Acts 23: Faithful witness when all seems meaningless
‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’ (Acts 23:11)
Having been attacked by his fellow Jews and subsequently arrested by the Romans, Paul now stands before the Jewish ruling council - the Sanhedrin, as the local Roman commander wants to know exactly what charge to place Paul under. The commander is treading carefully - Paul's status as a Roman Citizen gives him greater protection and the right to a fair trial. And so we come to the day when Paul stands before the Jewish authorities, in the same way as Jesus did, in their earthly judgement.
All that we have discovered already in these last chapters of Acts still rings true - Paul's unwavering faith and God's sure plan, set against the chaos and confusion of the world, where individuals battle each other for power, crowds are riled up, and the everything rages against the truth. Without going into a line-by-line commentary, what can we add today?
What strikes me as interesting is the contrast between the two groups of Jews who feature in this chapter, and that of the Romans. With the exception of a few Pharisees who realise that they might possibly have more in common with Paul than they do with some of their fellow council members (the Sadducees, who do not believe in the resurrection of the dead), most of the Jews who oppose Paul do so in anger. The high priest orders for Paul to be struck, and then a mob of about 40 men plot to kill him. For these people, what Paul stands for is offensive. Do they feel threatened, or simply full of what they believe to be righteous anger? We cannot know what is truly in their hearts.
In the Roman commander, we see a great contrast - his trust is in the Roman legal system, and he withholds judgement until he can get to the bottom of what is going on, and why the Jews are so angry at Paul. What of his intentions? It would be easy to hope that maybe he was curious about Paul's faith, and about the God he served and testified about, but we have no evidence of this. Whatever intentions he may have had, the only one we have proof of is that he was cautious to follow the law due to Paul's status as a Roman Citizen (Acts 22:25-29).
However, whatever the intentions of those around him, we know that God was in control and able to use both of these reactions to Paul for his glory, as he says to Paul: ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’ (Acts 23:11). This was the plan - so that the message of justice and mercy may be preached in Rome.
There are so many varied reactions to Paul's testimony, and we cannot possibly know what came of all of these individuals - only God knows that. And that is often the case with our ministry and witness too - some cautious, not wanting to offend; others clear in their views and not holding back their disgust - and when we encounter views like these we rarely get to find out in the end. However, God's command to Paul is not you must convince everybody, but you must...testify. Through the unknowable process of giving people the choice whilst maintaining sovereignty, God will change hearts, and are just the messenger.
So we can take heart - even when it seems that our situation or actions are meaningless when it comes to the kingdom, this is not the case. In the words of the Lord to Paul: Take courage - and be his witness.
Next: Acts 24: A clear conscience
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