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 that those standing near Paul to strike him in 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, You dare to insult Gods 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 Sadduces and the others Pharisees called out in the Sanhedrin, My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection from the dead.

7 When he said this a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadduces, and the assembly was divided.

 8 The Sadduces say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

 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 a angel has spoken to him?

10 The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid that 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 day the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with a oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

13 More than forty men were involved in the plot.

14 They went to the chief priests and 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 Pauls 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 him, What is it you want to tell me?

20 He said, The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him.

21 Dont give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken a 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 and cautioned him, Dont tell anyone what you have reported 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 to go to Caesarea at nine tonight.

24 Provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Govenor Felix.

 25 He wrote a letter as follows: 

26 Claudius Lysias, To His excellency Govenor Felix; Greetings.

27 This man was siezed 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 was 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 of 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 calvary go on with him, while they returned to the barracks.

33 When the calvary arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the govenor and handed Paul over to him.

34 The govenor 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 Herods palace.

Then Paul knowing that some of them were  Sadduces and the others were Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin. My brothers, I am a Pharisee,  the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead. Acts 23:6

The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years had ended. This is the first resurrection.  Revelation 20:5

TAKE COURAGE! INSPIRES COURAGE!

 Thomas J. Grace

The Roman commander has brought Paul to the Sanhedrin to hear their charges in a orderly meeting because he learned nothing from the crowd that was attempting to kill Paul the day before. The commander wanted to learn why these Jews were so upset with Paul and their actions could have brought charges against some of the Jews if they could be identified and found. A citywide charge of rioting in the streets could have brought some punishment against these people.

        1 Paul speaks and declares his innocence he calls them brothers and tells them his conscience is clear and he had fulfilled his proper duty to God. Paul tells them as a believer in Jesus Christ he is obeying Gods will and by spreading the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles he is obeying God. The Sanhedrin came together to charge and punish Paul not to hear a message of how they have rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior. 2 The high priest  Ananias who was appointed by Herod of Chakis in 47 AD needed to change the nature and spirit of this meeting quickly and ordered those close to Paul to strike him on the mouth. This would indicate that they would not hear any testimony about Jesus Christ and that he  would be in command of this hearing even if they must be brutal  before the Roman commander to keep Paul in their control. Jesus was also struck in the face during His appearance before the Sanhedrin it is not known if Paul was there if he was a member of the Sanhedrin he would have been there. Did this strike in the face remind Paul of how he allowed  Jesus to be treated by these people. John 18: 22 When Jesus said this, officials nearby struck Him in the face. Is this the way you answer the high priest? he demanded. 3 Paul with no certain word from Jesus that he will survive this hearing speaks dangerously and states God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. These words could have brought a violent reaction and the Roman soldiers might not reach him before they killed him. You judge me according to the law and you violate the law by strikeing a man that has not been found guilty while even the charges are still unknown. A whitewashed wall is a wall that is cracked and starting to break and fall down. Here he refers to this as people who are doing a poor job of covering their sins and are about to collapse. Jesus also spoke of these walls Matthew 23:27,28 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead mens bones and everything unclean. In the same way on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocisy and wickedness. 

      4 The people near Paul who never heard anyone speak like this to say God will strike the high priest spoke to Paul. How dare you insult Gods high priest? This was a weak defense of their high priest which might demonstrate to Paul that support for the high priest was not strong. 5 Paul states he did not know he was the high priest he was a new high priest that Paul did not know. There was no special garments or position of his seat that would identify him, no special regard by the others that he was the high priest.  Paul does not apolige or withdraw his statement but does quote scripture concerning the office of high priest without respecting the person who now holds that office. Exodus 22: 28 Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.

     6 Paul who now knows he will not be able to testify about Jesus Christ at this meeting and might have seen that the high priest is ruleing from a weak position and a divided Sanhedrin knows a way to cause a quick certain debate among themselves. Paul calls out I am a Pharisee on trial because of my faith in the resurrection from the dead. This is true as Paul believes that Christ rose from the dead but he does not express it with faith in Christ. Paul as a Pharisee would not recieve any special treatment there but the issues of afterlife, angels and spirits will cause debate between the Pharisees and the Sadduces and bring the Pharisees to his defense because of the resurrection belief. 7 The dispute began and attention from Paul moved to those who will argue about these questions which concerned them more than any problems Paul had caused. The Sanhedrin became divided and would not make any choice or decision concerning Paul. The Sadduces do not believe in any spirits or angels or afterlife while the Pharisees believe in all of them. Christ spoke to the Sadduces who questioned Him about the resurrection and a woman who married seven brothers. They asked in heaven whose wife will she be.  Matthew 22: 29 You are in error because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God. This is still true as many do not know the power of God while Paul was at the hearing and today.  

      9 The high priesh who thought  that by strikeing Paul would gain control of this trial is about to loose all control as a near riot begins in the Sanhedrin. There was a great uproar and the Pharisees  who are the teachers of the law argued vigorously for Pauls point of view about the resurrection.  We find nothing wrong with this man they shouted which would be a valid claim since no charges have been made clear and there has been no testimony from anyone. There may have been a spirit or angel that has spoken to Paul, which we believe is possible and we will not deny his claim if that is what has happened. There may have been false witnesses that were to testify against Paul but when they saw the Roman commander in the Sanhedrin interested in this trial they feared giving false testimony against Paul a Roman Citizen. 

