Tuesday, August 18
Never a Dull Moment by Ted Wick
TESTIMONY In Acts 21:20-26 Paul was advised to enter into temple purifica-
Key text: tion rites for himself and to sponsor four other men in order to pacify
Acts 21:20-26 Jewish Christians who were zealous for the Mosaic laws and critical
of Paul’s work among the Gentiles.
“This concession was not in harmony with his [Paul’s] teachings,
nor with the firm integrity of his character. His advisers were not
infallible. Though some of these men wrote under the inspiration of
the Spirit of God, yet when not under its direct influence they some-
times erred. It will be remembered that on one occasion Paul with-
stood Peter to the face because he was acting a double part.”’
In Paul’s defense before the Sanhedrin after he had been arrested
by Lysias and the Roman soldiers stationed at the fortress of Anto-
nio, he was ordered to be hit in the mouth by the high priest. In Acts
23:3, Paul pronounced a curse upon the priest for acting contrary to
Sanhedrin rules of order. “ ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed
wall!’ ” (Acts 23:3, NIV). “Under the influence of the Holy Spirit,
Paul uttered a prophetic denunciation similar to that which Christ
had uttered in rebuking the hypocrisy of the Jews. The judgment
pronounced by the apostle was terribly fulfilled when the iniquitous
and hypocritical high priest was murdered by assassins in the Jew-
ish war.”?
During Paul’s defense before the Sanhedrin he recounted his con-
version experience. He tells of his behavior toward followers of “The
Way” before he was converted.
“As many are today, so (before his conversion) Paul was very con-
fident in an hereditary piety; but his confidence was founded on
falsehood. It was faith out of Christ, for he trusted in forms and cere-
monies. His zeal for the law was disconnected from Christ and was
valueless. His boast was that he was blameless in his performance
of the deeds of the law; but the Christ who made the law of any
value he refused. He was confident that he was right. He says: ‘I
verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary
to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusa-
lem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received
authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I
gave my voice against them’ (Acts 26:9, 10). For a time Paul did a
very cruel work, thinking he was doing God service; for he says, ‘I
did it ignorantly in unbelief’ (1 Tim. 1:13). But his sincerity did not
justify his work, or make error truth.”
There were Jews who, with the knowledge of the chief priests,
took an oath to assassinate Paul when he was to be brought to the
Sanhedrin a second time on the pretext of need for further question-
ing. The matter was reported to Paul and to Lysias by an unnamed
nephew of Paul, his sister’s son. Being warned and believing the
- truthfulness of the report, Lysias arranged to secretly remove Paul
. Sketches from the Life
of Paul p. 214. from Jerusalem.
2. Ibid., p. 222.
3. Selected Messages,
bk. 1, p. 346.
Ted Wick is chaplain at Pacific Union College, Angwin, Californa.
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