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Acts 21:40-22:29

When Paul was in Caesarea, on his way back to Jerusalem, the prophet Agabus had come down from that
city to deliver a prophecy to him. Agabus had taken Paul’s belt, and bound himself with it, hand and foot,
saying “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and
deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles’” (Acts 21:11).

Was the Spirit showing that Paul was not to go up to Jerusalem? No – for the Spirit had already shown that
Paul was to go to Jerusalem (Acts 19:21). The Spirit was just forewarning Paul that he would be taken
prisoner there – at the hands of his own people, the Jews – and that they would then turn him over to the
Gentiles – which they would do, unwillingly. In fact, the Spirit had forewarned Paul of this in every city he
passed through – that chains and tribulations awaited him (Acts 20:23).

To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Because Paul had submitted to the Spirit preparing him for the fiery
trial that awaited him in Jerusalem, he was able to submit to the circumstances as they unfolded.

When the elders suggested participating in the vow in the temple, Paul could see that this might be the very
circumstance would lead to his being bound; but at the same time, he could also see that this might be the
very circumstance that would preserve the unity of the Spirit amongst the Jewish and Gentile brethren in
the Body of Christ. So Paul willingly submitted as the Spirit led him into that circumstance, and submitted
his way through it.

How can we know this? Because only one who was submitted to the Lord could have gone through the
fiery trial the way that Paul did – falsely accused, dragged out of the temple bodily, beaten by the Jewish
mob, arrested by the Romans. And because Paul kept his eyes on the Lord through it all, he was able to see
what the Lord saw in it – a final opportunity for the Lord to reach His people, to extend to them, one last
time, the message of salvation that they so desperately needed to take in.

The Roman commander who arrested Paul was named Claudius Lysias (Acts 23:26). His intervention
came at a most opportune time for Paul; for surely Paul was within an inch of losing his life, at the hands of
the Jewish mob, who was beating him.

The name Lysias means to loose, or to deliver. This Roman commander delivered Paul from certain death
by his action among the Jews; but to what did he deliver Paul? To more bondage. The commander had
Paul bound with two chains, between two soldiers, who then carried him up the steps of the fortress
Antonia, where Paul was to be confined. The deliver became the new persecutor, in a sense.

We can see a pattern in this for the church. It will be Rome who delivers the church from their persecution
at the hands of the Jews. How? By the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

The whole centralized system and order of Judaism would be destroyed at that time, and the Jews in
Jerusalem killed; and those Jews who lived in Judea would be dispersed out of the land. The Jews would
lose all the power and authority they had been allowed by the Romans; they would no longer be capable of
organizing any persecution of the church; instead, they would be completely absorbed with just trying to
survive.

But the deliverer of the church would become the new persecutor. Having inadvertently removed the Jews
from their position as persecutor of the church, the Romans then proceeded to occupy it themselves. This
first began on a limited scale in Rome itself during the last few years of Nero’s reign (reigned 54-68 AD),
but was then revived and became official policy during the reign of the emperor Domitian (81-96 AD).
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But did persecution wind up destroying the true church? No. All of these circumstances rested in the
hands of the Divine Refiner, who would see to it that the fiery trial would simply serve His purposes – to
purify His church; as even now, His servant Paul was being purified in his faith as he journeyed down this
new path that the Lord had shown him – into bondage.

But before Paul ascended into the Fortress Antonia and imprisonment, the Lord gave him the opportunity to
address the Jews – the ones who had just been trying to kill him. There was Paul, high on the steps of the
Fortress Antonia; and below him, in the court of the Gentiles, the mob, having been freshly infuriated by
the Roman commander, who had just deprived them of inflicting their brand of justice on Paul. The
preacher had his pulpit; and having been given permission to speak by the Roman commander, he
proceeded to do so.

21:40-22:2a Remember, this is a furious mob. They were riding high on emotions they were beyond
listening, and reason – as the Roman commander had discovered for himself. Now Paul beckoned to them
with his hand, signaling them to be quiet, and to give their attention – and a great silence fell on them.

What caused them to do that? Well, it was not because they were attracted to the speaker, was it? They
hated him. Nor did he cut a commanding appearance – he would have been a bloody, dirty mess, after that
beating. Why could Paul quiet them, with just a wave of his hand, then? It is something that someone can
do when they are acting in the authority of God; He creates the quiet; He prepares the heart to listen.

