The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early church, by Luke the physician - Acts 23:1-11 comments: Paul defends himself in front of his accusers

 

Acts 23:1 ¶  And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. 2  And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. 3  Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? 4  And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest? 5  Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.

 

In Paul’s frustration he does something that in verse 5 he acknowledges that he shouldn’t even though the high priest is undeserving of respect.

Exodus 22:28  Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

 

Acts 23:6 ¶  But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. 7  And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. 8  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. 9  And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God. 10  And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle. 11  And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

 

Josephus, the Jewish general turncoat who worked for the Romans and wrote histories of the Jews claimed that the Sadducees believed that the soul could die, that there was no afterlife, that there were no rewards or penalties after death, and that only the written law was valid. They were composed of the upper class and educated elite who oversaw the temple operations and shared with the Roman upper class a denial of the reality of the supernatural. They did, apparently, believe in God but were more political and worldly than the more conservative Pharisees, and they were composed of a ruling class that expected God’s benefits and prosperity now, in this life, and denied even His intervention in history, sources say. They would have been terrified of anything that threatened their position under Roman authority.

 

The Pharisees followed the Law given to Moses, believed in tradition, and angels, a resurrection of the just, and also in a Messiah-to-come. They were dogmatic in their tradition and oral law which covered most every subject.

 

Paul understood how to drive a wedge between his accusers. The Roman officer has to save Paul, however, from what is becoming an out-of-control assembly.

 

God speaks to Paul to assure him that Paul will indeed go to Rome, which Paul will make sure happens later by demanding his Roman right to appeal, to be heard by Caesar. As we know that the physical image, the body of God, if you will, is Jesus Christ it is Him who stands by Paul in the night.