Act 23

1 – 3

Paul looked at the Jewish council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life in a good way before God up to this day.” Ananias, the high priest, heard this and told the men who were standing near Paul to hit him on his mouth.

Paul said to Ananias, “God will hit you too! You are like a wall that has been painted white! You sit there and judge me, using the law of Moses. But you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law.”

There is no excuse for Paul losing his temper even though he was an apostle. The Lord is showing us here that nobody is always able to control their anger. The important thing when you fall down as a Christian is to confess it and get back up.

The godly may fall seven times, but they will get up again. Proverbs 24:16

But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. Matthew 5:39

We all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. James 3:2

4 – 5

The men standing near Paul said to him, “You cannot talk like that to God’s high priest! You are insulting him!” Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know this man was the high priest. It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You must not curse a leader of your people.’”

Paul knew Ananias was the high priest (Acts 9:1). Some say that this shows that Paul had problems with his eyes. See Galatians 4:15, Galatians 6:11, Exodus 22:28

6. – 8

Some of the men in the meeting were Sadducees, and others were Pharisees. So Paul shouted to them, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee and my father was a Pharisee! I am on trial here because I hope that people will rise from death!”

When Paul said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The group was divided. The Sadducees believe that after people die, they cannot live again. The Sadducees also teach that there are no angels or spirits. But the Pharisees believe in them all.

Paul was very wise to turn the Pharisees and Sadducees against each other to show that they cannot agree on the charges against Paul or on anything else!

9. So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of the law, who were Pharisees, stood up and argued, “We find nothing wrong with this man! Maybe an angel or a spirit did speak to him.”

The Pharisees hate the Sadducees so much that they were willing to see Paul set free. As some cultures say, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

10. The argument was beginning to turn into a fight. The commander [Lysias] was afraid that the Jews would tear Paul to pieces. So Lysias told the soldiers to go down and take Paul away and put him in the army building.

It is interesting that Lysias cared more about justice than the religious Jews did.
The LORD is more pleased when we do justice and just than when we offer Him sacrifices. Proverbs 21:3

11. The next night the Lord came and stood by Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome also.”

You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are My followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about Me.

When you are arrested, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time.

For it is not you who will be speaking, it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:18– 20

12. In the morning some of the Jews made a plan to kill Paul. They made a promise that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed him.

A curse that you do not deserve will not land on you. Proverbs 26:2

13 – 15

There were more than 40 Jews who made this plan. They went and talked to the leading priests and the Jewish elders. They said, “We have made a promise to ourselves that we will not eat or drink until we have killed Paul!

So this is what we want you to do: Send a message to the Lysias to bring Paul out to you. Tell him you want to ask Paul more questions. We will be waiting to kill him while he is on the way here.”

People may cover their hatred with nice words, but they are lying to you. Proverbs 26:24

16 – 18

But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan. He went to the army building and told Paul about it. Then Paul called one of the officers and said, “Take this young man to Lysias. He has a message for him.”

So the officer brought Paul’s nephew by the hand to Lysias. The officer said, “The prisoner, Paul, asked me to bring this young man to you. He wants to tell you something.”

The boy must have been very young to be brought by holding his hand. A young boy would not be far away from home when he heard these things. It seems that he heard about these things while he was at home with his mother (Paul’s sister).

It may be that we can get the idea that Paul’s sister (or her husband) allowed these men to use their home to plan what they wanted to do to Paul or else she would have warned Paul herself. In any case, it seems that Paul did not have the full support of his family. He may have been thinking of his family when he wrote:

I have suffered the loss of all things. Philippians 3:8

19 – 21

Lysias led the young man to a place where they could be alone. Lysias asked, “What do you want to tell me?”

The young man said, “The Jews have decided to ask you to bring Paul down to their council meeting tomorrow. They want you to think that they are going to ask him more questions.

But do not believe them! There are more than 40 men who are hiding and waiting to kill Paul. They have all made a promise not to eat or drink until they have killed him! Now they are waiting for you to agree.”

Lysias could have reported this boy to the high priest. Lysias knew that Paul was not guilty of doing anything wrong and was doing his best to help him.

22. Lysias sent the young man away. He said to him, “Do not tell anyone that you have told me about their plan.”

A witness who tells the truth saves lives. Proverbs 14:25

23 – 25

Then Lysias called two officers. He said to them, “I need some men to go to Caesarea. Get 200 soldiers ready. Also, get 70 horsemen and 200 men with spears. Be ready to leave at nine o’clock tonight. Get some horses for Paul to ride. He must be taken to Governor Felix safely.” And he wrote a letter that said:

Lysias sent 470 soldiers because the history books tell us that thousands of Jews had rioted about something shortly before these days.

26 – 35

From: Claudius Lysias.
To the Most Excellent Governor Felix: Greetings.

The Jews had taken this man, and they planned to kill him. But I learned that he is a Roman citizen, so I went with my soldiers and saved him. I wanted to know why they were accusing him. So I brought him before their council meeting.

I learned that the Jews said Paul did some things that were wrong. But these charges were about their own laws. And no charge was worthy of jail or death. I was told that some of the Jews were planning to kill Paul. So I sent him to you at once. I also told those Jews to tell you what they have against him.

So the soldiers did what they were told. They took Paul and brought him to the city of Antipatris that night. The next day the horsemen went with Paul to Caesarea. But the other soldiers went back to the army building in Jerusalem. The horsemen came to Caesarea and gave the letter to the governor. Then they turned Paul over to him.

The governor read the letter. Then he asked Paul, “What area are you from?” He learned that Paul was from Cilicia. He said, “I will hear your case when those who are against you come here too.” Then the governor gave orders for Paul to be kept under guard in the palace. This building had been built by Herod.

Lysias wanted to make himself look good by saying that he saved Paul. He knew he could still be in trouble for the way he treated Paul and almost whipped him. He knew that the Jews would say that he did not do a good job with this situation. He was right because the Jews did try to make him look bad when they went to the court. See Acts 24:7–8.