THE SPREAD IN ASIA MINOR AND EUROPE THROUGH
THE MINISTRY OF PAUL AND HIS COMPANIONS (28)
DEFENDING HIMSELF BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN
We saw that in Acts 21:31-39 the Roman commander intervened to rescue Paul from the Jews who sought to kill him. Then he was given the opportunity to defend himself before the rebellious Jews (21:40-22:21). The Jews listened to him up to a point, but eventually started another uproar. He was then bound by the Romans (22:22-29). In his wisdom, he used his Roman citizenship to spare himself from persecution (vs. 25-29). The Roman commander then gave him the opportunity to defend himself before the Sanhedrin (22:30 - 23:10).
Acts 22:30 says: "The next day, wanting to find out the exact reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them." Let us now consider Paul's defense before the Sanhedrin.
Lived with All Good Conscience
Acts 23:1 says: "Fixing his eyes on the Sanhedrin, Paul said: Men, brothers, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this day." After the fall of Adam and his expulsion from the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:23), God wanted man, in His dispensation, to be responsible before his own conscience. But man failed to live and walk according to conscience and fell further into wickedness (Gen. 6:5).
After the judgment of the flood, God ordered man to be under human government (Gen. 9:6). Man also failed in this. Then, before fulfilling His promise to Abraham concerning the blessing of the nations in Christ (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8), God put man under the test of the law (Rom. 3:20; 5:20). Man totally failed this test.
All these failures indicate that man fell from God to conscience, from conscience to human government, and from human government to iniquity. Thus, man fell to the utmost. To walk "before God in all good conscience," as Paul did, was a great return from the fall of man to God. Paul said this to defend himself before those who accused him of being lawless and even negligent. He again referred to his conscience in 24:16. This showed his high moral standard in contrast to the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders and the corruption of the Roman (Gentile) politicians.
In his defense before the Sanhedrin, in the presence of the Roman government representatives, Paul could say that there was nothing wrong with his personal conduct. He did all things according to conscience, acting in the highest moral standard.
Paul's Boldness and Wisdom
In Acts 23:2-3 we read: "But the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, 'God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck!'" Here we see Paul's frankness and boldness in dealing with his persecutors. Those standing near him said, "Are you insulting God's high priest?" (v. 4). He replied, "I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest; for it is written, 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'" (v. 5)
Acts 23:6 says: "Knowing that some of the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, Paul cried out in the council, 'Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees! It is concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial!'" The Pharisees were the strictest religious sect of the Jews (26:5), formed around 200 B.C.
They prided themselves on their superior holiness of life, devotion to God, and knowledge of the Scriptures. In reality, they had degraded into pretense and hypocrisy (Matt. 23:2-33). The Sadducees were another sect of Judaism. They did not believe in the resurrection, angels, or spirits. While the Pharisees were considered orthodox, the Sadducees were the ancient modernists.
When Paul declared himself to be a Pharisee and that he was being judged concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead, "there was a great dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. There was a great uproar, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and argued vehemently, 'We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?'" (vs. 7-9).
Paul wisely used this situation to his advantage, knowing that the Pharisees would side with him and then argue with the Sadducees. When he realized that it was beneficial for him to use his Roman citizenship status, he did so, which frightened the Roman authorities. Here he cried out that he was a Pharisee, knowing it would cause a fight between the Pharisees and Sadducees. Once again, he exercised wisdom to avoid persecution.
As we have seen, he faced his opposers differently than Christ. When Christ was judged by men for the fulfillment of redemption, He did not open His mouth (Isa. 53:7; Matt. 26:62-63; 27:12, 14). But Paul, as a faithful and bold apostle sent by the Lord, exercised wisdom to save his own life from the hands of the persecutors in order to fulfill the course of his ministry. To carry out this ministry, he strived to live as much as possible.
In Acts 23:10 we read: "When the dispute became so violent that the commander feared 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." This was the sovereignty of the Lord rescuing Paul from the hands of the Jews.
Enjoy More: Hymn 308
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