrin
Apostle Paul before the Sanhedrin
The destination for Paul is Rome in this extraordinary journey of taking the gospel to all the “ends of the earth”. God in his perfect design and in control of all world history allows and uses everything for his glory including the then reigning civilization – the Roman Empire. Rome being the capital of the then world had the infrastructure to initiate the spread of the Gospel to all over the world. But before Paul will get to Rome, he would have to stand at least four trials – before the Sanhedrin, Governors Felix and Festus, and King Agrippa.
The Sanhedrin is “the Supreme Jewish court, consisting of 70 to 100 men”. The Commander who now has custody of Paul after his arrest wants to give the Jewish court a chance to hear Paul’s case. In between the hearings, there were plots by the Jews to kill Paul and God would foil each of those plans. Read about how God used Paul’s nephew to foil one of these plans (Acts 23: 12-22). If God is behind your mission or endeavor, it will be accomplished and nothing can stop it though the road may be very rough as it was for Paul.
Acts 22:30 – Acts 23: 1-11:
30The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.
1Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." 2At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"
4Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?"
5Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'[a]"
6Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead." 7When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)
9There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" 10The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.
11The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. We see a little drama in the court. The High Priest orders that Paul be slapped in the mouth. Paul replied and said, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall”. Paul, just like any of us had had it. There comes a time when we run out of patience and blot out things from out mouth. Paul was as human as we are. Injustice makes each of us angry. Though Paul was saying the truth, the way it came out may not have been the best. We see Paul apologizing to the high Priest.
2. The hypocrisy of the Jewish council was so obvious. They had the “whitewashed” Religion without Christ and the Spirit. Hypocrisy displays the best “attractive exterior but filled with unclean contents”. I can’t help but think about that which has captured the world headlines for the past weeks – the exposure of Tiger Wood’s multiple mistresses. Tiger was squeaky clean on the golf course but no one knew the secret adulterous life of his (We pray for the salvation of Tiger). Like the Jewish council, the height of hypocrisy is living a life without Christ. We can’t live and obey God on our own. Any living without accepting the finished work of Christ’s atonement for our sin is pure pretense and hypocrisy.
3. “The sad you see” Sadducees. No wonder. They rejected and denied the resurrection, presence of angels and the spirits. I guess they are living for here. It reminds of someone I spoke to this past week who said he believes in God but does not believe that there is a devil and that there will be no judgment day. He said “hell and heaven is all here on earth as we live it”. I told him that he does not believe in God either.
4. On the other hand, the Pharisees believed the resurrection, the angels and spirits but they would not believe the witness of the “Holy Spirit of God”. A major news agency this week reported that Americans are getting more “spiritual” because now people are mixing and matching various religions. They take a little of Christianity combined with a Hinduism, astrology and yoga and etc. America loves the “buffet style and all you can eat” religion. There is only one true Spirit and that is the Spirit of Christ. If you don’t have him, you are none of His. We should also watch out for two extremes of those who worship the angels and spirits and those who think the evil spirit is in everything. This I call the voodoo Christianity. These so called Christians cast the devil everywhere and every time. Remember, greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. It is still God’s world and He is in charge and not the devil.
5. Paul saw the loop hole of disagreement over beliefs between the Sadducees and the Pharisees and took advantage of it in his defense. The Pharisees are now fighting for Paul. I thought the strategy was brilliant and must have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. Let our strategies be inspired by God and not only by our intelligence alone.
6. God gives reassurance to Paul that he will eventually get to Rome. “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome" vs. 11. God knows when we are about to give up and he sends his word of encouragement. Is that where you are right now? About to give up and throw in the towel? Do not please and hang in with God. Please encourage someone who is about to give up today. Your words may be the words he/she needs from God.
Are you standing your own trial today before your family, work and school colleagues and neighbors? Remember, we do not have to say everything that comes to our head but to choose our words carefully. Apostle Paul was just as vulnerable as we are. This past week, I had my moment with a guard at my work place who would not believe another guard who had searched my bag and found nothing. I kind of gave it to him in a moment of anger but later in the day, I went and apologized to him. Hey, I am human and so are you (I hope). Let’s practice Truth with kindness and love. Listen to Apostle Paul. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” Galatians 6:9. Don’t give up even in the midst of trials. May God Himself strengthen you. Amen.
