272
The Acts of the Apostles
“And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the
Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. For the
Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit:
but the Pharisees confess both.” The two parties began to dispute
between themselves, and thus the strength of their opposition against
Paul was broken. “The scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose,
and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an
angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.”
[412]
In the confusion that followed, the Sadducees were eagerly striving
to gain possession of the apostle, that they might put him to death;
and the Pharisees were as eager in striving to protect him. “The chief
captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them,
commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from
among them, and to bring him into the castle.”
Later, while reflecting on the trying experiences of the day, Paul be-
gan to fear that his course might not have been pleasing to God. Could
it be that he had made a mistake after all in visiting Jerusalem? Had
his great desire to be in union with his brethren led to this disastrous
result?
The position which the Jews as God’s professed people occupied
before an unbelieving world, caused the apostle intense anguish of
spirit. How would those heathen officers look upon them?—claiming
to be worshipers of Jehovah, and assuming sacred office, yet giving
themselves up to the control of blind, unreasoning anger, seeking to
destroy even their brethren who dared to differ with them in religious
faith, and turning their most solemn deliberative council into a scene
of strife and wild confusion. Paul felt that the name of his God had
suffered reproach in the eyes of the heathen.
And now he was in prison, and he knew that his enemies, in their
desperate malice, would resort to any means to put him to death. Could
it be that his work for the churches was ended and that ravening wolves
were to enter in now? The cause of Christ was very near to Paul’s heart,
and with deep anxiety he thought of the perils of the scattered churches,
[413]
exposed as they were to the persecutions of just such men as he had
encountered in the Sanhedrin council. In distress and discouragement
he wept and prayed.
In this dark hour the Lord was not unmindful of His servant. He
had guarded him from the murderous throng in the temple courts; He