Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 23-25.

When I read this passage today, I was struck by the idea that a group of zealous Jews conspired with the chief priests and elders to ambush and kill Paul, while he was in Roman custody.  It struck me because Caiaphas, the high priest, justified having Jesus crucified out of fear that He would cause an uprising which would lead Rome to sack Jerusalem and destroy the Temple.  Yet now we have a powerful faction of the Sanhedrin conspiring with a plan to attack a unit of Roman soldiers in order to kill Paul (which would have sparked a more violent Roman response than anything Jesus had done).  These thoughts led me to re-examine my understanding that the Zealots ( a party of religious Jews who actively sought, and eventually succeeded, to foment rebellion among the Jews against Rome) were completely in opposition to the Sanhedrin.  From reading this passage, it seems to me that there existed a group of Jews who used violence to advance their religious, and most likely political, goals which connected with at least one faction of the Sanhedrin.  As I spent a little time researching this, I came across a theory which holds that Saul was a member of such a group up until his conversion.  That theory would go a long way towards explaining why he so rapidly and frequently faced violent opposition from Jewish groups wherever he went.

I want to make the point that the association between the Sanhedrin and the violent insurrectionists indicates a level of hypocrisy which we must work hard to avoid in ourselves and enabling in others.  Further, the conspiracy indicates that Christianity was perceived a s a threat both by those who sought to accommodate Roman rule and by those who sought its violent overthrow.  In fact, both perceived Christianity as so much of a threat that they allied with those whose goals appeared on the surface to be diametrically opposed.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.