Acts 23

 Welcome back! What a beautiful rainy day yesterday! And snow is coming the end of the week!! Spring in upstate NY!! At least the grass is greening up and the spring flowers are bursting all over...and the pollen is beginning to pour out of trees!

Another "exciting day" for Paul (the apostle, not the preacher!) is coming up!

The previous day Paul saw a great opportunity go unfulfilled when the crowd at the temple did not allow him to finish his message to them, but started rioting. Now Paul had another opportunity to win Israel to Jesus, and perhaps a better opportunity. Here he spoke to the council, the Sanhedrin, with the opportunity to preach Jesus to these influential men. After all, they had to listen to Paul, he was at one time- one of them! By calling them "Brother" (v 1), he was attempting to address them as an equal (even though eh was no longer an equal to them). Does it help to look at people as equals when we address them?

Paul seems to start off honest and in good will saying, "I have lived in all good conscious before God until this day..." a seemingly innocent way to start preaching. He didn’t mean that he was sinlessly perfect and that his conscience had never told him he was wrong. Rather, he meant that he had responded to conscious when he had done wrong and had set things right.

These words weren't out of Paul's mouth long before Ananias said to his guards, "Strike him in the mouth!" No matter what Ananias' motive was, his order was illegal, for Jewish law says, ‘He who strikes the cheek of one Israelite, strikes as it were the glory of God,’ and ‘He that strikes a man strikes the Holy One.’” Ananias, the current high priest, was known for his unscrupulous behavior and greed; he was well known for skimming off the tithes funds for his palace. He often used violence, even assassination, to gain "popularity" and was in the pocket of the Roman government. 

Paul rebuked them (v 3), calling Ananias a "whitewashed wall" (a white veneer of purity covering over obvious corruption). Paul calls Ananias out and exposes the hypocrisy of the man who made the command. The men of the council were supposed to be example of the Law of Moses- and here they are both spiritually and physically opposite that! Paul chastises Ananias, saying "God will strike you back!" Very prophetic words from Paul as Ananias was eventually assassinated by Jewish nationalists.

Paul is confronted by the council, commenting "You cannot treat the high priest like that!" (v 4). Paul knew that he was wrong in his outburst, no matter how he said it, and uses text from Exodus 22:28 to back it up (v 5). He apologizes, saying he didn't know Ananias was the high priest. This isn’t unreasonable, since Paul had been away from the council and the high circles of Jewish authority in Jerusalem for more than 20 years. Probably, he simply didn’t recognize the man who gave the command to strike him as the high priest. However, some think he didn't know because Paul’s eyesight was bad. Or maybe it was sarcasm!

Paul seems to give up on preaching the gospel (v 6) to the group, sensing they were too aggressive (?) and argumentative. His line was to begin to separate the two groups of the council  (Sadducees and Pharisees) from each other. Knowing his audience, Paul referred to his heritage as a Pharisee and brought up the idea of resurrection (Sadducees do not believe in resurrection). The point he makes is true- he was being judged because he believed in the resurrection of Christ. 

Paul picked the right issue. He immediately gained the Pharisees as an ally, and he let them argue it out with the Sadducees (v 7-8). Pharisees and Sadducees were always at odds and bitter enemies. About the only time they united together was for the trial and crucifixion of Christ. Have you ever noticed or seen how people with nothing in common will come together as friends to oppose God or God's work?

Imagine the commander that had to rescue Pal again! He definitely had to think that these Jews were crazy in their endless and violent disputes. Previously, they rioted over the one word “Gentiles,” now the distinguished men of the council fought over the one word “resurrection.” Are we, the church, ever known to argue over one word or phrase?

The commander takes Paul away and saves him again! Paul’s ploy rescued him from the council, but he could not have been happy with the result. He had the opportunity to preach to a huge crowd of attentive Jews on the temple mount and it ended in failure. Then he had the opportunity to preach to the influential Jewish council, and it also ended in a fistfight. Sounds like a church meeting doesn't it!

It must have been a tough night for Paul, realizing/knowing his failure at spreading the gospel. One can be bold and courageous during the day, but it is the loneliness and silence of the night that  condemns! However, it was in the darkness of that night when the fears came upon Paul; when his trust in God seemed to falter; when he worried about what God was going to do and if he was going to make it. It was in the darkness of that night that Jesus came to Paul (v 11). When are we most likely to be receptive to God- when life goes well or when we are in trouble/ turmoil?

I just preached this point this past Sunday. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says "...I will be with you until the end of times..." Jesus knew where Paul was; Jesus did not lose sight of Paul. Paul was alone, but he wasn’t alone; if everyone else forsook him, Jesus was enough. Better to be in jail with the Lord than to be in heaven without! Paul had been miraculously delivered from jail cells before; but this time, the Lord met him right in the jail cell. We want God to deliver us from our troubles, but sometimes God says, "You and I are going to ride this one out together!" Remember that next time you're praying! Jesus commends Paul for the work he has done, and then says, "Now, off to Rome!" 

The next morning, an assassination group is formed (v 12- 13). In the days of Paul and Jesus, there was a secretive group of Jewish assassins who targeted the Romans and their supporters. They were dagger-men, because they often concealed daggers and stabbed Roman soldiers as they walked by. It seems that these same kind of assassins now targeted Paul. They devise a plan to get to Paul through a false meeting (v 15).

Somehow Paul's nephew caught wind of the plan. This is the only family reference we have of Paul. Since Paul wasn't staying with them, we can assume that they didn't live in Jerusalem. Which brings up the point- why were they there(maybe to celebrate the feast, maybe he was there for education as Paul was earlier)? We don't even know if they were Christians, although the nephew's quick response would lead us to believe they were. 

Paul had committed no crime; yet he was a prisoner. Because the Roman commander suspected he might be a revolutionary of some kind, Paul had to be kept in custody until the facts of the case could be discovered. 

Paul ultimately escapes to Caesarea- escorted by 470 trained Roman soldiers (v 23). It was as if God wanted to exaggerate God's faithfulness to Paul, and show him beyond any doubt that the promise of Jesus was true. And, to top it off, Paul was given several horses for his upcoming journey!

Cladius Lysias, the Roman tribune and the commander of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem, writes to Felix (full name likely Marcus Antonius Felix, governor of Judea, he is well know for his cruelty and violence toward people) transferring protection of Paul to him.  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.

Antipatris is a town about 35 miles from Jerusalem (and about 25 miles from Ceasarea). This was the most dangerous part of the trip (lots of towns and hills = opportunities for ambush and robbers, after that it was more flat and open) so the soldiers (200 of them and 200 men with spears) only went that far. The seventy (interesting number- remember Jesus sent out "the seventy" in Luke 10, some translations say 72 also) horsemen followed through and took him to Ceasarea. The plot of the 40 assassins was foiled! Some wonder if the men who made the vow of fasting died because they failed in their mission to kill Paul. This was probably not the case. Ancient rabbis allowed for four types of vows to be broken: “Vows of incitement, vows of exaggeration, vows made in error, and vows that cannot be fulfilled by reason of constraint” – exclusions allowing for almost any contingency.

Felix questions Paul's origin (v 34) probably hoping that Paul came from someplace that required that someone else hear his case. Apparently, learning that Paul was from Cilicia meant that Felix would indeed be responsible to hear and rule on his case. Upon transfer to Herod's palace, this would begin 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.

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.

More of Paul's trials tomorrow!