Acts 22

Paul before the Mob

22 Brethren and fathers, hear ye the defence which I now make unto you. 2And when they heard that he spake unto them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet: and he saith, 3I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as ye all are this day: 4and I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and journeyed to Damascus to bring them also that were there unto Jerusalem in bonds to be punished. 6And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and drew nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

Chapters 22–26 of Acts are filled with Paul’s defense in various settings. At the time of Paul’s conversion, God had told Ananias that Paul would be his witness before Gentiles, kings, and the people of Israel (Acts 9:15). These words are fulfilled in this section of Acts, where the apostle is shown to have witnessed before the people of Israel (22:1–21). Ultimately he would witness before Caesar himself. His first testimony here, was to the Jewish mob from the steps of Antonia. His main purpose in this defense was to establish his Jewishness.

Paul’s Defense

Paul was accused of being a Jewish apostate.

Paul answered that charge by casting his life in a completely Jewish context with a special emphasis on God’s direct revelation. This formal introduction brothers and fathers appeared in Stephen’s sermon. His words and even his choice of language emphasized Jewishness and quieted the crowd.

To establish his Jewish pedigree Paul employed a set Greek formula used to express someone’s heritage—born, reared, educated. He was born in Tarsus and “brought up” in Jerusalem. It is more likely that Paul went to Jerusalem in his early teens to study Torah under Gamaliel. His pride in his Tarsian citizenship (21:39) would make little sense if he had scarcely lived there at all.

Only here does the New Testament refer to Paul’s education under Gamaliel, but it is the credential which would have certified his legitimacy in Jewish scholarship.

Their charges that Paul had violated both law and temple (21:28) were the same charges as those brought against Stephen (Acts 6:13).

Paul, then showed his former zeal for Judaism (vv. 4–5).

He had been a persecutor of “the Way.” Notice how even here Paul subtly began to press his gospel. He referred to his Christian faith as “the Way,” the true way of God, the way within Judaism. Paul’s reference to his days as persecutor set the stage for the total miracle that had happened in his life and turned him around. Paul now turned to that miracle, his encounter with Christ on the Damascus road.

Paul’s encounter on the Damascus road (vv. 6–11).

One of the unique emphases of Paul’s conversion testimony here is the emphasis on light. Paul noted that his vision occurred at noon, when he was blinded by a bright light flashing from heaven (v. 6). This light was so brilliant it outshone the noonday sun. Light is often associated with an epiphany of God in the Old Testament. Paul wanted his Jewish audience to realize that he really did have a divine encounter on the Damascus road, that the reason why the persecutor had become the preacher was his encounter with the Messiah of Israel.

The role of Ananias v. 12

12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews that dwelt there, 13 came unto me, and standing by me said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And in that very hour I looked up on him. 14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath appointed thee to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth.

Paul treated Ananias in a unique way in chapter 22. Paul emphasized that Ananias was a loyal Jew. Paul showed how Ananias was a devout observer of the Torah and well-respected by the Jews of Damascus (v. 12). Ananias’s words to Paul were steeped in the language of the Old Testament with their references to “the God of our Fathers” and “the Righteous One”

The commission in the temple (vv. 17–21).

The Jews charged Paul with violating the sanctity of the temple. In a sense Paul responded to that charge when he referred to his vision in the temple. People who go to the temple for prayer are hardly there to desecrate it.

He would always begin his witness with the Jews, even as he had done in Jerusalem. Only when they rejected his testimony did he turn to the Gentiles (cp. 13:46; 18:6). The Jews in the temple yard had accused Paul of taking a Gentile into the sacred precincts. The mention of the Gentiles perhaps reminded them of this. It certainly was something they did not want to hear. Paul had spoken “one word too many”—Gentile. The Jewish crowd raised their voices, drowning Paul out and curtailing his speech.

When Paul claimed that God sent him out of Jerusalem to proclaim a divine message to Gentiles, he stepped beyond the boundaries of their tolerance. So the departure from Jerusalem did not just save Paul’s life, nor did he leave only because people rejected his testimony there. God had a greater duty far away.

Paul a prisoner in custody

Paul was in Roman custody for the remainder of the period covered by Acts. He was first of all in the keeping of the tribune Lysias in Jerusalem, then under the Roman procurators Felix and Festus in Caesarea. Though confined by the Romans, Paul’s real adversaries were the Jews. They were the ones who brought charges against Paul.

The Jewish mob resumed its cry to do away with Paul. The literal meaning of their words called for “taking him out”. Their body language of throwing dust and their garments in the air was an expression of rage and protest at what they saw as Paul’s blasphemy. Lysias still did not have his answers. He still did not know why the Jewish crowd was venting all this hostility toward Paul. He thus prepared what was for the Romans a very cruel but standard means of examining someone suspected of a crime the flagellum.

Paul is about to be scourged

25And when they had tied him up with the , Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?

He asked the centurion who was administering his scourging if this was legal procedure in the case of a Roman citizen such as himself. The centurion immediately stopped the process and informed Lysias of Paul’s citizenship.

Coming promptly, Lysias asked Paul about his citizenship, informing Paul how he had paid a considerable sum for his own citizenship. In former times, one could not purchase citizenship. It had to be conferred or secured through special services to the state. But in the time of Claudius, it evidently became possible to purchase Roman citizenship. Lysias probably derived his name of Claudius from the emperor from whom he had purchased his citizen rights.

The commander had already committed a crime by placing a Roman citizen in chains. To have scourged him with the flagellum would have been unthinkable, especially since he still had no idea who he was or of what crime he might have been guilty.

Lysias found himself in a bind. He had avoided the crime of scourging, but he still held a Roman citizen in custody. Of course, he could always argue it was protective custody since he had literally saved Paul from the Jewish mob. But who was he? Why were hundreds of people incensed that he was allowed to live? Doubtless he pondered the dilemma overnight.

The next morning he ordered a meeting of the Sanhedrin. If this fellow were such a devout Jew, surely this group of scholars could get the truth out of him. We will take that up next week.

Someone has written a prayer based on Psalm 119.

Oh God, I want so very much to please you.
To walk in your ways,
And carry out your purposes.
There is nothing as important to me
As being in the center of your will
And living within your design for my life.
Not only have you fashioned me with your hands, Oh Lord,
And created me for your purposes,
But you have stamped your image upon my heart.
Therefore, my deepest longings are met only in you
And in the dedication of my life
To the accomplishment of your objectives.

This chapter raises big questions,

“Who do you live for?”

What is your Testimony?

Many people live for themselves.

Greed is still a popular motivator in our day.

Many live for family, family is their God.

Some live and even die for the church, which can be good or bad.

Who do you live for? Where do you live?