January 21 - Paul's Story Continues

January 21 - Paul's Story Continues - Acts 22:22-23:22

When last we saw Paul, he was giving his testimony to the people of Jerusalem. (Acts 22:1-21) As soon as he told them that Jesus had sent him to the Gentiles, they went NUTS! They were so out of control that they were throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust in the air. (Acts 22:23)

The guards that had brought Paul to the barracks were a bit confused by the entire spectacle and decided that torture was the appropriate thing to do to figure out why the crowd was so upset with him. Now, I find it very interesting that they were willing to do this to anyone except a Roman citizen. As soon as Paul made it clear that he had citizenship in the Roman empire, they were even concerned that they had chained him. (Acts 22:24-29) The interesting thing to me here is that there is nothing new under the sun. If we read this in the Bible, we are appalled and yet it occurs within our world today, two thousand years later.

The next day, Paul was taken before the Sanhedrin. Now remember, Paul had been a Pharisee and had studied under one of the leaders of the Sanhedrin - Gamaliel. When he comes before them, he is not unknown. However, Ananias ordered that he be smacked around a little and Paul's back went up. "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!" (Acts 23:3) I wish I could speak like that sometimes.

He was about to be in a lot of trouble, but since he was an intelligent man and had been a Pharisee, set the two groups against each other by brinigng up the resurrection. The Sadducees and Pharisees erupted. Things became so violent that the commander of the guards who had brought Paul to the Sanhedrin took him back to the barracks. (Acts 23:1-10)

One of the most amazingly tender moments is about to occur and it's hidden in one simple verse, "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.'"

How many times have we yearned to hear the voice of the Lord say to us, "Take courage." Maybe we just have to listen.

These Jews were serious about their fury at Paul. Forty of them formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath to not eat or drink until they had killed Paul. They took this oath to the Sanhedrin and demanded that they bring Paul in so that he could be killed.

Paul's nephew heard about this. Hmmm ... I didn't even know Paul had a sister until this point and who knew that she was living in Jerusalem! Philippians 3:8 tells us that Paul lost everything when he became a Christian and that would have included his family. Maybe they were converted later. Paul told us earlier that he was the son of a Pharisee. His sister's family would have been able to access information in the Sanhedrin, they probably continued to have contact with many friends and associates.

Her son got the information to the commander of the guard, who listened earnestly and put together a plan to get Paul out of Jerusalem.

The plot thickens ...