Daily Devotional for Saturday, April 22

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

“On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them,” Acts 22:30.

Paul was a Roman citizen by birth which released him from being scourged, but it did not release him from the Jews. It was unclear to the Romans what Paul had done wrong, much like Jesus’ crime was unclear to Pilate. To have another angry mob such as this and such as the one that condemned Jesus, Paul’s crime must have been against Jewish law. Only the Jewish Sanhedrin could determine that. Paul remained in custody until the Sanhedrin convened and the charge was made clear. In the absence of the Roman procurator, the chief captain carried the highest authority. If he commanded the Sanhedrin to convene, they convened.
The parallels between Paul and Jesus are striking. Jesus and His disciples knew going to Jerusalem during the Passover was dangerous, and Jesus knew it was more than dangerous—it would require the ultimate suffering. Paul and his companions, even the believers he left in Asia, knew Paul would suffer in Jerusalem. The Jews incited an angry mob just as they did with Jesus. Jesus asked the mob, “Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me” (Matthew 26:55). Similarly, Paul said to Felix (Acts 24:12), “And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city.” Roman rulers could find no fault in Jesus or Paul, yet both stood before the Sanhedrin for so-called crimes against Jewish law. Paul may not have been with Jesus before and through his crucifixion, but he was indeed sharing in his suffering.

THOUGHT: Paul was chosen to suffer for the sake of Christ. (See Acts 9:15, 16.)

Kelli Reynolds