Paul then began to speak to the Jews, in the Hebrew language – that is, in Aramaic, the common tongue of
Judea and much of the Near East, in that day. Was Paul fluent in Aramaic? Absolutely – he had been
raised in Jerusalem, as he will relate shortly. He was fluent in both Aramaic and Greek. But Paul chose to
speak in Aramaic – why? Because it was the first language of the Jews in Jerusalem.

Speaking in Aramaic created a connection between Paul and his listeners – a connection that said, “I am
one of you”. This, in fact, would be thematic of most of what Paul would be saying to them – for he would
be giving them his personal testimony, which began with what he came out of – Judaism – that religion in
which these Jews were still held in bondage.

As Paul’s listeners heard him begin to speak in Aramaic, they became even more silent. Perhaps some of
them were surprised to hear this tongue – perhaps they assumed that Paul was a Hellenist, foreign-born and
raised, who could not possibly know their local language. But he did. So Paul made a connection with
them.

Paul addressed the mob politely, respectfully – “Brethren and fathers”. Who could call these Jews brethren
and fathers? Only another Jew, who was of the same race as them. Another connection.

Paul told them that he purposed to give them his defense. Now, that word in the Greek is apologia – from
where we get the term apologetics. It means to give an answer of speech in defense of oneself.

But I would say that Paul was not so much defending himself, as defending the gospel. He was giving
these Jews a reason for the hope that was in him (1 Pet 3:15); a plea to them, to be reconciled to God, so
that they too could have that hope. In Paul’s defense, the gospel was on the offensive, to capture more
hearts with the love of the Lord.

Paul then began to give them some background on himself, by which they could understand that he was just
like one of them – only more so.
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v. 2b-3 Look back to chapter 21, verse 39. This is what Paul said to identify himself to the Roman
commander. Notice what Paul emphasized to him: his Gentile point of origin, Tarsus, and the fact that he
was a citizen of that Greek city. But we can see Paul bringing out a different emphasis with his Jewish
audience: He was a Jew – born in Tarsus, but brought up in Jerusalem, and educated there.

The Greek term “brought up” and the term “taught”, or educated, normally refer to two different periods in
a person’s life. This implies that Paul was raised as a very young child in Jerusalem; it was customary for
boys to start learning the Law at the age of five. Paul’s formative years, then, were spent in Jerusalem;
although Hellenist-born, he was a Hebrew at heart.

And Paul had a teacher who was of great renown – Gamaliel, probably the most influential leader of the
Pharisees in his day, who was a Jerusalem aristocrat, as well. Later rabbis would extol Gamaliel for his
piety and learning, giving him the rare, honorary title of “Rabban”. Even though Gamaliel had died a few
years before this time, his name would have continued to command wide respect, particularly in Jerusalem.

As a disciple of Gamaliel, Paul would have received extensive training in both the OT Law as well as in the
oral traditions handed down from the fathers. He would have begun to learn the Law around his fifth year,
and other Pharisaic traditions around his tenth year. Sometime after his thirteenth year, Paul would have
been considered qualified to teach the Law.

And how did Gamaliel teach his disciple Paul? With strict diligence; with the utmost rigor and severity.
Gamaliel was a Pharisee, and as such, believed in keeping the Law to the letter – and so his disciple Paul
would have learned that Law to the letter, so that he could keep it; and teach others to keep it. Paul would
later write that he “advanced in Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries and his zeal for the ancestral
traditions” (Gal 1:14).

Paul was an ultra-religious zealot, who believed himself to be zealous toward God – just as his Jewish
audience was today, as he said. He had been just like them; we can see that Paul was continuing to connect
with these Jews through his past.

v. 4-5 The burning zeal that possessed Paul found its outlet in persecuting those whom he supposed were
in opposition to God and the Law. This was the supreme manifestation of his zeal for God. Now, we have
previously studied this segment of Paul’s life back in Acts chapter 9, and we’re not going to go into the full
detail again. We’ll just review it, noting how Paul tailored his experience to suit his Jewish audience here.

