Acts 23:3
Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
Struck on the mouth, Paul rebuked the presiding judge for sitting to judge him according to the law while ordering him to be struck contrary to the law, declaring that God would smite him and judge him. The rebuke was directed to the cruel actor and high priest presiding over the trial, who commanded the unlawful blow while claiming to act under the law. Calling him a whited or whitewashed wall exposed Ananias, whose religious office and outward appearance as a ruler concealed hypocrisy and wickedness. The figure set his lawful position to judge by the law against his unjust conduct in ordering a beating contrary to the law, laying bare the contrast between office and act.
The eagerness of the priests and rulers afterward to agree to and approve a murderous plot against Paul confirmed the truth of the comparison and rebuke. Their readiness to join the scheme proved that outward seeming hid inward corruption. Their opposition was driven by the desire to silence truth that exposed their error.
The words were a Spirit-inspired prophetic denunciation rather than a mere outburst of passion, and the judgment announced was fulfilled when the hypocritical high priest was murdered by assassins during the Jewish war. Yet the indignation of the answer also showed that Paul had not then become as meek and lowly as his Master. For Christ, when mocked, blindfolded, smitten, struck on the face and blasphemed, endured without retaliation, for He came not to condemn and crush and judge the world but to save and heal and uplift and ennoble and bless it.