Acts 23 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Acts chapter 23 [music] verse 1.
2. 0:03Paul is speaking still in his defense
3. 0:05[music]
4. 0:06after being arrested, detained, he's
5. 0:09speaking before
6. 0:10>> [music]
7. 0:10>> the Jerusalem
8. 0:11Sanhedrin.
9. 0:13Paul looking intently at the council
10. 0:15[music] said, "Brethren, I have lived my
11. 0:18life with a perfectly good conscience
12. 0:21[music] before God up to this day."
13. 0:24The high priest Ananias commanded those
14. 0:27standing beside him to strike him on the
15. 0:29mouth.
16. 0:32Then Paul said to him, "God is going to
17. 0:34strike you, [music] you whitewashed
18. 0:36wall.
19. 0:37Do you sit to try me according to the
20. 0:41law and in violation of the law order me
21. 0:44to be struck?"
22. 0:46The Apostle Paul is not saying that he
23. 0:50was a perfect man. He's saying that
24. 0:52[music] he was in perfect alignment with
25. 0:55the law.
26. 0:57And he's saying that this high priest
27. 0:58[music]
28. 0:59who's just ordered someone to strike him
29. 1:02has violated the law.
30. 1:05You can see that [music] he's got a
31. 1:06little bit of spunk in there.
32. 1:09"God will strike you, you whitewashed
33. 1:12wall. Do you sit to try me according to
34. 1:15the law and in violation of the law
35. 1:17order me to be struck?" But the
36. 1:19bystanders said, "Do you revile God's
37. 1:23high priest?"
38. 1:25And Paul said, "I was not aware,
39. 1:27brethren, that he was high priest,
40. 1:29[music] for it is written, 'You shall
41. 1:31not speak evil of a ruler of your
42. 1:34people.'"
43. 1:35So, Paul says,
44. 1:38"I didn't know that." He doesn't
45. 1:39apologize, but he acknowledges he
46. 1:41[music] probably wouldn't have said that
47. 1:43had he known that it was the high
48. 1:44priest. He preserves some honor for a
49. 1:48role of authority even when that role is
50. 1:50being used by the [music] devil to
51. 1:52harass him, to kill Jesus, and to set
52. 1:55him on the path to death.
53. 1:57But he still doesn't want to speak evil
54. 2:00of the ruler of his people.
55. 2:03But perceiving that one group were
56. 2:05Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul
57. 2:07began crying out in the council,
58. 2:09"Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of a
59. 2:13Pharisee.
60. 2:15I am on trial for the hope and
61. 2:17resurrection of the dead."
62. 2:20He's doing this because the Sadducees
63. 2:22don't believe in the resurrection and
64. 2:24the Pharisees do. And so he has
65. 2:27collapsed the whole story of Jesus in
66. 2:30the gospel down to a question of whether
67. 2:32the dead rise.
68. 2:34Do you get what he's doing? And he's
69. 2:36wanting to turn them against each other
70. 2:39and in the hopes that he can get some
71. 2:42space between.
72. 2:44"I am on trial for the hope of the
73. 2:46resurrection of the dead." As he said
74. 2:48this, there occurred a dissension
75. 2:50between the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
76. 2:53Exactly what he was hoping for.
77. 2:55And the assembly was divided.
78. 2:58For the Sadducees say there is no
79. 3:00resurrection, nor an angel,
80. 3:03nor a spirit, but the Pharisees
81. 3:06acknowledge them all. So, the Sadducees
82. 3:09are very Hellenized. They It's like
83. 3:11they've already gone through their
84. 3:13enlightenment, so to speak. So, they see
85. 3:15everything as natural. They don't
86. 3:17acknowledge a resurrection, they don't
87. 3:19acknowledge angels, they don't
88. 3:21acknowledge the spirit of God.
89. 3:23Everything is material. Everything is is
90. 3:27Greek in its orientation.
91. 3:30And the Pharisees are still believing in
92. 3:34the Bible. They still believe in the
93. 3:35resurrection, they believe in the spirit
94. 3:37of God. And so Paul is exploiting this
95. 3:41divide. For the Sadducees say there is
96. 3:43no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a
97. 3:45spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge
98. 3:47them all. And there occurred a great
99. 3:50uproar, and some of the scribes of the
100. 3:53Pharisees stood up and began to argue
101. 3:56heatedly saying, "We find nothing wrong
102. 3:59with this man. Suppose a spirit or an
103. 4:01angel has spoken to him."
104. 4:04And as a great dissension was
105. 4:06developing, the commander was afraid
106. 4:08Paul would be torn to pieces by them and
107. 4:11ordered the troops to go down and take
108. 4:13him away from them by force and bring
109. 4:16him into the barracks.
