Exactly Why?

Acts 22:30-23:1 The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. 23:1 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”
 
IN the gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ trial before the Jews and then Pilate, two sets of rules are in conflict. The Jews’ ruling Sadducees and the Pharisees charged Jesus with blasphemy, so they could execute him. The Romans didn’t care about that. The Romans executed people for rebellion against their authority. Pilate had not heard evidence to know exactly why the Jews wanted Jesus dead. So he asked the Jews, “Why? What crime has he committed?” The Jews had no just answer. Their only response was to shout all the louder, “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:23) Pilate wanted to keep the peace and his position. He submitted to the violence, and Jesus died.
   Will this Roman commander submit to the Sadducees’ and Pharisees’ violence against Paul? Paul had a Roman citizen’s rights to a fair trial. Would it make a difference to the Jews?
   Paul once again attempts to witness God’s work in his life. The day before he had addressed the hateful mob as “Brothers and fathers. (Acts 22:1) He looked directly, purposefully at them without apology and began with, “My brothers”. He did not say, “I’m a Roman citizen, so listen to me!” He wanted very much for the Jews to stop accusing him and to listen to him as a man who was one of them.
   Paul sees his life as an obedient response to God’s will. He believes with all his heart he has fulfilled his duty to God. His conscience is clear. Paul stands before the Jews as Jesus did, innocent of all charges. Jesus’ primary purpose was to obey the Father’s will. Paul’s purpose was to obey the Lord Jesus’ commands. He makes no apologies for his faithful work for his Lord and Savior.
   Christians must know we are first and last responsible to God’s commands. When Paul wrote to Corinth, he knew many in the church thought they were wise by the standards of the age (1 Corinthians 3:18b). They were rejecting his and others’ teachings. The church was dividing into groups that preferred one leader over another.
   But Paul did not defend himself against their judgments. He told them, as he told the Jews, “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Corinthians 4:4) Twenty-one times in his epistles Paul wrote of his clear conscience. He was ready to stand before God’s judgment. Perhaps one of Paul’s unspoken questions to the to the Jews was, “Are you ready for God’s judgment?”  
   Why, exactly, do you do what you do and say what you say? Is it to please people? Or do you please God? Are you prepared for Jesus’ return?