The Reason for Paul’s Trial

Introduction

In today’s passage a tribune, which is a high ranking Roman official seeks to understand why the Jews are so upset with Paul. He is newcomer to all of this religious conversation and so he desires to understand what is going on. Perhaps you are here and you feel like a newcomer to religious talk. The vocabulary is confusing like another language and there is all of this background detail necessary to understand what I am saying, but you are unfamiliar with these details. I want to encourage, you are not alone. Even in the bible people were struggling to understand. But keep struggling. Keep pursuing the truth. Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Today I hope as we unravel why Paul is on trial that you would see what is most important. The reason Paul is on trial is the reason why are gathered here this morning and the reason what Christianity has grown to one of the largest religions on the planet despite its small start and the constant pressure it has faced from persecutors throughout the ages. But before I reveal the reason you’ll have to listen and struggle for just a bit longer. [Read the text]

The Jew’s Reason for Paul’s Trial v.22-23

[Read 22-23] We need to be reminded why the Jews began this process in the first place. Paul is arrested because Jews from Asia in chapter 21 caused an uproar and formed a mob that attempted to kill Paul. Their accusation was this, Acts 21:28 “crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”” To put it in a word Paul was an unfaithful Jew. He was unfaithful because he was diminishing the importance of the Old Testament law and welcoming in Gentiles to the Jewish community and temple. Though he in fact, personally upheld the OT law and did not bring a gentile into the temple. Paul believed the Gentiles could be saved through Christ, but to preserve unity with the Jewish Christians encouraged gentiles to abstain from behavior that would cause division. But the Jews did not see it that way. They believed Paul was false teacher a blasphemer (someone that speaks untrue things against God).

Paul responds to these accusations by explaining what happened to him. He met the risen Jesus on his way to Damascus. He was on his way to persecute Christians because he like the Jews not persecuting him believed that Jesus was not the Messiah and that these Christians we false teachers. He explains that in his encounter with Jesus he becomes convinced that Jesus is the Messiah and that to be a faithful Jew is to serve the Jewish Messiah.

How is Paul to serve the Messiah? He is told through a vision to leave Jerusalem because the Jews would not accept his testimony about Jesus. And that Paul is to be sent out to the Gentiles to proclaim the Gospel, or good news that the Messiah has come and that they are to repent of their sin and idol worship and follow the true God. Simply put: The Jews claim Paul was an unfaithful Jew because he went to the Gentiles. Paul claimed that he was a faithful Jew because he was doing what God told him to do. If he can convince them of the truth, that God sent him to the Gentiles, that Jesus was the Messiah, and that Jesus died for sin and rose from the grave. Then, he would found not guilty. He would win his trial.

This all occurs in the midst of a lot of action and at least two languages of Greek and Hebrew. So, the Greek speaking tribune, a Roman official that has stepped in once and saved Paul’s life and is trying to keep the peace is confused. Maybe he is confused because he doesn’t understand the nuances of Jew and Gentile relations. Or perhaps his is confused because Paul’s speech in chapter 21 was in Hebrew and he speaks Greek. So, he decides to take Paul back to the barracks and figure this out on his own.

The Tribune’s Search for Truth v. 22:24-23:5

The Jews are upset by Paul stating that he was sent to the Gentiles. So in outrage they begin to fling the dust out of their robes and they begin to get unruly yet again. So, the Tribune orders Paul to be taken back into the Roman barracks to keep him from being killed. However, in order to learn what is going he decides to subject Paul to questioning via flogging. A torture method to get Paul to tell the truth. This Roman flogging would entail being beaten with a whip that had several leather thongs inserted with various pieces of bone and metal. Some prisoners died during this type of interrogation. This is not the kind of thing you would allow yourself to go through unnecessarily.

Paul as he is being stretched out cries out, Acts 22:25–26 “…… “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”” It was illegal to torture and chain a Roman citizen without a trial. The centurion, a Roman officer, who was conducting the interrogation heard this he went to the tribune to investigate further before flogging a Roman citizen.

The Tribune discovers through questioning Paul that Paul is a Roman citizen by birth. Now, citizenship in Rome isn’t like citizenship in the US. If your parents are not citizens you can’t be born a citizen just because you are born in the empire. A Jew like Paul would have had to have an ancestor earn citizenship through service to the empire. We don’t know how that happened, but Paul being born a citizen displays God’s sovereign hand working at least one generation before to spare Paul this beating and this citizenship leads to Paul traveling to Rome for trial. Which gives us the back half of Acts. God is working his plan long before we can see it, and he will working his plan long after.

Now, the tribune can’t beat the “truth” out of Paul, but he still wants to know what is going on. So the next day he takes Paul to the chief priests and all the council or the Sanhedrin. This way they can examine him, and perhaps in a more structure environment the tribune can figure out what is going on. So Paul is taken before this council. Paul knows that the accusation is that he is an unfaithful Jew. He is seeking to prove that he is faithful because he is carrying out the commands of God through Jesus the Messiah. These council members probably heard Paul’s testimony the day before when Paul told them how the resurrected Christ appeared to him in a bright light on the way to Damascus. He doesn’t necessarily need to retell the story to this group.