110. 4:19But on the night
111. 4:22immediately following,
112. 4:25the Lord stood at his Paul's side and
113. 4:29said,
114. 4:30"Take courage, for as you have solemnly
115. 4:33witnessed to my cause at Jerusalem, so
116. 4:37you must witness at Rome, also."
117. 4:41So, the Lord stands with Paul in the
118. 4:43jail cell or wherever he's staying. And
119. 4:46he says, "Take courage because what
120. 4:49you're going through is to bring my
121. 4:52witness
122. 4:53all the way to Rome."
123. 4:55It's powerful that Jesus refers to his
124. 4:58movement as my cause.
125. 5:03When it was day, the Jews formed a
126. 5:05conspiracy
127. 5:07>> [snorts]
128. 5:07>> and bound themselves under an oath
129. 5:11saying that they would neither eat nor
130. 5:13drink until they had killed Paul.
131. 5:19So, a conspiracy is when a whole bunch
132. 5:21of people coordinate
133. 5:23to bring about an evil against another
134. 5:26person or group
135. 5:28that is not organic. It's not developing
136. 5:32naturally. It's coordinated. It's
137. 5:35synchronized. It's false.
138. 5:39And they swore themselves to an oath,
139. 5:42bound themselves in an oath that they
140. 5:43would
141. 5:45not eat or drink until they killed Paul.
142. 5:48There were more than 40 who formed this
143. 5:51plot.
144. 5:53They came to the chief priests and the
145. 5:55elders and said, "We have bound
146. 5:57ourselves under a solemn oath
147. 6:00to taste nothing until we have killed
148. 6:03Paul.
149. 6:05Now, it is hard for modern Christians
150. 6:10whose faith is so superficial to
151. 6:13understand
152. 6:14how
153. 6:16riled up, how inflamed, how radicalized
154. 6:21someone can become
155. 6:23to do something this wicked.
156. 6:27But it's been happening for 2,000 years.
157. 6:31It's like when your entire salvation
158. 6:34model
159. 6:35and the meaning of all the days and
160. 6:38moments you've lived
161. 6:40and the interpretation of thousands of
162. 6:43years of history and tradition
163. 6:45and your children and your whole culture
164. 6:48pivots on one truth and your submission
165. 6:53or rebellion against that truth.
166. 6:57Your whole life is at stake.
167. 6:59If Paul is right, they're wrong and the
168. 7:02whole of the Jewish system needs to
169. 7:05repent and change.
170. 7:08And they are not willing to entertain
171. 7:10that.
172. 7:11And so they are going to destroy him.
173. 7:14They are too invested to be indifferent.
174. 7:17They are not like the Romans. They are
175. 7:19not like the commander who cannot relate
176. 7:22to what is happening.
177. 7:24They are like Christians who have gone
178. 7:27to such a great extent of commitment and
179. 7:30then after
180. 7:32turning their back on that commitment,
181. 7:34they become radicalized in their
182. 7:36conspiracies and their compulsion
183. 7:40to destroy what they once believed in.
184. 7:42It's radicalization.
185. 7:47They came to the chief priests and the
186. 7:49elders and said, "We have bound
187. 7:50ourselves under a solemn oath to taste
188. 7:52nothing until we have killed Paul. Now,
189. 7:55therefore, you and the council notify
190. 7:58the commander to bring him down to you
191. 8:01as though you were going to determine
192. 8:03his case by a more thorough
193. 8:05investigation,
194. 8:07and we, for our part, are ready to slay
195. 8:10him before he comes near the place."
196. 8:13So, they involve the authorities in
197. 8:15their conspiracy.
198. 8:17They say, "Let's pretend that this is a
199. 8:20civil investigation
200. 8:22when in fact
201. 8:24our intention is murder."
202. 8:28But the son of Paul's sister,
203. 8:32Paul's nephew, heard
204. 8:35of their ambush
205. 8:37and he came and entered the barracks and
206. 8:41told Paul.
207. 8:44Paul called one of the centurions to him
208. 8:47and said,
209. 8:48"Lead this young man to the commander,
210. 8:52for he has something to report to him."
211. 8:56So, he took him and led him to the
212. 8:58commander and said, "Paul, the prisoner,
213. 9:01called me to him and asked me to lead
214. 9:04this young man to you since he has
215. 9:07something to tell you."
216. 9:09The commander took him by the hand
217. 9:12and stepping aside began to inquire of
218. 9:15him privately,
219. 9:16"What is it that you have to report to
220. 9:18me?"
221. 9:20This is a very small detail that Luke
222. 9:22includes, but it's meaningful.
223. 9:25Luke must have been nearby.
224. 9:28He must have been watching and writing
225. 9:30things down. They didn't have cell
226. 9:32phones to lift up and start recording in
227. 9:34those days, but there was a scribe named
228. 9:36Luke who must have been jotting things
229. 9:38down.
