(Text and Audio)
Title: The Wayward Jews and the Sovereignty of God
I have long since believed that the story of Joseph and his brothers from Genesis is among the most powerful stories in all of scripture. It culminates when Joseph says, in Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
The study of today’s passage will repeat the same principles by showing the evil efforts of those opposed to Jesus, and just how far they are willing to go to get their way. But God, in his sovereignty, will use these very methods against these men to promote his message to the masses.
(Read/Pray)
I. The Tragic Warning
v17/18 Jesus gives a tragic warning. Why is it so tragic? Because when we look closer at verse 17 and 18, we see who these men are, and what they are going to do to the disciples because of Christ.
Consider:
- These men are Jewish.
What a tragedy that the very people who should have been most willing to respond to the celebratory news of the Messiah’s arrival are the ones most venomous against it. We see over and over in Paul’s letters how his heart breaks for his own people, how he pleads (usually in vain) over the stubbornness and opposition of their hearts. This is the first taste of such a sad occurrence that the apostles will see first hand.
- These men will abuse the Jewish court system.
Even under the Roman Empire, in matters that Rome didn’t care about, Rome encouraged the Sanhedrin to carry out their own practices and customs to encourage and promote peace throughout Judea. The Romans saw the Sanhedrin as a way to deal with the little stuff (such as religious matters) without them having to get their hands dirty in such trivial matters. But the Sanhedrin was limited in ability to carry out capital punishment. For both Christ and Paul, the Jews turn to Rome because they want to see those men killed, something that Rome forbid anyone but the authority of Rome to do.
The first thing we see Jesus predict is that the apostles will be brought before the Jewish courts. These unscholarly men will have to defend themselves in front of the highest courts of their people. Imagine if you had to stand before the supreme court, televised nationally, on an accusation brought against you, and you were not allowed to have an attorney present. How nerve-wracking would that be?
Furthermore, this establishment of the court for the purposes of finding truth and working through difficulties, was created to promote Truth and therefore realize God’s holiness. And these men will use these authorities to subdue Truth and attempt to quiet and intimidate the followers of the one true God.
- These men will abuse the power of the Sanhedrin.
Time and time again in the New Testament we see the Jewish court becoming just as violent and harsh as the Roman court, sometimes even more so. (The High Priest authorizing “Black Ops” by sending Paul to Damascus, and then later to authorizing the 40 assassins to kill Paul.)
Rome had a “hit first, as questions later” methodology that worked very well for them. When we watch cop dramas on TV we often see two partners play “good cop, bad cop.” (Someone explain how that works).
But Rome would simply beat you first (call it and “encouragement” to loosen you tongue) and then get the answers out of you that they want. Why? It was effective! After a Roman interrogation you’d often be willing to admit you were the Tooth Fairy if that’s what they wanted to hear.
Paul find himself in this very situation at the conclusion of Acts and the only thing that saves him is his comment, “By the way, is it lawful for you to strike a Roman citizen?”
By the time of Christ and his disciples, the Sanhedrin had become a joke. It was simply a front for a power machine that only a select few rich, well connected Jews to abuse for their benefit. It is truly shocking to see how far from it’s original design the Jewish leadership had gotten by the time Christ arrived.
Earle Wingo wrote a book entitled “The Illegal Trial of Jesus” in which he shows that at least 18 Jewish laws were broken in order to arrest, try, and eventually put Christ to death.
And here, we see Jesus warn the apostles that not only will they be brought before the courts of their own people for proclaiming the “Good News” but they will also be beaten in these holy places.
- When the Jewish Courts Fail to Quiet the Believers the Jews Will Turn to Rome
Let’s be clear on this: The Jewish leadership hated Rome. They hated being under their influence. They hated answering to Rome. They hated taxes. They hated the Roman Gods. They hated the Roman liberal lifestyle of drink, war and sex.
But whenever they needed to, they would turn to Rome to do their dirty work.
The Jews didn’t have “governors or kings.” That was the Empire. That was Rome. And when the Sanhedrin was limited, they would turn to the Empire to have their will done.
Now, the Jews see this as an advantage: “We can turn men like Paul and Jesus over to Rome for execution, and we don’t have to dirty our hands or our reputations with capital punishment.” (Which was illegal anyway. Rome did not permit the Jews to condemn anyone to death directly, which is why the Jewish assassins who took a vow to kill Paul did so outside of the court setting.)
This also allowed the Jewish leadership to go back to the Jews and say something like, “Paul was such a vile offender, that the Romans came and took him from us to exact their form of justice.” Which was a total lie, but it allowed the Sanhedrin to continue to appear holy.
- But…
Now all of these previous 4 things outline the waywardness of the Jewish leadership and how far they are willing to go to silence the believers. But, as we read in verse 18, these trials and tribulations will bring the apostles in direct contact with the most powerful and influential people on the planet, just as God had intended.
- They will proclaim the Gospel in front of heads of state
- This will open the door of curiosity to the Gentiles. (They are willing to die instead of renouncing their faith.)
- Their stories (testimonies) will move the masses to reconsider.
This is all really cause an effect. The end result as far as the Jews are concerned is the death of Christianity. Then end result as far as Jesus predicts is the birth of Christianity.