Note here that Paul said he persecuted “the Way” – the term we have seen used before by Luke to describe
those who are followers of Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6). Paul said he persecuted
them to the death. In his letter to the Galatians, he writes, “For you have heard of my former conduct in
Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it” (Gal 1:13).

Paul didn’t stop with arresting the disciples of Jesus; he testified against them, and even forced them to
blaspheme (Acts 26:10-11), with the goal of ensuring that they were put to death. And he didn’t go after
just the men; he went after the women as well. And Paul didn’t confine himself to persecuting those
believers in Jerusalem; but when persecution drove them out into the lands of the Gentiles, he followed
them there.

To that end, Paul went to Damascus with letters of authority from the high priest in Jerusalem to the rulers
of the synagogue, empowering Paul to take into custody any of these disciples of Jesus who had fled to
Damascus. Paul indicated that the high priest and Sanhedrin from that time could testify to this, assuming
any of these men were still around.
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Now, that’s zeal; and I’m sure that the zealous Jews listening to Paul were beginning to see that Paul really
was one of them; he was, in fact, the epitome of a zealous Jew; a Hebrew of Hebrews (Phil 3:5).

Paul came to understand this religious zeal after he became a disciple of Jesus. He wrote of it to the
assembly at Rome. Turn to Romans chapter 10. Paul was writing of the righteousness of God, which a
person receives, not through the works of the Law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Israel had pursued
righteousness through the Law, and so they stumbled.

[Romans 10:1-4]

v. 1-2 Israel’s zeal for God was not according to knowledge; that is, they wanted to work for God, without
having any knowledge of Him; and they did so – blindly, zealously, they worked for God. That had been
Paul’s position.

The light of the knowledge of the glory of God comes only one way – it is seen in the face of Jesus Christ
(2 Cor 4:6). Israel wouldn’t look there – so they have never really known God. Without knowing God, can
they know His mind? No. Can they follow His instructions? No. So their zeal amounts to nothing.

v. 3-4 God’s righteousness is acquired through faith in Jesus Christ (Rm 3:22), the Sinless One whom God
sent to be made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God – in Him (2 Cor 5:21). Israel
would not submit to Jesus as their Messiah, trying instead to establish their own righteousness by the works
of the Law. They missed the way of salvation; they were instead pursuing the way that seems right to a
man – whose end is death.

[Return to Acts]

That is what Paul had – that is what these Jews had – a zeal for God, but without knowledge of Him. So
next, Paul told the Jews about the moment all of that changed for him.

v. 6-11 Paul recounted to the Jews his dramatic conversion. There are a few details here that are not
recorded by Luke in Acts chapter 9. We learn that it was midday – the time when the sun is its brightest.
But the sun could not compare to the flash of heavenly light that shone around Paul and his companions.

That Light had the power to cast them to the ground; and from that humble place, Paul heard a voice. The
voice asked why Paul (Saul then) was persecuting Him; of course, Paul was persecuting the followers of
Jesus.

I think Paul knew who was speaking to him, but he had to hear it – from the source. Paul recounted that He
said, “I am Jesus of Nazareth”. Luke had recorded this simply as “I am Jesus” in the original account, but
here, Paul wanted the Jews to know that it was the very Nazarene – whom they so despised and rejected –
who had appeared to him in glory, and spoke to him.

Jesus of Nazareth, whom the Jews had crucified, God had made both Lord and Christ (Acts 3:22, 36). This
was the risen Christ; Jesus, alive forevermore. And that’s who Paul was persecuting, in his religious zeal –
he who desired to do the work of God – was persecuting God Himself. Could the Jews, listening to Paul
this day, identify with Paul in this, too? That their zeal – was not according to knowledge?
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Paul also related to the Jews the experience of the attendants who accompanied him. They saw the light,
but did not see Jesus; and here, Paul says “they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me”; in the
original account, Luke records that they “heard a voice”. In the Greek, this means to hear partially;
whereas in Paul’s account, it means to hear fully. So these two statements do not contradict each other.

We understand that the attendants heard a voice, but not the words; just as they had seen the light, but not
the Person. Paul wanted to bring out to the Jews that this revelation that Jesus made of Himself was for
Paul alone; that God is personal, something that the Jews were not inclined to consider, with their religious
approach to God.

