After Paul appeared before the Roman authorities in Jerusalem and found not guilty of violating Roman law, the Roman commander allows the Sanhedrin to convene and subject Paul to inquisition. Paul gets to the heart of the hatred against him, Peter, Stephen and Messiah Yeshua Himself. Without resurrection of the dead — only possible by God’s power — all our efforts at being pious are “pitiful.” The differences between Pharisees and Sadducees are reviewed.
Tag: sanhedrin
Stephen, one of seven exceptional men the 12 selected as special ministers for the needs of the congregation in Yerushalayim, is accused of blaspheming God and Moshe and speaking against the temple and “the law,” specifically, saying that Yeshua would destroy the temple and “alter the customs Moses handed down to us.” Was Yeshua Messiah or manipulator? Stephen responds with a Peter-like cutting-to-the-heart retelling of Israel’s history.
On the day after Shavuot (Pentecost), the priesthood in God’s temple are on trial, even as they put Peter and John on trial, as to whether they will cling to their presuppositions about God — that He created then vacated — or submit to the massive displays of God’s power in His house of prayer testifying to the reality that Yeshua is God’s Messiah.