Acts 23:6-10: a reflection

6But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!” 7When he had said this, an argument arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the crowd was divided. 8For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess all of these. 9A great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ part stood up, and contended, saying, “We find no evil in this man. But if a spirit or angel has spoken to him, let’s not fight against God!” 10When a great argument arose, the commanding officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him into the barracks.

Standing before the divided council, Paul makes a striking declaration about what is really at stake in his trial: Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am on trial. He was a Pharisee, and the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, while the Sadducees denied it; and Paul names the resurrection as the true heart of the matter. For Paul, the whole controversy came down to this hope: that the dead are raised, that Christ is risen, that there is a resurrection to come.

Notice how central the resurrection was to Paul. It was not a peripheral doctrine to him, but the hope for which he was willing to stand trial, the very center of his faith. His confidence and his willingness to suffer rested on this: that Christ was raised, and that those who are his will be raised too. The resurrection was not an afterthought in Paul's faith; it was the ground of his whole hope, worth everything.

That prompts a question about our own faith: how central is the hope of the resurrection to us? For many, it is a doctrine believed but seldom felt, tucked away in the background rather than shaping daily life and confidence. But for Paul, the resurrection was central, the hope that made him willing to suffer and even die. Let the hope of the resurrection be as central to you as it was to Paul. Rest your confidence on it: that Christ is risen, and that death is not the end for those who are his. Let this hope shape how you face suffering, loss, and death, as it shaped Paul, who could stand trial gladly for the hope of the resurrection of the dead.

Lord, standing before the council, Paul named the hope of the resurrection as the true heart of his trial and his faith; it was not a peripheral doctrine to him, but the ground of his whole hope, worth everything. Prompt me to ask how central this hope is to me. For many, it is a doctrine believed but seldom felt, tucked away in the background rather than shaping daily life and confidence. But for Paul, the resurrection was central, the hope that made him willing to suffer and even die. Let the hope of the resurrection be as central to me as it was to Paul. Help me rest my confidence on it: that Christ is risen, and that death is not the end for those who are his. Let this hope shape how I face suffering, loss, and death, as it shaped Paul. Make the resurrection not a background doctrine but the living center of my hope, worth everything.