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Introduction

In Acts 22:30-23:5, Luke records Paul’s testimony before the High Priest. In last week’s text, we observed Paul’s interrogation by the civil ruler. It allowed us to widen our lens and note how wisely Paul interacted with civil rulers. For instance, in his arrest at Philippi (Acts 16) and Jerusalem (Acts 22), Paul uses his Roman citizenship to either insulate himself from further harassment or to gain the favor of the civil magistrate.

No one “mirandized” Paul in Acts 21–22, for lack of a better term. No one had read him his rights. He could have pressed the matter legally. Claudius Lysias, the “militum tribuni” of Jerusalem (Chief of Police), treated Paul, a freeborn Roman citizen, badly. He arrested and nearly punished Paul without a trial. That was a serious violation of Roman Law and could have cost him his post.

Wisdom & Favor

I posited the idea that Paul, by not pursuing the matter, had curried some favor with the military tribune. In response to Paul saving his job, he saves Paul’s life later in Acts 23. When a group of Jews form a covenant to assassinate Paul, Claudius Lysias provides an overwhelming force to protect Paul. He has a large body of men from his Cohort escort Paul to Caesarea Maritima.

“Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready, two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor (Acts 23:23-25).”

From the Fire to the Frying Pan

When Roman authorities arrested Paul, he reversed the old adage by going out of the fire and back into the frying pan.He reversed the old adage. Snatched from the hands of an angry mob to be put under the crack of a Roman whip. However, he is now going back into the fire. Today, Paul will interact with a hostile, but lawful ecclesiastical ruler, the High Priest in Jerusalem, Ishmael ben Fabus.

Two Types of Rulers

There are two types of rulers under God: The Civil Ruler and the Ecclesiastical Ruler. Before we jump to our passage for today, let’s make a quick point. The Civil Ruler is God’s servant, not the mob’s. No matter what he or she personally thinks about God and religion, they are still a servant of God with a clear task from Him. They are to punish evil and reward good.

Romans 13:1-7

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this, you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed (Romans 13:1-17.”

The Power of the Sword

The State has a particular type of power, “the power of the sword.” They can use “the sword” or violence to compel obedience. The civil ruler can use the sword against a foreign power that is attempting to invade. He can punish wayward civil rulers. He can use the sword against a domestic criminal that is threatening other citizens. The ruler punishes crime. He also decides cases of fraud and prescribes justice between domestic parties too. The ruler enforces law and order.

The Ecclesiastical Ruler

The word we should most associate with the civil ruler is “peace.” He keeps the peace. However, there is another type of ruler, too, and he has a power all his own. He is an ecclesiastical ruler, a religious officer, and his role is to instruct in morality. The word most associated with him is “goodness.” He has no weapon to enforce God’s will, no sword to compel. His only weapon is love. He possesses what theologians call “the power of the keys.” 

Paul Before The Council Acts 22:30-23:5

But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them (Acts 22:30).

And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2 And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” 4 Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?” 5 And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people (Acts 23:1-5).’”

Acts 22:30

Since this is not a matter of Roman civil law but of Hebrew religious law, the military tribune is not competent to investigate Paul’s arrest. He didn’t even speak Hebrew well enough to understand Paul’s speech to the crowd in the Temple. So he convenes a group of men who are competent and can get to the bottom of it. Luke says that the tribune was “desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews (Acts 22:30).” 

He can’t just take Paul’s word on the matter. A good civil ruler needs to hear both sides of a case. Why? Because “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him (Proverbs 18:17). Justice demands the truth, and without truth, people miscarry justice. Therefore, truth requires investigation and trial. So “he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them (Acts 22:30).”

Acts 23:1

Paul, unbound and set before the council, assumes that, as the accused, he will be able to state his case first. After all, you can’t hear a rebuttal if there is nothing to rebut. Paul begins, as speakers do, with an acknowledgement of the audience and his thesis statement for what will follow: “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day (Acts 23:1).” In other words, “My fellow Hebrews rulers (he was formerly one of them), I am a man that tells the truth. How can you know I am telling the truth? Because my life matches my words.” 

Acts 23:2

The High Priest set a trap by letting a long, lingering silence hang in the air, and Paul unknowingly stepped into it. The High Priest was creating some space to “flex” on Paul, as the kids say. In the opening moments of the investigation, he takes the opportunity to help Paul understand that this is not a hall of justice but a Kangaroo Court. He promptly has Paul punched in the mouth for daring to speak. And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth (Acts 23:2).” Paul is not going to be making a case for anything today, that much is clear from the get go.

