"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.’" Acts 23:11
The famous poet, Ronan Keating, once said, ‘Life is a rollercoaster – Just gotta ride it’. Life can also seem like a seesaw. Despair and Hope are sat at either end. If despair weighs heavy, then hope’s out of reach. Paul’s life in Acts 23 is that seesaw. And verse 11 is the pivot point! Over two days, everything’s spiralled out of control. It’s now nighttime. And everything’s dark. Despair weighs heavy. Hope’s out of reach. And then ‘the Lord stood near’. What’s the message of Acts 23? It’s the Bible’s greatest message, in miniature - Jesus changes everything.
In Acts 22 17-20 we’re near the end of Paul’s speech to an Israelite crowd. He’s about to say something that will be the verbal equivalent of dropping a smouldering cigarette in a box of fireworks. Paul’s telling the crowd about a previous visit to Jerusalem where Jesus appeared to Paul in a trance. Paul’s told to leave immediately – these people won’t accept his Christ message.
Paul’s heart’s desire for Israel is so strong that he questions the Lord’s directive. Paul’s argument is - they will listen – I’m the man for the job! ‘These people know me.’ – they know the lengths I went to. They know I even had a hand in the murder of a Christian, here in Jerusalem. If I tell them that I’ve changed - they’ll change! But the Lord disagrees. And the Lord says ‘Go’. Paul believed that he qualified for this job. He believed it was the right time. But it wasn’t God’s time. It wasn’t God’s will. Paul was intent on following his heart. But, here, that would’ve meant not following God’s plan. What a lesson for us!
How often do we hear this message? FYH – Follow your heart. It seems so right. If I choose to do what is most ‘me’, particularly when I have good motives – even ‘God’ motives - how can I be wrong? Well, it was wrong here. How come this happens?
Imagine you go on a trip. It’s the journey of a lifetime. You’re going to be travelling through high mountains and deep valleys. But you’ll be crossing ridges with sheer drops either side. And it’s going to be isolated at times. And you may encounter bandits. But you’re not worried. Because the holiday rep has just introduced you to the tour guide. You say to the rep, ‘this guide seems so confident about where they’re going. What can you tell me about them?’ They say, ‘Well… they’re deceitful… above all others… and desperately wicked. But just follow them!’ Would you?
Because, how I’ve described that dodgy tour guide, is how the bible describes our dodgy hearts! Jeremiah 17 9, says, ‘the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.’ Some other English Bible translations use phrases like ‘desperately sick’, ‘incurable’, ‘desperately wicked’ (see ESV, CSB and NLT).
We so easily buy into FYH. Despite what the Bible says about H! Perhaps a better one for Christians would be FYHC – follow your heart…CAREFULLY. Not on autopilot, ignoring these warnings. Be careful. Be prayerful. Sometimes we get set on a particular path, and life just keeps saying ‘Nope!’. We’re forced to take an unwanted turn - perhaps change direction completely. We don’t like it! Can we take comfort in this? We might have lost control. He never does!
In verse 21, Paul mentions the new direction his life then took. Not his heart’s first choice. But the right choice. A significant portion of Acts has been given over to the detail of this – Paul’s mission to preach Christ to those who weren’t Jewish. Huge opposition. But huge success. By God’s Spirit and grace, Paul had won many people for Jesus. Now, finally, in Acts 22, he is given his ‘heart’s desire.’ It is now God’s time for Paul to bring his Jesus truth to his own race. How must Paul have felt?
A bit like me two days before Christmas. I know I’m getting something good. I really, really want it. The days are just going slower and slower, and the sleepless nights seem so long. And then, the day arrives. It’s mine at last! It’s awesome! But Paul hadn’t been waiting for two days – he’d waited two decades! He must have imagined over and over how this would pan out… like we do. And then in verse 23 it’s not like Christmas at all. It’s more like bonfire night gone wrong - with a box of human fireworks – ‘they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air’. There’s loadsa noise, and stuff flying here, there and everywhere! And Paul’s getting the blame for… casually discarding his fag!
It’s all outta control and Paul is about to be flogged. But he isn’t flogged. Because Paul might’ve lost control but God hasn’t. ‘Hang on!’, some might say, ‘Paul rescued himself.’ That’s partly true. But not completely. Yes, Paul makes use of his status as a Roman citizen. It was quite unusual for a devout Jew, like Paul, to also have Roman status. But he did, and it protects him here. And not only that, it leads to further opportunity – and to the thing that Paul really, really wanted! But how did Paul get Roman status? He tells us in verse 28. Paul was born a Roman citizen. We don’t know exactly why but we do know when. And this is really important. At birth - long before Paul learnt to find anything for himself – way before he found faith – this detail of his life was ordered so. So… that he could use it here. Paul was very good at using what he had. But God is quite simply staggering in suppling what we need.
