Acts 23 - "Take Courage I Am With You!
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.”
Paul confronts the high priest of the Sanhedrin for judging him falsely and for commanding that he be struck on the mouth. When Paul realizes that it is the high priest, he is remorseful because he didn't know he was a man in that position. Paul claims that as a Pharisee he has acted in good conscience.
The Ananias who was high priest at this time did no honor to the office. He was well known for his greed; the ancient Jewish historian Josephus tells of how Ananias stole for himself the tithes that belonged to the common priests. - Guzik
"The men of the council were supposed to be examples of the Law of Moses. The command to have Paul struck was in fact contrary to both the spirit and the letter of the law. Deuteronomy 25:1-2 says only a man found guilty can be beaten, and Paul had not yet been found guilty of anything." - Guzik
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.)
Paul cleverly spoke about his belief in the resurrection of the dead, which was a doctrine the Pharisees and Sadducees differed greatly about. The Sadducees were like modern humanists or rationalists, in that they didn't believe in anything they could not explain. They did not believe in the supernatural, which is strange because the Old Testament was full of miracles. In appealing to his background as a Pharisee, it instantly would have caused the Pharisees to side with Paul, thus creating a distraction and taking the focus off of him.
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.”
Since Paul was preaching something consistent with the doctrine of the Pharisees, they sought to defend him and even alluded to the possibility that Paul might be divinely sent. This caused the clash between the two parties to become even more violent. The commander removed Paul from this situation for fear he would ripped into pieces. Such was the state of the angry mob.
Paul received a personal visitation from the Lord who told him to be of good courage for he had called him to preach in Rome.
Jesus’ physical presence (as it seems was the case) with Paul was a unique manifestation. But Jesus promised every believer to always be with them (Matthew 28:20). - Guzik
Paul had been miraculously delivered from jail cells before; but this time, the Lord met him right in the jail cell. We often demand that Jesus deliver us out of our circumstances, when He wants to meet us right in them. We sometimes think we are surrendering to Jesus when we are really only demanding an escape. God wants to meet us in whatever we face at the moment.
Where do you need to know the Lord is right next to you where you are? How can knowing he is there beside you give you courage to keep on fighting!
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.
Another group of 40 men formed an alliance vowing to not eat or drink until Paul was killed. They tried to set up Paul by asking the Sanhedrin to call him out, and then they would ambush and kill him. But Paul's nephew heard about and informed Paul.
"Paul’s sister’s son". This is the only reference in the Bible to the fact that Paul had a sister and nephew. There is no indication as to what they were doing in Jerusalem (Paul’s family originally lived in Tarsus, in Asia Minor), or what access this young man had to the conspirators. As intriguing as such questions are, we can only conclude that all of these circumstances had somehow been ordered in God’s providence to save Paul’s life.
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.”
In God's sovereignty Paul's young nephew got an audience with the commander. The nephew told him the story of the plot to kill Paul. The commander told him to not tell anyone he told him.
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.
The commander had seen enough. It seems as though he might have believed Paul really was an angel sent by God, because he provided the protection for Paul to be taken to Governor Felix. He also realized he had done the wrong thing by imprisoning and punishing Paul, a Roman citizen, before a fair trial. For both of these reasons, the Roman commander probably wanted to wash his hands of this whole matter and get rid of this man who had disrupted his peaceful city.
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.
The governor received Paul and read the letter the commander had written about Paul. Being he was from Cilicia, it gave Paul some standing before him.
Perhaps Felix hoped that Paul came from someplace that required that someone else hear his case. Apparently, learning that he was from Cilicia meant that Felix would indeed be responsible to hear and rule on his case. - Guzik
This began a two-year period of confinement for Paul in Caesarea. After that he spent at least two years in Rome. Taken together with travel time, the next five years of Paul’s life were lived in Roman custody. This was a striking contrast to his previous years of wide and spontaneous travel. - Guzik
Paul lived many years with great freedom, and had to trust the promises of God through those years. Yet he also had to trust the promises of Jesus in his years of little freedom – and to know that God could work just as powerfully through those more difficult circumstances. - Guzik
We see once again what a great apostle Paul was. He was courageous, bold, filled with faith, and did not shrink in fear when in front of powerful men. He believed that Jesus had gotten him thus far and he would not let him down now. He realized that all these men were just men given temporal power and he was sent with the power of the God of heaven and earth!
How can knowing you have God's authority and power in Jesus help you to be more bold and courageous in your witness to Jesus?
Comments
Post a Comment