Acts 23:1-5

The Sadducees were an unrighteous people.  In spite of being part of the Sanhedrin, and ruling all aspects of religious life in Judea, they were not religious.  They did not believe in angels, spirits or life after death.  They were not concerned with righteousness or God.  They were not a religious sect of Judaism; they were a political party.  The nobility, high society and wealthy members of the Jews filled their ranks.  Out of four million Jews in the world, less than six thousand were Sadducees.

Their overwhelming concern in all matters was power and money.  The Roman Empire allowed local control of civil affairs in the regions they conquered.  As long as local governments maintained civil order and collected taxes, Rome left them alone.  For their help in ruling and collecting taxes the Sadducees gained wealth and power.  They saw the new sect called “The Way” as a threat to their power base and their authority.  They were not going to give Paul a fair hearing no matter what he said.

Ananias was a corrupt official and high priest, and because of this, the common Jews disliked him.  Ananias had no interest in hearing the truth, and Paul had barely started to speak when Ananias had him hit in the face.  Paul called Ananias a whitewashed wall.  Ananias presented himself as a clean and holy high priest, but on the inside, he was morally corrupt and decayed.  Paul told Ananias that God would strike him down, and less than three years later an assassin killed him.

The Old Testament law forbids speaking evil of your rulers.  Paul did not recognize the high priest, but he apologized when they told him who Ananias was.

We may believe Paul was justified in speaking the truth. After all, Christ is a higher authority than the law.  However, Christ did not tell Paul to break that law; therefore, it was not right for him to do so.  We can justify almost anything, but God determines what is right.