God wasn’t real to these pious Jews. Paul was letting them know “God is real; He is a Person; you can
have a relationship with Him; you can talk with Him; He will show you His will”.

Then Paul, always ready to do for God, asked the Lord what He would have him do. The Lord’s answer?
Essentially, go into Damascus, and wait. And even that, Paul couldn’t do. He had been blinded by the
Light, and couldn’t see; so he had to be led by the hand, by his attendants. This was the first thing Paul
needed to learn; that he couldn’t do anything for the Lord, until he learned to let the Lord lead, and to wait
on Him.

So that which blinded Paul’s natural vision is what gave him spiritual eyes, for the first time in his life – the
glory of that Light – the revelation of Jesus as Lord.

But the revelation didn’t end there.

v. 12-16 Paul continued to present his testimony in light of his audience of Jews. Paul gave additional
detail concerning Ananias, who had been named simply as a disciple in the original account. Ananias was a
Jewish believer, who still kept the Law and the Jewish customs, and therefore had a good reputation in
Damascus among the Jews.

This would have given Ananias credibility with Paul’s audience, as would the miraculous healing of Paul’s
vision, through the words that Ananias spoke. This man must be of God. Paul also gave additional detail
about what Ananias told him, speaking of “the God of our fathers” – that is, the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob – the God of Israel. God had chosen Paul to know His will.

Now that Paul had come to know God, now that he had submitted himself to Jesus as His Lord, Paul could
now have a knowledge of His will. Paul had already seen the Just One, another title for the Messiah, which
Paul’s Jewish listeners would know. He had also heard the voice of His mouth. This qualified Paul as an
eyewitness of the risen Jesus, not unlike the original disciples, and he could now share that witness with all
men.

Christ died for their sins, according to the Scriptures; and He was buried, and He rose again the third day,
according to the Scriptures – seen last of all by Paul, as one born out of due time (1 Cor 15:3-8).

And Paul would see and hear much, much more – for he spent three years or so in Arabia, learning of the
Lord (Gal 1:17-18). The God of Israel had chosen Paul for this; so that, knowing the will of God, he could
then do it – to testify to the Lord Jesus before all men.

These were thoughts which we had seen in the original record that the Lord shared with Ananias – that Paul
would be a chosen vessel of the Lord, to share His name before Gentiles, kings and the Jews (Acts 9:15).
It is certain that Ananias shared these thoughts of the Lord with Paul, as we see here.
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The Jews would recognize that Paul was saying the God of their fathers commissioned him to be a witness
to Jesus, much as He commissioned the prophets before him. Paul was emphasizing that this was not his
will, but the will of God – their God.

Paul had believed into the Lord when He revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus, and now he
had received a commission from Him. What was left but for him to be baptized, publicly declaring his
commitment to follow Jesus, as Ananias asked him. And so he did.

Now, the way this is worded makes it sound as if water baptism can wash away sins, which, of course, it
cannot; how can a physical washing remove spiritual filth? But the Jews would completely understand
what Paul was saying, for their Gentile proselytes were water baptized when converting to Judaism.

Proselyte baptism was symbolic of their washing away the impurities of their Gentile background; the
parallel was that Paul’s baptism symbolized that his sins had been washed away, which they had – by the
blood of Jesus (1 Jn 1:7). Jesus took the death penalty in Paul’s place, which loosed him from his sin. That
happen on the road to Damascus, the moment that Paul believed. Paul’s baptism was a testimony to what
had taken place inside him.

But what a wonder to the Jews! When proselytes were baptized, they were identifying themselves with the
Jews, indicating that they had become one of the people of God. Paul’s baptism indicated to them that Paul
was identifying himself with Jesus – that he now belonged to Jesus – which was the truth.

We know that after this, Paul spent some time fellowshipping with the believers in Damascus, then began
to preach Christ in the synagogues, as the Son of God. The Jews there marveled that Paul, who had been a
persecutor of the faith, now was a proponent of it; but they did not appear to receive his witness.

