Paul defending Himself before the rioting Jews (Acts 22) By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Paul defending Himself before the rioting Jews (Acts 22)

By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music

 

Scriptures reading (Acts 22)

¹ “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” ² When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: ³ “I am a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, ⁵as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Who are you, Lord? I asked. “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.” He replied. ⁹ My companions saw the light, but they didn’t understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ “What shall I do, Lord” “I asked. “Get up,” the Lord said, “And go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.” ¹¹My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

¹² “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. ¹³ He stood beside me and said, “Brother Saul, receive your sight!” And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴ Then he said, “The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from His mouth. ¹⁵ You will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name.”

¹⁷ When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁸ and saw the Lord speaking. “Quick!” He said to me. “Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.” ²¹ Then the Lord said to me,

 “Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”

²² The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him!” He’s not fit to live!”  ²³ As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and questioned in order to find out why the people were shouting at him life this. ²⁵ As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you doing to do? He asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷ The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered. ²⁸ Then the commander said, “I had to pay a big price for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied. ²⁹ Those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

Paul brought before the Sanhedrin

³⁰ The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. 

 

Verse 1 Paul faced his opponents in a way different from Christ’s way. For the accomplishing of His redemption, Christ was like a lamb brought to the slaughter, and like a sheep dumb before its shearer, He did not open His mouth when judged by men (Isa.53:7; Matt.26:62-63;27:12,14). But as a faithful and bold apostle sent by the Lord, Paul needed to make a defense and exercise his wisdom to save his life from his persecutors that he might fulfill the course of his ministry. Although he was willing and ready to sacrifice his life for the Lord (20:24), he still endeavored to live longer that he might carry out the Lord’s ministry as much as possible.

Verse 5 Referring to the presbytery, the eldership (of the Sanhedrin), Hence, the Sanhedrin.

Verse 9 understand, as in Mark 4:33;1 Cor.14:2. They heard the voice but did not understand it, just as they beheld the light but saw no one (9:7).

Verse 16 Calling on the Lord’s name here was a means for Paul to wash away his sins committed in arresting so many of the believers who called on the Lord’s name. All the believers knew that he had considered calling on the Lord’s name a sign of those whom he should arrest (9:14,21). Now he had turned to the Lord. In order for Paul to wash away, before God and before all the believers, the sins that he had committed in persecuting and arresting the Lord’s callers, he was charged by Ananias to call on the name that he had formerly abhorred . He had to do this-an act contrary to his former practice-at his baptism, in which he made a public confession of the Lord whom he had persecuted.

Verse 25 this was Paul’s wisdom, to utilize his Roman citizenship to save himself from suffering persecution.

Verse 28 A big price. In the reign of Claudius, contemporaneous with these events, Roman citizenship could be purchased for what would be a princely sum for a soldier, Somehow Paul’s parents had earned Roman citizenship before Paul’s birth.

Verse 30 The Sanhedrin. Somehow the Sanhedrin had interposed itself so that Paul’s case did not get directly and immediately referred to the Roman governor in Caesarea. 

Verse 9 understand, as in Mark 4:33;1 Cor.14:2. They heard the voice but did not understand it, just as they beheld the light but saw no one (9:7).

Verse 16 Calling on the Lord’s name here was a means for Paul to wash away his sins committed in arresting so many of the believers who called on the Lord’s name. All the believers knew that he had considered calling on the Lord’s name a sign of those whom he should arrest (9:14,21). Now he had turned to the Lord. In order for Paul to wash away, before God and before all the believers, the sins that he had committed in persecuting and arresting the Lord’s callers, he was charged by Ananias to call on the name that he had formerly abhorred . He had to do this-an act contrary to his former practice-at his baptism, in which he made a public confession of the Lord whom he had persecuted.

Verse 25 this was Paul’s wisdom, to utilize his Roman citizenship to save himself from suffering persecution.

Verse 28 A big price. In the reign of Claudius, contemporaneous with these events, Roman citizenship could be purchased for what would be a princely sum for a soldier, Somehow Paul’s parents had earned Roman citizenship before Paul’s birth.

Verse 30 The Sanhedrin. Somehow the Sanhedrin had interposed itself so that Paul’s case did not get directly and immediately referred to the Roman governor in Caesarea. 

Bibliography,

King James, The Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.