Acts 23

Acts 23:1

23:1, 2 Standing before the Sanhedrin, Paul prefaced his remarks with a statement that throughout his life he had lived in all good conscience. The high priest, Ananias, was infuriated by this statement. He doubtless looked on Paul as an apostate from the Jewish religion, a renegade, a turncoat. How could one who had turned from Judaism to Christianity claim such innocence? Accordingly the high priest ordered that the prisoner be slapped on the mouth. This order was extremely unjust, since the case had hardly gotten underway. 23:3 Paul snapped back to Ananias that God would strike him for being such a whitewashed wall! Outwardly the high priest seemed righteous and just; inwardly he was corrupt. Professing to judge others according to the law, here he commanded Paul to be struck contrary to the law.23:4 The attendants were shocked by the apostle’s scathing rebuke. Did he not know that he was speaking to the high priest?23:5 For some reason unknown to us, Paul had not actually realized that Ananias was the high priest. The Sanhedrin had been assembled on short notice, and perhaps Ananias was not wearing his official robes. It may even be that he was not occupying the seat customarily assigned to the high priest.

Or perhaps Paul’s weak eyesight was the cause. Whatever the reason, Paul had not intentionally spoken evil of the duly constituted ruler. He quickly apologized for his words, quoting Exo_22:28 : You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.23:6 Sensing from the conversation in the courtroom that there was lack of agreement between the Sadducees and Pharisees, the apostle decided to widen the rift by declaring himself to be a Pharisee who was on trial because he believed in the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees, of course, denied the resurrection, as well as the existence of spirits or angels. The Pharisees, being very orthodox, believed in both (see 23:8). Paul has been criticized here for using what might seem to be a carnal expedient to divide his audience. We cannot avoid feeling, writes A. J. Pollock, that Paul was wrong in claiming to be a Pharisee, and thus snatch a strategical advantage by setting the rival Sadducees and Pharisees at variance.23:7-9 Whether or not he was justified, his words did provoke a dissension … between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and caused a loud outcry. Some of the scribes of the Pharisees defended Paul’s innocence, and said in effect, What does it matter anyway, if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?23:10 The controversy between the opposing factions became so heated that the commander ordered the soldiers to escort the prisoner out of the hall and back to the barracks. 23:11 The following night the Lord Jesus made a personal appearance to Paul in the prison, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome. It is remarkable that in a passage where the apostle’s actions have been subject to considerable criticism, the Lord should personally praise him for having borne faithful witness in Jerusalem. There was not a word of criticism or reproach from the Savior. Rather, it was a message of sheer praise and promise. Paul’s service was not over yet. As he had been faithful in his ministry in Jerusalem, so he would also bear witness for Christ at Rome.23:12-15 The next day, some of the Jews banded together to kill the Apostle Paul.

In fact, more than forty of them bound themselves under an oath that they would eat nothing until they had killed this imposter. Their scheme was as follows: they went to the chief priests and elders, suggesting that a meeting of the Sanhedrin be announced in order to hear Paul’s case more thoroughly. The Sanhedrin would ask the commander to bring the prisoner to them. But the forty assassins would lie in ambush somewhere between the prison and the council hall. When Paul came near them, they would pounce on him and kill him.23:16-19 In the providence of God, a nephew of the apostle overheard the plot and reported it to Paul. The latter believed in availing himself of legitimate means to insure his safety; therefore, he reported the matter to one of the centurions.

The centurion personally escorted the young man to the commander.23:20, 21 Paul’s nephew not only gave a complete account of the plot, but made a fervent plea to the commander not to yield to the demand of the Jews that Paul be brought to them. 23:22 When the commander had heard the story, he dismissed the young man with instructions not to tell anyone else of their meeting together. He now realized that he had to take prompt and decisive action to deliver his prisoner from the burning wrath of the Jews. 23:23-25 The commander quickly called for two centurions and arranged for a military escort to take the apostle to Caesarea. The guard was made up of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen. The trip was to be made under cover of darknessat nine o’clock at night. The great size of the military escort was not intended to be a tribute to this faithful messenger of Christ. Rather, it was an expression of the determination of the commander to maintain his reputation with his Roman superiors; if the Jews succeeded in killing Paul, a Roman citizen, then the officer in charge would be required to answer for his laxness. 23:26-28 The commander identifies himself as Claudius Lysias in the letter which he wrote to the Roman governor Felix. The purpose of the letter was, of course, to explain the situation with regard to Paul. It is rather amusing to see how Lysias sought to portray himself as a hero and a defender of public righteousness. He probably was extremely fearful lest it be reported to Felix that he had tied up an uncondemned Roman citizen. Fortunately for Claudius Lysias, Paul did not tattle. 23:29, 30 The commander explained that his investigation showed Paul to be innocent of any charge deserving of death or chains. Rather, the tumult seemed to be concerned with questions of Jewish law. Because of a plot against Paul, he felt it advisable to send Paul to Caesarea so that his accusers could come there also, and the whole matter could be aired in Felix’s presence. 23:31-35 The trip to Caesarea was broken briefly at Antipatris, a city about thirty-nine miles from Jerusalem and twenty-four miles from Caesarea. Since there was little or no more danger of ambush from the Jews from this point on, the soldiers returned to Jerusalem, leaving the horsemen to escort Paul to Caesarea. Upon arrival, they delivered Paul to Felix, together with the letter from Lysias. When preliminary inquiry satisfied Felix as to the apostle’s Roman citizenship, he promised to hear his case when his accusers had come down from Jerusalem. In the meantime Paul was commanded to be kept in Herod’s palace or Praetorium. The Roman governor, Felix, had enjoyed a meteoric rise from slavery to a position of political prominence in the Roman Empire. As to his personal life, he was grossly immoral. At the time of his appointment to be governor of the province of Judea, he was husband of three royal ladies. While in office, he fell in love with Drusilla, who was married to Azizus, king of Emesa. According to Josephus, a marriage was arranged through Simon, sorcerer from Cyprus. He was a cruel despot, as is evidenced by the fact that he arranged the assassination of a high priest named Jonathan, who criticized him for his misrule. It was this Felix before whom Paul had to appear.