After this, Paul spent three years in Arabia, where the Lord continued to enlighten Paul’s mind, most
certainly opening up the OT Scriptures to him, through the Spirit. Then Paul returned to Damascus, and
began to preach in the synagogues again, this time demonstrating how Jesus fulfilled the OT Scriptures.
The unbelieving Jews hardened their hearts, even plotting to murder Paul – but he escaped (by basket) and
then went up to Jerusalem (Acts 9:19-25).

Remember that, when Paul went up to Jerusalem at that time, the disciples did not at first receive him, but
through Barnabas, Paul was accepted by them. Then he began preaching about Jesus in the Hellenist
synagogues (Acts 9:26-29). It is thought that the event Paul next related to the Jews in our account here
occurred at that time.

v. 17-21 So the Lord Jesus appeared to Paul again, in a vision this time, in the temple in Jerusalem. Note
that Paul was continuing to show the Jews that he adhered, after his conversion, to the customs of the Jews,
such as praying in the temple. That Jesus appeared to Paul in the temple of their God would prompt Paul’s
listeners to consider that Jesus was approved of God; and that the revelation was sanctioned by God.

In the vision, Jesus prepared Paul for the fact that the unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem would not receive
Paul’s testimony concerning Jesus. In fact, Jesus indicated, Paul would need to make a hasty departure.

Paul felt the freedom to suggest to the Lord that, because he had formerly persecuted believers, he was just
the person to testify to these unbelieving Jews. Notice as Paul recounted the death of Stephen, he called
him the Lord’s martyr, and cited his role in Stephen’s death. You can almost hear Paul’s regret.
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But Paul thought that his former zeal against the disciples of Jesus would give him standing with the
religious Jews in Jerusalem – after all, who would be a better witness for Jesus to the unbelieving Jews than
one from their own ranks – and a particularly zealous one, at that? But the Lord knew better, and ordered
Paul to leave Jerusalem. It was time for Paul to begin his ministry of spreading the gospel among the
Gentiles.

What Jesus said was, in fact, borne out. Another plot to kill Paul materialized – this time, it was the scheme
of the Hellenists in Jerusalem. The disciples of Jesus there found out about it, and quickly whisked Paul
away, taking him down to Caesarea, and then shipping him off to safety back in his home in Tarsus (Acts
9:29-30).

And what Jesus said would be borne out yet again this day, as the Jews considered what Paul had just said.

v. 22-23 You may remember that the Jews had cried out, “Away with him!” (Acts 21:36) when Paul was
being led away by the Roman commander; and that, in fact, the term “away with” in that context means,
“Kill him”. It is the same in verse 22.

The Jews were not asking Paul to be taken away; they were saying, in essence, “Kill him [off the face of
the earth]; he’s not fit to live!” And, as they were crying out madly for his death, they were wildly shaking
their garments (not tearing them, in the Greek) and throwing dirt in the air. In other words, the crowd, who
had been listening to Paul up until now, suddenly erupted into a full-scale riot.

Now, just what was it that set them off? Luke tells us that they listened to Paul “until this word”. What
word? Gentiles. The question is, why did that infuriate them?

Remember that tensions had been escalating in Jerusalem during this time. Jewish nationalism was on the
rise – there was even a group of Jewish assassins known as the sicarii, extreme nationalists who murdered
Romans, and any Jews who collaborated with them. So tension in the city was very high between Jews and
Gentiles.

In addition, it had been told to these Jews that Paul had brought Gentiles into their temple, defiling it –
which was untrue, of course. And they were told that this was the man who taught in Gentile lands against
the Jews, and against the Law, and against the temple. So of course, as Paul now revealed to them his
appointment by Jesus as the apostle (the sent one) to the Gentiles, they revisited their original source of
fury with him.

Finally, the very idea that the Jews would be passed over in favor of the despised Gentiles by the Lord was
sure to inflame the national pride of the pious, arrogant Jews – after all, they were God’s people.

So the Jews wound up confirming the words of Jesus again – they would not receive Paul’s testimony
concerning Jesus.

Picture this scene in your mind, for a moment, from the perspective of the Roman commander. Remember,
he was a Greek-speaking Gentile. Did he know Aramaic – the language of the Jews? Of course not. He
had been hoping to understand just why the Jews were up-in-arms about Paul, and so had given Paul the
opportunity to speak to them. Only Paul spoke to them in Aramaic – so of course, the commander did not
understand a word of it.
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Now the Jews had been quiet, listening to everything Paul said; but suddenly, after this last word he spoke –
they went absolutely insane. Just what was it about this man? What was causing the Jews to manifest such
bitter hostility towards him? The Roman commander hadn’t learned one single thing more about Paul –
and now, the Jews were completely out of control.

