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THE BOOK OF ACTS – THE SIMPLE TRUTH

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THE SIMPLE TRUTH

“‘Believe me, I do my level best to keep a clear conscience before God and my neighbours in everything I do. I’ve been out of the country for a number of years and now I’m back. I took up a collection for the poor and brought that with me, along with offerings for the Temple. It was while making those offerings that they found me quietly at my prayers in the Temple. There was no crowd; there was no disturbance. It was some Jews from around Ephesus who started all this trouble. And you’ll notice they’re not here today. They’re cowards, too cowardly to accuse me in front of you.

“‘So ask these others what crime they’ve caught me in. Don’t let them hide behind this smooth-talking Tertullius. The only thing they have on me is that one sentence I shouted out in the council: “‘It’s because I believe in the resurrection that I’ve been hauled into this court!'” Does that sound to you like grounds for a criminal case?'” Acts 24:16-21 (The Message).

Paul was accused of being a rabble-rouser by teaching Jews to disregard Moses and the Law of God, by stirring up riots against Jews all over the world and by defiling the Temple. Tertullius made these accusations with no explanation, evidence or witnesses. He expected the governor to take his word for it without producing a single person to corroborate his story.

Paul knew exactly why he was on trial. The real reason was disguised by an accusation designed to get the attention of the Roman authorities. Rome had no interest in religious squabbles between rival factions. That was not their problem unless it sparked trouble and disturbed the peace. The Jews were well-known for being volatile over their religion. Any sign of trouble had to be nipped in the bud.

Tertullius and his clients had no interest in the real cause of the rioting, as long as it was about their arch-enemy, Paul. This was a golden opportunity to get rid of him once and for all. Get the governor on their side and his doom was sealed.

It was now up to Paul to show the governor how ridiculous and untrue their case against him was. His defense was clear and unembellished. He simply told the truth. This is what happened and this is how it happened. He was fully aware of the underlying cause of their hatred and antagonism — his belief in the resurrection which connected him to the Man who prophesied His own death and resurrection and fulfilled His prophecy to the letter!

Slowly but surely Paul built up his defense with far greater skill than the Jews’ lawyer had used to lay his case before the court. He had to because it was up to him to show Felix the real reason for these accusations against him. The Jews were hiding behind a smoke-screen of lies because their issue with Paul would never hold up in a court of law.

Paul began by defending his character; he could say with absolute honesty that his conscience was clear regarding their accusations because he lived by a good conscience, always. He explained the reason for his return to Jerusalem and his presence in the Temple, all verifiable facts if anyone cared to check them out.

Then, in one sentence he ripped open their hidden agenda — and he had the reaction of the high priest to prove it. Firstly, when he was on trial before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, he was slapped in the face for bearing witness to a good conscience. Secondly, it was his declaration concerning the resurrection that sparked the furore between Pharisees and Sadducees and the outburst from some of the religious boffins: ‘He is not guilty!’ So really, this trial was a farce and the quicker Felix recognised that, the better.

It was now up to the governor to decide whether he was going to follow his conscience or what was to his advantage. That’s always the choice, isn’t it?

THE BOOK OF ACTS – TRIAL BY FIRE

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TRIAL BY FIRE                                                                                        

“That night the Master appeared to Paul. ‘It’s going to be alright. Everything is going to turn out for the best. You’ve been a good witness for me here in Jerusalem. Now you’re going to be my witness in Rome.'” Acts 23:11 (The Message).

How desperately Paul needed reassurance at that moment! Things looked pretty bad for him. He was not involved in any criminal activity and at least the Pharisee part of the Sanhedrin had given their verdict — in their row with the Sadducees — not guilty, but not in an official trial. He could not be released and even if he were, he was still in danger of being torn apart by the angry mob if he so much as stuck his nose out of doors.

Paul must have felt very alone in his circumstances, between a rock and a hard place and not knowing what would happen to him next. Things seemed to have gone horribly wrong. There seemed no way out and he must have been wondering whether God’s plan for him had been derailed.

