{"id":20666,"date":"2025-05-31T21:40:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T01:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/?p=20666"},"modified":"2025-06-04T11:17:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T15:17:22","slug":"which-is-it-whitewashed-wall-or-most-excellent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/article\/concise\/which-is-it-whitewashed-wall-or-most-excellent\/","title":{"rendered":"Which is It? \u201cWhitewashed Wall\u201d or \u201cMost Excellent\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For Christians, there is a time for rebuke and a time for deferring. A time for condemning, a time for restraint. There is never a time to malign. There are many times that \u201crighteous anger\u201d or the name of Christ cannot vindicate anger-infused speech. There should be few times of silence when Christ is defamed. The issue is knowing what time it is and what\u2019s right for it. The simple key to learning how to speak to others is to be conscious of the fact that our speech either adorns or stains Christ and his Gospel. Our reactions and interactions with others should concern Christ, not ourselves. In Acts, Luke records several of Paul\u2019s speeches. I will focus on just two examples from Paul\u2019s defense speeches found in chapters Acts 19\u201324.[1]<\/a><\/sup> The first example is a high priest, a Sadducee, and member of the Sanhedrin. The second, a Roman governor. Both reject Paul and his gospel, but Paul responds to them quite differently. Perhaps we can learn a lesson from Paul about both how and when we speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


1. Much of the following is adapted from, Brian Vickers, <\/span>Acts,<\/em> in<\/span> ESV Expository Commentary: John-Acts<\/em>, vol. 9 (Wheaton: Crossway), 2019.<\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

A Whitewashed Wall <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Standing before the Sanhedrin, Paul calls the high-priest Ananias a \u201cwhite-washed wall\u201d (Acts 23:3).[2]<\/a><\/sup> A reader might wonder how that fits with what Paul says about his manner of speaking in 1 Corinthians. Paul asserts that \u201cwhen reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat\u201d (1 Cor. 4:12\u201314). To understand what Paul says in Acts 23:2, a little background is in order. When Paul came to Jerusalem, diaspora Jews (from Asia), stirred up a crowd who would have beaten Paul to death if not for Roman soldiers intervening (Acts 21:27\u201332). They accused Paul of teaching against the people of Israel, the Mosaic law, and the Temple. Not to mention he also brought a Gentile into the temple (he did not, by the way). Paul asks to speak to the crowd, addressing them as \u201cBrothers and fathers\u201d (Acts 22:1), he proceeds to share his testimony, including his former persecution of believers. The crowd listened until Paul said that God sent him to the Gentiles. Their reaction to that bit of news was simple: \u201cRid the earth of him\u201d (Acts 22:22). That is the backdrop to Paul\u2019s confrontation with Ananias and the Sanhedrin the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. All quotes are from the NIV unless noted otherwise.<\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Not only is Paul persecuted for the gospel of Jesus, but the crowd also scorned and attacked the gospel. No doubt Ananias knew about all this when Paul tells the Sanhedrin, \u201cMy brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day\u201d (Acts 23:1). It is only after Ananias orders people standing near Paul to hit him on the mouth, that Paul calls him \u201ca whitewashed wall.\u201d Someone standing by rebukes Paul for speaking against the high priest. Paul responds by saying he did not realize Ananias was high priest, and he quotes Exodus 22:28, \u201cDo not speak evil about the ruler of your people\u201d\u2014 not exactly an apology, but a recognition. In my view, Paul is following the example of Jesus, in line with the Old Testament prophets, and condemning the corruption and unbelief of the Jewish authorities. He is not defending himself. More than that, he is condemning the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, the rejection of God and his promises. He does not call Ananias a name because he is personally offended\u2014he\u2019s judging the unbelief of those who ought to have seen and received the Messiah, just as the Messiah himself did in Matthew 23 (see also Stephen\u2019s defense in Acts 7). Yes, Paul uses strong, unfiltered language, but \u201cwhitewashed wall\u201d is not purposeless name-calling or slander, it is a purposeful word of condemnation for rejection of the message that itself is an aroma of death to those who are perishing, those who refuse the Gospel (2 Cor. 3:15\u201316).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost Excellent Festus\u201d <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From the time Paul leaves Jerusalem under Roman guard until he arrives at Rome, he appears before three government officials. There is Felix the governor at Caesarea (Acts 24), whom Paul addresses respectfully, acknowledging that Felix served as \u201cjudge over this nation.\u201d After that, Paul speaks before Festus, who took Felix\u2019s place as governor (Acts 24:27), and Agrippa.[3]<\/a><\/sup> Readers are likely familiar with the famous exchange between Agrippa and Paul. Agrippa asks \u201cDo you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?