Paul confidently declared in a court of law in Caesarea that the Hope of the Jews was the Hope that there would be a Resurrection of the Dead. The Hope Abraham and the patriarchs transmitted to their descendants, the Jews, was the Resurrection! Paul defended himself with this claim, the claim that the Resurrection is the heart of the Jewish faith.
In other words, this Hope, what Paul called the Same Hope in God, is what makes Jews stand out among the people of the World. Paul said this:
… I have the same Hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a Resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked (Acts 24:15).
The idea of having the Same Hope in God is so engrained in the Jewish psyche that The Hope is the name of Israel’s national anthem. The last two lines of The Hope emphasize the theme of the song.
Our hope is still not lost, it is two thousand years old.
To be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.
So, Paul lived according to the Jewish Hope, the Hope of the Resurrection—that is, eternal life in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is also called the World to Come (Hebrews 2:5).
Not directly related to the Kingdom, Paul declared that the Resurrection will bring about a Judgment in which the righteous will be rewarded and the unrighteous will be punished. He argued that the Resurrection will be for judgment upon all people, the just and the unjust.
Why did Paul have to make these arguments? What was the cause? Well, a legal team led by the High Priest contracted a lawyer to accuse Paul of disturbing the Jewish people. This was a lie, of course. Paul was not a rioter nor a disturber of the peace. The audacity of their accusations inspired Paul to confront them with bolder declarations of the Hope of the Resurrection.
… the High Priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor (v. 1).
Standing in the midst of a Roman court, and being tried by Romans, Paul made sure that the Romans would feel responsible before God. He wanted not only the Jews, but the Gentiles to respond to God’s warning that all people will be judged. The Gentiles, people like you and me, must understand something the Jews are taught from a young age: that we continue to exist beyond the grave. This mortal life produces eternal consequences. Everything we do will be judged by God because our mortality will become immortality!
Paul wanted the Gentiles who heard him to understand God’s justice the way the Jews understood it. Paul preached to Gentiles and not just Jews on that day. To be sure, the Jews who were there would not listen. They came to condemn Paul. Their purpose was to get him sentenced to death through false accusations like the one that Paul was a rioter and that he was the leader of a dangerous sect.
We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the World. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the Temple; so we seized him. By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him. The other Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true (Acts 24:5-9).
In spite of the efforts of Tertullus, the court did not condemn Paul. The court, being led by the Roman governor Felix, a man who was ‘well acquainted’ with Christianity (v. 21), heard Paul out. Paul was glad to present his case before Felix (v. 11) and spoke to Felix as to a man knowledgeable of the Scriptures.
The Jews continued to express anger with Paul for the events that occurred in Jerusalem twelve days earlier. They accused him of attempting to desecrate the Temple, but Paul maintained that he was innocent of any crime. He said that the High Priest had nothing to accuse him of, except (he said sarcastically) for one possible “crime.”
… these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin—unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the Resurrection of the Dead that I am on trial before you today’ (Acts 24:20-21).
Paul had a clear conscience, and could not imagine anything he had done wrong. The only thing he confessed was the "sin" of declaring the Jewish hope in the Resurrection of the Dead. And he was right. That’s precisely what got him in trouble.
To this day, anyone who declares the Truth of the Resurrection will also arouse strong opposition. False pastors treat us like criminals. Enemies of the Gospel continue to set up teams of seminary professors and other “Bible teachers” to oppose us just like the High Priest's team that traveled from Jerusalem to condemn Paul. Our declaration of the Hope of a Resurrection is an unwelcome message in most congregations because pastors do not preach the Good News of the Kingdom anymore. Most pastors are too busy building their own empires to dedicate any time to preaching God’s Kingdom.
Our message is also an unwelcome message among the people of the World. It’s unwelcome precisely because it states that this World will end, and another World is coming, ‘the World to Come about which we are speaking’ (Hebrews 2:5).
But we’ll stick to our message, the Gospel of the Kingdom. We announce the same Hope in God the Jews have had for thousands of years, that there will be a Resurrection of the righteous and of the wicked. We'll declare it with confidence, and will not be cowards. God help us.
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." I Peter 3:15