230. 9:40And
231. 9:41the commander is a Roman
232. 9:44brutal soldier,
233. 9:46commander of of the whole cohort of the
234. 9:49Roman military in that city,
235. 9:52and yet when this young boy comes to
236. 9:54him, he takes him by the hand and
237. 9:57quietly takes him aside and says, "Tell
238. 10:00me Tell me what it is you want to say."
239. 10:03It shows a compassion. It shows a a
240. 10:05humanity to the commander that we don't
241. 10:08see shown
242. 10:10to the other players in this drama.
243. 10:14And he, the nephew, said, "The Jews have
244. 10:17agreed to ask you to bring Paul down
245. 10:20tomorrow to the council
246. 10:23as though they were going to inquire
247. 10:26somewhat more thoroughly about him.
248. 10:29So, do not listen to them,
249. 10:32for more than 40 of them are lying in
250. 10:34wait for him
251. 10:37who have bound themselves under a curse
252. 10:40not to eat or drink until they slay him,
253. 10:44and now they are ready and waiting for
254. 10:46the promise from you.
255. 10:48So, the commander let the young man go,
256. 10:50instructing him, "Tell no one that you
257. 10:53have notified me of these things."
258. 10:58Smart guy.
259. 11:00Here's an interesting thing.
260. 11:03We have an insight into what the word
261. 11:05oath means based on this chapter 23.
262. 11:10When they say that they won't eat or
263. 11:12drink until they kill Paul,
264. 11:15in the first two instances, they call it
265. 11:18an oath.
266. 11:19In the third instance, when he relays
267. 11:22the exact same thing to the commander,
268. 11:25he calls it a curse.
269. 11:28An oath entails
270. 11:30a curse.
271. 11:32It entails
272. 11:34a consequence that you should not place
273. 11:36yourself or anyone else under.
274. 11:39It's like saying what they've said here,
275. 11:41"If I don't do this, then I'm going to
276. 11:43die."
277. 11:45It's placing yourself under a curse.
278. 11:48It's not a commitment. It's a commitment
279. 11:51bound by a curse.
280. 11:54And he called to him,
281. 11:56the commander,
282. 11:58two of the centurions and said,
283. 12:00"Get 200 soldiers ready by the third
284. 12:04hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea
285. 12:07with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen."
286. 12:14They were also to provide mounts,
287. 12:16horses, to put Paul on and bring him
288. 12:18safely to Felix [music] the governor.
289. 12:21And he wrote a letter
290. 12:23having this form.
291. 12:25So, he has this letter and the letter is
292. 12:27such a precise quote that Luke had to
293. 12:30have seen it.
294. 12:32He wrote a letter having this [music]
295. 12:34form, "Claudius Lysias to the most
296. 12:37excellent governor Felix, greetings.
297. 12:41When this man was arrested by the Jews
298. 12:44and was about to be slain by them, I
299. 12:47came up to them with the troops
300. 12:49>> [music]
301. 12:49>> and rescued him having learned that he
302. 12:52was a Roman.
303. 12:54Notice how the commander frames what
304. 12:56he's done as heroic. I rescued him
305. 12:59having learned that he was a Roman.
306. 13:00[music] The Jews are the problem. They
307. 13:02were harassing this guy. I rescued him.
308. 13:06And wanting to ascertain the charge for
309. 13:09which they were accusing him, I brought
310. 13:10him down to their council and I found
311. 13:13him to be accused over questions about
312. 13:15their law, but under no accusation
313. 13:18deserving death or imprisonment.
314. 13:21When I was informed that there would be
315. 13:23a plot against the man, I sent him to
316. 13:25you at once, also instructing his
317. 13:27accusers to bring charges against him
318. 13:30[music] before you.
319. 13:32Basically, washing my hands.
320. 13:34>> [music]
321. 13:34>> I don't want to deal with this religious
322. 13:37zealotry. I'd like you to handle this."
323. 13:41So, the soldiers, [music] in accordance
324. 13:42with their orders, took Paul and brought
325. 13:44him by night to Antipatris. [music]
326. 13:48But the next day, leaving the horsemen
327. 13:50to go on with him, they returned to the
328. 13:53barracks. [music]
329. 13:54When these had come to Caesarea
330. 13:57and delivered the letter to the
331. 13:58governor, they also presented Paul to
332. 14:01him, to the governor.
333. 14:03When he had read it, he asked from what
334. 14:06province he was,
335. 14:08>> [music]
336. 14:08>> and when he learned that he, Paul, was
337. 14:11from Cilicia,
338. 14:13he said, "I will give you a hearing
339. 14:15after your accusers arrive also." Giving
340. 14:18orders for him to be kept in Herod's
341. 14:20Praetorium.
342. 14:34>> [music]