Just when he needed it, the word came from the Master Himself. ‘It’s okay, Paul, everything is still on track. I’ll get you to Rome, just as I said I would.’ It’s just like Jesus to affirm Paul even in these sticky circumstances. He spoke words of encouragement and approval like a good father and Paul must have breathed easy again, knowing that, crazy as things seemed to be God was still there orchestrating the situation for His own purposes.

Paul was in custody in the barracks, and now the Roman captain was sitting with a problem on his hands — what to do with him. He had no authority to release him or to try him. It was the Jews’ fight. Somehow he had to get Paul a trial by the proper authorities.

“Next day the Jews worked up a plot against Paul. They took a solemn oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed him. Over forty of them ritually bound themselves to this murder and presented themselves to the high priests and religious leaders. ‘We’ve bound ourselves by an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. But we need your help. Send a request from the council to the captain to bring Paul back so that you can investigate the charges in more detail. We’ll do the rest. Before he gets anywhere near you, we’ll have killed him. You won’t be involved.'” Acts 23:12-15 (The Message).

Now what! Paul’s Jewish antagonists had hatched a seemingly fool proof plot to kill him. No one knew about it, so they thought, and now they had Paul in the bag! This reminds me of the words of an old hymn:

“Though the cause of evil prosper,

Yet ’tis truth alone is strong;

Though her portion be the scaffold,

And upon the throne be wrong;

Yet that scaffold sways the future,

And, behind the dim unknown,

Standeth God within the shadows,

Keeping watch above His own

(“Once to every man and nation” – James Russell Lowell)

The reassurance Jesus had given Paul was enough for him to know that, no matter what the current circumstances, God would turn it to His own advantage.

A Twist In The Tale

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A TWIST IN THE TALE

“A few days later King Agrippa and his wife, Bernice, visited Caesarea to welcome Festus to his new post. After several days, Festus brought up Paul’s case to the king. ‘I have a man on my hands here, a prisoner left by Felix. When I was in Jerusalem, the high priests and Jewish leaders brought a bunch of accusations against him and wanted me to sentence him to death. I told them that wasn’t the way we Romans did things. Just because a man is accused, we don’t throw him out to the dogs. We make sure the accused has a chance to face his accusers and defend himself of the charges. So when they came down here I got right on the case. I took my place in the courtroom and put the man on the stand.

“‘The accusers came at him from all sides, but their accusations turned out to be nothing more than arguments about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who the prisoner claimed to be alive. Since I’m a newcomer here and don’t understand everything involved in a case like this, I asked if he be willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there. Paul refused and demanded a hearing before His Majesty in our highest court. So I ordered him returned to custody until I could send him to Caesar in Rome.'” Acts 25:13-21 (The Message).

Festus’ story sounds quite accurate except for one small twist. He gave his reason for wanting to send Paul back to Jerusalem for trial as ignorance concerning the ins and outs of a case like this. Luke said it was because he wanted to curry favour with the Jews. Which version was correct? When the Jews asked him to send Paul back to Jerusalem for trial, he had refused, citing Caesarea as the place of his jurisdiction over Paul. Why the sudden change of mind?

When the Jews came to Caesarea to put their case before Festus, the sight of Paul coming into the courtroom sent them into a frenzy of accusations. Paul’s defence did nothing to calm them down and Festus must have realised that he was a hot potato. Regardless of the legitimacy of their case, he had a howling mob on his hands whom he had better appease as best he could if he did not want a riot and a bloodbath in Judea.

He had quickly changed his tune, magnanimously offering Paul the option of returning to Jerusalem to answer their charges. Perhaps he knew that he would choose the only other option open to him – trial before Caesar – in which case Paul’s decision was irrevocable – and Festus would neatly have got rid of him without dirtying his hands.

He put his problem to King Agrippa in a plausible way to cover up the real motive for his unexpected move. The issue was not whether Paul was guilty of a crime punishable by death or not — he was certainly not stupid enough to be taken in by the Jews’ emotional frenzy — but how to get rid of Paul without being unjust and at the same time calming the Jews enough to stop the inevitable riot that Paul’s release would spark.

