The Book of Acts: The Jews and the Sanhedrin

In the book of Acts, we see a lot of Paul being persecuted, thrown in prison, on trial, and being abused. All of this by his own people and other believers. Today we’re going to look at the perspective of some of the persecutors. The Jews and the Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin

Before I keep going, let me give some information. We all know who the Jews are. God’s chosen people who descended from Abraham. But, do we all know what the Sanhedrin was? The Sanhedrin was ancient Jewish courts during the time of the Holy Temple. The earliest record of the Sanhedrin was 57 B. C. There was the Great Sanhedrin and the smaller local Sanhedrin. The Great Sanhedrin met in the Temple in Jerusalem and was made up of 71 sages. They met every day with the exceptions of the Sabbath, festivals, and festival eves. While the Sanhedrin could not arrest anyone, they could (with two or more witnesses) convict and accuse lawbreakers. The Sanhedrin fell the same time the Temple was destroyed for the last time(Resource).

Change is Scary!

Having been taught one thing your whole life and having your ancestors pass down for many generations one teaching. Then out of no where, one man tells you something completely different. The teachings of Jesus contradicted a lot of the traditional Jewish teachings and practices. This angered many of them and made it almost impossible for them to believe Jesus is the messiah.

Paul ran into this same issues as Jesus when he began sharing the gospel. He was presented in front of the Sanhedrin (possibly a local Sanhedrin we’re not sure). Paul preached the gospel to them and caused dispute as we see in Acts 23:1-11. In Acts 12:12-15, we see the Jews plotting (not for the first or last time) against Paul to try and have him killed. All of this just because it was something different than they were taught.

We are all taught different things in our own churches and lives. Some religious teachings are wrong because they do not follow scripture or they take scripture out of context and/or twist it to mean what they want it to mean. Some ways of life that are passed down are wrong. When we share the gospel some people might fight back and argue or just be upset. But we all need to have the same attitude as Paul, calm and trusting God will somehow work through you for His good. They aren’t rejecting you, they are rejecting Jesus!

To read more check out my series Try Not To!