Acts. Acts 23:1-35 All Roads Lead to Rome

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1 Acts Acts 23:1-35 All Roads Lead to Rome A nd so writes James in his final hours. In the earliest hours, dark before the dawning, a timid voice called my name outside. I rose from the floor, straightened my robes, and opened the door. It was a young man. He held in his hand a small diptych, two boards hinged together which, when he opened them, contained the record and the witnessed proofs that Saul of Tarsus was a Roman citizen. I looked more narrowly at the lad. Beautiful, he was. High cheekbones. The image of his father, Mattithias. This was the son of Saul s sister, Saul s family, Saul s nephew. But the lad was shivering with fear. His eye rolled with unhappy passion. He said, Can you take this to Saul the Apostle? Can you take him a message, too? What was the message, I asked. That the poor boy had that very night witnessed his father swearing some forty men to abstinence: None would eat or drink until they had ambushed Saul and murdered him as he was being led in chains to Herod s palace in daylight. That was the message. The tribune himself should hear that message, I said. I don t know the tribune, he said. Neither do I. I don t even know his language, I said. But Timothy did. So I gave Saul s nephew the name of Timothy from Lystra, and told him how to find the house of Mnason the Cypriot in the lower city. I sent him out into the darkness, then knelt down and trembled before the Lord. Almost my heart had persuaded me to go to the Fortress. But faith prevailed. In the end, gracefully, there was no blame for me, since Saul was spirited out of the city before the sunrise. He was placed under the direct authority of Marcus Antonius Felix, Procurator of Judea, whose place was in Cæsarea. 1 And to the Uttermost Parts of the Earth IV Paul and the Gospel to the Gentiles Chapters 12:25-28:31 B. Paul s Imprisonment and Journey to Rome 21:17-28:31 1. Paul s Arrest and Imprisonment in Jerusalem 21:17-23:35 f. Paul Before the Jew Verses 1-12 g. Paul Plotted Against Verses h. Paul Rescued by Rome Again Verses Introduction: In these last accounts of Paul s life, I will keep coming back to God s sovereignty. This is both a truth and a comfort with which we are blessed and with which we need to bless others. Everything here that happens for good or ill is under God s authority. 1 Wangerin Jr., Walter, Paul a Novel, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2000, p

2 Certainly, where we left Paul last week could be perceived as either. He had tried to touch the hearts of his brothers with the truth of the Messiah s provision of salvation. They listened until Paul told them of God s offering the message of salvation to the goyim. Then they went mad and tried to take his life. Fortunately for Paul, Rome was more concerned with peace than theology. She was also more concerned with Roman law, than Jewish. So Paul was taken into custody. And once it became clear that Paul was a natural born Roman citizen, he was protected. But the Tribune still desired to know what all the chaos was about. 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 (Acts 22:30). f. Paul Before the Jew: Verses 1-5: As his Lord did, now Paul finds himself standing before the Sanhedrin. This body had lost all contact with their responsibility. They had been thwarted at every turn. Jesus death did not end His work. Stephen s death did nothing to instill fear enough to stop the spreading of the Gospel. Saul had turned traitor and had turned to the Way. And now this heresy was spreading throughout the world, even to the Gentiles. They had forgotten the words of Gamaliel. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God! (Acts 5:34 39). Paul s heart is still for his people. He tries one last time to reach their hearts. These men knew him for they included the very ones who sent him off to Damascus. He entreated them to recognize his heart was still faithful to God, even in his becoming a witness to the Way. But these men couldn t hear the Spirit speaking through Paul. All they heard was the anger in their own heart. Consequently, the High Priest ordered Paul to be struck. Things had deteriorated on both sides as we ll see in a moment. I m not sure if this can be considered a formal hearing under Jewish Law because it was called by the Tribune. If it was then Paul broke order first by speaking out unasked. And the High priest broke order next by ordering Paul to be hit. A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established (Deuteronomy 19:15). ) 358 (

