Acts 23:23-35 Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix. ”He wrote a letter as follows: -- Claudius Lysias. To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him. -- So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.
After Paul’s nephew told the Roman Commander that some Jews in Jerusalem had taken up an oath to kill Paul, the officer of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem decided to get Paul out of Jerusalem. He had 470 Roman soldiers to escort Paul out of the city, a strong enough contingent that no group of Jews could dare attack these Roman soldiers. They started out at night and at Antipatris, 28 miles away from Jerusalem, the foot soldiers were relieved of their responsibility of protecting Paul. They went back to the Jerusalem garrison. For the next 30 miles to Caesarea only the cavalry would be responsible for Paul’s safety. They would deliver Paul to the authorities in the Roman’s governing headquarters. Paul’s adversaries would have to travel to Caesarea to present their case against Paul to the Roman authorities. Their hatred of the Good News that Paul preached compelled them to go to Caesarea, hoping to end Paul’s life by execution. The leading priests understood well that their fight against the Good News was a life and death struggle. Paul was preaching a new covenant in finding peace with God. No longer would the sacrifices of animals be necessary to please God, neither would priests be important as intermediators between God and man. If the Good News won the hearts of the Jews as the real way to be right with God forever, then the leading priests and elders of the Jewish society would lose their place of deference in Israel. The book of Hebrews relates that for the Jews finite priests were necessary to appease the holy God of creation. They would be the ones who would sacrifice animals and present their blood before God in the Temple. This blood of a dead animal would keep God from judging them and the people with death for their many unrighteous deeds. However in the New Covenant between God and man, Jesus’ one and only sacrifice appeases God, satisfies his requirement of righteousness on sinful mankind. Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. (Hebrews 7:23-28) The Good News Paul preached is The Way to God. Through faith in Jesus' work on the cross, righeousness and perfection would be inherited by all who place their trust in Jesus’ work. This way to God would eliminate the need for priests and for sacrifices. By making the Temple and the priesthood of no affect, the old way of being right with God through obedience to laws and regulations was replaced by faith in Christ's work on the cross. The priests realized Paul is a threat to the status quo in Israel. As the scriptures say, When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear. (Hebrew 8:13) Well then, how about the necessity for being obedient to every jot and tittle of the the law. We find that in Christ; Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17) Jesus because he was sinless, set apart from sinners, satisfied the law completely. No man or woman can do that, as Jesus said himself, call no one good. However, Jesus tells us, I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20) We know the Pharisees were extremely righteous outwardly, giving even a tenth of their spices to God so that they might be right with God. But we also know their hearts were far from God; nevertheless, following the law was their expertise. We are to be better than they, but Jesus is the completion of the law. He fulfilled the intent of the law outwardly and inwardly. Consequently, we who are IN CHRIST through faith fulfill the law completely, facing God with HIS PERFECTION, not by our works of the flesh.
Paul, a man who zealously followed Jesus and propagated the message of Jesus Christ as the Messiah was now in the hands of the Roman government, people who could execute him legally. He would live from this time on in chains. He would write a few of his letters that are part of our Bible in chains: Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon. His ministry of the Good News would never cease until his death around 64-68. A.D. As he wrote to the Corinthians his life was not easy. Preaching the Good News of eternal life to all who would believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior was full of trouble and potential disaster. To the Corinthians we hear Paul enumerate to them the reasons that he deserves to be treated as a true apostle sent by God. He lays down his credentials before them of being an apostle they should honor. I have worked much harder (than other esteemed apostles). I have been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Corinthians 21-29) Paul definitely was weak in many ways. He carried a physical weakness throughout his missionary journeys. This physical weakness attacked his self-esteem. He healed others, yet physical imperfection was evident by all who met him. He could not find healing for his own body. In order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) We see in this quote that Paul carries other weaknesses in the flesh, maybe from beatings and mistreatment, but he also carries weakness in the spirit too, for he had to endure the insults and damaging words to his spirit. We do not know much about what he thought in the midst of attacks, but we do know that in Philippi he refused to disappear from their city until the leaders acknowledged their illegal act. Otherwise, he was angry and disgusted with them. But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.” (Acts 16:37) We see places in the Bible where Paul is angry with the world and with Christians. Paul’s attitude and demeanor did not always reflect the grace of Jesus Christ on the cross: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) Often he wanted justice, correct decisions of his role in life. Consequently, we now see him in the hands of the Romans until his death. He appeals to Caesar to get the justice he deserves.
What other weaknesses does Paul consider to be part of his life? We do not know, but we do know he received a message from the Lord that My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. This statement separates Paul’s work from God’s work. Grace is a gift, a present to us because of God’s goodness to us. It cannot be earned, neither can our well-being in the flesh nor our spirits indicate how much grace we are receiving from God. Paul struggles many times in his life with fear and anxiety. As with Elijah, a man of many wonders, Paul is sometimes weak with fear and anxiety, weaknesses he carried throughout his life. We see Elijah fearful after God performed a mighty miracle on Mount Carmel, revealing himself as the only true God. The 450 priests of Baal were killed by Elijah and his followers. Such a carnage of the followers of Baal made Ahab and Jezebel swear revenge on Elijah; they wanted his head. Elijah was afraid of their power so he ran for his life. (1King 19:3) Paul also ran for his life a few times, after learning people in a community where he was ministering intended to kill him. These two men of God were powerful men. They performed marvelous deeds, but even after the miracles they performed, their flesh often felt God could not protect them from fleshly men. However, in their weaknesses, God’s power is made perfect. God uses his presence in them to perform HIS MARVELOUS DEEDS in the world. We must always remember, when we seem most weak, lacking faith or spiritual health, God’s strength is made strong in our weaknesses. Why? Because we possess the enduring love of God because of his unmerited grace given to us. Elijah, Moses and all the prophets possessed this unmerited love from God. Paul possessed that same love because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Paul was hidden IN CHRIST’S DEEDS, not in his own work. So, in his weaknesses, Christ's work in him becomes strong, taking over for Paul’s frailty. A famous radio preacher who is now deceased proclaimed that smoking was a habit that he could not put aside. He smoked all of his life. He knew this habit was bad for his health and was in many ways a detriment to his claim that faith brought victory in people’s lives. Yet, smoking was part of his life. But grace is God’s gift, not something we earn, and that grace is power in our lives. This minister brought many people to the realization that through faith in Jesus Christ comes a new life. We who are around this breakfast table have many weaknesses in our lives. Sometimes these weaknesses prevent us from associating freely and without guilt with other Christians. We often think, if others only knew us dressed in our weaknesses, they would not want to associate with us as a Christian. By thinking this way, we are belittling the grace of God that is given to us through the works of Christ on the cross. Being right with God is a very simple step, Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24) Friends around this table, do you believe the truth, are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Do you believe God sent Jesus to earth to lead people from death to life? If you do, you are saved, possessing RIGHT NOW eternal life. Paul is going to Caesarea with eternal life throbbing in him. He will follow the steps that God has planned for him in his life. He will end up this fleshly life in chains, but God will say to him, Well done, my good and faithful servant. Paul’s weaknesses did not deter him from accepting God’s role for his life. Dear friends, do not push your weaknesses in front of doing the will of God in your life.
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