Acts 23:9

And there arose a great cry; and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose and strove, saying, we find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.

Paul had come down to the meeting in the hope that there would be a real hearing. He had attempted a calm defense, which had been rudely interrupted by an unwarranted interference of the high priest. Since neither a fair inquiry nor a just decision was to be expected in the presence of such prejudiced fanatics, he now adopted a different method. Knowing that a part of the Sanhedrin, the smaller portion, consisted of Sadducees, and the other of Pharisees, he called out before them all that he was a Pharisee and a son or disciple of Pharisees. This statement was not a petty trick or malicious deception, as some have thought. Everyone in the assembly knew that he was a Christian; his assertion was therefore understood by them as it should be understood by us, that he had been a member of that sect and still agreed with them, as many other former Pharisees did, in certain doctrines. It was concerning one of these that he was now on trial, namely, that of the hope and the reality of the resurrection of the dead. This was literally true, and cannot be regarded as a subterfuge; for the fundamental doctrine of the Gospel, as preached by Paul, was the fact that Christ had risen from the dead, and that because of His resurrection all believers were sure of their own rising unto eternal life. No sooner had Paul said this than there was a controversy, a dissension, a contention of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Before this the body of the Sanhedrin, the entire mass, had been united against Paul, but now they were divided into two parties, into the two factions which were usually at enmity with each other on account of their different doctrinal positions. For, as Luke here inserts by way of explanation, the Sadducees are in the habit of saying that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit. Their position was one of negation, of denial. But the Pharisees confessed and believed in both the resurrection of the dead and the existence of spirits. The uproar over the matter increased with every moment, finally becoming violent. It was the custom in the debates of the Jews to walk over to the side of him whose cause one espoused, thus incidentally recording one's vote. And so here some of the scribes among the Pharisees openly took Paul's part, going over and standing near him, and contending forcibly, arguing very vehemently in his favor. They maintained that they found nothing evil in the accused, and what if a spirit had spoken with him or an angel, as he had stated on the previous day? -that was no reason why the man should be condemned. Thus the Jewish rulers were in a worse predicament than ever. The commander's purpose in calling the meeting was to have the Jews show cause why they had clamored for the death of Paul, and here they sat, not only without any accusation that would have had any weight in the eyes of the Romans, but actually engaged in a bitter controversy among themselves. Thus the dissension of the unbelievers has often redounded to the liberty or to some other benefit of the believers. That is one of the ways in which God keeps and protects His Church in the midst of this evil world, that He creates dissension in the midst of its enemies.