The destination for Paul is Rome in this extraordinary journey of taking the gospel to all the “ends of the earth”. God in his perfect design and in control of all world history allows and uses everything for his glory including the then reigning civilization – the Roman Empire. Rome being the capital of the then world had the infrastructure to initiate the spread of the Gospel to all over the world. But before Paul will get to Rome, he would have to stand at least four trials – before the Sanhedrin, Governors Felix and Festus, and King Agrippa.
The Sanhedrin is “the Supreme Jewish court, consisting of 70 to 100 men”. The Commander who now has custody of Paul after his arrest wants to give the Jewish court a chance to hear Paul’s case. In between the hearings, there were plots by the Jews to kill Paul and God would foil each of those plans. Read about how God used Paul’s nephew to foil one of these plans (Acts 23: 12-22). If God is behind your mission or endeavor, it will be accomplished and nothing can stop it though the road may be very rough as it was for Paul.
Acts 22:30 – Acts 23: 1-11:
30The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.
1Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." 2At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"
4Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?"
5Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'[a]"
6Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead." 7When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)
9There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" 10The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.
11The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. We see a little drama in the court. The High Priest orders that Paul be slapped in the mouth. Paul replied and said, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall”. Paul, just like any of us had had it. There comes a time when we run out of patience and blot out things from out mouth. Paul was as human as we are. Injustice makes each of us angry. Though Paul was saying the truth, the way it came out may not have been the best. We see Paul apologizing to the high Priest.
2. The hypocrisy of the Jewish council was so obvious. They had the “whitewashed” Religion without Christ and the Spirit. Hypocrisy displays the best “attractive exterior but filled with unclean contents”. I can’t help but think about that which has captured the world headlines for the past weeks – the exposure of Tiger Wood’s multiple mistresses. Tiger was squeaky clean on the golf course but no one knew the secret adulterous life of his (We pray for the salvation of Tiger). Like the Jewish council, the height of hypocrisy is living a life without Christ. We can’t live and obey God on our own. Any living without accepting the finished work of Christ’s atonement for our sin is pure pretense and hypocrisy.
3. “The sad you see” Sadducees. No wonder. They rejected and denied the resurrection, presence of angels and the spirits. I guess they are living for here. It reminds of someone I spoke to this past week who said he believes in God but does not believe that there is a devil and that there will be no judgment day. He said “hell and heaven is all here on earth as we live it”. I told him that he does not believe in God either.
4. On the other hand, the Pharisees believed the resurrection, the angels and spirits but they would not believe the witness of the “Holy Spirit of God”. A major news agency this week reported that Americans are getting more “spiritual” because now people are mixing and matching various religions. They take a little of Christianity combined with a Hinduism, astrology and yoga and etc. America loves the “buffet style and all you can eat” religion. There is only one true Spirit and that is the Spirit of Christ. If you don’t have him, you are none of His. We should also watch out for two extremes of those who worship the angels and spirits and those who think the evil spirit is in everything. This I call the voodoo Christianity. These so called Christians cast the devil everywhere and every time. Remember, greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. It is still God’s world and He is in charge and not the devil.
5. Paul saw the loop hole of disagreement over beliefs between the Sadducees and the Pharisees and took advantage of it in his defense. The Pharisees are now fighting for Paul. I thought the strategy was brilliant and must have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. Let our strategies be inspired by God and not only by our intelligence alone.
6. God gives reassurance to Paul that he will eventually get to Rome. “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome" vs. 11. God knows when we are about to give up and he sends his word of encouragement. Is that where you are right now? About to give up and throw in the towel? Do not please and hang in with God. Please encourage someone who is about to give up today. Your words may be the words he/she needs from God.
Are you standing your own trial today before your family, work and school colleagues and neighbors? Remember, we do not have to say everything that comes to our head but to choose our words carefully. Apostle Paul was just as vulnerable as we are. This past week, I had my moment with a guard at my work place who would not believe another guard who had searched my bag and found nothing. I kind of gave it to him in a moment of anger but later in the day, I went and apologized to him. Hey, I am human and so are you (I hope). Let’s practice Truth with kindness and love. Listen to Apostle Paul. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” Galatians 6:9. Don’t give up even in the midst of trials. May God Himself strengthen you. Amen.
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