If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman.
He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the policeman’s credibility....
Q: "Officer -- did you see my client fleeing the scene?"
A: "No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away."
Q: "Officer -- who provided this description?"
A: "The officer who responded to the scene."
Q: "A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?"
A: "Yes, sir. With my life."
Q: "With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?"
A: "Yes sir, we do!"
Q: "And do you have a locker in the room?"
A: "Yes sir, I do."
Q: "And do you have a lock on your locker?"
A: "Yes sir."
Q: "Now why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?"
A: "You see, sir -- we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room."
The courtroom erupted in laughter, and a prompt recess was called. (from Terry Blankenship on Sermon Central)
Today we are going to be looking at how Paul handled one of the more difficult trials of his life. In this case he was literally on trail. He had been called before the Sanhedrin to give a defense for the riot that happened in Acts 22. But you’ll remember as we looked at that chapter last week that Paul really wasn’t guilty of anything, this entire scenario was based on a series of misjudgments and gossip about Paul. A group of religious leaders had decided who Paul was, and what he would do when he came to Jerusalem despite the fact that they didn’t even know him. So when Paul came to Jerusalem, he made arrangements with the local church to take some men who were completing vows to the temple to fulfill the rites in accordance with temple law. He did this to show that he was respecting the temple and the Jewish beliefs. But it didn’t matter when some of the religious leaders saw him in the temple they assumed that he was doing something wrong and accused him of it. The riot that broke out was so great that the Roman Soldiers had to come in and take Paul out. The next day he appears before the Sanhedrin, which was the ruling Jewish religious council, to present his defense.
That is the scene that we begin with today in Acts 23:1-10, “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’ At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!’ Those who were standing near Paul said, ‘You dare to insult God’s high priest?’ Paul replied, ‘Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’” Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.’ When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. ‘We find nothing wrong with this man,’ they said. ‘What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?’ The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.”
As we look at how this scene unfolds we are going to see to well respected religious leaders both commit a wrong, what is interesting is that we see only one of them have the character to admit it and get back on the right path. You’ll notice how Paul enters, he’s had the night to think about this and what it is that he wants to say. So he walks in bold he walks in prepared, Luke describes his defense this way, “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’” You understand that Paul begins with a defense that he has used before, the aim is to find common ground. Understand the reasoning here, he is really on trial for a false accusation because some people believe that he doesn’t respect the law, and doesn’t respect their belief in the law. So he begins by addressing them as brothers, after all he was a Pharisee, so when he says, that he has a clear conscience what he is saying is that he has kept the law. He’s trying to find common ground and he is trying to show them who he really is.
It is a tactic that he used before, we don’t know how may times he has used it before but we do know from Luke that he used it with the elders of the church in Ephesus from Acts 20 starting in verse 18, Paul says, “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.” Do you see it? It’s a different setting but essentially the same defense. I know what people are saying about me, but my life has been different. Someone once said, “A man’s reputation is what other people think of him, his character looks like what he really is.” (Jack Miner) The defense of Paul, in Acts 20 and 23 is essentially I know what people are saying about me, but if you look at my life, that’s not who I am. It’s an appeal that he will use later in his letters, asking people to look at his life. It was an argument that was evidentially mostly effective for him but not here.
Look at the reaction in verse 2, “At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.” When we hear those words we know automatically that this was an offensive act. By having Paul struck the High Priest was punishing Paul for what he just said. In one move the high priest dismissed Paul’s defense out of hand and then broke Jewish law. The strike was an act of judgment. The High Priest was punishing Paul it was a move to make his stop what he was saying. It was saying that Paul’s defense was wrong, or inappropriate, or a lie. We’re not sure which. What we are sure of is that the High Priest essentially tipped his hand that no matter what Paul said, we was already judging him as guilty.
But that was the problem, because this was a trial, you were supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Granted the trial was because the Roman commander was trying to find out what Paul had done wrong. But the burden of proof was still on the religious leaders who were accusing Paul to prove that he had done something wrong. By pronouncing a punishment before there was a verdict, even in this case just a partial one, the high priest was breaking Jewish law. Inside he may not have a had a problem with it though because to him Paul was guilty and the trial was just a formality.
