seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 22:30 The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.
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.’”
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.”
No one ever sees Jesus when he's talking to Paul. For forever I've been thinking Paul was lying because no one ever saw Jesus when Paul claims. Of course.... noone saw Gabriel either, right? When Gabriel talked to Zechariah about the birth of John the Baptist, no one ever saw Gabriel. Zechariah was struck dumb until John could be born. Good old Paul just keeps talking about himself, not Jesus. Jesus shows up when there is no one around to witness it. Check it out.... Paul used another little trick to get himself out of trouble. He brought up the resurrection. He knew for a fact there would be an argument. I guess today, he would have to bring up the different types of Baptism. I'm pretty sure some in the church would be more than happy to argue over dunking versus spritzing. I guess he could bring up the Communion controversy.... After all, who wants to go drink out of the same cup everyone else in the church is using... oh and who cut the bread? Why didn't they just use "wafers"? But the biggie I think he could have used in today's church is the position of priests and preachers. Do they stand in between us and God? Or are they there to guide us in learning? Do I have to confess to a man, or can I just talk directly to God in my prayers? Any or all of these could split the church wide open. Preachers would feel called to start bonfires with Bibles because they are the "wrong" translation.
He got the "church" of the Sanhedrin in an uproar.... which opened the door to get "his" ideas across. He split the Sanhedrin. The commander couldn't let a Roman be murdered on his watch. This man was a Roman Citizen by birth. The commander had to get him out of there.
Look at verse 3. Paul called Ananias a "whitewashed wall". Oh brother.... There is a lot of "whitewash" being used in the brick-and-mortar churches these days. As a matter of fact, there seems to be a lot of "whitewash" all through society these days. The point, I guess, was Paul could have said "whoever is without sin"... Right?
So now Paul claims Jesus showed up and told Paul that Paul was going to Rome. Remember, it was the Roman Soldiers who nailed Jesus to the Cross. I guess Paul wants to walk that way... Right?
They say it takes one to know one. Paul knew Ananias was "Whitewashed". Was Paul?
"Whitewashed!"
