Acts 22:22-29--Paul and the Roman Tribune

Acts 22:22-29
English Standard Version
​
Paul and the Roman Tribune
22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” 23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

---

Last time we heard Paul give his testimony to the Jews outside the barrack where he was being held prisoner--a story of how he went from persecuting the followers of the Way to becoming the apostle to the Gentiles.  Once he got to the part about how Jesus appeared to him in the Temple to tell him to go to the Gentile nations because the Jews were seeking to kill him and Jesus was sending him to these people who had never heard, the Jews stopped listening to him, for they hated the Gentiles and did not want to think that God would speak to any of them or desire them to be saved.  If they knew that God's kingdom would be full of Gentile believers, many of them would have chosen to never be a part of that kingdom, for they wanted a kingdom that was made only of people that were like them.  To them, all the Jews deserved to go to heaven simply because they were children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the Gentile nations deserved to go to hell because they were not children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (you'll see Paul challenge this argument in the book of Romans).


They were so angry at this message that contradicted one of their core beliefs and challenged their very identity that they responded with a hatred that wanted to kill Paul even though he had committed no crime.  He had said something that upset their way of thinking and their way of life and for that, they insisted that he die.  They were likely ready to stone him, as that is usually the type of execution method they used for capital punishment.

The tribune brought Paul into the barracks once again to keep him safe, but this time he is going to try to punish him to see if that will quiet the crowd (remember that Pilate tried the same kind of tactic with the crowd that was crying out for Jesus to be crucified).    However, Paul once again asserted his Roman citizenship.  When they stretched out their whips to beat him he asked the centurion in charge if it was legal for them to beat a Roman citizen who had not been tried and convicted?  The centurion was now scared when he heard that Paul was a Roman citizen and went to the tribune to ask what he was thinking ordering Paul to be flogged without trial since he was a Roman citizen.  Apparently the tribune wasn't listening when Paul at least twice had asserted his Roman citizenship, so he immediately went to Paul to question him about his Roman citizenship and the nature of his citizenship.

Apparently the tribune wasn't born a Roman citizen, but he bought it for a large sum (read this as a bribe), but Paul responds, "But I am a citizen by birth."  Now they all withdrew for him for no one wanted to lay a finger on him since he was born a Roman citizen, and the tribune was afraid because he had even bound Paul.  Now that the tribune knows that Paul is a Roman citizen, the landscape has changed and it is now the duty of the tribune to figure out what is really going on as it now looks like the Jews are trying to use the Romans to execute someone who they hate, but has committed no crime.  Next time, we'll see the tribune summon the high priest and all the council (that is the Sanhedrin) so that they can hold court there where the tribune and his soldiers can ensure Paul's safety and he can figure out what's really going on.