Today, ‘we continue considering the thought that the early believers, whilst respecting the authorities that were over them, gave their first allegiance to Christ and His eternal kingdom.’
Selwyn uses the verses in Acts 23:1-11, to highlight this aspect (verses 1 to 5): “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin (the supreme Jewish court consisting of 70 to 100 men)Â and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled mu duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’ At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!’ Those who were standing near Paul said, ‘You dare to insult God’s high priest?’ Paul replied, ‘Brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest, for it is written: “Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.”‘”
Selwyn follows his discussion on this event with the following: “But how could Paul respect a man who had just ordered him to be hit across the mouth? There was only one way this was possible. He did it by focusing not so much on the person but on his position. When we respect the position of those over us in authority because we have a high regard for the principle of authority then it helps to transform our view of the situation. It my not stop the person over us continuing to be obnoxious, but it will open up within us greater receptivity to God’s grace because of a right response to authority.”
In my mind, there is an additional complexity when the position has been degraded by corruption, for example, in the case of certain forms of dictatorship – the only, livable option might be to flee from the influence of that authority. In Matthew, 2:13-14, we have the example, when Joseph takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape from Herod – and they remained there until Herod died. Do you agree that in some cases the better response is to leave the sphere of influence of a particular corrupt authority?
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A right response
Today, ‘we continue considering the thought that the early believers, whilst respecting the authorities that were over them, gave their first allegiance to Christ and His eternal kingdom.’
Selwyn uses the verses in Acts 23:1-11, to highlight this aspect (verses 1 to 5): “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin (the supreme Jewish court consisting of 70 to 100 men)Â and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled mu duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’ At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!’ Those who were standing near Paul said, ‘You dare to insult God’s high priest?’ Paul replied, ‘Brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest, for it is written: “Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.”‘”
Selwyn follows his discussion on this event with the following: “But how could Paul respect a man who had just ordered him to be hit across the mouth? There was only one way this was possible. He did it by focusing not so much on the person but on his position. When we respect the position of those over us in authority because we have a high regard for the principle of authority then it helps to transform our view of the situation. It my not stop the person over us continuing to be obnoxious, but it will open up within us greater receptivity to God’s grace because of a right response to authority.”
In my mind, there is an additional complexity when the position has been degraded by corruption, for example, in the case of certain forms of dictatorship – the only, livable option might be to flee from the influence of that authority. In Matthew, 2:13-14, we have the example, when Joseph takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape from Herod – and they remained there until Herod died. Do you agree that in some cases the better response is to leave the sphere of influence of a particular corrupt authority?
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