son of Pharisees...

It is for my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am
on trial!"
23:7-9a - At these words an immediate tension arose between the Pharisees and
the Sadducees, and the meeting was divided. For the Sadducees claim that there
is no resurrection and that there is neither angel nor spirit, while the
Pharisees believe in all three. A great uproar ensued and some of the scribes
of the Pharisees' party jumped to their feet and protested violently.
23:9b - "We find nothing wrong with this man! Suppose some angel or spirit has
really spoken to him?"
23:10 - As the tension mounted the colonel began to fear that Paul would be
torn to pieces between them. He therefore ordered his soldiers to come down
and rescue him from them and bring him back to the barracks.
God's direct encouragement to Paul
23:11 - That night the Lord stood by Paul, and said, "Take heart! - for as you
have witnessed boldly for me in Jerusalem so you must give your witness to me
in Rome."
Paul's acute danger
23:12-15 - Early in the morning the Jews made a conspiracy and bound
themselves by a solemn oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they
had killed Paul. Over forty of them were involved in the plot, and they
approached the chief priests and elders, and said, "We have bound ourselves by
a solemn oath to let nothing pass our lips until we have killed Paul. Now you
and the council must make it plain to the colonel that you want him to bring
Paul down to you, suggesting that you want to examine his case more closely.
We shall be standing by ready to kill him before he gets here."
Leakage of information leads to Paul's protection
23:16-17 - However, Paul's nephew got wind of this plot and he came and found
his way into the barracks and told Paul about it. Paul called one of the
centurions and said, "Take this young man to the colonel for he has something
to report to him."
23:18 - So the centurion took him and brought him into the colonel's presence,
and said, "The prisoner Paul called me and requested that this young man
should be brought to you as he has something to say to you."
23:19 - The colonel took his hand, and drew him aside (where they could not be
overheard), and asked, "What have you got to tell me?"
23:20-21 - And he replied, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down
to the Sanhedrin tomorrow as though they were going to enquire more carefully
into his case. But I beg you not to let them persuade you. For more than forty
of them are waiting for him - they have sworn a solemn oath that they will
neither eat nor drink until they have killed him. They are all ready at this
moment - all they want is for you to give the order."
23:22 - At this the colonel dismissed the young man with the caution, "Don't
let a soul know that you have given me this information."
23:23-24 - Then he summoned two of his centurions, and said, "Get two hundred
men ready to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred
spearmen, by nine o'clock tonight." (Mounts were also to be provided to carry
Paul safely to Felix the governor.)
The Roman view of Paul's position
23:25-30 - He further wrote a letter to Felix of which this is a copy:
"Claudius Lysias sends greeting to his excellency the governor Felix. "This
man had been seized by the Jews and was on the point of being murdered by them
when I arrived with my troops and rescued him, since I had discovered that he
was a Roman citizen. Wishing to find out what the accusation was that they
were making against him, I had him brought down to their Sanhedrin. There I
discovered he was being accused over questions of their laws, and that there
was no charge against him which deserved either death or imprisonment. Now,
however, that I have received private information of a plot against his life,
I have sent him to you without delay. At the same time I have notified his
accusers that they must make their charges against him in your presence."
Paul is taken into protective custody
23:31-35 - The soldiers, acting on their orders, took Paul and, riding through
that night, brought him down to Antipatris. Next day they returned to the
barracks, leaving the horsemen to accompany him further. They went into
Caesarea and after delivering the letter to the governor, they handed Paul
over to him. When the governor had read the letter he asked Paul what province
he came from, and on learning that he came from Cilicia, he said, "I will hear
your case as soon as your accusers arrive." Then he ordered him to be kept
under guard in Herod's palace.
CHAPTER 24
The "professional" puts his case against Paul
24:1-8 - Five days later Ananias the High Priest came down himself with some
of the elders and a barrister by the name of Tertullus. They presented their
case against Paul before the governor, and when Paul had been summoned,
Tertullus began the prosecution in these words: "We owe it to you personally,
your excellency, that we enjoy lasting peace, and we know that it is due to
your foresight that the nation enjoys improved conditions of living. At all
times, and indeed everywhere, we acknowledge these things with the deepest
gratitude. However - for I must not detain you too long - I beg you to give us
a brief hearing with your customary kindness. The simple fact is that we have
found this man a pestilential disturber of the peace among the Jews all over
the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazareth sect, and he was on the point of
desecrating the Temple when we overcame him. But you yourself will soon
discover from the man himself all the facts about which we are accusing him."
Paul is given the chance to defend himself
24:9-10a - While Tertullus was speaking the Jews kept joining in, asserting
that these were the facts. Then Paul, at a nod from the governor made his
reply:
24:10b-16 - "I am well aware that you have been governor of this nation for
many years, and I can therefore make my defence with every confidence. You can
easily verify the fact that it is not more than twelve days ago that I went up
to worship at Jerusalem. I was never found either arguing with anyone in the
Temple or gathering a crowd, either in the synagogues or in the open air.