And at the end of Acts 22 we see this opportunity that Paul had craved, created… by Paul’s Creator. The following day, Paul is headlining the conference! Booked to speak to the Sanhedrin – the ruling Jewish council - about the love of God which is in Christ Jesus the Lord. Imagine Paul that evening - composing himself and the message he would finally deliver that next morning. He’d’ve had a plan. But I very much doubt that his plan looked like the opening verses of Acts 23!
Paul has just reached out to grasp this apple of opportunity that he’d longed to hold. But after sixteen words it’s all pear shaped! Truth has entered the room but truth can be so inconvenient. These men claim they’re defending God’s Law but they just ignore it. Deuteronomy 25 1-2 demands the punishment of law-breakers - but only after a fair hearing. Paul’s only uttered the first sentence of his opening address, when the high priest delivers the guilty verdict! He commands that Paul be struck. Paul calls out his hypocrisy, using the insult of the day. Referencing the words of Jesus in Matthew 23 27-28, Paul calls him a ‘whitewashed wall’.
The other week someone here gave me an illustration and said, ‘you’re free to use in your message.’ If it’s free, I’ll ave it! They said, ‘I love snow - everyone’s allotment looks the same!’ That’s what Paul is saying. They looked so white - clean and holy - but God saw what was underneath. When the snow melts, and it will, their life’s allotment was choked by weeds, growing on a bed of concrete!
In verse 5, it appears that Paul hadn’t realised that this man was the high priest. Not surprising given his behaviour. Hebrews 5 tells that ‘every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God’. This high priest’s only interest is vested interest. He wasn’t interested in this man now speaking. His office was supposed to represent the whole multitude of Israel – a great number. But there was only one number that he wanted to look after - his own cushy number!
It goes wrong so quickly. Paul had wanted the focus to be on Jesus, but all the focus is on Paul. He tries desperately to find an avenue to lead at least some of the people down. He knows that this group is split. Most people in the Sanhedrin were Sadducees. They believed in the here and now. To them, there was nothing beyond this life. Paul’s lost them already, it seems. So, he appeals to the others, called Pharisees. They believed in more. Life after death, and angels and spirits. Paul talks about resurrection hope in Christ. It appears that he’s getting somewhere, as in verse 9 they’re ready to acquit Paul – ‘We find nothing wrong with this man’.
But look carefully. Their motive is no different to the others. These Pharisees aren’t really truth seekers. They’re also just self-seekers. They’re only backing Paul because he’s saying some things that support their side of their ongoing argument with the Sadducees. They seize the advantage and push their way of thinking forward - ‘What if a spirit or angel has spoken to him?’, they ask. They seem so close but they’re wide of the mark. Paul isn’t preaching about some spirit or angel. He’s preaching Christ – God’s Son and humankind’s only saving hope. They’ve missed the point completely. They’re not up for faith. But, as verse 10 shows, they’re up for a fight! Once again, Paul needs rescuing. He’s taken overnight to the confines of the Roman barracks. How must he have felt? Are we told? Well, verse 11 tells us so much.
In our house the jobs are divided up according to our capabilities. My capacity is limited so I get easy jobs. I can do hot drinks. Often, I take a mug of coffee to my wife and say, ‘Here, take this’. But this implies something. Because I’ve already made an assessment beforehand. Sometimes she gets herself a drink. So, I always check first. If she has a steaming mug in hand, I don’t get her another. So, when I come and say, ‘take this’, I’m offering something I know she doesn’t have. See, it sounded easy, but there’s more to my role than meets the eye!
In verse 11, when ‘the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage’, an assessment has been made. Paul is being told to ‘take courage’ because his mug of courage was empty. Hardly surprising. That night, the sky is dark. But Paul’s mood is darker. The despair end of life’s seesaw is touching the ground. Hope is out of reach.
Paul had longed for this opportunity. He was ‘willing to die’ for this opportunity. He believed that his mission was ending and he was content with that. Because he believed that when he spoke in Jerusalem about Christ, others would listen and respond and be saved. But no-one had. Paul had come to present God’s plan of peace, but all he’d achieved in two days was two riots. In the Sanhedrin, his script had turned to mush. He’d reacted on instinct, and picked between two sides, and ended up scoring a spectacular own goal.
