Paul wasn’t above using political or religious systems to work that particular system to his advantage. Paul routinely found himself in trouble, whether it was before the local soldiers, governors, and magistrates or, as we see here in Acts 23, before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council.
Having been hit on the orders of the high priest as a result of having said that he had fulfilled his duty to God, Paul was off to a pretty bad start as he stood before this council. However, he had an idea, a plan about how he could bring the council itself to a deadlock and get out of this situation:
Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)
Acts 23:6-8
Paul spoke both well and truthfully. He was right. He was on trial because of his hope of the resurrection of the dead. As a Pharisee, he had believed in the idea that there would one day be a resurrection. However, he had also lived this truth because he had encountered Jesus first-hand. He knew that Jesus had been killed on the cross and yet Jesus had also subsequently confronted Paul as he was on the road to Damascus.
Paul knew that God resurrected men because he had experienced it. He had seen it. He saw Jesus, and he placed his faith in him such that God would one day resurrect him, through Christ, as well.
So this was Paul’s true conviction, that he was there as a result of his hope. His hope was based on Christ’s resurrection and that one day he would be resurrected as well.
But it wasn’t just his spiritual conviction that caused Paul to say that he was on trial for his hope in the resurrection. Paul had grown up studying to be a Pharisee, so he was well-versed in the differences between being a Pharisee and a Sadducee. He knew very well that the Pharisees and the Sadducees, while both Jewish leaders, were in heavy disagreement on the question of the resurrection.
Paul also knew that, by saying that he was on trial for his hope in the resurrection, he would immediately bring this disagreement to the surface between his accusers. The members of the Sanhedrin were generally united in their opposition against Paul as a result of his preaching and teaching of Jesus as the Messiah, but as soon as Paul introduced the idea of the resurrection of the dead, they were suddenly divided, a situation that was definitely to Paul’s advantage because now they were no longer focused on him, but instead focused upon one another. Their argumentative fire was aimed within and not at Paul.
Given this situation and Paul’s cleverness, I can’t help but remember in this situation what Jesus had told his disciples as he sent them out to testify about him:
But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Matthew 10:19-20
Jesus was specifically speaking, at that time, about the disciples being brought before governors and kings, but it seems to me that this is a pretty similar situation. Paul was on trial for his life. And how does he handle the situation? He seems to have incredible insight, supernatural insight and quick-wittedness, especially given the situation. His ability to think clearly allowed him to speak an important spiritual truth while also using the spiritual arguments that were also political lines that were drawn between the Pharisees and Sadducees, enough to quickly be taken away by the Roman guard who was overseeing his fate before these Jewish leaders.
To me, this all points back to an important truth: Our role is to speak of the reality of Christ, but as we do so, we must continually remember that he is with us as we do. Jesus is there with us as we go, in power as well as wisdom, and he calls upon us to use what he has given to us. He has given us hope. He has given us the story that we are to take to others. But most importantly, he has given us himself, going with us in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit living within us to take the message that we can be reconciled back to God in Jesus through our hope of the resurrection of the dead.