Acts 23:9

Wednesday, 27 December 2023

Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, “We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.” Acts 23:9

The Greek more precisely reads, “And there was a great clamor. And having arisen, some of the scribes of the part of the Pharisees were contending, saying, ‘We find nothing evil in this man. And if a spirit spoke to him, or an angel, let us not fight against God’” (CG).

Luke just included an explanatory sentence to detail why the reaction in this verse now came about, “For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.” Because of this division of thought between the sects, it now says, “And there was a great clamor.”

The loud outcry mentioned here was probably a lot of “harumphs” from one side and “here here’s” from the other. The word is kraugé. It is used, for example, to describe the loud cry in Matthew 25:6 and the crying noted in Revelation 21:4.

It indicates loud crying done with great emotion. Each side defended what they believed was possible based on Paul’s words. As it was a cry among many, the word “clamor” is well-suited to the intent. Next, it says, “And having arisen, some of the scribes of the part of the Pharisees were contending.”

The scribes are the learned men, whether from the Pharisees or the Sadducees. They were not an independent group but were simply those who were well educated and performed a scribal role. Being educated, they would be more disposed to protesting over the din of others and getting them to quiet down while they made their case.

In this situation, they probably sided with Paul more on a theological basis than on whether they agreed with him personally. In this case, they were saying, “We find nothing evil in this man.”

He had said nothing that was impossible from their worldview, and so, they defended his right to present his case based on that. Their protesting then shows they had a greater disdain for the opposing party than they did towards Paul’s misdirected (as they perceived) faith in Christ. Therefore, as a jab in the eyes of the Sadducees, they next called out, “And if a spirit spoke to him, or an angel, let us not fight against God.”

It should be noted that the final words of this verse, “let us not fight against God,” are disputed as to whether they are original or not. Many scholars see them as an insert to match what was said by Gamaliel in Acts 5:39. For this reason, they are not included in many translations.

Despite this, Paul’s diversion was successful. Their words, “And if a spirit spoke to him, or an angel,” are likely referring to Paul’s claim in Acts 22:17-21, of which they would be aware by now.

Unless they accepted that Paul’s vision was real and from a divine source, the words “let us not fight against God” seem to be out of place. Demons can speak as well as the Lord. And so, for them to include God in the statement would imply that they accepted his words, including being sent off to the Gentiles. This seems less likely, and the words may have been inserted at a later time by someone attempting to give additional credence to Paul’s case.

Life application: The old saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” seems to apply to this verse. The Pharisees stood against Jesus, and they continued to stand against those who followed Him. However, the theology behind the Sadducees’ religion was so aberrant to them that they were willing to use Paul as an ally to poke at what they perceived as a completely misguided approach to Scripture.

This is not uncommon in Christian circles. There may be two completely divergent approaches to a particular concept, and yet adherents to one or the other may join together to defend a third, unrelated issue.

For example, Dispensationalists and Calvinists may be at odds over the state of Israel, but they may be united in their dismissal of evolution. Therefore, they may put aside their unhappiness concerning the former issue and unite in a letter to a Christian college that has recently hired an evolutionist professor.

Some things are worth setting aside differences over in order to secure an intended goal in another area. Looking for common ground in this manner is not caving to one side or another. And yet, protestations by others may rise to a crescendo, calling out charges of apostasy or compromise – “I didn’t get a harumph out of that guy!” This is inevitable. Some people feel so passionately about a particular issue that it will cloud their thinking in other areas.

Be on the lookout for such things and be ready to defend why you take particular actions. If feelings are hurt, or charges of apostasy are thrown at you, for standing up for the truth, so be it. You can’t please everybody, and some seed pickers will never be pleased with anything. Ignore them, and you will do well.

Heavenly Father, may we be willing to stand up and speak out when it is right to do so. Help us not to be timid or pusillanimous in our approach to sound doctrine and right conduct before You. Strengthen us in our resolve to stand for what is right. To Your glory, we pray. Amen.