Sermon by Joey McLeod 1-4-2015 Calvary Presbyterian Church Mize, Mississippi Title: Hung Jury Acts 22:30-23:11 The Sanhedrin Divided 30 The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them. 23 Then Paul, looking earnestly at 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 those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?” 4 And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?” 5 Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”[a] 6 But when Paul perceived that 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; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. 8 For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. 9 Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, “We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.”[b] 10 Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks. The Plot Against Paul 11 But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” It has been a few weeks since we have been in the book of Acts, so we need to take a moment and reset the context. We have followed Paul after his final missionary journey as he has returned to Jerusalem, even after being warned that he would be bound and arrested there. Upon returning, Paul, as was his custom, visits the temple where he is promptly arrested and accused of “teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law.” As the mob scene heats up, Paul is seized by the Roman tribune and about to be flogged when he appealed to his Roman citizenship, and escaped the flogging. We pick up the scene on the next day as Paul is unbound and brought before the Sanhedrin because the tribune desired “to know the real reason why he as being accused by the Jews.” What had this man done that had caused such an uproar? It is likely that what we are witnessing is not a formal trial, but a sort of pre-trial hearing in order to draw up the formal charges against him before the Roman tribune sent him off to the higher courts for a real trial. But what Paul, and Luke want us to understand is that he is being accused because he preaches a gospel of hope that rests in Christ alone for your salvation. The Gospel and Religion This whole scene is sort of odd beginning with the fact that a Roman official brings Paul before a Jewish court, and apparently is allowed to remain present while the hearing proceeds. Many have raised questions concerning Paul’s response to the question of the officers who concerning his reviling of the High Priest. Was this a sincere apology on the part of Paul, admitting a mistake? Was Paul being sarcastic in his response, or did he not recognize him, and if he did not why did he not? It is hard to say one way or the other, but apparently Paul was being sincere. There is nothing in the text to suggest otherwise. Maybe this was happening in the wee hours of the morning and light was not great, or as some suggest that it was a hasty hearing and thus there had been no time for the High Priest to get robed up which would have distinguished him from the rest of the group. Others suggest that had been gone for years and simply didn’t recognize him. But what is a little more perplexing is what brought about the reaction to strike Paul in the first place. What did Paul mean when he spoke of having lived in everything in good conscience before God unto this day? Keep in mind, this is the same Paul who had held the clothes of Stephen as he was murdered, and who was on way to arrest and kill Christians when Jesus met him on road to Damascus. Certainly Paul was not intending to state that as far as his conscience was concerned that he had never done anything sinful. This same Paul says in 1 Cor. 4:4, “I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby aquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.” I think the answer is to be found in Paul’s description of those who strike him as being whitewashed walls. Those who were clean on the outside, but inside were corrupt. Remember that this whole scene is set against the backdrop of the religious leaders accusing Paul of speaking against the law and this people the day before in 21:28. What Paul, as well as Luke, is doing here is drawing a contrast between one who has believed the gospel trusted in Jesus for life, and those who reject the gospel. They had accused Paul of teaching against the law of Moses, or teaching a law contrary to what Moses taught. Paul could respond that his conscience was clear in this regard, because what he taught was Christ as the fulfillment, and thus the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe. In contrast to Paul, there stands these Jewish leaders whom, in all of their religiousness, Paul identifies as being nothing more than whitewashed walls. There was no one who was more “religious” than this body of men, yet all of their religion was nothing more than window dressing. They had missed the point of all the law – both ceremonial and moral. They had missed the heart of religion, which was Jesus. The Moral law pointed to the need for a savior, which was Jesus. The Ceremonial Law pointed to Jesus as the fulfillment, the sacrifice whose blood was shed as the means of purification as he was cursed. By refusing to believe Jesus they were doing nothing but window dressing - washing the outside, while inside they remained defiled as long as they rejected Jesus as their righteousness and their sacrifice. A House Divided The next question concerning this passage that arises is concerning Paul’s reference to his being judged concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead. Various theologians have differing opinions concerning this tactic. Some question whether Paul was sort of running scared at this point and simply using whatever means he had to get out of situation. Others wonder whether Paul is giving us an example for how to get out of sticky situations – Jesus said house divided cannot stand. There are lots of questions concerning whether this was wrong or right, good or bad, weakness or brilliance on his part. I don’t know, but I do know Paul was not usually one to back a way from a good argument or run from a theological fight. I find it hard to believe that this was motivated simply by fear, or trying to turn them against each other to escape. I think to understand, we must remember Luke’s qualifying statement