     Paul was willing to appear before the Sanhedrin as a chance to testify about his Lord Jesus Christ and bring the message of Gods salvation to his own people that he dearly loved. When it became clear that he would not speak of Christ but must be on trial  under there terms he did cause this disruption to weaken the Sanhedrin and release him from this trial. 10  The dispute became very violent as the Pharisees and Sadduces argued among themselves that the commander believed Paul would be torn to pieces. The commander ordered his soldiers to remove Paul by force and protect him. Paul was taken back to the barracks where the soldiers would keep him safe. Paul has only been in Jerusalem for less than ten days and has caused two riots and was almost killed  two days in a row. Many of the people who warned him not to go to Jerusalem would now doubt Pauls wisdom. Also those who opposed Pauls teaching to the Gentiles about circumcision and other parts of the law would now point to his problems in Jerusalem as evidence that God was punishing Paul for his teachings. This is the argument they will bring to many of the churches Paul founded in order to bring the law to the Gentiles. Many Jewish Christians were still more loyal to the law than they were to Christ and would teach that Gentiles must first become circumcised Jews before they can become Christians. They would present this in a way that states they will loose resurrection heavenly rights as Gentile believers that would only be gained by being a Jewish Christian. Paul writes to Timothy to warn him about false teachers that are coming to the churches. 

      It would be the work of James and Luke and the other men who came with Paul to Jerusalem to explain the truth to the church in Jerusalem and send some people to the other churches to make clear the position of the church on these matters for Jews and Gentiles.  This is the time that many people would give up and become discouraged. The hometown crowd turned anginst him and were close to killing Paul who had to be rescued by a Roman soldier who was a enemy of their country. He would remember all the people who warned him this was going to happen and advised him to avoid this danger.  But Paul had been in tougher prisons and more dangerous positions many other times. He would continue to pray and believe God had a reason and a plan for greater works in the future. 

     11 Paul back in the barracks will rest and pray that night and the next day. We are not told if he has any visitors only his nephew will be mentioned but maybe James and Luke came to pray with him. The next night the Lord stood near him this is not a vision dream or trance Paul was fully awake as the Lord stood there with him. Paul writes to Timothy about his trouble caused by Alexander  Paul writes 2 Timothy 4:17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood  with me, and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be full known, and that all the Gentiles might  hear, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. Jesus speaks Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome. Now Paul who was bold and risked his own life has a promise from Jesus that he will survive and go to Rome. He will have peace and be able to speak more boldly to anyone who will listen about Christ even to the king and queen. Paul will not suffer from any doubts that some of his teachings may have been incorrect as many will accuse him.

     For the next three years he will lack the fellowship of being with Christians and being in a church for worship with other believers. This is the second time Paul will be isolated the first when he went to Arabia. Paul without being sentenced or even proper charges brought against him will spend three years confined in the Roman prison but he is strenthened by a visit from Jesus Christ and the promise of a trip to Rome. Rome was the one place Paul often mentioned he desired to visit. All the books that we read that were written by Paul were to places and churches he had already visited. Only the book of Romans did he write to a church that he had not yet been to . 

     12 There became a group in Jerusalem among the Sadduces that had a plan to kill Paul and made a oath not to eat or drink until Paul was dead. Was this a promise they had made to God how did they explain in their law and justify themselves for the murder they wanted to commit. 13 More than forty men had joined together for this mission. 14 These men went to the chief priest explained their plan to murder a innocent man who had harmed no one and was a danger to no one. Did they pray and ask God what they should do about the men who came to the chief priest with a murder plan. Did the chief priest read through the law to learn if this was something that God permited or were they concerned how this could be done without being found that the chief priest were involved in the plan to kill a Roman prisoner. 15 They wanted the Sanhedrin to ask for Paul to be brought again to the Sanhedrin to be questioned once more. the murder would take place on the road to the Sanhedrin.  When Paul was at the Sanhedrin a few days ago he was brought there by Roman soldiers and centurions even the commander was with them. These forty men would have to attack the Roman soldiers and might even kill the commander and many of them would be killed.

     This attack would bring a brutal punishment throughout all of Jerusalem by the entire Roman army present. Was the death and silence of Paul worth such a risk of bloodshed even before they learned if it was still possible to convict him and have him punished in court. Clearly they did not believe the Romans would punish Paul based on the false witnesses and lack of evidence they had to present at a trial.  They were willing to see many of their own people sacrificed and slaughtered by the Roman army if their plan was discovered. There will be traitors in the last days that will betray Christians and have them thrown in prisons where they will be punished and killed. These people will also believe they are doing a service to God but they will be doing the work of satan.