3 The other problem here is we may be missing some of the nuances because we can t hear voices or see expressions. But it appears as if Paul has had it. He s human. Consequently, he charges the council with violating the very law they are to up hold. And the charge is true. But Jesus said I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also (Luke 6:27 29). But, Paul is informed, he had just cursed the High Priest. To which he responds that he didn t realize that s who he was, and so he apologized. I m not sure, nor are most commentators sure why Paul didn t recognize him. Some argue Paul is being sarcastic here. What he is essentially saying is, since the High Priest was violating the law, he didn t acknowledge him as the High Priest. My problem with that approach is that this would require Paul to also be quoting Exodus sarcastically in his apology. This doesn t seem likely. You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people (Exodus 22:28). Maybe the problem was, with Paul s poor vision he didn t see well enough to recognize him. This seems to be reaching and if it had been the case Luke would have stated it. More likely Paul simply didn t recognize the High Priest because he d been away from Jerusalem for a number of years as Longnecker points out At regular meetings of the Sanhedrin, the high priest presided and would have been identifiable for that reason. But this was not a regular meeting, and the high priest may not have occupied his usual place or worn his robes of office. Also, since Paul had visited Jerusalem only sporadically during the past twenty years, and since the high priest s office had passed from one to another within certain priestly families (cf. comments on 4:6), Paul might very well not have known who the high priest in A.D. 58 was 2 Even when Jesus railed against the Scribes and Pharisees, He didn t do so in anger, and He didn t do so against those who where in authority. If God is sovereign, then we don t have to defend ourselves. He is certainly capable of doing so, as He chooses. Verses 6-10: But apparently Paul wasn t opposed to taking advantage of the situation. Seeing there where both Pharisees and Sadducees present, he aligns himself with the former and gets the two side fighting against each other. What was the issue? resurrection. Remember the Pharisees accept it, the Sadducees reject it. So the Pharisees end up defending Paul, even to the extent of suggesting he had seen an angel, while the Sadducees attack him. And as for the Tribune? Why do I even try? These Jews can t agree on anything. Which means the curtain comes down and Paul is on the way to Rome. And Paul goes with the Lord s direct confirmation and encouragement. 2 Longnecker, Richard N., The Expositor s Bible Commentary, Acts, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI, ) 359 (

4 g. Paul Plotted Against: It may well be that God warned Paul so he would be ready to move quickly. And the reason? Because once again these Jews who had followed Paul from Asia Minor were thwarted in the efforts to stop him. So there was nothing left for it but to take care of the situation themselves. They took an oath, before the Lord, that they would fast until they were able to kill Paul. Once again God s word is perverted for personal reasons. There is nothing in scripture that would support this kind of vow. If you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth (Deuteronomy 23:21-23). This is no different that today those who claim that since God is a good of love, all types of love including adultery, fornication, same sex practices, etc. are from God. To make a vow to God related to violating His law is much the same as making a vow of marriage before God and then deciding that since it isn t a happy every after it can be violated. Anyway, ostensibly the men want another hearing before the Tribune. But the actual purpose was to set up an ambush and kill Paul before he can appear at the hearing. We again see God s providence here though because by coincidence the plot is exposed. It just so happened that Paul s nephew overheard the plot. He immediately went to Paul who in turn sent the young man to the Tribune. Paul s nephew gave the specifics of how forty men were willing to be assassins for the Lord to kill Paul. The Tribune tells Paul s nephew to keep his knowledge to himself h. Paul Rescued by Rome Again: and then makes plans to save Paul s life. It would have been beyond embarrassing for the Roman garrison to be unable to protect a Roman citizen from an assassination plot by the Jews. And we can see how seriously the Tribune takes the threat in that he sends almost five hundred men to protect Paul, removing him from Jerusalem and taking him to Cæsarea. The Tribune also sends a letter to the Governor, Felix, to explain the situation. Here s a quick bio of Felix. Felix had became procurator of Judea in A.D. 52, which means that he had been governor for about five years when Paul was brought to him. Felix came from a somewhat lowly background but rose to a high position because of his brother Pallas, who was for a number of years the head of the imperial civil service. The governor successively married three women of royal birth. His current wife was his third, Drusilla, the daughter of Herod Agrippa I. There were many insurgent uprisings during Felix s term of office, which he ruthlessly put down. The Roman historian Tacitus said that Felix exercised the power of a king with the mind of a slave. 1 After reading the letter Felix ascertained that Paul was from Cilicia and decided to hear his case (23:34 35). Had he been from a neighboring area, Felix could have sent him to that governor, just as Pilate sent Jesus to Herod when he found that he was from Galilee. Paul was kept under guard in the palace that Herod the Great built for himself, which was now the governor s headquarters. 3 3 Fernando, Ajith, NIV Application Commentary, The, Acts, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, ) 360 (