as to why Paul was here before the Sanhedrin in the first place. “He (the Roman tribune) desired to know the real reason he was being accused by the Jews” The reason that they had rejected Paul was because he was brought hope, but it was a hope that was only in Jesus Christ. I have no doubt that Paul understood the reason that he was here at this moment, and what had caused such an uproar among the Jews. For the Sadducees, they had rejected the gospel because it appeared foolish to them – who can believe in a resurrection, or angels or spirits? Thus they rejected Paul, and the gospel that he preached – it is foolish! For the Pharisees, of whom Paul identifies himself, they rejected the gospel and accused Paul not because he preached hope and resurrection, but he preached this hope founded upon the life, death and resurrection of a person, Jesus. They could not let go of the fact that their religion, their own righteousness could not save them, that they needed a savior. They could not grasp the fact that Jesus was the fulfillment of all of their religious ceremonies – he was the lamb, the sacrifice, the law. That is the gospel message Paul preached – Christ and Christ crucified as the only hope of salvation, thus they rejected him. But what Paul does is identify the real reason that he was on trial, which was his gospel message and the hope and the resurrection that he proclaimed in Christ. Luke tells us as soon as he says this, that a great dissension arose on account of the differences of beliefs between the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Sadducees believed in neither, which is why they are sad, you see – an easy way to remember it, while Pharisees believed both. What Paul understood was that he was not the one who was truly on trial, but it was gospel message being judged and being rejected. The heart of the gospel message is that in Christ Jesus there is hope in a world that is fallen and filled with sin and misery and pain. By faith in him there is hope of righteousness, not of our own, but that of Christ which becomes ours through faith in him. By faith we have hope, because he has taken the wrath of God that is rightly ours and placed it upon himself all the way to the cross. By faith we particularly have the hope of the resurrection, because he came out of the grave after three days, and promised all those who place their faith and hope in him that they too will be raised like him. It was not Paul that they had rejected, but Jesus when they rejected Paul and the gospel that Paul proclaimed. Satan’s tactics in attacking the gospel have not changed. People still resist the gospel calling it foolish. Others reject the gospel because the gospel proclaims that you can’t save yourself, but you need a savior to die for your sins. Perhaps some of you even find yourself in these categories. Or maybe have even experienced this type of resistance from non-Christians. It is no great shocker. Satan’s ploys do not change. Acquittal by the Judge I guess that by this point it should not surprise us that wherever Paul goes there seems to be turmoil that follows close behind. It is that way with the gospel. Once Paul spoke of resurrection the Pharisees defended him, almost as if he were one of their own, which I guess in a sense he was given his opening statement. Luke says they contended sharply saying, “We find no evil in the man. What if an angel or a spirit spoke in him.” It is kind of interesting how quickly things turn. He went from being the enemy to being defended just that quickly. Luke informs us that the dissension became so great that they had to snatch him away because they were scared he would be torn to pieces. This was now the second time in as many days that they had “rescued” Paul from the mouth of the lion. But it was the Sanhedrin and those who refused to believe the gospel who are the ones who are truly being found guilty throughout these events. The following night, Jesus stood by Paul saying, “Be courageous! Because as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.” Here was a statement from the true judge, the one with real authority to acquit or to condemn and he was affirming what Paul spoke. He never says cease teaching as you do Paul, but rather continue on. Keep preaching the gospel message, not only here but in Rome. Continue teaching about the law, and about hope in me. Take the gospel to an even farther people than Jerusalem, and Samaria, and Judea – even ends of earth in Rome I have people. What we also are reminded here is that it is not the Sanhedrin or the Roman Tribune who is in charge, but Jesus himself. Jesus says in effect, don’t worry, I’m in control and I am not done with you yet. My purpose for you is to keep bearing testimony all the way to Rome. In fact, we always say that God works in mysterious ways and we find this nowhere better illustrated than in these events. As we shall see over the next few weeks, what is happening here is Jesus at work to get Paul a free ride to Rome. Because there was such a turmoil and nothing was settled, he is eventually sent as a prisoner to Rome for trial. He gets to Rome and gets a ride at the expense of Roman Government. Jesus said you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the ends of the earth, and he intends to accomplish his purposes. The gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul proclaimed is good news of hope and the resurrection from the dead through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Don’t be surprised if you are rejected for believing and proclaiming this gospel message. It will be thought foolish to many to believe that the dead can be raised or to believe in spirits and or angels, because they can’t prove it empirically, or scientifically. It will be rejected by many more because this gospel denies that you can save yourself, but that you need a savior who is Christ crucified. But also don’t be surprised when through the midst of the trials and rejections by the world, Jesus is working his purposes to grow his kingdom through them. Take courage, because our crucified, and risen Lord is at work to grow his kingdom. Take courage and be faithful in your testimony of him!
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 20:15:39 +0000
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