SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/17/2018 8:47 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to
Acts 22:30-23:11
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
22:30-23:11
Message of the verses: “30 But on the next day, wishing to know for
certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the
chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set
him before them. 1 Paul, looking
intently at the Council, said, "Brethren, I have lived my life with a
perfectly good conscience before God up to this day." 2 The high priest
Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then
Paul said to him, "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do
you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to
be struck?" 4 But the bystanders said, "Do you revile God’s high
priest?" 5 And Paul said, "I was not aware, brethren, that he was
high priest; for it is written, ’YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF YOUR
PEOPLE.’" 6 But perceiving that one
group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in
the Council, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial
for the hope and resurrection of the dead!" 7 As he said this, there
occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was
divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel,
nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And there occurred a great uproar; and some of
the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly,
saying, "We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel
has spoken to him?" 10 And as a great dissension was developing, the
commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the
troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the
barracks. 11 But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at
his side and said, "Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My
cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also."”
In
his introductory commentary on the verses written above John MacArthur goes
over the somewhat brief history of the church before chapter 23 of Acts. The sad thing about all of this history is
that the church was looked down and even persecuted by the Jewish people, with
of course the exception of those Jews who became believers. This all started when the church was founded
by the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost some 40 days after the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. It continued with
Peter’s preaching on that Day of Pentecost as some said that the apostles were
drunk because they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. It continued when Peter, through the power of
the Holy Spirit cured a lame man, and thus was later arrested for doing this
good deed. The problem with all of this
persecution centered on the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and that name has caused
much trouble in the world since He was resurrected from the dead after dying on
the cross for the sins of the world.
Next we see the death of the death of Stephen in the sixth chapter of
Acts, followed by the persecution done by Saul of Tarsus. Next James is killed by Herod’s men and Peter
was arrested and was to be killed soon after that but was released by angels
and had to go into hiding. Saul of
Tarsus became a believer in Acts nine and persecution against him began and
continued throughout his ministry right from the very beginning in Damascus
where he had to be let down in a basket to keep from getting killed. As we read through Paul’s three missionary
trips the Jews persecuted him at most every stop and now we find him in Jerusalem
being persecuted by the Jews. He was
about to be scourged with a flagellum when the commander, Claudius Lysias found
out he was a Roman, and then we read what happened in verse 30 of chapter 22 “30
But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the
Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to
assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.” The commander did not know what to do with
Paul and so he took him to the Sanhedrin to see what they wanted to do with
him. John MacArthur writes:
“Paul’s appearance before
the Sanhedrin marks the fifth (and last) time that body was called upon to
evaluate the claims of Christ. The first
time was when Jesus Himself stood before it (Mark 14:53-65); the second involved
Peter and John (Acts 4:5-22); the third followed their arrest of all the
apostles (5:21ff.); and the fourth was the trial of Stephen (Acts
6:12ff.). Five times the peerless
communicators of the gospel had proclaimed the truth to the Sanhedrin, and five
times its member rejected it. Not only
did they condemn themselves (John 3:18), but their rejection also symbolized
the nation’s rejection of the Messiah.”
The Sanhedrin was the religious ruling
body in Israel during the time when the Romans ruled over Israel at this time
in history and so during this time period it helped set the stage for the
rejection of Israel’s Messiah, and the sad thing is that most Jews born since
have come to the same conclusion that their Messiah has not yet come.
John MacArthur concludes his introductory
commentary by writing: “Luke presents
Paul’s appearance before the Sanhedrin in four scenes; the confrontation, the
conflict, the conquest, and the consolation.”
Lord willing, we will look at “The Confrontation” in our next SD.
It is a sad thing to learn from our
Pastor after returning from Israel in early March that there has been little
change since the days of Jesus Christ, as even though God has brought many of
the Jewish people back to their land as He promised they still reject their
Messiah, and will do so until sometime during the last part of the Tribulation
period when the fulfillment of Paul’s words to the Romans (11:26) where he
writes “all Israel will be saved.” I
look forward to that day when all Israel will be saved.
Answer to
yesterday’s Bible question: “The
knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who supposed Jesus was the
gardener?”
Answer in our
next SD.
8/17/2018
9:32 AM
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