Paul’s Response

Paul’s response to being struck is a quick and cutting word of judgment: “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” 

The High Priest, a man who does not have “the sword,” just used violence to punish an uncondemned man. Paul remains uncondemned, and no one has credibly accused him. Remember the situation of his arrest. Originally, the military tribune thought Paul was somebody else (Acts 21:38), and the crowd could not even tell him why they were beating Paul when he asked (Acts 21:31-34). It was a lie that incited the disturbance. The Ephesian Jews assumed Paul had taken Trophimus the Ephesian into the Temple because they saw him with Paul in the marketplace. There is no case against Paul. There are no witnesses against Paul. The accusation is false. None of that matters because the court has already reached a verdict.

Acts 22:4

Gasps break out in the gallery. Paul’s biting words to the High Priest outraged his staff and court officials. “Those who stood by said, ‘Would you revile God’s high priest?” Before we go any further, let me point out Paul’s mistake here. It is the first part of verse 3, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall (22:3a)!” The second part, “Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” is on point. Christian’s can legitimately point out a ruler’s hypocrisy. We cannot publicly insult them. The office demands honor regardless of the person occupying the post.

Acts 23:5

Paul, once he learns that he is not dealing with a Sanhedrin lawyer or a ranking scribe, self-corrects. He says, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people (Acts 23:5).'” Ruler here encompasses both types of rulers, by the way. Back in Romans 13, Paul opens with a general statement. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God (Romans 13:1). God establishes all governing authorities, both civil and ecclesiastical, and we are to honor them as fathers. Obeying the fifth commandment is, according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism Question, “preserving the honor, and performing the duties belonging to everyone in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, or equals (WSC Question 64.”

Honoring God Instituted Authority

God stamped the duty of honoring authority into the law in the 5th commandment (Exodus 20:12). However, the Old Testament records many examples of God judging those who dishonored ecclesiastical authority, too. 

Examples of God’s Judgment for Failing To Honor Ecclesiastical Authority

The Rebellion of Aaron and Miriam Against Moses (Numbers 12:1-16). God likely only judged Miriam here to maintain the type of Christ that Aaron occupied as the first high priest. God judged only Miriam.

The Rebellion of the People Against Aaron and Moses (Numbers 14).

The Rebellion of Korah Against Moses (Numbers 16:1-35)

Uzziah’s Rebellion Against Azariah The High Priest (2 Chronicles 26:16-23) 

Moses’ Seat

Authorities under the Old Testament sat in Moses’ Seat. Their authority descended from his God affirmed authority. Jesus tells the people in the Temple in Matthew 23 that “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice (Matthew 23:2-3). The High Priest who had Paul struck is sitting lawfully in Moses’ seat.God will soon wipe away that power with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Yet, for a time, Moses’ seat and its authority remain.

Moses’ Seat Is Jesus’ Seat

Believers are to count Ecclesiastical Authorities in the New Testament worthy of double honor. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17). We are to account all elders that govern well, whether ruling or teaching elders, with double honor. Why? Because when Jesus, the Son, supplanted Moses the servant (Hebrews 3:5)–Moses’ Seat became Jesus’ Seat. Elders who rule well receive double honor, however, elders are to receive honor, a single honor if you will, merely for the office they occupy. 

Application

Civil rulers have a sword to bring about obedience. Ecclesiastical rulers lead in love, and believers obey them in love. They enforce obedience through church discipline, known as “the power of the keys.”

Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ (Matthew 16:13-20).

Keys of the Kingdom

Jesus Christ, the subject of Peter’s profession—“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”—is the Rock on which the Church is built. The Apostles received the keys to open the Kingdom to others by preaching faith in Christ. The Church continuously displays and affirms the message of faith by rightly practicing the sacraments.

The Apostles could close the Kingdom to others, too. They had the power to include and the power to exclude. Jesus teaches the proper exclusion of an unrepentant, publicly sinning brother in Matthew 18. Paul instructs the Corinthians Church in delivering one over to Satan, caught in scandalous public sin in 1 Corinthians 5 and 6. When elders today practice church discipline, they do so by Apostolic authority. They sit in the Seat of Jesus.

What does he say in Matthew 18? “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Matthew 18:19-20).” The two or three are those invested with authority by the church to judge a matter. When they agree, Jesus says, “There I am among them.” In other words, “I cast my authority over them.”

Honor Without Insult

Christians are to give honor to whom honor is due. We are to show the better way, the way of love. We are to submit to our authorities without the sword, providing an example of the better way. Christians are to honor the office, even when the man is dishonorable. We are to speak truth in love–“Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” But we are never to engage in name calling and disparaging God appointed authority– “you whitewashed wall.” And when we do, we acknowledge our error, and take a position of humility, answering in grace.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord in wisdom!

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At the risk of sounding desperate, make sure to smash all the buttons and share it, puhleez. If you enjoyed Paul’s Testimony Before The High Priest based on Acts 22:30-23:5, then check out some of our other blogs.

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