seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 23:1 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” 2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then 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!”
4 Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!”
5 Paul 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]”
6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When 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 believe all these things.)
9 There 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?” 10 The 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.
11 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.”
12 The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 More than forty men were involved in this plot. 14 They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15 Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”
16 But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.
17 Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him to the commander.
The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
19 The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”
20 He said: “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. 21 Don’t give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.”
22 The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”
23 Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen[b] to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. 24 Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”
25 He wrote a letter as follows:
26 Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings.
27 This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. 28 I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. 29 I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. 30 When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.
31 So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. 32 The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. 33 When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. 34 The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.
Footnotes:
a. Acts 23:5 Exodus 22:28
b. Acts 23:23 The meaning of the Greek for this word is uncertain
I took these from enduringword.com commentary.
And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth: Paul’s claim of a good conscience offended the high priest. He thought that someone accused of such serious crimes should never claim a clear conscience.
God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! We wish we knew how Paul said these words. It would have helped to hear Paul’s tone of voice; was it an outburst of anger, or was it a calm, collected rebuke with that much more weight to it?
One part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees: Paul’s course was to divide the Sanhedrin among their party lines – to get make side (the Pharisees) sympathetic to him, instead of having them united against him.
I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: Knowing his audience, Paul referred to his heritage as a Pharisee, and declared, “concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged.” He knew this was a matter of great controversy between the two parties.
When he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided: Paul picked the right issue. Framed in these terms, he immediately gained the Pharisees as an ally, and he let them argue it out with the Sadducees.
The commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them: The commander removed Paul for his own safety, and left him in custody in the barracks.
So you must also bear witness at Rome: The promise of more work to do was also a promise of continued protection. Paul had to live until he had finished the course God had appointed for him.
Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen: 470 trained Roman soldiers would escort Paul out of Jerusalem. It was as if God wanted to exaggerate His faithfulness to Paul, and show him beyond any doubt that the promise of Jesus was true.
Provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor: Not only did Paul escape Jerusalem alive, he did so riding a horse – actually, several mounts were made available to Paul.
I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman: In his letter, Lysias implied that he learned of Paul’s Roman citizenship right away, and he said nothing of the way Paul was bound twice and almost scourged for the sake of interrogation.
Had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains: For Luke, this was the important line in the letter. It is possible that Roman officials reviewed the Book of Acts before Paul’s trial before Caesar. Here, Luke showed that other Roman officials had judged Paul “not guilty.”
This is from the bibletrack.org site.
Paul is now on familiar ground. It's been a few years, but the Sanhedrin ("the council") he knows. Just as he gets started, the high priest gets testy with him and commands someone to smack Paul on the mouth. Paul replies, " God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?" Whoa! This is gonna be a tough meetin'. When it is pointed out that Paul has just insulted the High Priest, Paul apologizes and demonstrates his mastery of the Law of Moses by citing that he should not have spoken so to the High Priest based upon Exodus 22:28 , "Thou shalt not...curse the ruler of thy people."
Following is an excerpt from the Expositor's Bible Commentary:
Josephus, by the way, was a contemporary Jewish historian whose works have been preserved to this day.
Then Paul exploits the severe, but nevertheless accepted, rift he knew existed in the Sanhedrin - the difference between Sadducees and Pharisees. Both groups made up the Sanhedrin. Paul recognized that his best recourse in this situation was to point out his own Pharisaical membership and proclaim that he is being tried on the basis of his belief in the resurrection. Since the Pharisees were literalists and believed in the supernatural as opposed to the Sadducees, this immediately caused an uproar between these two religious/political factions. bringing the meeting to a near-violent close. Paul is removed from the meeting. He then gets a vision from the Lord telling him that he'll be taking this show to Rome.
One sure sign your message wasn't well received is when your audience plots your murder. I hate it when I preach a message like that. The high priest authorizes 40 men who had taken a solemn oath to kill Paul. One problem: the Romans have custody of him. Solution: get the high priest to call him before the Sanhedrin once again; that will provide opportunity for the 40 "oathers" (not a word, but should be) to slay him. What a devious bunch of scoundrels! The plot doesn't work though; Paul's nephew hears about the plot and reports it to the chief captain, who subsequently evades the threat. Incidentally, the oathers had vowed to not eat or drink until Paul was dead. Oooooo...tough luck guys!
Now I know, from reading I did in the past.... that Paul was not a handsome man.... he had a big nose and a short frame.... but when I read this... I imagine him as Sly Stallone in "first blood"..... a fighting man.... fighting "the man". Sorry... I'm and old gray haired, half blind, woman.... all I have left is the vivid imagination.
I see a few little lies going on here.... - Paul claimed he didn't know he was talking back to the chief priest..... he knew...
- Then those bringing the charges against him claimed he took a Gentile into the inner sanctuary in the temple.... they knew he didn't.
- Then there was the letter.... implying that the centurion knew Paul was a Roman citizen.... not mentioning the fact Paul had been shacked and beaten.... he knew.
I know it's recorded that Jesus actually talked to Paul when Paul went blind. I know it's recorded that Jesus actually talked to Paul in this chapter too.... and told Paul he still had work to do. Luke, the doctor, who wrote the Gospel of Luke..... wrote it down.... because Paul told him [Luke] it happened...... Now I'm bringing this up for a reason.....
Paul saw he was in a real pickle, standing in front of the Sanhedrin, so he turned the Sanhedrin against itself. He got the guys who didn't believe in Angels and Heaven to fight with those who did...... smart right? The Centurion thought they would pull Paul limb from limb and rescued him from them..... but not until he had already been punched in the face. I'm having a hard time with believing deception and strife are part of God's plan. It's not totally consistent with all the natural occurrences I've seen God use before... in the Bible.
Now I see the church fighting against itself. It's been going on for forever, apparently, but today there are several rips in the seams holding the church together.
I read there were "COVID parties" at some churches. Teens were sent to the party by their parents..... and some actually had the virus and a teen girl died..... oh that has caused a rip.... from the inside and the outside this has been argued.... some want to arrest the preacher for murder.... some want to arrest the mother.... and some want to blame God.....
There is a rip in the fabric of the church concerning the rape of young people by the priests and preachers. There are now lawyers who have produced television commercials offering their services to those who want to bring the church to court and make them pay.
AND last but not least.... much like the fight against the inclusion of the Gentiles back in the days of Paul..... most churches won't allow homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, or transvestites in the church..... claiming they are "unclean" to say the least.
I know this is about Paul in front of the Sanhedrin..... but I see a warning for the modern day church.... and I am worried. I don't know if Paul's lie is the source of my concern.... or if the message is giving me pause.
Remember.... in Prince Frederick... I attended a meeting at a church.... and the preacher wanted to stop preaching "Christ is the only way to Salvation" and replace it with "all are welcome in heaven" because that particular church "needs more income".
I'm not particularly a fan of Paul.... he's saying the right things.... but lying... that's a red flag for me.... sorry..... remember... I'm just an old half-blind woman with an online Bible and some online commentary..... what would I know about Paul being a liar.... really.... or troubles in the church... really.... who am I to question a liar going from holding a murderer's coat to standing up for the Son of God.
