The Word This Week
Acts 24:1…
Paul has escaped the conspirator’s plot to kill him and has left Jerusalem for the final time in his life.
He was spirited away at 3am by a large contingent of Roman soldiers and taken on horseback to Caesarea.
Claudius Lysias, the commander of the Roman garrison at the Fortress Antonia, had been informed of the plot against Paul’s life by Paul’s nephew. Since Lysias knew Paul was a Roman citizen, he knew Paul required Roman protection.
So extraordinary effort was put in by Lysias to make sure Paul was not taken by the lynch mob plotting to kill him.
Lysias, who remained uncertain why the Jews hated Paul so and wanted to kill him, sent a letter along with Paul to Roman governor Felix, in an attempt to explain why he had sent Paul to Caesarea at such great expense. He remained mystified about what charge to bring against Paul, and he made the best attempt he could to inform Felix what was going on and had gone on already at Jerusalem.
After five days, it was arranged for a contingent from the Sanhedrin to come down to Caesarea from Jerusalem, a 75-mile trip, which in those days was a big deal. (It reveals the intensity of their hatred for Paul that they would pursue this, even though Paul had been removed from Jerusalem.)
So high priest Ananias, accompanied by a select group of elders from the Sanhedrin arrived and were arrayed before Paul to make their attempt to have Rome put Paul to death for sedition. It was their only chance remaining to have Paul executed.
It was a kangaroo court. All the accusations against Paul were lies. This is particularly notable since these are the representatives of God making these false charges. The very men responsible to represent God’s will to God’s people – and even more importantly to those who were NOT God’s people – were in reality nothing more than a group of lying hypocrites.
Chief among them was the prosecutor they brought with them to make the case against Paul, which he would have to contrive out of thin air. His name was Tertullus, and all his assertions were stomach-turning.
Just as it is impossible to trap Jesus, it was impossible for them to set a trap to catch the Jesus alive in Paul.
Pastor Bill
Paul has escaped the conspirator’s plot to kill him and has left Jerusalem for the final time in his life.
He was spirited away at 3am by a large contingent of Roman soldiers and taken on horseback to Caesarea.
Claudius Lysias, the commander of the Roman garrison at the Fortress Antonia, had been informed of the plot against Paul’s life by Paul’s nephew. Since Lysias knew Paul was a Roman citizen, he knew Paul required Roman protection.
So extraordinary effort was put in by Lysias to make sure Paul was not taken by the lynch mob plotting to kill him.
Lysias, who remained uncertain why the Jews hated Paul so and wanted to kill him, sent a letter along with Paul to Roman governor Felix, in an attempt to explain why he had sent Paul to Caesarea at such great expense. He remained mystified about what charge to bring against Paul, and he made the best attempt he could to inform Felix what was going on and had gone on already at Jerusalem.
After five days, it was arranged for a contingent from the Sanhedrin to come down to Caesarea from Jerusalem, a 75-mile trip, which in those days was a big deal. (It reveals the intensity of their hatred for Paul that they would pursue this, even though Paul had been removed from Jerusalem.)
So high priest Ananias, accompanied by a select group of elders from the Sanhedrin arrived and were arrayed before Paul to make their attempt to have Rome put Paul to death for sedition. It was their only chance remaining to have Paul executed.
It was a kangaroo court. All the accusations against Paul were lies. This is particularly notable since these are the representatives of God making these false charges. The very men responsible to represent God’s will to God’s people – and even more importantly to those who were NOT God’s people – were in reality nothing more than a group of lying hypocrites.
Chief among them was the prosecutor they brought with them to make the case against Paul, which he would have to contrive out of thin air. His name was Tertullus, and all his assertions were stomach-turning.
Just as it is impossible to trap Jesus, it was impossible for them to set a trap to catch the Jesus alive in Paul.
Pastor Bill