Acts Chapter Twenty-Two
Read Acts 22:1-21
v.1-2 “Men, brethren, and
fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. 2(And
when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more
silence: and he saith,)”
Paul now has been given
the opportunity by the chief captain of the Roman band to speak to the
multitude. This is the first of five
defenses that Paul will present during the balance of our study of the book of
Acts. The multitude doesn’t even know
why it has been gathered, as we were told “SOME CRIED ONE THING, SOME ANOTHER”
(Acts
v.3 “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born
in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at
the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the
law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.”
He begins with his
background, which these people did not know.
Even though he was foreign born, Paul was a Jew in the strictest
sense. Commentators tell us that he
probably lived in
Gamaliel was one of the
most prominent and most respected teachers of Jewish history. In his school Paul had been “TAUGHT ACCORDING
TO THE PERFECT MANNER OF THE LAW OF THE FATHERS,”. Paul would tell Agrippa later:
Acts 26:4-5 “My manner of life from my youth, which was at
the first among mine own nation at
He also wrote in his defense to the Philippian brethren that he was “OF
THE STOCK OF ISRAEL, of THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN, AN HEBREW
OF HEBREWS”, Philippians 3:5
v.4 “And I persecuted
this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.”
Paul continues his
defense by reminding these Jews that it was he that persecuted “THIS WAY”, a
term that Luke uses in several places to indicate the Way of Christ, the
church. Paul, again as he faces Agrippa
later on (Acts 26:9-10); uses his persecution and his
conversion from that activity to help them understand the motivation behind his
current teaching.
v.5 “As 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 went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto
Jerusalem, for to be punished.”
The high priest who
authorized Paul to go to
v.6-7 “And it came to pass, that, as I made my
journey, and was come 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?”
Paul now tells them of
his journey to
Paul was confronted by
Jesus Christ, the Son of God himself personally. It was “ABOUT
v.8. “And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he
said unto me, I am Jesus of
Paul, of course, wants
to know just who this heavenly visitor is that is talking to him. He knows that this is a message from God, he
calls the speaker, ”LORD” and Jesus doesn’t leave him in doubt.
v.9 “And they that were with me saw indeed the
light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.”
Not only did Paul see
this great light but all those that were with him did as well but here Paul
says that they didn’t hear. Luke records
in Acts 9:7 that:
“And the men which journeyed with
him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing
Is there a conflict between these two accounts? No, after living with hearing aids for
several years I can fully understand how that we can hear but still not
hear. We can hear the noise when someone
speaks but still not hear enough to be able to comprehend what is being
said. This is not something peculiar to
wearing hearing devices but a situation common to all men. Some commentators will go into discussions
here about what language Jesus might have been speaking when he spoke to Paul. But I see no reason to think that the
language used would be anything other than that which was common to Jesus, Paul
and most everyone else that was there on that road.
v.10 “And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the
Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into
Paul then asks the
question that we would all hope we would have the presence of mind to ask; What
do I do now Lord? Jesus tells him to go
into
v.11 “And when I could not see for the glory of that
light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.”
This light was brighter
than the
Galatians
While I must admit that this scripture would give us some reason to
speculate that there was a connection between the problems Paul has with his
eyes in later years and the blinding light on the road, Acts 9:18 says that Paul “RECEIVED SIGHT FORTHWITH”, his blindness
from his encounter with Jesus was healed.
v.12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the
law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,”
Luke describes Ananias
in Acts
v.13 “Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me,
Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I
looked up upon him.”
This Ananias came to
Paul in
v.14-15 “And he said, The God of our fathers hath
chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and
shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. 15For thou shalt be his
witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.”
Paul here quotes part
of what Ananias told him and puts before his accusers and all who would listen
the fact that his mission was divinely directed. First he has been chosen by the “GOD OF OUR
FATHERS”, the God that all of his hearers recognize. Secondly; he was also chosen to “SEE THAT
JUST ONE”, a phrase used to describe the Messiah who was to come. Thirdly, he was to be a witness, just as all
of the apostles were to be witnesses; but Paul adds something that these people
don’t necessarily want to hear. His
witnessing is to be to all men, not just the Jews. The remnants of the Israelite nation are no
longer the only people of God, all mankind have now been included at the
direction of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit.
v.16 “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name
of the Lord.”
When Ananias finished
telling Paul about his mission, he then turns to the necessity for Paul to make
his preparation to carry out this mission, a preparation that must start with
his relationship with God. This verse
also gives us the foundation scripture, one that we should all memorize, for
the necessity of baptism for remission of sins.
