Our Hope, a Pharisee's Hope - Acts 22:30-23:11

    The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.

 

    Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"

 

    Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?"

 

    Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: `Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.' "

 

    Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead." When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)

 

    There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.

 

    The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."

 

Paul was still trying to convince the Jews that his own cause was Jewish and that he had nothing but the highest reverence and respect for the Jewish God. Given the opportunity by the Roman commander to speak before the Sanhedrin, the first words out of his mouth were, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”

 

Despite the fact that he had persecuted Christians, this was true. Paul had lived his whole life doing what he believed would please God – when he was persecuting Christians, he was just wrong about what made God happy. But Paul had lived by his conscience before God all his life… as a Jew.

 

When he was struck, he appealed to God. When others corrected him for speaking against the high priest, he agreed that he would not have done so knowingly, appealing to Scripture. Through and through, Paul was a Jew.

 

But even Jews did not all believe the same things. Paul had a particular type of Jewish hope and faith: he was a Pharisee. He believed in the resurrection of the dead, as well as in angels and spirits. Even after becoming a Christian, Paul was a Jewish Pharisee in his beliefs – because their beliefs were right!

 

Can you imagine being a Christian without believing in the resurrection? That is a belief that has come down to us from the Pharisees. Our hope, of course, is more certain than theirs was because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead already. But we have this Pharisaical belief in the resurrection of the dead. And Paul said that it was this belief that got him into trouble and put him on trial (Acts 23:6). It was this hope that would take him all the way to Rome!

 

This belief the Pharisees have passed down to us, this belief that the dead will one day be raised to life again, is worth dying for. Even if we die, we will rise! What hope we have because Jesus Christ not only died, but rose to lead us into eternal life! I can’t wait to see my King return and to meet Him in the air! I can’t wait to enjoy a perfect new world in a perfect new body with perfect thoughts and words in perfect harmony with others! I’ll suffer anything in this life—anything—because Jesus has promised us a resurrection.

 

Father, thank You for this belief in the resurrection. Thank You that You have revealed it to us, and that we can trust You. Thank You that Your Son Jesus Christ has risen from the grave. Thank You that we who die in Him will also rise with Him – that He is only the firstfruits of Your resurrection harvest, and that I can be included, too. Everything is worth enduring for that bright promise!