Paul's Defense, continued

["Click here for scripure"]

Before the Sanhedrin

["Click here for Acts 23:1-10"]

At the appointed hour, probably 10:00 AM, as 9:00 AM was the hour of prayer, they met and Paul was unbound and brought before them. We do not know what procedure was followed here, certainly the Romans were not allowed inside the Temple but may very well have set up on the outside walls where they could observe and hear what was said. It was evident that the council desired to remain "officially" out of session as no Moderator was recognized and no official order was maintained.

Apparently Paul was the first to speak. Looking intently at the council, he called them "Brethren" and assured them that he had always lived before the Lord in good conscience. This statement by Paul outraged the High Priest Ananias and he commanded that those closest to Paul, strike him in the mouth. Because of the 4 informal manner of the meeting and the informal dress of those who were there, Paul did not know who it was that ordered him to be slapped nor who it was that slapped him. As a result, he called them a "white washed wall". White washed walls give the appearance of being what they were not and that was as good as calling these people hypocrites.

Paul warned them that they were sitting in judgment of him according to the law but contrary to the law, had ordered him slapped. According to Deut. 25:2, "No man must be beaten unless he is worthy to be beaten." And "worthy" was to be determined by due process of the law. This rebuke from Paul caused a sigh of disbelief from the council for no one ever talked back to the High Priest, but Paul explained that he did not know that Ananias was the High Priest and that was understandable for in the last 20 years, there had been considerable disagreement as to who was the High Priest. The interesting part about this is that this argument was never resolved amongst the Jews for they never knew or accepted that after the ascension of Christ, He became the High Priest.

Paul could see that there would be nothing resembling justice coming out of this trial so he stirred up a long-standing disagreement in the council for his own purposes. There were Pharisees and Sadducees on the council. They never agreed on anything very much. Paul declared that he was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee and he believed in 6the resurrection of the dead. This, of course, was the chief point of contention between them, the Pharisees believed and the Sadducees did not, so Paul's statement rekindled a long-standing argument.

The Pharisees upon learning that Paul was one of them, began to speak up for him. "We find nothing wrong with this man." "What if an Angel or Spirit has spoken unto him?" When the discussion became violent, the Tribune was afraid that his prisoner, for which he was responsible, would become "torn to pieces" so he ordered his men to go down into the Temple courtyard and rescue Paul and take him back to the barracks.

A Fresh Vision

Verse 11 of Chapter 23, records what the Lord was doing during all of this. Certainly by now, Paul must have been concerned, not so much for himself as for his ministry, certainly God had a plan for him and he was wondering when he was going to find out about it. So, the following night after the trial, the Lord spoke to Paul. Notice the Lord "stood by him". He wanted Paul to know that He was by his side, had been there all the time. Secondly, He wanted Paul not to worry, "Be of good cheer, take courage", and thirdly, He wanted Paul to know that He had a plan, "As you have witnessed of me in Jerusalem, so shall you witness in Rome."

Should these words have been words of comfort to Paul? His ministry at Jerusalem had been one of pain and turmoil, imprisonment, whippings, being bound and slandered. He had constant problems not only with the Jewish Council but also with the Jewish believers. Was this what his ministry in Rome would be like? This is the way any lesser man would have looked at these words from the Lord, but Paul didn't look at them that way. He saw the positive side. God had seen what he had done in Jerusalem and was pleased. God also was not done with him yet, He still had a purpose for Paul in the ministry of Jesus. Besides, Paul always wanted to go to Rome, he was glad that the Lord was sending him there.

A Desperate Plot

So Paul was on his way to Rome, but he certainly did not have any idea what lay ahead for him between Jerusalem and Rome. The first of many events is recorded for us in Chapter 23, verses 12 thru 22.

Before he could get out of Jerusalem, "certain Jews" made a plot to kill Paul. They bound themselves together with an oath. They would neither eat nor drink until Paul was dead. We are not told who they were only that there were 40 of them. They devised a plan to get Paul out of the protection of the Roman barracks. They had the Chief Priest and Elders arrange with the Tribune to bring Paul to the Temple. The plan was to see to it that Paul never got there. A mob riot was planed in which Paul would be killed and no one would know who did it. But God intervened. The plot was discovered by Paul's sister's boy. He was a young lad and in roaming the streets he overheard the Jews talking about what they planned to do.

It would appear that he had some access to the barracks, perhaps he had brought food for Paul from his sister or mother, as prisoners, for the most part, were responsible for getting their own food. So he went immediately and told his Uncle Paul what he had overheard. Them Paul called one of the Roman Guards and had him take the boy to the Tribune. There the boy told the same story that he had told Paul. Then the Tribune sent the boy home with instructions to tell no one else what he had overheard.

Paul is hustled to Caesarea

Then the Tribune called for one of his Centurions and made plans to take Paul out of Jerusalem to Caesarea. Four hundred and seventy soldiers were sent to guard Paul, to insure his safe arrival at Caesarea. Paul was also given a fast horse to ride. They left Jerusalem at the third hour of the night, 9 PM. The Tribune sent with the Centurion, a letter addressed to Felix the Governor.

Who was Felix? He was appointed Governor of Syria in 52 AD. by Emperor Claudius of Rome. This occurred about 60 AD. He had worked himself up in Roman hierarchy by shear passion for power. He was cruel and strict and had supreme say in all the civil affairs of the Jews.

Tac-i-tus, a historian, says of Felix, "He used power like a genius and knew all the varieties of cruelty and lust." Yet, Paul faired much better before this man than he did before his own people. Note the letter that the Tribune sent to Felix. Up until now, the Tribune had been nameless. But now we know his name was Claudius Lysias. So, the forces of Rome in Jerusalem were headed by Claudius Lysias. Under him were Centurions, each in charge of 100 men. We do not know how many Roman Soldiers were in the area. According to history, this man was in charge of 1000 men.

Claudius Lysias was a Greek who had bought Roman Citizenship. He was, at that time, charged with the protection of Roman citizens, and at this particular time, one Paul of Tarsus. He also was in charge of all civil matters and seen to it that they were dispatched to the proper authorities. Thus Paul's case was dispatched to Felix, the Roman Governor.

Now to do this, a charge had to be filed. The best that the Tribune could come up with was that it had to do with Jewish Law. Now normally this type of charge would have been handled by Jewish authorities in Jerusalem, so the Tribune needed to state why this was not done in this case. He indicated that he had tried to resolve the case with the Jewish authorities but accomplished only a near riot amongst them, besides he had discovered a plot to kill Paul and being charged to protect him, got him out of Jerusalem and sent him to Caesarea where he felt Paul could receive a safe and fair trial.

He had ordered Paul's accusers to appear before Felix also, and charges Felix with the resolution of the matter. Felix questions Paul upon his arrival and learns that Paul's home providence was Cilicia. Now it is believed that these Roman Providences were ranked or rated according to their usefulness to Rome and this rating was used in establishing priorities in court agendas. So Cilicia must have been high on the rating system and this placed Paul's case first in the court's agenda. Felix would hear Paul's case as soon as his accusers arrived from Jerusalem.

Notice Paul was ordered to be held in Herod's Praetorium. This place belonged at one time to Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, it was part of a great palace. It was now used to house the Governor's Court and many other dignitaries. This was really quite an honor for Paul to be placed there. Paul was assigned to one of the palacious apartments. He was free to wonder the palace grounds and met and talked with men of the court.

Previous Chapter

Return to Outline

Ask Questions

Next Chapter