Pelajaran Sekolah Sabat 11, Rabu 12 September 2018

Pelajaran Sekolah Sabat 11
Rabu 12  September 2018

Di Hadapan Mahkamah Agama

Apabila pegawai Roma mendapati bahawa Paulus tidak membawa ancaman kepada empayar; ia itu, bahawa isu itu melibatkan perselisihan dalaman orang-orang Yahudi, dia minta Mahkamah Agama menyelesaikan kes tersebut (Kisah 22:30; 23:29).

Sila baca Kisah 23:1-5. Bagaimanakah Paulus memulakan pertahanannya di hadapan Mahkamah Agama?

Kenyataan kata pengantar Paulus dipenuhi dengan tamparan di mulut, mungkin kerana sebagai orang tahanan, rujukannya kepada Tuhan kedengaran menghujat. Desakan reaksi beliau memberikan kita sekilas pandang tentang sifatnya. Dengan memanggil imam besar sebuah “tembok berkapur putih” (Kisah 23:3), dia dapat mengulangi penghkianatan Yesus terhadap kemunafikan orang-orang Farisi. Namun, kerana Pulus tidak benar-benar tahu bahawa ia sedang berbicara di hadapan imam besar, kemungkinan bahawa dia mempunyai penglihatan itu, bukanlah sama sekali tidak dapat dikesampingkan.

Sila baca Kisah 23:6-10. Bagaimanakah Paulus cuba untuk mengganggu prosiding itu?

Mahkamah Agama terdiri daripada kedua-dua Saduki dan Farisi. Mereka bertentangan satu dengan yang lain dalam beberapa isu – salah satu daripadanya ialah tentang doktrin. Sebagai contoh, orang-orang Saduki yang berpegang kepada prinsip umum rohani hanya kepada lima buku Musa (the Pentateuch), tidak percaya kepada kebangkitan orang mati (Matius 2:23-32).

Bagaimanapun, dalam kenyataan Paulus (Kisah 23:6), lebih daripada satu taktik bijak untuk menarik perhatian Mahkamah Agama. Sejak pertemuannya dengan Yesus yang telah bangkit sementara dalam perjalanan ke Damsyik, di sinilah letaknya dasar penukaran agama dan pelayanan apostoliknya serta kepercayaan kepada kebangkitan itu adalah isu sebenar yang dia diadili. (Kisah 24:20, 21; 26:6-8). Tidak ada sebab lain yang dapat menerangkan bagaimana dia telah berubah daripada semangat lamanya kepada siapa dia sekarang. Jika Yesus tidak dibangkitkan daripada kematian, maka pelayanannya tidak bermakna dan dia juga tahu semuanya (1 Korintus 15:14-17).

Pada malam sementara Paulus berada dalam markas, TUHAN perlihatkan diri kepadanya dengan dorongan ini: “ ‘Kuatkanlah hatimu, sebab sebagaimana engkau dengan berani telah bersaksi tentang Aku di Yerusalem, demikian jugalah hendaknya engkau pergi bersaksi di Roma’ “ (Kisah 23:11). Dengan peluang yang ada, janji seperti itu mungkin benar-benar bermakna bagi Paulus. Keinginan lamanya untuk berkhutbah di Roma (Kisah 19:21; Roma 1:13-15; 15:22-29) masih akan berlaku.

Sabbath School Lesson 11
Wednesday September 12

Before the Sanhedrin

When the Roman commander realized that Paul did not represent any threat to the empire; that is, that the issue involved internal disputes of the Jews, he asked the Sanhedrin to take up the case (Acts 22:30; 23:29).

Read Acts 23:1-5. How did Paul start his defense before the Sanhedrin?

Paul’s introductory statement was met with a slap on the mouth, perhaps because, as a prisoner, his reference to God sounded blasphemous. His impulsive reaction gives us a glimpse of his temperament. By calling the high priest a “whitewashed wall” (Acts 23:3, NKJV), he could be echoing Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy in Matthew 23:27. Yet, since Paul did not really know he was addressing the high priest, the possibility that he had bad eyesight is not to be entirely ruled out.

Read Acts 23:6-10. How did Paul ingeniously try to disrupt the proceedings?

The Sanhedrin was comprised of both Sadducees and Pharisees who were opposed to each other on a number of issues, doctrine being one of them. The Sadducees, for example, whose scriptural canon included only the first five books of Moses (the Pentateuch), did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (Matt. 22:23-32).

Paul’s statement (Acts 23:6), however, was more than a clever tactic to distract the Sanhedrin. Since his encounter with the resurrected Jesus on the Damascus road lay at the foundation of his conversion and apostolic ministry, belief in the resurrection was the real issue he was being judged for (Acts 24:20, 21; 26:6-8). Nothing else could explain how he had changed from his former zeal to become what he was now. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then his ministry was pointless, and he knew it, too (1 Cor. 15:14-17).

That night, as Paul was in the fortress, the Lord appeared to him with this encouragement: “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome” (Acts 23:11, NKJV). Given the circumstances, such a promise might have been particularly meaningful to Paul. His long-cherished wish to preach in Rome (Acts 19:21, Rom. 1:13-15, 15:22-29) would still come to pass.