I once heard a footballer say that he only ever felt as good as his last match. If he’d been successful on the field that day, then everything was ok. If he’d scored an own goal, he felt like his whole life was garbage. We are prone to catastrophise like that. I do, about three times a week… on a good week! Perhaps, that night, all Paul’s victories for Jesus over the last twenty years counted for nothing. His whole career was going to end with a huge defeat and an own goal to boot! And then… Jesus changes everything. ‘The Lord stood near’.
In John 8 12, Jesus says, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ In Acts 23 11, Paul’s dark prison is lit up by the presence of Christ. That day Paul had been miserably let down by Ananias - the self-serving, high priest of Israel. That night the opposite. Jesus Christ - the self-sacrificing, ‘great priest over the house of God came with hope. Like in the words of Hebrews 10 21-22, Paul was then able to draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings. Christ’s presence - Help at hand - Hope within reach. The seesaw is switched so quickly - it’s like darkness and despair are just launched out of the playground!
As Christians we so easily lose sight of the ongoing presence of Jesus. But just because we may not feel it, doesn’t mean he isn’t there. Even the apostle Paul needed reminding of this reality. The reality is… Jesus is as Jesus says. In Matthew 28 20, Jesus says, ‘surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’. And Hebrews 13 5 contains a powerful instruction for Christ’s people – ‘be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ We get so discontented, so often in life, because of the things that just get up and leave, or threaten to do so. One day we seem secure in our employment – the next, our job becomes unstable. Our place at Uni may hang by a thread. Relationships that once tasted good, all of a sudden, taste so bitter. Or when money seems to come in drips, but leave like a jetwash? What about when good health walks off into the sunset? Nothing seems reliable. But can we remain contented in this? In Christ – our God’s never going to up-and-leave! Him – we can rely on.
Paul needed help that night to see clearly. What a lesson for us. The Lord tells him, ‘as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’ Paul’s future is already mapped out. Paul is being reminded of his own limited capacity. His job is to speak. That’s it. ‘You must testify.’ Jesus is saying, ‘you’ll do your job, I’ll do mine - my capacity is not limited.’ Paul would testify to many people - but Paul couldn’t turn one. Paul could speak - but Christ can save.
And then the Acts account suddenly zooms out. We’re given drone like aerial footage. One moment we’re looking at a despairing man. All his hand can reach are four damp walls. Then we are looking from above. We see the wider landscape. And we see the hand of God which can reach everything. In verse 12 we have a murderous conspiracy. How does the Lord deal with that? In verse 16, Paul’s nephew heard of this plot. The Lord uses the curiosity of a lad to his own ends!
A lesson for children and young people here! Have you ever been asked why you spend so much time on some activity or interest because the adults in your life just don’t get it? ‘Why are you so curious about that?’ they ask. Let your answer be this – ‘Acts 23 16 – the Lord may yet use it!’
And then once Paul’s nephew is used to inform the Roman commander of what’s happening, then look at God’s resource. Paul didn’t see this in that cell. But God did! Verse 23 has 470 soldiers put at Paul’s disposal. Roman overkill? No, God’s abundance! 70, are men on horses, and horses are provided for Paul himself. Psalm 50 10 has God saying this – ‘for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.’ Acts 23 adds this footnote – ‘Yep, and so are all the horses!’ We need telling - because so often we limit the unlimited.
An accompanying letter to the Governor of the province is sent with Paul to Caesarea Maritima. Then the best is served last. Paul’s life is preserved, and the chapter ends with him safe and secure in an awesome hotel – ‘kept under guard in Herod’s palace.’
There were several Herod’s. It was a family name – a ruling dynasty. Some of them feature in the Bible. Some of them were desperately wicked - the others were worse! The Herod who built this palace was called Herod the Great. He’s the one who appears in Matthew 2 in the account of Christ’s birth. In his mind, he built this palace for himself. God was otherwise minded. The man who tried to kill the infant Jesus is now long dead. Now his palace is commandeered to protect Paul - a follower of the ever-living Jesus! Psalm 2 talks of plots and conspiracies against Christ. It has powerful people - kings and rulers - banding together to get control. But there’s someone more powerful – who’s always got control. It views our earthly scene with a delightful God view - ‘the One enthroned in heaven laughs.’
If we belong to God, through Christ, then Acts 23 should make us smile. Jesus changed everything for Paul. So, with us. He was willing to die for our sins to save us. He bridged the gap between us and God. As priest over Gods house, he is willing to bridge the gap between despair and hope again, and again, and again. Once we were following our hell bound hearts. Like Paul, on the Damascus Road, a day came when Jesus said, ‘Stop! - Don’t follow your heart – follow mine – follow me’. Not just the once, but again and again and again - always and forever.
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