You Must Also Bear Witness In Rome

"The next day, the commander wanted to know for certain, the charges the Jews were making against Paul.  So, he released him from prison and called together the High Priest and the whole Council; and they brought Paul down and made him stand before them.

Paul knew, that part of the Council were Sadducees and others Pharisees; so he spoke out in the Council, 'Brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee.  It is for the hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial here.'

At these words, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the whole assembly was divided.  For the Sadducees claim that, their is neither resurrection, nor angels nor spirits; while the Pharisees acknowledge all these things.

Then, the shouting grew louder; and some teachers of the law of the Pharisee party protested, 'We find nothing wrong with this man.  Maybe a spirit or an angel has spoken to him.'

With this, the argument became so violent that the commander feared that Paul would be torn to pieces by them.  He, therefore, ordered the soldiers to go down and rescue him from their midst, and take him back to the fortress.

That night, the LORD stood by Paul and said, 'Courage!  As you have borne witness to ME here, in Jerusalem, so must you do in Rome.'" - Acts 22:30-23:6-11

The Sanhedrin

(To understand the chapters dealing with Paul's trial we have to remember that justice in the Roman Empire was very well organized.  The supreme tribunal was in Rome: this was the Tribunal of Caesar, and Roman citizens fearing a mistrial in their province could appeal to the Tribunal of Caesar.  There were governors [or procurators] who administered justice in each province.  In the Jewish territory, the Romans who occupied the country kept the important cases for themselves, but they left the rest to the Jewish tribunals, especially religious affairs.  Paul was to go through various tribunals, beginning with the Sanhedrin, or religious court of the Jews, all the way to the tribunal of Caesar.

Thus, through Paul, the words of JESUS entrusting to HIS apostles the mission of proclaiming HIM before Jewish and pagan authorities was to be fulfilled.

Paul tries to make the resurrection of CHRIST the theme of his declaration.  There was a trial to condemn JESUS.  Now, Paul tries to have the governors pay attention to the cause of the risen JESUS, and he succeeds.

In every age, such will be the zeal of the witnesses of CHRIST when they are accused: to demonstrate that they are not acting out of self-interest, nor from any human motive, but because they are the servants of CHRIST.)  

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