“Those standing near Paul said to him, ‘Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?’”
Acts 23:4 (NLT)
Paul had only spoken one sentence before Ananias ordered him to be slapped in the mouth. That moment exposed more than one man’s temper. The high priest was supposed to judge rightly, but Ananias was using authority to satisfy himself instead of honoring God. Paul called it what it was, but when reminded of the command not to speak evil of a ruler, he gave an extremely generous apology.
What moves me is that Ananias was standing in a position Jesus had already fulfilled. After the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, there is only one true High Priest before God. Jesus is our merciful and faithful High Priest. He became like us, called us brothers and sisters, and offered himself as the sacrifice that takes away sin for all time. Jesus does not treat his children the way Ananias treated Paul.
Because Jesus is our High Priest, we do not come before God expecting to be slapped across the face when we mess up. We come to God through the blood of the Son who has already paid the price for all our messes. When we stand before the Lord with confessed sin and surrendered lives, we are not met with cruelty. We are received, cleansed, corrected, embraced, and empowered again by the Spirit poured out from the Father.
Still, Paul honored a broken system for the sake of reaching broken people. He respected what no longer ruled over him so he could build common ground and tell them the good news. Maybe that is our invitation today. Who do you need to honor in your life, not because they ultimately rule over you, but because Jesus does? Ask the Father for the strength, patience, and endurance to carry yourself like Paul and not speak evil of those in authority over you.