Righteous Response

Acts 22:2-3 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”
 
JOSEPHUS is an historian whose history of the first century Jews has helped confirm the Bible’s accounts. He wrote that Ananias, high priest from 48-58 AD, was a “profane, greedy and hot-tempered man, hated by many Jews because of his pro-Roman politics.” (Life Application Bible Commentary).
   Ananias and the Jews had accused Paul of speaking against our people and our law and this place (Acts 21:28) But now Ananias broke the Jews’ law. Deuteronomy 19:15 One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
   God’s law also said: Leviticus 19:15 Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Justice requires a process: credible witnesses, proper trial, fair judgments. For some reason Ananias wanted to judge Paul, “Guilty!” without reason.
   To this point in the story, Paul’s defense had been to tell of his obedience to God’s call on his life. He had told of the great transformation the Lord Jesus had done. But his patience became righteous anger, calling Annanias, “You whitewashed wall!”
   Jesus had said the same thing: Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.”  
   The Jews were hypocrites against Jesus. They were hypocrites against Paul. They pretended to be true to God’s laws, but they lied and plotted to remain in power. The truth had become a curse to their depraved hearts.
   Was Paul correct to judge Ananias and the others as he did? First, he responded to the law. It was illegal to punish another without a trial. So, yes, Paul was correct. One needs to call out lawbreakers. We know when we or another breaks a commandment. Our task is to correct people with humility and love.
   The church, too, must be willing to tell the culture, “This is against God’s law.” Far too many laws are passed in our countries that reject, ignore and dismiss God’s law. We know the church can’t pass civil laws, but we must work to influence those laws. Unified as one body, under one Spirit, one Lord, one faith and one baptism (from Ephesians 4:4-5) we can be a powerful voice for justice. We must help the world know that God condemns the laws and customs that break his commands.
    We’ll examine Paul’s response further in the next lesson. He may not have been completely correct in his response to Ananias’ cruel words.