\u201d to which Paul responds, \u201cShort time or long\u2014I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains\u201d (Acts 26:28\u201329). Paul\u2019s speech before Agrippa is his longest recorded testimony in Acts. Paul is consistently respectful and deferential, and he holds nothing back about the gospel, his experience, including his former persecution of Christians, and the centrality of the resurrection. It is itself a model of Christian discourse. But I want to focus briefly on an exchange between Paul and Festus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. \u201cHerrod Agrippa II, son of Agrippa 1 (Acts 12:1ff), did not rule over Judea but he did have authority over the temple including authority to appoint priests. The Romans had taken back Galilee, Perea, Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, all of which were under his father\u2019s rule. He was, nevertheless, still quite powerful and influential and, more importantly, \u201cfamiliar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews (26:2)\u201d Vickers, <\/span>Acts<\/em>.<\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Festus clearly has no regard for Paul or his gospel. His reaction is like the Greeks who called Paul \u201ca babbler\u201d for the same reason (Acts 17:18). Paul ends his speech saying, \u201cGod has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen\u2014that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles\u201d (Acts 26:22\u201323). Festus hears \u201cresurrection\u201d and shouts: \u201cYou are out of your mind, Paul . . . Your great learning is driving you insane\u201d (Acts 26:24). Notice what Paul does not do<\/em>\u2014he does not defend himself or take exception to Festus\u2019 insult. Festus is not a whitewashed wall. (Bear in mind, not being a white-washed wall does not mean Festus is good). Paul responds, honoring Festus, and he takes the opportunity to press Agrippa with the truth of the gospel: \u201cI am not insane, most excellent Festus,\u201d Paul replied. \u201cWhat I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do\u201d (Acts 26:25\u201327). Paul does not take the insult and rejection personally\u2014he didn\u2019t take it personally with Ananias either\u2014but rather, he answers back, defending the rationality and truth of his message. In effect, Paul says, \u201cNo, excellent Festus, it\u2019s insane to reject the truth.\u201d Paul does not back down, he disagrees with Festus and goes on plead with Agrippa, \u201cKing Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do\u201d (Acts 26:17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both cases Paul defends the truth of the gospel. With Ananias, Paul exposes the hypocrisy of the leaders, a theme prevalent throughout Luke-Acts, not to mention through the Old Testament starting with the first reception of Moses: \u201cWho made you ruler and judge over us?\u201d (Exod 2:14; Acts 7:27). With Festus, Paul counters his rejection of the gospel. In neither case does he react to the personal attack or insult. In both cases, the gospel is Paul\u2019s only priority and in both cases he responds appropriately as one unconcerned with himself or his reputation or personal safety. I believe that if we had less regard for ourselves and more regard for Christ and his gospel, then we would know when it is right to say, \u201cwhitewashed wall\u201d and when it is right to say, \u201cMost Excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do Christians understand when to speak, when not to speak, and even how to speak? We can learn from Paul how to adorn Christ with our words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":20909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"How do Christians understand when to speak, when not to speak, and even how to speak? We can learn from Paul how to adorn Christ with our words.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"[]","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[32,12,1971,38],"tags":[2125,439,1692,823,435,102,1523,1689,2102,2081,2082],"scripture-reference":[],"post_folder":[],"ppma_author":[2112],"class_list":["post-20666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-concise","category-may-2025","category-theme","tag-acts","tag-apostle-paul","tag-boldness","tag-christ","tag-evangelism","tag-gospel","tag-pastoral-ministry","tag-persecution","tag-proclamation","tag-speech","tag-the-tongue"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Vickers-Speech-Article-scaled-e1748741434274.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-01-13 11:36:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"authors":[{"term_id":2112,"user_id":21,"is_guest":0,"slug":"brian-j-vickers","display_name":"Brian J. Vickers","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Vickers.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Vickers.jpg"},"author_category":"1","job_title":"","church_city_state":"","last_name":"Vickers","first_name":"Brian","church_site":"","user_url":"","description":"Dr. Brian Vickers<\/strong> is Assistant Editor of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology and also serves as Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. A role he has held since 2004. He is actively involved in leading short-term mission trips from Southern to many overseas locations, including India, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Nepal, and Thailand. He is married to Denise, and they have one child."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20666"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21058,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20666\/revisions\/21058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20666"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-reference","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-reference?post=20666"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=20666"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=20666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}