Scripture Daily

Context No. 1126 of 4322 · Acts

Context · Reflection

Acts 24:9-21: in context

9The Jews also joined in the attack, affirming that these things were so. 10When the governor had beckoned to him to speak, Paul answered, “Because I know that you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I cheerfully make my defense, 11seeing that you can verify that it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship at Jerusalem. 12In the temple they didn’t find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city. 13Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me. 14But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, so I serve the God of our fathers, believing all things which are according to the law, and which are written in the prophets; 15having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. 16In this I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men. 17Now after some years, I came to bring gifts for the needy to my nation, and offerings; 18amid which certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, not with a mob, nor with turmoil. 19They ought to have been here before you and to make accusation if they had anything against me. 20Or else let these men themselves say what injustice they found in me when I stood before the council, 21unless it is for this one thing that I cried standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged before you today!’”

Paul stands before the Roman governor Felix, accused by the temple authorities of stirring up trouble. His defense is measured and clear. He points out that he had come to Jerusalem only twelve days earlier, to worship and bring gifts for the poor, and that no one had found him disputing or inciting a crowd. But he freely confesses one thing: according to the Way, which they call a sect, he worships the God of his fathers, believing everything in the law and the prophets, with a hope of the resurrection of both the just and the unjust. And he says his aim is always to keep a clear conscience toward God and man.

Two things ground Paul's defense, and both are worth having. First, a clear conscience. In the middle of false accusations, Paul can say that he takes pains to keep his conscience clear before God and people, and that quiet integrity is his best defense; the specific charges cannot be proven because he has actually done nothing wrong. There is a settled strength in a man who, whatever others allege, knows his own conscience is clean. Second, he identifies the real issue at the heart of the trial: it is over the resurrection of the dead. Strip away the political charges, and Paul is on trial for believing that God raises the dead. He does not shrink from it; he plants his whole case on the resurrection hope. This is what Christianity finally comes down to, not a set of manageable ethics but the claim that God raises the dead, and Paul would rather be judged on that than defend himself on lesser ground. A clean conscience and the resurrection hope, those are the two feet he stands on before the governor, and they are enough.

Can I stand, as Paul did, on a clear conscience before God and people, and on the hope of resurrection as the thing my whole life finally rests on?

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