Courtroom Drama



Acts 22:30-23:11
30But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he [Paul] was being accused by the Jews, he [the Roman official] unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet and he brought Paul down and set him before them.
23:1And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”
2And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
3Then 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?”
4Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?”
5And 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.’”
6Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “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.”
7And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
8For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
9Then 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?”
10And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.
11The 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.”

Movies and television are filled with courtroom dramas where someone drops some amazing bit of information and the entire court explodes into an emotional outburst. I can still remember reading and later watching To Kill a Mockingbird only to be sucked in by Harper Lee’s brilliant use of the courtroom revelation. And in our reading for today we watch as Paul orchestras the events in his trial before the Sanhedrin and Pharisees to an interesting result. A few things happen in Luke’s recounting of this specific event that bears some scrutiny. Paul is clearly on the offensive here and he doesn’t back down.

First of all, he speaks openly about his life as a Christ-following Jew. “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” He holds onto his heritage as Jew but also embraces the Messiah sent from heaven. This of course causes great offense and the High Priest has him slapped in the mouth, a symbol of the High Priest’s belief that he has spoken hypocritically. Paul then makes a rather snide remark about the fact that he couldn’t recognize the High Priest as the leader of the temple because he was behaving so badly! “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest.”Then comes the moment of high drama; Paul states his belief in the resurrection. This is a brilliant move. Suddenly all of the attention moves away from Paul and into a debate. Paul knew exactly what he was doing by launching that grenade into the middle of the room. The Roman official removes Paul from the situation, fearing for his life.

Once again we see Paul act with courage and great boldness. But the passage ends in a poignant way. Jesus Himself comes to visit Paul and encourage him. Clearly these violent run-ins with the Jewish leadership take their toll on Paul and he is shaken. Jesus comes to encourage him to head to Rome to continue his testimony. As always I stand in awe of Paul close relationship with Jesus. After his emotional encounter in the courtroom he goes to prayer. It’s time to talk with the Lord and share his life. And the relationship is such that Jesus comes to Him and speaks directly to him, granting him comfort and further instruction. It’s inspirational.

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