Acts 21:37-22:21--Paul Speaks to the People

Acts 21:37-22:21
English Standard Version

Paul Speaks to the People
37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” 39 Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” 40 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:

22 “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said:

3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

6 “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

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Paul asks to speak with the tribune and it is clear that the tribune has mistaken Paul for someone else--an Egyptian man who was a wanted terrorist and assassin.  Paul assures the tribune that he is not an Egyptian, but a Jew from Tarsus of Cilicia (Paul is invoking his Roman citizenship here).  Now that his identity has been established, he asks that he can speak to the people, the Jews, who were gathered outside.  He quieted the crowd and spoke to them in Hebrew, the native language of the Jews, asking his Jewish "brothers" (for that is how they were to view him under the Law) to hear his defense.

They stopped and listened to him when he spoke to them in Hebrew, for it was a language usually only spoken by the highly educated and the religious elites in and around Jerusalem.  For the most part the common people spoke a combination of Greek and Aramaic.  By speaking to them in Hebrew, Paul is immediately going to let them know that he is an expert in Judaism and its Law.  In fact, right after establishing his identity to them, he tells that that he was trained by Gamaliel, a famous teacher who we saw speaking to the Sanhedrin as one of their own members in Acts 5:34.  Paul assures the people that he was trained in the strict manner of the Law and to be zealous for God.  This then leads to Paul testifying to them about his Damascus Road conversion.  He was so "zealous for God" that he was persecuting and even killing the followers of the Way (we now usually call them Christians), travelling as far as Damascus under the authority of the high priest and the whole council of elders (that is the Sanhedrin).  Paul arrested men, women and children to bring them back to Jerusalem.  We've seen already in Acts that the followers of the Way knew who Saul of Tarsus was and they feared when he was coming to their town.

Paul then recounts for them how Jesus spoke from heaven as he was on his way to Damascus knocking him off his horse, blinding him with a bright light, and asking, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?"  Jesus identified persecution of the Church as persecution of Himself for we are His Body as Paul would talk about later in His epistles to the churches he visited on his missionary journeys.  The blinded, smitten Saul of Tarsus responds by asking, "Who are you, Lord?" and Jesus responds, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting."

Saul then asks Jesus what he is to do, and he is told to continue to the city of Damascus and await further instructions.  Saul is not told when those instructions will come or who will bring them, but he obeys.  Saul's companions led him, since he was blind, to a place where they could stay and it seems that they left him there for several days as he fasted and prayed.  God hears Saul's prayers and sends to him the prophet Ananias, whom Paul identifies as well-known, devout Jew.  Paul does not mention that this man was a follower of the Way.

Ananias speaks to Saul saying, "Brother Saul, receive your sight," and the scales fell off of Saul's eyes, and Saul of Tarsus could see clearly (both physically and spiritually).  Then Ananias spoke some words of prophesy over Saul to encourage him--these are words that we did not fully hear in the original account in Acts 9--we only learned there that the Holy Spirit told Ananias that Paul would be his apostle to the Gentiles and would speak to governors, rulers and kings and suffer many things for the sake of Jesus and His gospel, and that it was this same Jesus that Saul saw on the Road to Damascus that sent Ananias to Saul to restore his sight.  Now we learn that Ananias said these words to Saul, "The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name."

Then Paul tells us some previously unknown details about how Jesus appeared to him as he was worshiping in the Temple in Jerusalem after his conversion to tell him to get out of Jerusalem and go far away, for the Jews would not accept him and would try to kill him.  Saul wondered how this was when he was the one that arrested so many of the followers of the Way and was there for the stoning of Stephen, giving his approval by holding the garments of the men casting stones.  Jesus did not explain Himself any more but told him to Go, flee, for He was sending Saul away to be the apostle to the Gentiles.

We'll pick up here next time, but I think we can anticipate that the Jews are not going to be happy with Paul's testimony that even as a zealous Jew he needed to be born again to be saved and that God would give the gospel to the Gentiles and not only for the Jews.  In fact they will hear this and stop listening to him and again insist that he is worthy of death for saying such things so that tribune will once again need to bring Paul into the barracks for his own safety.