Paul Before the Sanhedrin

“But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.  And looking intently at the council, Paul said, Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.  And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth…The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.’” –Ac 22:30-23:2; 23:11 (ESV.  Read Acts 22:30 – Acts 23:11). 

Claudius Lysias could not have Paul flogged to find out (he thought) the truth about why Paul was arrested because Paul had claimed protection under his Roman citizenship. The Roman tribune called a meeting of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the council made up of both Pharisees and Sadducees.  These two groups, although they both believed and practiced Jewish law, were opposed in beliefs.  The Pharisees believed in resurrection from the dead and the Sadducees did not.  As Paul began to give testimony before the group, stating that he had lived before them in good conscience, Ananias, the high priest, commanded those nearest Paul to strike him on the lips.  Paul, knowing the law himself, and that the high priest should be astute in administering the law, even as it related to prisoners, Paul called Ananias a “whitewashed wall.”  This term denoted hypocrisy.  Jesus himself had used it in Matthew 23:27 in speaking of the scribes and Pharisees being ‘like whitewashed tombs which are outwardly beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” Paul would also have known Leviticus 19:15 which states:  “You shall do no injustice in court.  You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”  Then someone asked Paul if he would “revile God’s high priest?”  Paul pleads innocence in not knowing that Ananias was the high priest and apologizes. He knew the law on how to treat officers of the law, quoting, “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people” (Exodus 22:28).   After all, Paul had been away from Jerusalem for several years, and when there he did not associate with the Council as he had prior to becoming a Christian.  Some commentators relate Paul’s not knowing that it was the high priest who ordered him to be stuck might have been because of his poor eyesight or how far away from Ananias Paul stood during this public hearing.  But Ananias’ action, nonetheless, shows his disregard for the prisoner and his inability to control his own anger, even in public.

Next came Paul’s testimony before the Sanhedrin.  He claimed his connection to the Pharisees and his firm belief in the resurrection rom the dead.  And then he said, because of that very belief, he now was on trial before them.  With such a contentious subject as the resurrection spoken in public, the two sects began their own harangue, arguing about the resurrection and whether a spirit or angel might have spoken to Paul (another belief held by the Pharisees and not the Sadducees).  The Pharisees declared him innocent. With such clamor, the tribune feared Paul might be harmed andordered the soldiers to take Paul by force to the barracks.  It was at night that Paul had a visitation from the Lord Himself assuring the missionary that now since he had testified in Jerusalem, he would go to Rome to testify.  Again, I use the theme sentence from the past two days:  God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, in all ways, and always.  God has a plan, and if we are willing to follow, as Paul was, God will work out the details.  God be praised!