The commander was leaning toward the idea that the Jews must have had a good reason for their fury with
Paul. So he decided to get to the bottom of it, Roman style.

v. 24-26 The word “scourging” in verse 24 , and “scourge” in verse 25 refer to a brutal Roman
interrogation method, where the prisoner is flogged with a flagellum – metal- or bone-imbedded leather
thongs that were attached to a wood handle. The victim was secured using leather thongs on his hands, to
stretch out his back as tautly as possible. In this way, the flagellum bit deeper into the flesh. This
instrument of torture sometimes resulted in the death of the victim; the victim was frequently maimed
afterward, at the least.

Now, Paul had experienced beatings at the hands of the Jews, and had even been beaten with rods; but
neither of these compared to the murderous quality of the flagellum. This method of interrogation would
certainly draw a confession out of anyone guilty of anything.

The commander appointed a centurion to supervise the scourging. As Paul was being secured, Paul raised
what sounded like a rhetorical question: was it lawful to scourge a Roman – meaning a Roman citizen –
and further, to do so if he had not been even formally accused of a crime?

Of course, Paul knew the answer; and by now, he would have known why the Lord did not have him
mention his Roman citizenship sooner. This was perfect time for that information to be revealed.

The centurion immediately understood Paul’s meaning. He knew Paul would only be asking this question
if Paul was, in fact, a Roman citizen.

Roman citizens were exempted by Roman law from such brutal methods of interrogation. That there had
been no legal trial of Paul further compounded the miscarriage of justice. Paul had waited for the Lord’s
timing – until he had been bound for the flogging, because even that constituted an illegality, being
considered part of the flogging. This now gave Paul legal ground to maneuver against the Romans – if
necessary.

Meanwhile, the centurion hurried to inform the commander about Paul’s Roman citizenship, to caution him
against an act that could end the commander’s career – or even possibly cost him his life.

v. 27-29 So the commander rejoined Paul, asking him if he was a Roman citizen. Once Paul indicated he
was, his claim would not have been questioned; the penalty for falsely claiming Roman citizenship was
death.

Roman citizenship was highly prized, because of the many benefits that it conferred. The commander
indicated he bought his Roman citizenship. Since his Gentile name was Claudius, it is reasonable to
assume that he did so during the reign of the emperor Claudius. The way such citizenships were “bought”
at that time was by a bribe; for officially, citizenship was not for sale. This form of bribery reached
scandalous proportions under Claudius.
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The commander’s personal name – Lysias – indicates that he was of Greek birth. He may have obtained his
citizenship through wealth, or influence – or both. Roman citizenship was required to be part of a legion;
that he had become a commander indicates that he had a powerful patron, or worked his way up though the
ranks.

The Roman commander had related to Paul how he obtained his citizenship. I’m sure he did so, because he
wanted Paul to tell him how he had obtained his citizenship, in return. By the looks of Paul at this time, the
commander probably thought he surely couldn’t be a very prominent one, having been dragged through the
temple and beaten up – he was disheveled, dirty, and bloody.

The calm, dignified response of Paul must have astonished the Roman commander. He had been born a
Roman citizen. This meant that Paul’s father, or grandfather, was a citizen. To have been born a citizen
would make one of higher status than a person who had “purchased” their citizenship, as Lysias had. Paul
continued to be an enigma to this commander.

But the commander would not have taken much time to contemplate this enigma; he would have been more
absorbed by the quandary he was in. There had been a serious disturbance at the temple, which he would
be forced to explain to his superiors; and he was no closer to understanding what caused the riot than he
had been in the beginning.

Further, he had bound Paul for the purpose of being flogged, which was illegal, and he feared what the
repercussions of that might be for a man in his position. But at this time, he knew that his duty was to
protect Paul’s rights as a Roman citizen; and meanwhile, he had to figure out a way to find out what on
earth was going on.

To bad he didn’t know the Lord.

Next week – chapter 23.