Perhaps the king would come up with a satisfactory solution that would take the responsibility off Festus’ hands. The king’s visit could not have come at a better time -except for one small glitch. Paul’s appeal to Caesar could not be changed.

Festus had another problem. He knew that the case against Paul was all about an internal religious quarrel – he made that clear to Agrippa. What sort of governor would he look like, sending Paul to Caesar with a petty charge like that, as though he were incapable of dealing with it? He needed Agippa’s rubber stamp on the case to make it look more serious and needing Caesar’s intervention.

While all this was going on, Paul was still firmly in the hands of a God who always works everything according to the purpose of His will. Whatever negotiations were going on in the earthly scene, God was inexorably moving His son into position to get him to Rome — at Rome’s expense, mind you — to take His message to the heart and hub of the Roman Empire. Festus had inadvertently played right into the hands of a sovereign God and all of heaven relaxed! God had done it again!

Wily As A Snake

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WILY AS A SNAKE

“The aides were scandalised.’How dare you talk to God’s Chief Priest like that!’

“Paul acted surprised.’How was I to know he was Chief Priest? He doesn’t act like a Chief Priest. You’re right, the Scripture does say, “Don’t speak abusively to a ruler of the people.” Sorry.’

“Paul, knowing that some of the council was made up of Sadducees and others of Pharisees and how they hated each other, decided to exploit their antagonism: ‘Friends, I am a stalwart Pharisee from a long line of Pharisees. It’s because of my Pharisee convictions — the hope and resurrection from the dead — that I’ve been hauled into this court.'” Acts 23:4-6 (The Message).

Paul was in a critical situation — knowing that his life was on the line and that, whatever he said would be taken up the wrong way and used against him. It was up to him now to get as much mileage out of the situation as he could, and to use it to his own advantage. He was a shrewd and quick thinker.

The bullying action of the High Priest was a good opportunity to show him up for what he was and Paul was quick to respond, pretending that he was unaware of the high priest’s position because of his behaviour and making him look like the bully he was in front of his peers.

Jesus counselled His followers to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves, especially when they were dragged before the High Council. Paul also knew of the deep divide between Pharisees and Sadducees down both religious and political lines. Pharisees were fully convinced of the supernatural and of the resurrection while Sadducees rejected both ideas. They were the more secular and political wing of the Sanhedrin.

All Paul had to do was to use his rhetorical skill to turn them against each other, and the heat would be off him, and that is exactly what he did. He used his background and training as a Pharisee to identify with the Pharisee section of the Sanhedrin, and they knew it because Paul had been a prominent Pharisee before his conversion, contending for the law to the extent of persecuting the church.

“The moment he said this, the council split right down the middle, Pharisees and Sadducees going at each other in heated argument. Sadducees had nothing to do with a resurrection or angels or even a spirit. If they can’t see it, they don’t believe it. Pharisees believe it all. And so a huge and noisy quarrel broke out. Then some of the religion scholars on the Pharisee side shouted down the others: ‘We don’t find anything wrong with this man! And what if a spirit has spoken to him! Or maybe an angel? What if it turns out we’re fighting against God?'” Acts 23:7-9 (The Message).

Paul got exactly what he wanted and the Roman captain got his answer as well. Now he could see that the whole furore over Paul was nothing more than an internal religious squabble and nothing to do with lawlessness or criminal activity. Paul’s shrew move had blown the whole thing open and forced a “not guilty” verdict from the mouths of at least half of the Sanhedrin.

“That was fuel on the fire. The quarrel flamed up and became so violent that the captain was afraid they would tear Paul apart, limb from limb. He ordered the soldiers to get him out of there and escort him back to the safety of the barracks.” Acts 23:10 (The Message).

Paul was in custody, not because he was guilty, but because he was in danger. It was up to the captain to decide what to do with him. If he released him, the Jews would attack him and start the whole process all over again. God was still in charge, slowly moving in Paul’s life to get him to Rome, where He wanted him to be.