5 The governor was Antonius Felix. The emperor Claudius had appointed him governor of Judea in about A.D. 52, a time when Felix s brother was the emperor s favorite minister. The brothers had formerly been slaves, then Freedmen, then high government officials. 4 The problem, according to Claudius Lysias in his letter to Felix, boiled down to a theological disagreement that was so far out of hand that the Jews first wanted Rome to put Paul to death, and since that wasn t warranted, they d try assassinating him themselves. Now the ball was in the Governor s court. He would hear the complaints and make up his own mind. So once again Paul was protected by Rome. Felix takes him into protective custody until those who were after him arrived in Cæsarea and then there d be another hearing. And we ll leave Paul in custody until next week. Conclusion: God is sovereign. He is in control of all circumstances for His own purposes. Or, as the Holman Dictionary puts it. SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD: Biblical teaching that God possesses all power and is the ruler of all things (Ps. 135:6; Dan. 4:34-35). God rules and works according to His eternal purpose, even through events that seem to contradict or oppose His rule. 5 Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, What have you done? (Psalms 135:6; Daniel 4:34 35). Consider this summary of the providential events in this passage. Keep in mind God s purposes here were for: The Gospel to again be presented to the Jewish leadership; and, for it to be presented in Rome. 1. Both Pharisees and Sadducees were present so Paul could turn the focus off himself on to the issue of the resurrection. 2. The Tribune s primary concern was peace, so when the hearing got out of hand he protected Paul. 3. When the Jews plotted to assassinate Paul, his nephew just happened to overhear the plot. 4. The Tribune was actually willing to listen to Paul s nephew and hear of the plot firsthand. 5. Rome certainly didn t have any interest in what appeared to be an in house theological debate. But it did have an interest in maintain the peace and protecting its citizens. And Paul is moved from Jerusalem to Cæsarea and eventually to Rome herself. Now think about the sovereignty of God in your life. Can you identify specific providential moments? 4 Archaeological Study Bible, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, Brand, Chad, gen. ed., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, TN, ) 361 (

6 And so knowing God is sovereign, are you willing to trust Him? Are you willing to accept His loving control? Are you willing to let Him set the priorities of your life? Are you willing to wait on Him? Are you willing to wait? WAIT Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried: Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied. I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate, And the Master so gently said, Child, you must wait. Wait? You say, wait! my indignant reply. Lord, I need answers, I need to know why! Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word. My future and all to which I can relate hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT? I m needing a yes, a go-ahead sign, or even a no to which I can resign. And Lord, You promised that if we believe we need but to ask, and we shall receive. And Lord, I ve been asking, and this is my cry: I m weary of asking! I need a reply! Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate As my Master replied once again, You must wait. So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut and grumbled to God, So, I'm waiting for what? He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine, And he tenderly said, I could give you a sign. I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun. I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run. All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be. You would have what you want But, you wouldn't know Me. You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint; You'd not know the power that I give to the faint; You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair; You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there; You'd not know the joy of resting in Me When darkness and silence were all you could see. You'd never experience that fullness of love As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove; You'd know that I give and I save (for a start), But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart. The glow of My comfort late into the night, The faith that I give when you walk without sight, The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST. ) 362 (

7 You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee, What it means that My grace is sufficient for Thee. Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true, But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you! So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will see That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me. And though oft may My answers seem terribly late, My most precious answer of all is still, WAIT ) 363 (

8 Acts Acts 23:1-35 All Roads Lead to Rome And to the Uttermost Parts of the Earth IV Paul and the Gospel to the Gentiles Chapters 12:25-28:31 B. Paul s Imprisonment and Journey to Rome 21:17-28:31 1. Paul s Arrest and Imprisonment in Jerusalem 21:17-23:35 f. Paul Before the Jew Verses 1-12 g. Paul Plotted Against Verses h. Paul Rescued by Rome Again Verses Introduction: (Acts 22:30) f. Paul Before the Jew: Verses 1-5: (Acts 5:34 39; Deuteronomy 19:15; Luke 6:27 29; Exodus 22:28) Verses 6-10:

9 g. Paul Plotted Against: (Deuteronomy 23:21-23) h. Paul Rescued by Rome Again: Conclusion: (Psalms 135:6; Daniel 4:34 35) SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD: Personal Application: This week meditate on the sovereignty of God. Approach the subject in light of the reasons we have to continually praise and worship Him. Prayer for the Week: Lord we praise You and bless You. May Your Spirit empower us to trust You for all aspects of our lives. Amen.