Acts · chapter 23 of 28
Updated on
Acts 23 tells of Paul's appearance before the Sanhedrin, where he divides the Pharisees and Sadducees by speaking of the resurrection. That night the Lord appears to him and says he will testify in Rome too. When a plot by more than forty men to kill him is discovered, the tribune Claudius Lysias sends him by night with a strong escort to Caesarea, to the governor Felix.
Paul is a prisoner in Jerusalem, and this chapter shows how God protects him amid religious and political violence. God uses internal quarrels, an alert nephew and the authority of a Roman tribune to guard his servant. The chapter moves Paul to Caesarea, on the way to Rome.
Paul, looking intently at the Sanhedrin, says that he has lived before God in all good conscience up to this day. The high priest Ananias commands those standing by to strike him on the mouth. Paul answers that God will strike him, a whitewashed wall, for commanding him to be struck contrary to the law. When told he is reviling the high priest, he replies that he did not know he was and cites the Scripture forbidding speaking evil of a ruler of the people.
Knowing that one part of the council were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul cries out that he is a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees, and that he is on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead. A dispute breaks out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, because the Sadducees deny resurrection, angels and spirits. The uproar grows and the tribune, fearing Paul will be torn to pieces, commands the soldiers to take him away into the barracks.
The following night the Lord stands by him and says: Take courage, Paul, for as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome. In the morning, more than forty Jews take an oath neither to eat nor drink until they have killed Paul, and ask the priests to have him brought before the council. Paul's sister's son hears of the plot, enters the barracks and tells him. Paul sends him to the tribune, who listens and tells him to tell no one.
The tribune calls two centurions and orders two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to be ready at the third hour of the night to go to Caesarea with Paul. He writes a letter to the governor Felix, saying he rescued him because he was a Roman and found no charge deserving death. The soldiers take Paul by night to Antipatris, and the next day the horsemen deliver the letter. Felix says he will hear him when his accusers arrive, and orders him kept in Herod's praetorium.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Paul declares that he has lived before God in all good conscience up to that day. He does not claim to be perfect but that his life is consistent with what he believes, even before he was a Christian.
Paul says he is on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead. The resurrection is the center of his message, and his declaration exposes the division within the council.
The Lord stands by Paul and tells him to take courage, for as he has testified in Jerusalem, he must testify in Rome. God confirms that prison does not stop the plan: the road to Rome is open.
Paul's sister's son hears of the plot and tells him. God protects his servant through a young, alert and brave person, of whom the text says nothing more.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He told him God would strike him, a whitewashed wall, for ordering him struck contrary to the law. — Acts 23:2-3
Answer: That he was a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees, and was on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead. — Acts 23:6
Answer: To take courage, for as he had testified in Jerusalem, he must testify in Rome. — Acts 23:11
Answer: More than forty. — Acts 23:12-13
Answer: His sister's son. — Acts 23:16
Answer: To Caesarea, to the governor Felix. — Acts 23:23-24
Paul's clean conscience did not depend on everyone approving of him but on living with integrity before God. In your group you can ask yourselves: if we were examined today, could we say we have lived in good conscience? Confess what is needed and ask God to cleanse you.
The text also comforts: in the darkest night, the Lord draws near and says take courage. God sometimes uses ordinary means, such as a nephew who overhears, to fulfill his promises. Ask what task you need to entrust to God this week, knowing that he keeps guiding.
Acts 23 ends with Paul held in Herod's praetorium in Caesarea, waiting for his accusers. Acts 24 tells of the trial before Felix, Paul's defense and two years of waiting.
It was a reaction to an unjust order, since striking an uncondemned defendant contradicted the law. Paul apologizes on learning he was the high priest, citing the Scripture that forbids speaking evil of a ruler of the people. The episode shows his humanity and his respect for the law.
The Pharisees believed in the resurrection, angels and spirits. The Sadducees denied all three. Paul took advantage of the difference to show that his case was a matter of Israel's own faith.
The text does not say. Once the plot was discovered, Paul was moved to Caesarea that night, and the men did not achieve their purpose. It is an example that human plans cannot frustrate what God has promised.