Read or listen The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 22 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

In the last chapter, Paul was in a dangerous situation, but a Roman military division managed to save him at the last minute from a wild mob. Now Paul is speaking to the crowd.

Paul the Jew – Acts 22:1-5

Paul began his speech with a polite greeting: “Brothers and fathers.” In a way, it is similar to how we say: “Dear friends!” even if we do not already know the audience. So Paul was not bitter about the treatment he received.

Paul did not continue his speech by defending himself against the accusations: “I did not bring any Greek into the temple…” etc., but he saw the speech as perhaps his last opportunity to proclaim the gospel to his own people. So he tried once again to convince his countrymen to believe in Christ.

Paul did not try to deny his Jewishness, quite the opposite. He had been just as enthusiastic in his faith as his listeners (verse 3), even more so. He had gone as far as Damascus to persecute Christians (verse 5). So he also understood his listeners.

Paul was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but later moved to Jerusalem. Did he move as a child or only later? The move that took place in childhood seems to be indicated by Paul’s threefold division (verse 3):

1. Born in Tarsus
2. Childhood upbringing in Jerusalem
3. Legal education received as a youth in Jerusalem

The church father Jerome says that Paul's parents were from Giskala in Galilee. Some scholars believe that Paul's father was taken as a prisoner of war to Tarsus and released there, after which the family returned to Israel.

Paul had received the best possible education. His teacher was the famous Gamaliel, who was active in Jerusalem from about 25 to 50 A.D. The teacher of the law sat on a small platform and his students sat around him on the floor, at his feet (verse 3).

God intervened – Acts 22:6-16

Luke included the account of Paul’s conversion in Acts a total of three times: in chapters 9, 22, and 26. This illustrates the great significance of that event.

Paul emphasizes that it was God who acted, not he himself. God chose him to be the apostle to the Gentiles and changed the direction of his entire life. Jesus made him his witness (Greek “martys,” from which the word martyr comes). Paul was given the task of bearing witness to Christ to all people (verse 15), including the Gentiles (verse 21).

Paul took into account the feelings of his listeners. So in verse 14 he does not call Jesus the Messiah, but “the Righteous One,” which in Old Testament language did refer specifically to the Messiah.

Finally, it is worth noting that Paul was also baptized (verse 16). There is only one door into the church: baptism. It brought forgiveness of sins to Paul and also to us.

God's people do not listen to God - Acts 22:17-21

On the Christian Paul's first visit to Jerusalem (Gal 1:18), he saw a new vision in the temple, in which Jesus sent him out of Jerusalem to the Gentiles.

The Temple in Jerusalem was a place of prayer for the first Christians, no longer a place of sacrifice, because Christians knew that the once and for all sufficient sacrifice had already been made. Jesus had already died on Golgotha ​​(Hebrews 7:26-28).

Only a few Old Testament saints had seen the glory of God in the temple. Now Paul claimed that he had experienced the same thing that happened to Isaiah (Isaiah 6). This irritated the Jews, but worse was to come.

The risen Christ sent Paul away from the temple and Jerusalem to the Gentiles so that the Jews would not accept the gospel. In other words: God sent Paul away from His own temple because His chosen people would not accept the salvation God offered them. (Luke tells us in Acts 9:30 that the Jerusalem church helped Paul escape to his hometown of Tarsus.) Hearing this was too much for the Jews. The riot, which had paused for a moment, broke out again (verse 22).

What did Paul mean by his response to the resurrected Jesus in verses 19 and 20? Some scholars see it as Paul’s attempt to resist the command: “But this is my own people, this people I know best!” Other scholars see that Paul is agreeing to obey: “Yes, it is true that not even all the Christians in Jerusalem dare to trust me!” (compare also Acts 9:26-28).

Gentiles

In the early days of the New Testament, the word "Gentiles" meant non-Jews. The Jews divided people into two groups: Jews and Gentiles. The word Gentile was not a neutral, impartial expression, but had many hidden meanings attached to it. See, for example, the expression “Gentile sinners” in Gal 2:15: "We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners."

A Roman citizen – Acts 22:22-30

After the rioting started again the tribune realized that it was best to take Paavali to the barracks and try to find out the truth by his own means. He planned to use a common interrogation method at that time: flogging. This effective method of getting clarity was used especially in the interrogation of slaves and foreigners.

But Paul interrupted their plans by stating that he was a Roman citizen. Two laws, the Lex Iulia and the Lex Porcia, prohibited the flogging of Roman citizens, both during interrogations and as punishment.

The centurion told the surprising news to the tribune, who wanted to make sure of it himself. False declaration of Roman citizenship was punishable by immediate death, so Paul would hardly have taken the risk of lying. Moreover, the matter was quite easy to verify by questioning relatives and acquaintances. At the latest, it would have emerged from the citizen lists.

Severe penalties were prescribed for violating the rights of a Roman citizen, so the tribune immediately abandoned his plans. However, Paul was not released, which was only to his advantage: the Antonia Castle was the only place in all of Jerusalem where he was safe.

The tribune wanted to find out why the Jews had tried to kill Paul. Earlier we saw that Paul’s speech to the crowd was of no help to the tribune because Paul spoke in Aramaic. Paul’s flogging had also failed because Paul was a Roman citizen. The tribune had to try to get clarity on the matter from Paul's opponents. Already the day after Paul's imprisonment, the Tribune called together the highest governing and judicial body of the Jews, the Great Council, Sanhedrin.

Scholars have debated whether a Roman tribune had the right to convene a Sanhedrin. History does not provide any certainty on this point, but it is clear that the Jews complied with the commander’s request, whether they were forced to do so or not. The Jews understood that Paul was under the protection of the Roman state. If they wanted to kill Paul, the only way to do so was for the Roman state to sentence him to death. Therefore, they had to cooperate with the Romans.

It was apparently not a formal meeting of the Sanhedrin to decide Paul’s case, but rather a consultation with Roman representatives. Roman soldiers would not have been allowed to attend formal meetings of the Sanhedrin.

Jews and Roman citizenship

Not all who lived in the Roman Empire were Roman citizens, only a small minority. Roman citizenship meant considerable privileges. In Paul's day, citizenship could be purchased, as the tribune had done (verse 28). Money was also often used to bribe the scribe. This added the agreed name to the citizen lists.

How did Paul obtain Roman citizenship? He mentions that he had it from birth, so his parents had already had it. Being a Roman citizen from birth was more respected than someone who had purchased citizenship.

How did Paul's parents obtain Roman citizenship? It is unlikely that Paul's parents would have purchased it, since Roman citizenship had one major problem for the Jews: the worship of Caesar as a god. Therefore, it is unlikely that they would have sacrificed a large sum of money to obtain that desired but problematic citizenship. They were obviously pious, having given their son a good Jewish education.

It is obvious that the solution to the problem can be found in the history of Tarsus. During the Roman civil wars, the inhabitants of Tarsus had sided with Gaius Julius Caesar. The city had suffered a lot, but still remained loyal to Caesar. The war ended with Caesar's victory, and in gratitude for Tarsus' loyalty, he granted Roman citizenship to all the inhabitants of the city.

Is there anything to learn from this episode?

I would like to highlight one thing: the religious enthusiasm of the Jews. We modern people are terrified of all the great enthusiasm associated with religion. We call it fanaticism. For us, religious matters are not so important. But is this attitude correct?

The resurrected Jesus sent a letter to the church in Laodicea through John, which contains the following words:

"I know your works:
you are neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either cold or hot!
So, because you are lukewarm,
and neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth."
(Revelation 3:15-16)

Hopefully, we will never become lukewarm, but by God's grace, we will remain hot.