In Chapter Acts 22:30
Paul Before the Sanhedrin
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.
Paul was alone, none of his disciples were present. He had a great desire to go to Jerusalem his own people, he believed he will be able to convince them
Let’s read ACTS 23
23 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.”
The Plot to Kill Paul
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.”
Paul Transferred to Caesarea
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.
In verse 1
23 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”
Paul testifies that he lived a life with good conscience. Before we move ahead, I felt something God speaking to us about conscience.
This morning I believe your conscience was (Past tense) speaking something to you.
The idea of a “conscience” (Greek, syneidesis) is something Paul spoke about (Romans 2:15; 9:1; 13:5; 1 Corinthians 8:7, 10, 12; 10:25, 27-29; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 4:2; 5:11). For Paul, the “conscience” was the moral aspect of one’s awareness and thinking. The aim of a Christian life was to live with a pure, good or clean conscience before God (1 Timothy 1:5, 19; 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3).
Acts 24: 16
16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
Romans 9:1
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit
Paul says in Acts 24. I strive always to keep my conscience clear.
Conscience gives you the ability to evaluate your own thoughts and desires, to discern what is right and wrong, and to distinguish between what is good and what is best.
To help us get a handle on conscience and how it functions, I want you to think about an alarm clock. A good alarm clock does two things: It stays quiet when you should be asleep, and it makes a noise when you need to wake up!
That’s how your conscience is supposed to work. When you are on the right path, a good conscience will be at peace (Colossians 3:15). But when you are tempted towards the wrong path, a good conscience will sound the alarm. The problem with the conscience is that, like every other part of your soul, it has been disordered by sin.
Like an alarm clock, conscience can malfunction and stay silent when it should go off.
The conscience has died. How is your conscience today this morning. The Holy Spirit is talking you.
Paul stood there boldly and made a statement and present his case against the charges of the Jews with clear conscience .
Verse 2-3
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!”
Apparently the high priest didn’t agree that Paul had fulfilled his duty before God. (Perhaps he didn’t appreciate Paul’s pronouncing the divine name, especially in support of himself.) Whatever the reason, the high priest was so bothered by Paul’s claim that he ordered those standing nearby to slap him on the mouth (23:2). The high priest in this case was Ananias. He had received his office from one of the Herods in about A.D. 47, and held his position for about 12 years. He was known for his greed. Josephus accused him of embezzling the tithes of the ordinary priests and for handing out lavish bribes (Antiquities 20:205-207, 213).
Ananias was hated by Jewish nationalists because of his pro-Roman policies. They burned his home in A.D. at the beginning of the Jewish-Roman war. Then, the nationalists hunted him down and he was killed along with his brother (Josephus, Wars 2:426, 441-442, 448).
“Whitewashed wall” (Acts 23:3)
Caught off guard, and stung by the command, Paul lashed back at the high priest, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!” he said. “You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!” (23:3). Paul had not been tried and found guilty of any infraction of Jewish law. He hadn’t even been officially charged with any infraction. For him to be struck as though he was guilty of a crime violated the very law the high priest claimed to uphold.
The phrase “whitewashed wall” referred to a person who was a hypocrite, as the high priest had shown himself to be. Ananias claimed to uphold the law but he was trampling all over Paul’s rights according to that law.
He was not found guilty yet and there was no evidence presented yet.
Some commentators seem surprised by Paul’s sharp reply. They note that it contradicts the spirit of Jesus’ call to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) as well as Paul’s own advice to bless when cursed (1 Corinthians 4:12). But the problem exists only if we think of Paul as some quasi-divine person who had achieved sinless perfection. That is not the way Paul spoke of himself (Romans 8:9-25). The simple answer is that Paul was a human being who sinned, as we all do. Paul was an emotional individual, a reactive person. This is not the only time Paul was guilty of saying something cutting and passionate (1 Corinthians 11:19; Galatians 2:11; 5:12; Philippians 3:2). Here he momentarily lost his composure. Though he spoke the truth about Ananias, it was probably not something he would have said under more ideal circumstances.
Romans 7:24-25
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.
