Luke the beloved physician wrote when the chief captain and the men who examined Paul discovered he was a Roman, they “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. And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite you, you whited wall: for sit you to judge me after the law, and command me to be smitten contrary to the law?”, and in chapter twenty-three and verse four of the book of Acts Luke shared how, “they that stood by said, revile you God's high priest?” where we read:
And they that stood by said, revile you God's high priest?
The verse begins, “And they that stood by said, ...” Luke began with the words, “and they that stood by” which means “and the other men within the Sanhedrin” “said” or “uttered, declared, proclaimed and asked” the following words. Luke shared how the other men in the “Sanhedrin” began to question “Paul” with the following words.
The verse continues, “... revile you God's high priest?” Luke added the words, “revile you” which means “reproach, rail and abuse you, Paul” “God's high priest” or “the Heavenly Father God's chief and principal priest”? Luke shared how the other members of the “Sanhedrin” asked “Paul” if he was “reproaching” the Heavenly Father God's “chief priest” with his words about being a “whited wall”.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn how other members of the “Sanhedrin” questioned “Paul” when he told the “high priest” that “God” would “smite him” because he was like a “whited wall”. We shall see how “Paul” responds to them in our next verse, but for now let us think about the idea of these men thinking that “Paul” was in the wrong for his words, but the high priest was right in his ordering “Paul” to be hit in the mouth contrary to God's law. Opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ has been present from the time Jesus showed Himself to be the Messiah, and it continues to this day. God, however, keeps loving people, and His desire is to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus. Jesus died for the sins of the world, and anyone who believers and trusts in Him as their “Savior and Lord” will be forgiven of their sins and granted everlasting life with God. Those who are wise do not allow opposition to the gospel to impede them from yielding to Jesus.
Next time Luke shares how Paul says, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest:”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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