Chapter 23

1Paul looked straight at the council and said, “Brothers, I've lived my whole life before God with a perfectly clear conscience, right up to today.” A perfect record. Never did anything wrong. Perfect.

2At that, the high priest Ananias ordered the people standing near Paul to hit him in the mouth. Assault. In open court.

3Then Paul said to him, “God's going to hit you, you whitewashed wall! You're sitting there to judge me by the law, and you break the law yourself by ordering me struck?” Called him out. Nickname on the spot. Whitewashed wall. Very good nickname.

4Those standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God's high priest!”

5Paul said, “Brothers, I didn't know he was the high priest. It's written, 'Don't speak badly about the leader of your people.'” He knew. He definitely knew. Sarcasm. Great sarcasm.

6Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, called out in the council, “Brothers, I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I'm on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.” Divide and conquer. Get them fighting each other. Brilliant. Best move in the whole book.

7When he said this, a fight broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the council was split.

8The Sadducees say there's no resurrection, and no angels or spirits either, but the Pharisees believe all of it. They hate each other. He knew they hate each other.

9There was a huge uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued hard. “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” Flipped half the jury in one sentence.

10The fight got so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.

11The next night the boss stood near Paul and said, “Keep your chin up. You've testified for me in Jerusalem. Now you have to testify in Rome.” Rome. The big stage. The biggest.

12The next morning some of the Jews formed a conspiracy and swore an oath not to eat or drink until they'd killed Paul. No food. No water. Not until he's dead. Obsessed.

13More than forty men were in on this plot.

14They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We've sworn a solemn oath not to eat anything until we've killed Paul.

15Now you and the council ask the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We'll be ready to kill him before he gets here.” Assassination plot. Organized by the establishment. Proven. It's all on the record.

16But when the son of Paul's sister heard about this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul. His nephew. Family. Family always comes through.

17Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something to tell him.”

18So he took him to the commander. The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

19The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

20He said, “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the council tomorrow, pretending they want more accurate information about him.

21Don't give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They've sworn they won't eat or drink until they've killed him. They're ready now, waiting for you to agree.” The whistleblower. A good one. We like this one.

22The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: “Don't tell anybody you've reported this to me.” Classified.

23Then 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.

24Provide horses for Paul so he can be taken safely to Governor Felix.” Four hundred and seventy troops. For one man. Biggest motorcade in the province. The Secret Service would be jealous.

25He wrote a letter as follows:

26“Claudius Lysias, to His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.

27This man was seized by the Jews, and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, because I'd learned he was a Roman citizen.” He didn't learn that first. He learned that later. Changed the timeline. Covering himself.

28“I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their council.

29I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or prison. Nothing. No crime.

30When 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 their case against him to you.” Kicked it upstairs. Not my problem anymore.

31So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris.

32The next day they let the horsemen go on with him, while they returned to the barracks.

33When the horsemen got to Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.

34The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia,

35he said, “I'll hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered Paul to be kept under guard in Herod's palace. The palace. Not a cell. A palace. Paul always ends up in nice places.