In today's reading we find Paul before the Sanhedrin, making a very shrewd move. Indeed he shows glimpses of this 'Saul' personality. Put on trial for preaching Christ, he cleverly incites one group (Pharisees) against the other (Sadducees), without letting them even get wind of his clever move. He merely puts out himself as one among the Pharisees, being accused of believing in the resurrection! The Pharisees fall for it and then the debate is all a fight between the two groups. Paul, in the meantime, walks out with a sly smile (that's my addition!).
And just when I thought that was it, there comes the message from Jesus: You bore witness to me in Jerusalem, now be my witness in Rome as well.
One can be like the crowd, easily swayed by someone's clever distraction, missing out the core argument and point. We end up, fighting and arguing, without even realising that we long stopped reasoning and focusing. We can be like Paul, playing a diplomat or a politician, rather than being an apostle. Or could be that Paul was only being wise not wanting to waste his time 'preaching' to the group; hence he merely lets them get entangled with one another, while he gets back to investing his time and energy into positive outcomes and possibilities.
Getting back to the scene played out at the Sanhedrin, the feedback of Jesus can be interpreted as an endorsement of the ploy that Paul played. Or it could be read as a chastisement. I prefer to side with the latter. For in Christianity, honesty is more valuable than diplomacy. Paul was called to be an apostle, not a diplomat, and certainly not a politician!
No comments:
Post a Comment