Acts 24:1-9 And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus… 1. From his Roman name we judge that Tertullus was a Roman barrister of signal abilities, and perhaps of great reputation. The Jews, probably, for the most part being ignorant of Roman law, employed Roman lawyers to represent them in the courts of justice. 2. The charge is threefold. (1) Sedition. "A mover of sedition," literally, "a pestilence, or a pest." Demosthenes and Cicero speak of different persons as the pest of the Republic, the State, the Empire. All the commotions which Paul's enemies created were laid to his charge. To the Romans no crime was more heinous than that of sedition, for they seemed afraid that their vast empire might in some part give way. (2) Heresy. "A ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." This charge has the merit of truth. (3) Sacrilege (ver. 6). This was a foul calumny. After these charges this clever but unprincipled advocate does two things: (a) Implies that the Sanhedrin would have judged Paul righteously if Lysias had not interposed. (b) He gets the Jews to assent to all he had stated. 3. This piece of history presents to us a picture of a corrupt barrister. We see him doing things which disgrace his profession. I. VENALLY ADOPTING A BAD CAUSE. What was his motive? Love of right — chivalry? No, money. He sold his services to the cause — 1. Of the strong against the weak. 2. Of the wrong against the right. The English courts exhibit something analogous to this sometimes. There are eminent members of the bar, some of whom are wonderfully pious in public meetings, whose services in a bad cause can be easily secured by a handsome fee. II. WICKEDLY ADVOCATING A BAD CAUSE. In his advocacy we discover — 1. Base flattery (vers. 2, 3). 2. Flagrant falsehood. He lays, as we have seen, three false charges against him. 3. Suppressed truth. He said nothing about the conspiracy (Acts 23:14, 15). The man who suppresses a truth when its declaration is demanded by the nature of the case is guilty of falsehood, is a deceiver. (D. Thomas, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. |
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