Have you ever been there before, where someone is accusing you of something and no matter what you say, they’ve already decided your wrong? If so you can probably relate with Paul’s reaction, verse 3, “Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!” Paul’s mad, look at that phrase, “white washed wall.” It was a picture of a wall or tomb that has been made to look clean but was actually unclean. In that day they would paint ashes on it to warn people that it was unclean despite it’s appearance. It is a really emphatic and picturesque way to call someone a hypocrite. Paul’s saying, “How dare you accuse me of breaking the law and then you break the law yourself.”
But understand this, it was also wrong. Now there are several thoughts on why Paul responded the way that he did, whichever is true it was still inappropriate. There’s been a lot of speculation about why Paul said what he did to who he did. Some people think that Paul’s eyesight was poor so he didn’t see who gave the order. Some people think that because Paul had been gone from Jerusalem for so long he didn’t know who ordered him to be struck, others that Paul was trying to use irony as part of his defense. There is also that thought that Paul didn’t think about who he was talking to, he simply reacted to the situation. But the bottom line is that we don’t know why Paul said what he said, we just know that he was wrong. So the high priest was wrong and Paul was wrong. There’s a lot of wrongness here in this trial that was also wrong, the accusations were untrue and the trial itself was a great injustice to Paul.
Having said that, look at what happens next, verse 4, “Those who were standing near Paul said, ‘You dare to insult God’s high priest?’ Paul replied, ‘Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’’ Given the background of events this might be an unexpected result. I mean Paul did everything he could to avoid confrontation, but they falsely accused him anyway. Paul tried to share with them what Jesus had done, and they beat him for it. The next day he is called in for a trial, unjustly punched but more then that the message communicated was that we’ve already found you guilty even though we don’t really even know you. Bundle all of that with this thought, Paul had carried a burden for these people throughout his ministry and now when he has finally been able to come to Jerusalem to preach to them, he is being shut down. Think about how frustrated you would be. Then look at those but Paul backs down.
Think about the control that this took. Paul’s reaction was to give a proper response despite the wrongs that had been done to him. He’s been lied about arrested and silenced out of hand from sharing the gospel and he responds by saying, “I did not realize who he was and then he gives the reason why his response was wrong. See Paul understood a truth that would ring all through the Old Testament and the New Testament. When God appoints someone as a leader we are supposed to respect them, not because of who they are but because of who He is. God is in control, they didn’t always deserve it, but God commanded that we respect them because He knows what He is doing and who they are today, who they were yesterday may not be who they end up being tomorrow because God is the one at work. So Paul, in essence retracts his rebuke.
It was an action of great discipline and humility. Think about this, Paul was still a human emotionally he probably didn’t want to apologize, but he did. Think about who he was, Ananias may have been the high priest, but Paul was an apostle of Christ. He had taken the church to a different level by spending the past several years of his life planting churches all over his known world. God had used him mightily. In the flesh he may have felt as if somehow he was justified in being an equal to Ananias. He could have tried to claim those rights. But instead, he with draws the insult, rather than fighting for his rights, he backs down to diffuse the situation, it was an act of humility.
In this act we begin to see the character of Paul. Think of the discipline he had shown through out his life. In the jail in Philippi and earthquake opens the doors, yet he doesn’t try to escape. On this journey, he is told hardship awaits but he goes anyway. This is a man who was willing to do whatever it took to follow God. What about humility. You’ll remember that he and Barnabas went on that first missionary journey together and then separated. The reason is because Paul wanted to cast aside John Mark because he made a mistake. Paul doesn’t want to give him another chance, but Barnabas does. Here’s the thing, later when Paul writes to Timothy he affirms the values of the companionship of that same John Mark. Paul was humble enough to admit a mistake. Humility was a part of his character.