This is a doctrine, or teaching, that most denominations have never
taught and many of our apostate brethren no longer teach or believe.
Paul is told baptism is
“TO WASH AWAY THY SINS”. The Greek “apolousai” literally means to “get washed off”. As an example, the people converted that
became members of the Corinthian church had all manner of sins that had to be
“WASHED AWAY”:
I Corinthians 6:9-11 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the
v.17-18 “And it came to pass, that, when I was come
again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; 18And
saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for
they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.”
After having been
converted in
v.19-20 “And I
said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that
believed on thee: 20And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was
shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the
raiment of them that slew him.”
Paul here tells us how
he argued with the Christ. He does have
a powerful story in the eyes of men; he’s the one who persecuted the
Christians. He’s the one who consented
and assisted in the stoning of Stephen.
Now he’s converted to the cause that he once tried to destroy and this
is indeed a powerful endorsement of Jesus and his disciples. But first of all it is not God’s purpose for
Paul to stay in
v.21 “And
he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.”
Jesus gives him direct,
straightforward and undeniable instructions; ”DEPART”,
quit arguing and go. He has work for
Paul to do among the Gentiles, work that is necessary and work that won’t wait.
Read Acts 22:22-24
v.22 “And they gave him audience unto this word, and
then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with
such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he
should live.”
This multitude has
listened to Paul up until this point, but now he says the words that shuts
their ears and sets them off again. He
not only has claimed that this Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Christ
that they have expected for hundreds of years but also that he has been
specifically and directly instructed by God to preach the Messiah to the
Gentile peoples. This is a concept so
far beyond these Jews to comprehend or accept that they return to their
screaming for his blood. This is
probably the same reaction that we would get if we tried to preach Jesus to many Moslems today.
We would literally be taking our life in our hands.
v.23-24 “And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, 24The chief
captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be
examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.”
These Jews go into an
absolute frenzy. They are in such a rage
that they tear off their clothes and throw dust into the air, literally pawing
at the ground like mad bulls. The chief
captain has heard and seen enough; he probably doesn’t understand Hebrew so he
doesn’t understand what Paul said. He
does understand the reaction of the crowd, however. So he commands his soldiers to bring Paul
into the castle, the fortress where his troops are housed. The mob is completely and thoroughly
convinced that Paul should die. The
chief captain can’t get anything out of the Jews about Paul’s crimes so he’s
going to take Paul and beat or scourge the truth out of him.
Read Acts 22:25-30
v.25 “And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said
unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is
a Roman, and uncondemned?”
So the soldiers take
Paul, bind his hands with leather thongs and get him ready for the
questioning. Paul asks the centurion of
the soldiers who has this responsibility a question that he already knows the
answer to. We remember from our study of
the time that he was in
Acts
As a Roman citizen he
doesn’t have to endure this punishment.
v.26-27 “When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou
doest: for this man is a Roman. 27Then the chief captain came, and
said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.”
The centurion,
responsible military officer that he is; when he learns that Paul is a Roman
citizen, must be handled according to Roman law and provided the privileges
found in that law makes sure that his chief captain knows the situation. This gentleman comes to check and make
sure. He doesn’t want to violate Roman
law and neither does he want a troublesome Jew to use Roman law unjustly to
prevent his questioning. After all,
these Jerusalem Jews literally want this man’ s blood
and he doesn’t understand why.
v.28 “And the chief
captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But
I was free born.”
Paul’s response to his
question is yes, I’m a Roman citizen and the chief captain can’t quite
understand that. He had to literally buy
his citizenship. In those days Roman
citizenship carried with it many privileges not provided the citizens of their
vassal countries and provinces. However,
if you had the right price it could be bought and that is how this chief
captain had acquired his. Paul tells him
that he was born free; he obtained his citizenship through birth, just as we do
in this country today.
v.29 “Then straightway they departed from him which
should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew
that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.”
Just like the
magistrates in
v.30 “On the morrow,
because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews,
he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to
appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.”
This chief captain
still has to get to the bottom of his problem.
He can’t just turn Paul loose. He
as a responsibility to protect him since he is a Roman as well as a Jew and
turning him loose would probably generate another riot and get Paul
killed. He can’t get at the truth by
scourging Paul, that is no longer an option, so he
chooses the best alternative that is available to him. He orders the chief priests and their
council, the Sanhedrin, to present themselves along
with Paul for his investigation.