     16 Pauls nephew hears of this plan we are not told how he recieved this information, was  it one of the forty men or one of the chief priest that learned of the plot and spoke to the nephew of Paul. The nephew was allowed to enter the barracks and visit with his uncle Paul the young man must have been afraid that he would be a suspect of the Jews when their plan failed. 17 They must have prayed for both of their safety Paul may have shared with his nephew how the Lord had visited him and assured him that he will one day testify in Rome. Paul sends for a centurion who will bring the nephew to speak to the commander. Not all the soldiers could be trusted and might inform someone at the Sanhedrin for a cash payoff that Paul was aware of their plan. The Roman soldiers who were to guard the tomb of Jesus were paid off to lie about how Jesus was taken from the tomb. We are not told how much cash they were paid to lose their own salvation. Matthew 28:12,13 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them You are to say, His disciples came during the night and stole Him away while you were sleeping. Paul would have known this information  either while it happened or later from Peter or John about this plan and many other examples of the Roman soldiers that were willing to do many things for a price. 18 The centurion brings the nephew to the commander who must be very nervous now not knowing how this man will react to his news. 19 The commander took the young man by the hand, he must have sensed that the nephew was upset and may have feared him. This would be unusual treatment for a soldier who must have had some respect for Paul and he still wanted more information about this case and might get this from the young man. 20 The nephew informs the commander of the plan of the Jews to misuse his trust and wait on the road to attack his soldiers and kill Paul. 21 There are more than forty men  who have taken a oath not to eat or drink until they have killed Paul. The commander would know how serious this matter was in that they had made a oath to complete their plan demonstrated to him that they would be willing to die in order complete their plan.

     22 The commander dismissed the nephew and warned him not to tell anyone what he has told him. He also understood how quickly this story could be told to the Sanhedrin by his own soldiers or any other Jews or Gentiles in the city. 23 The commander called two centurions and ordered them, prepare two hundered soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine oclock tonight. If these forty men were already on the road waiting to attack and capture Paul they would be met by a overpowering force and it is doubtful that any of them would ever eat or drink again. 24 Provide a mount for Paul and be sure he is taken safely so that no one may harm him. You soldiers are ordered to protect Paul against all attacks and bring him to Govenor Felix.

      25 The commander writes a letter to Govenor Felix. 26 Greetings we do not know if these two men know each other. 27 This man was being beaten by the Jews who came very close to killing him. I rescued him because I learned he was a Roman citizen. We know that he did not learn Paul was a Roman citizen until the soldiers under the orders of the commander were about to flog Paul which is not mentioned. 28  I went with him to the Sanhedrin so I could learn what their trouble was with him and if there were any real charges against him.  29 I learned that the Jews were upset about problems with the customs of their own law and there was no charge that he should be put to death or kept in prison.  I learned from his own nephew of the Jews  plot to kill Paul I sent him to you so he might be better protected. I ordered his accusers to present their case to you. 31 The soldiers took Paul out that night and went with him as far as Antipatris. 32 The following day some soldiers went back to Jerusalem and the cavalry took Paul the rest of the journey. 33 The calavry brought Paul to Caesarea  safely and gave the letter to the govenor.

     34 The govenor read the letter and asked Paul what province he was from. When Paul informed him he was from Cilicia 35 the govenor agreed to hear this case when the accusers arrive in Caesarea. With no other thoughts other than where Paul was born the govenor decides he will listen to this case. If Paul had been born in Jerusalem he may have been sent back there where some later plan to kill him may have suceeded. The govenor ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herods palace which was not where Herod lived. It was now the palace of the Roman govenor. Philippians 1:13, 14 As a result it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

     Clearly the word of the Lord as He stood there with Paul and told him Take courage! Was carried out and passed on to others. While Paul was fearless in prison he became a model to those who would become fearless outside of prison. Paul had been in Caesarea less than a month ago where he stayed at the home of Philip the evangelist. Could the daughters of Philip who were all prophetess have recieved a word from God that Paul would return to this prison while Paul was there or soon after he left for Jerusalem. They seemed to be well prepared for a revival to begin as soon as Paul came to Caesarea.  There in the govenors home  formerly the home of Herod the Great while a prisoner Paul has begun a citywide revival lhat will last for three years. It is possible that along with Philip his friend Agabus the prophet and Luke with some of the other men who ministered with Paul were there in Caesarea.  How perfect are Gods plans that allowed Paul and Philip to spend a  few days together to pray together and believe that God was still ready to do great works. He would be visited by Titus, Timothy, Lydia, Aquila and Priscilla, Jason  Apolos, Barnabas, John Mark, Silas, Peter, James, Eutychus, the elders from many  of the churches Paul began.  

      Paul would be safe in the prison protected by the Roman soldiers who were becomeing believers. The crowds could not harm or persecute him if the Jews tried to chase him out of town the Roman soldiers would not allow Paul to leave. With constant prayer and visits from all those who would minister in Caesarea and maybe others from Ephesus and Corinth and many other friends who would visit Paul a revival took place in the prison and city of Caesarea.  What about the commander Lysais back in Jerusalem Paul would not forget the man who did save his life, God would not forget this man. Paul would invite him to visit him in Caesarea or send someone who would explain the gospel to him. Lysais was a man that was seeking the facts and may have been seeking the Lord and Paul would not allow this man not to hear about his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

CHRIST LOVES YOU. AMEN. COME LORD JESUS