October 24, 2026 - Acts 23

On trial before the Jewish council, “when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial’” (23:6).  The Pharisees believed in a resurrection, the Sadducees did not (Remember the Sadducees and their question to Jesus about the woman and her seven husbands in Matthew 22?).  Paul was not only deeply spiritual, he was, how do we say it, worldly wise.  Here, he manipulated his enemies into fighting among themselves and “when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks” (23:10).  Pretty slick, huh?  But we must not miss the most important matter, here.  It’s the reality of the resurrection.  Remember Paul’s word to the Corinthians?  “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).  But it is true!  And we have hope, a sure hope!

Christ hath arisen,

Death is no more . . .

Come where the Lord hath lain,

Past is the gloom;

See the full eye of day

Smile thro’ the tomb.

Hark! angel voices

Fall from the skies:

Christ hath arisen!

Glad heart arise!   -- E. A. Washburn (1863)