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The Book of Acts
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BIBLE STUDY ACTS 22:1-30 REVIEW: The first part of chapter 21 detailed the rest of Paul’s journey to Jerusalem. In the narrative, Luke shows that Paul knew his coming fate of arrest and imprisonment (he was specifically warned at least twice) – and yet he felt compelled to go there. Paul’s journey in this sense “re-enacts” Jesus’ passion journey to Jerusalem. When Paul met with James and the elders, Luke says that the brothers “welcomed us warmly”, but reading “in between the lines” it seems that Paul’s ministry was not accepted by the Jerusalem church. As I (Pastor George) noted, according to Paul’s letters (1 & 2 Corinthians, Romans) the major reason for his journey to Jerusalem was to deliver a collection from the Gentile churches to them, yet Luke makes no mention of this whatsoever. Instead, the response of the elders was that Paul needed to publicly show his adherence to Jewish customs by going through the rite of purification with four other Jewish Christians in the temple. Finally, Luke relates that Jews from Asia stirred up a riot against Paul – supposing that he had brought a Gentile (Trophimus, who had come with him from Ephesus) into the temple. After being saved from the mob by the Romans, Paul – after convincing the tribune that he was not an Egyptian rebel they had been seeking – asked for permission to speak to them. CHAPTER 22:1-22 “Paul’s Defense to the People” “Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense that I now make before you.” When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then he said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “’Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. I asked, ‘What am I to do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.’ Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus. A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there, came to me; and standing beside me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ In that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice; for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’ After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And while the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by, approving and keeping the coats of those who killed him.’ Then he said to me, ‘God, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles. Up to this point they listened to him, but then they shouted, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” In this extended discourse, Paul relates his personal experience as to why he became a Christian. Luke begins by mentioning again that Paul chose to address the crowd in the Hebrew (Aramaic) language – perhaps as a subtle way of emphasizing his Jewish heritage. Paul also goes on to stress his Jewish credentials – that although he had been born in Tarsus in Cilicia, he had been brought up in Jerusalem. He had been taught by Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee who apparently had also been a member of the Sanhedrin (see Acts 5:34). He also tells his hearers that he had persecuted the Way – and stresses that the high priest and the whole council of elders could testify to that. Paul then goes on to relate his conversion experience on the road to Damascus (originally described in Acts 9:1-9. Paul will also tell of this experience again in Acts 26:12-18. Luke Timothy Johnson in his commentary on Acts notes that it is important to understand Luke’s overall narrative purpose in that this story is told three times. Just as Jesus predicted his passion three times in the gospel of Luke, and as the story of Peter’s vision of clean and unclean animals and then the conversion of the Roman Centurion Cornelius was told twice, Luke by repeating these stories wants to stress their importance. The importance of the conversion experience is that is forms the very essence of who and what Paul is as an apostle – the abrupt change in his life and his subsequent ministry is the result of a direct and personal encounter with the resurrected Jesus! Luke does make some alternations from his first account of Paul’s conversion and subsequent events in chapter 9. Some differences can be attributed to the specific setting: since Paul is trying to emphasize his “Jewish roots” he “amplifies” Ananias’ Jewish piety and reputation and eliminates any mention of opposition to Paul from Jews in Damascus. As Luke Timothy Johnson observed: “This is not the time to stress Paul’s past conflicts with his people!” But the most striking alteration is Paul’s previously unmentioned vision in the temple with the risen Jesus – which bears striking resemblance to the prophet Isaiah’s encounter with Yahweh in Isaiah 6. This part of Paul’s story is what leads to the violent reaction among his listeners. Jesus’ commission to go far away to the Gentiles is bad enough. Even worse is Paul’s implication that this hated Jesus is indeed alive and is appearing in visions within the temple! To his listeners, this was blasphemy, and their reaction is very similar to the one Jesus’ listeners had in Nazareth (Lk. 4:24-29) when he had claimed his ministry to be the fulfillment of scripture. CHAPTER 22:24-30 “Paul Uses His Roman Citizenship” “And while they were shouting, throwing off their cloaks, and tossing dust into the air, the tribune directed that he was to be brought into the barracks, and ordered him to be examined by flogging, to find out the reason for this outcry against him. But when they had tied him up with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who is uncondemned?” When the centurion heard that, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen.” The tribune came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” The tribune answered, “It cost me a large sum of money to get me citizenship.” Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.” Immediately those who were about to examine him drew back from him; and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him. Since he wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, the next day he released him and order the chief priests and the entire council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them.” The tribune did not understand Aramaic and did not know what Paul had said: but one thing he did understand – he must not allow a riot and must deal at once with any man likely to cause a riot. His purpose in ordering Paul to be flogged was not punishment, but rather to extract the truth or confession from him. This was permissible, but only for slaves and conquered subjects. It was illegal for a Roman citizen to be flogged without first receiving a trial. It was at this point that Paul “played his Roman citizenship card.” The fact that he had been born a citizen rather than having to purchase it, made this doubly effective. The tribune knew that flogging an uncondemned Roman citizen could well lead to his dismissal and possibly even his execution. (One commentator notes that perhaps Paul had learned from his previous experience in Philippi (Acts 16) to make use of his citizenship sooner!) Still, the tribune wanted to get to the bottom of the matter as to why Paul was causing such an uproar, so he ordered him to be brought before the Jewish chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin council – to ascertain whether they had any specific charges against him. -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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