“Insult God’s high priest?” (Acts 23:4-5)
Those standing next to Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!” Paul said: “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written [in Exodus 22:28]: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people’” (23:5). It seems unusual that Paul should have failed to recognize the high priest. He presided at regular meetings of the Sanhedrin, and he should have been identifiable. The answer may be that this was not a regular meeting, and that someone else other than the high priest was presiding. Paul may not have known the high priest at the time by sight. He had been in Jerusalem only a few times in the past two decades or so. Meanwhile, the office had passed to another individual with whom he may not have been familiar (or whose appearance had changed over the years.
Another answer sometimes given is that Paul’s eye condition caused him to have poor vision. A less convincing answer is that Paul was speaking ironically. That is, he would be saying, “I didn’t think that the kind of person who would order me struck contrary to the law could be the high priest.”
In any case, Paul quickly apologized. Even his apology showed that he continued to live by the principles of Torah and according to the law. Since the Scripture condemned speaking evil of the high priest, no matter what his character, Paul admitted that he had erred.
We see this throughout the scriptures
Numbers 12:
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?”
9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous
I still remember there was one person looking for a church , he called and he said, I heard a lot about you , the work you are doing and all that stuff. Then he started sharing with me on call his past experiences, this pastor is like that, all sort of . I told him that no one is perfect.
Then I told him , see if you are looking for a perfect church , sorry then our church is not in the list. If you looking for perfect church , then again sorry I am not a perfect pastor. He was like , see I am not saying that n all. He told me that he love to meet me , I told him , I will update him. I never called him again. I felt in my spirit, speaking about someone else is not right.
We need to know that God is hearing our words.
Paul divides the Council (Acts 23:6)
Paul’s speech had been cut short by the action of the high priest. He must have realized that it was pointless to make any further defence before a council headed by someone of the likes of Ananias. Instead of going on, Paul suddenly thought of a different strategy. He realized how he could pit the council against itself. Luke described Paul’s tactic: “Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the other 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’” (23:6).
Luke had already defined the Sadducees, one of the major Jewish sects of the time, as a group “who say there is no resurrection” (Luke 20:27). he Pharisees, however, believed in a resurrection (23:8).
Paul was able to use the disagreements and differences in viewpoint between Sadducees and Pharisees to good advantage. The dispute between the two groups became so violent that Lysias, the commander, was fearful that his prisoner would be hurt. Lysias ordered a detachment of troops to take Paul from the council by force and bring him into the barracks (23:10). Paul was now taken into protective custody by the Roman authority. For the rest of Acts, for a period in excess of four years, Paul would remain a prisoner of the Romans.
“Testify in Rome” (Acts 23:11)
The situation must have seemed bleak to Paul. He had been warned over and over again that he would face dire troubles in Jerusalem. He had barely survived three attempts on his life in just a couple of days or so (21:31; 22:22; 23:10). That his life would end in Jerusalem must have seemed like a likely possibility. Jesus had spoken about a Jerusalem that killed the prophets and stoned those whom God had sent to its people (Matthew 23:37). Paul himself had seen and applauded the death of Stephen in this city. Now, it must have seemed that his turn to be killed had come.
But in one of the darkest nights of his life, Jesus appeared to Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome” (23:11). As during other critical moments of Paul’s ministry and life, God gave him special reassurance through a vision (9:4; 16:9; 18:9-10; 22:17; 27:23). Earlier, Paul had voiced his desire to visit Rome (19:21). The vision shows that Paul had Christ’s approval in his desire to move the center of his preaching westward to Rome.
Now, Paul was certain that he would get to Rome after all.
In all this God was Present.
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.”
Paul- Failed Ambitions
- His desire ended in utter chaos.
- People were taking an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him.
- Needed Rescue.
Paul- Uncertain Future
- His was Prisoned
- Not certain of what is going to happen Next
Paul- Disappointed, Doubt, Discouraged, Depressed.
- Failure
- Guilty of lost opportunities
- Choices
Take Courage
- Jesus knew he was down in spirit
- Jesus Encouraged him
Jesus Counter Responds
- 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.”
- You did well
- You are not a failure
- Assurance of future, It not over Yet
Lord Cheered Paul Up
- God Comforted him
- God Acknowledged him
- Gave him a new Commission
Jesus Rejoices in Your Life
Whatever we do, whether we fail, or whether we do well. Christ rejoices in our life
Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the Renewed Hope Community. The Renewed Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that Renewed Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Karanjade, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel, Church in Karanjade because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.
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