So, he kicks off his defense by saying, Acts 23:1 “……“Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”” And for this statement the high priest Ananias commands that Paul be struck on the mouth. Paul responds, Acts 23:3 “Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?”” He is paraphrasing Ezekiel 13:10 which told of a wall that was falling apart and the condition of the wall of covered up by whitewash or paint. The outside appeared to be ok, but the inside of the wall was corrupt and decaying. Paul is accusing this man of being righteous on the outside but not the inside. He dares to judge Paul about upholding the law (being a faithful jew) but then disobeys the law by having a defendant struck in the middle of his testimony.

There is irony here. Paul appeals to Roman (Gentile law) and avoids being struck, but failure to adhere to God’s law by God’s high priest leads to him being struck unjustly. Paul declares that God will judge and strike the one who commanded this. In Romans 2:9–11 “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” Being the high priest and being born a Jew doesn’t get into the kingdom of God on its own. Evil is judged regardless of upbringing or cultural background. In Chapter 3 in the book of Romans Paul with say, Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” . Referring to both Jews and Gentiles. He makes the case in Romans that only through faith in the Jesus, who the innocent one who died for the guilty, can anyone be saved from the wrath of God. So, this Jewish high priest is subject to God’s judgement.

Its interesting, in this moment the tribune is a better “ruler” than the high priest of the Jews. A military man is more restrained and obedient than a religious man. The Tribune’s search for the truth. Has somehow led him to looking more righteous or at least closer to God’s desires for rulers than this Jewish official.

This is driven home what happens next. Paul is criticized for reviling or speaking ill of God’s high priest. Paul responds, Acts 23:5 “And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”” Now it seems unlikely that Paul doesn’t know who the high priest is. Especially since the high priest typically wore garments that put his station on display. Perhaps the high priest didn’t wear his garments because the Tribune called the meeting. But it is also possible that Paul is being ironic. As to say, I didn’t realize this was the high priest because his behavior is so unbecoming of office. He isn’t acting like the high priest so I assumed he wasn’t the high priest.

Now at this point Paul notices something about the council. He perceives that some are Pharisees and others Sadducees. And at this point we learn why paul believes his is on trial

Paul’s Reason for His Trial v. 6-11

Paul declares that he is Pharisee and son of Pharisees. He says, “Acts 23:6 “, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”” This is the big reveal. At this statement an argument breaks out between these two factions. Now Luke explains that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection or angles or spirit. Sadducees only saw the first 5 books of the Old Testament and being authoritative. Resurrection does not occur in those books. But angels and spirits do. It’s possible that Luke is referring the authority of angelic messengers or spiritual messengers. Now, remember back to Paul’s testimony, his claim is that he is a faithful Jew because the Messiah appeared to him in a bright light and blinded him. This convinced him that Jesus was the Messiah. Then in a trance in Jerusalem he is told to go to the gentiles. He is faithful because he living out what God has commanded through a resurrected Jesus and extraordinary revelation.

I don’t think Paul is just trying to get the Pharisees and Sadducees to fight. That isn’t really what he has been trying to accomplish since chapter 21 when he asked to speak to the Jewish crowd. Paul desires to convince anyone he can that Jesus is the Messiah. I think in perceiving that some of the crowd were Pharisees Paul is attempting to convince them of the truth. He is trying to win his case, not just save his own skin.

He knows in the Pharisees that he might have an audience primed to hear the gospel. Because in this audience he has people who already believe in God’s power to resurrect the dead and speak miraculously through angels. The Sadduccees are going to be a harder sell in that moment so he takes a stab at the “low hanging fruit.” He appeals to an already held belief that he can shoehorn the gospel into.

Listen to how they respond, Acts 23:9 “Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?””

We are told in Acts 15:5 “But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ……”” and Nicodemus in John 3 came to Jesus by night and asked Jesus how he can be born again. It is this conversation that prompts the most famous verse in all of the bible John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Later Nicodemus is the one who prepares the body of Jesus after his death. It seems that he is a follower, and of course don’t forget about Paul himself. A Pharisee visited by the resurrected Christ and gloriously converted. I believe Paul is trying to simply to testify faithfully wherever God places him.

My point is driven home further as things turn violent and the tribune has to take Paul back into the barracks yet again. But the following night after days in which Paul is almost killed by a mob… twice, almost flogged, smacked around during a trial, and then almost killed by another mob. Something amazing happens. Acts 23:11 “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.””

Isn’t amazing that when on Trial for Christ he is on trial with Christ. The text tells us that the Lord stood by him. God had a plan to take Paul to Rome. And throughout the journey it will look like all hope is lost more than once. But God’s plans always come true. God’s plan for Paul’s life is to testify the facts about Him in Jerusalem and in Rome.

Conclusion

So, what can we glean from this passage? What is the Monday morning difference? 1) God’s plan for Paul’s life is God’s plan for your life. Testify to the facts about Him. 2) No matter how complicated things get, the reason you are to be “on trial” is for the hope of the resurrection. 3) Remember that as we testify Christ will stand by us. Matthew 28:18–20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””