Almost Pulled to Pieces

Acts of the Apostles (49)

Introduction

The established Jewish authorities in Jerusalem were quite adept at maintaining and curating their position of privilege, and knew how to dispense with any ordinary threats. But they did not know what to do when Jesus rose from the dead. Neither did they know how to handle someone with the shrewdness and toughness of Paul. They were starting to let their incompetence show. They were staring to make mistakes.    

The Text

“The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? . . .” (Acts 22:24–23:10).

Summary of the Text

So the chief captain ordered that Paul be brought into the fortress and flogged to find out what the uproar was about (22:24). As they were tying him down, Paul asked if it was okay to flog Romans without a trial (v. 25). The centurion went and gave the captain that information (v. 26), which the captain then confirmed with Paul (v. 27). The captain said that his citizenship cost him a lot of money, and Paul replied that he was born to it (v. 28). The examiners stepped back in fear and the captain was also afraid, having violated Paul’s rights as a Roman (v. 29). The next day, still wanting to find out what had happened, the captain summoned the Jewish council and set Paul before them (v. 30). Paul looked at them earnestly and declared that his conscience was clear (23:1). Ananias ordered him to be struck on the mouth (v. 2). Paul responded with a charge of rank hypocrisy (v. 3). Paul knew the law, but Ananias either didn’t know or didn’t care. Those next to Paul asked him why he was reviling the high priest (v. 4). Paul pleaded ignorance of his status, and quoted Ex. 22:28, applying it to himself.

Paul could see the tensions in the room and cried out that he was a Pharisee on trial because of his hope in the resurrection of the dead (v. 6). That set off a great conflict between the Sadducees and Pharisees who were there (v. 7). The Sadducees denied the resurrection, angels and spirits, and the Pharisees didn’t (v. 8). The Pharisees took up Paul’s cause, vigorously (v. 9). A tumult began, and the captain was afraid that Paul would be pulled to pieces and so he sent down soldiers to rescue Paul again (v. 10).

Paul’s Eyesight

It is well known that Paul suffered from what he called a “thorn in the flesh,” which was an affliction that he had asked God to remove . . . three times he asked this (2 Cor. 12:7-9). God replied that His grace was sufficient for Paul, and that strength is perfected by weakness. This was an answer Paul submitted to, but what was that thorn in the flesh exactly?

My suggestion is that the most likely candidate was Paul’s eyesight. We can start with this text—Paul did not know that Ananias was the high priest, which could be easily explained as a problem with his vision—and hard to explain otherwise. And when speaking about how much the Galatians had loved him, he said that they would have been willing to pluck out their eyes to donate them to Paul (Gal. 4:15), and the reason this was needed was because Paul had an infirmity in the flesh (Gal. 4:13). He also signs off the epistle to the Galatians in his own handwriting, doing so in “large letters” (Gal. 6:11). Difficulty seeing would have been a great grief to him—consider his concern over the “parchments” (2 Tim. 4:13)—indicating his affliction was intermittent. And remember that his Christian life had begun in blindness (Acts 9:18).     

Paul’s Conscience

Paul began his defense by saying that he had a clear conscience in how he had conducted himself. Given what he says elsewhere about his pre-conversion state (1 Tim. 1:13), this clearly means that he had walked in an upright way since his conversion. But that would include evading arrest, that time he escaped from Aretas the king (2 Cor. 11:32-33). That includes playing his Roman citizenship card at Philippi (Acts 16:37), and again here (v. 25). It included his careful submission to Ex. 22:28. It would include his later appeal to Caesar (Acts 25:11). It would include having Luke write a careful account of his history in a way that highlighted the legal issues. “Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar” (Acts 26:32). And it also included his off-budget approach to starting a fight between the Sadducees and Pharisees. Even here he had a clear conscience, although he admits later that his tactic had been a tad unorthodox.

Almost Pulled to Pieces

The most astonishing thing about Paul’s ploy before the Council was that it worked. Now it worked in a way that did not extract Paul from the danger—soldiers had to do that, for the second time—but it nevertheless worked. One can only guess at what the Roman captain thought about the religion of the Jews. Paul was willing to be almost pulled to pieces for the hope that was in him.

The reason the tactic worked is that the Pharisees really did believe in a resurrection at the end of human history, and Paul really was a servant of Jesus Christ, the one who rose from the dead. What the Pharisees hoped for had already begun. “And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust” (Acts 24:15). The resurrection of the dead at the end of history had somehow erupted in the middle of history and was working its way out from there. Resurrection hope is the name of the game throughout the book of Acts.

Resurrection happened in the middle of history, and walks with us down through history until we all arrive to the consummation of all things. We are privileged to walk toward something which we have already been given.