When you have discipline and humility then you will have the courage and the wherewithal to do the right thing at the right time. (show softball video)
Character may be hard to define, but we know it when we see it. We saw it in the actions of the girls on the video and we see it here in the life of Paul. The sad thing to me here is that Paul at this point knows that he will not be given a chance to share the gospel here. Even worse, his very life is in danger, but despite the adversity around him Paul was able to keep his composure. Look at verse 6, “Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, ‘My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.’ When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)”
It was brilliant, a tactic that Jesus used, to get the Pharisee’s and the Sadducees to disagree with each other. By the way Paul didn’t lie, part of the center of his message was the resurrection of the dead, the resurrection that we all await because of our faith in Jesus Christ. When Paul realized that the trial was a sham, when he realized that his life was in danger, he didn’t panic, he merely turned to an issue that he knew would distract him. It provided him with a way out. You see that was another part of his character, grace under pressure. When the going got tough Paul was able to still respond in appropriate and intelligent ways.
It got Paul out of the situation but not without a cost. Luke says that the riot that broke out was so violent that the soldiers intervened because they were afraid Paul would be torn to pieces. Paul was in the middle of that riot that probably wasn’t the safest place to be. But the soldiers take him out, they place him in their barracks and there he sits. I picture that he was probably feeling defeated. His mission appeared to be a failure they wouldn’t even listen to his testimony. The defense that he planned, he got slapped in the face before he could deliver it. I’m sure that he felt defeated.
But then God does what He always does when we place are trust in Him. Just when things seem blackest, just when we don’t know what to do next, He shows up. Oh He may not get us out of the situation, but He let’s us know we are there if we are willing to listen for His voice. Look at verse 11, “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.
This is another aspect of Paul’s character that we see in this story. He was willing to follow God’s path and not his own. Paul was a Pharisee, so was his father, it was the family business so to speak. He was proud of his heritage, not just the position but the nation. We know that Paul longed to see Israel saved. But he was sent to the Gentiles. Now in the midst of his being rejected by his people, God comes, and God doesn’t say, “Paul I’m giving you what you want, tomorrow the people will listen to you.” God says Paul, ‘You must also testify in Rome.” Paul your trip here is over I have someplace else to send you. Your notice what we don’t have from Paul. We don’t have a response, he didn’t argue. God told him to go and we’ll see that he went. He put God’s plan first.
Then we see a final character trait from Paul, the courage to carry on. At this point in the story Paul’s life is on the line through legal and illegal means. Look at verse 12, “The next morning the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty men were involved in this plot.” If we can’t find him guilty and sentence him to death, we’ll just murder him in the streets. I think at this point most people would just look for a way out, maybe they would be willing to compromise their message. But we’re going to see in the coming weeks that Paul just kept preaching the gospel.
That took courage, it also took faith. See I still don’t think that religious leaders understood who they were dealing with. When they killed Jesus they thought that it would silence Him until He rose from the dead, and began to speak to people. They threatened Paul with death, maybe they thought they could intimidate him, but they didn’t because he knew the one who conquered the grave. If you’re here and you’ve never accepted Christ maybe you’re wondering why we Christians are willing to come to church on Sunday’s and dedicate our lives to the service of this man who died 2000 years ago. The answer is simple, it’s because we know Him, like Paul, we know that He is alive and well and because of that when a person places their faith in Him then we get to live forever. Paul understood that our time here on earth was to tell people about Jesus, and when this time is over then we get to go be with Him forever. That is our reward and our ultimate deliverance.
That is what we see in the life of Paul and what we need to understand about our own lives. Notice this, God doesn’t deliver Paul from this trial He goes with Paul through the trial. God doesn’t open the prison doors and let Paul walk out. He’s still in prison. God doesn’t calm down the religious leaders they still want to kill Paul. But God is still with him through the road ahead. That same promise is there for you and me. God know the road ahead for all of us. If you will give your life to Him, He will walk with you through all of them, He will give you strength to endure hope for the future, and in this life He will work within you to use the events of life, the good and the bad to shape you into the person you’ve always wanted to be. See God took a Pharisee named Saul, who was as judgmental as those religious leaders and turned him into this apostle of great character. If you will invite Jesus into your life He will do the same within you.
