NOTES for Act 23:1-35
People really are right when they say: everyone has his own truth. The truth of the chief priests lies in the triumph of lawful order as they understand it and in the removal of a dangerous heretic; the truth of the Roman administration lies in maintaining its own Roman legality and peace, that is, in keeping these fanatics from killing one another and provoking a revolt. But Paul's truth consists in fulfilling the words of Jesus, who appears to him again and calls him to testify in Rome with boldness and without fear.
Even then the world was pluralistic to the extreme, and everyone could take a niche in it and defend his own position. We are in the same situation. One can be a church loyalist, a servant of the state, a terrorist, or someone who spends all day living on the Internet. In such a situation, with an endless number of options for how to live and what to die for, there is always the temptation to sink into skepticism and indifference toward one path or another. Paul's position, or the Christian's position, is only one among many, but for him the truth of his path was obvious. Is it obvious to us?