MORE PLACES TO GO TO: DESTINATION JERUSALEM P/19

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A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS  

                      PART XXIII - I

"Today, I, Paul, appeared before the Sanhedrin here in Jerusalem.... That happened at the order of the Roman Commander... I am now under his care... He wanted to know why I was being accused by my Jewish brothers.... I don't think he has gotten any wiser....The moment I was brought in before the Sanhedrin I addressed them.... However, the high priest was not pleased with what I said.... So he ordered to have me struck on my mouth.... I reacted quite strongly to his command... But I did not realise that it was the high priest who had given the order...And the high priest needs to be honoured because of his position.",,, Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn what happened when Paul appeared before the Sanhedrin....

               ATTACHMENT A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS

                                                    PART XXIII - I

The Roman Commander in Jerusalem, who had taken Paul to the barracks to keep him safe from the rioters, decided to have Paul appear before the Sanhedrin as you can know from Acts 22:30

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

The Commander wanted to know what Paul had done to cause the Jews to be so angry with him and he thought that the best way for him to find out was to have Paul come before the religious leaders so that he could learn from their mouths what he was being accused of. When Pal was brought before the Sanhedrin, he looked at them calmly and began to speak as you can read in Acts 23:1

Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day."

His words caused quite a reaction by the high priest Ananias as you can read in Acts 23:2

At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.

Paul did not wait to respond to what had happened to him as you can read in Acts 23:3

Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding me to be struck!"

However, it was clear that Paul did not know who he was speaking to as you can read in Acts 23:4

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

When Paul heard that the man he had so strongly spoken against was the high priest, he realised he should not have spoken these words as you can read in Acts 23:5

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

Paul understood that he should honour the position of the high priest even if the high priest was opposed to him, as was the case with Ananias.

Read Part Twenty HERE