“We’ve found that this Paul is a troublemaker. Everywhere he goes in the world, riots break out among the Jews. He’s the leader of a cult called the Nazarenes.
It is true that I worship the God of our people as a follower of the Way of Jesus. They call it a cult, but everything I believe agrees with the Law and the Prophets.
They’ve known me for a long time, and they could tell you, if they wanted to, that I’ve lived by the rules of the Pharisees. Their rules are harder to obey than those of any other Jewish group.
shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who goes to everyone everywhere and teaches against our people, our law, and this holy place. He has even brought Greeks into this temple and made our holy place unclean.”
They began to make accusations against him. They said, “We’ve found this man leading our people astray. He says they shouldn’t pay taxes to Caesar, and he claims to be the Messiah—a king.”
They found witnesses who were willing to lie about him. The witnesses said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy temple and against the Law of Moses.
He released the man they asked for, the one who had been thrown in prison for murder and for leading a revolt against the authorities. But he handed Jesus over to them so they could do what they wanted with him.
It’s enough for students to be like their teachers and for slaves to be like their masters. If the head of the household has been called Beelzebul, the prince of demons, what should the others who live in the house expect to be called?
When Paul came in, the Jews who’d come from Jerusalem crowded around him, making many serious charges against him. But they couldn’t prove that any of them were true.