Acts 21:37-40;22 (Wednesday Evening Bible Study)

Acts 21:37-40; Acts 22

• How do you defend yourself if accused falsely?
• Context:
  • Paul has returned from his 3rd mission trip lasting 5 years and is now back in Jerusalem.  If you remember the elders thought it would be good for Paul to do something very Jewish like pay for the Nazirite vows for 4 men which required Paul to go to the temple and do this. The reason they suggested this there were rumors about Paul being very anti-Jewish in his preaching which many of the Jewish Christians believed there in Jerusalem.  It was at one of these trips to the temple Paul is accused of taking a Gentile into the inner temple courts and a riot in sues.  Paul is saved by the Romans guards and bound in chains and is in the process of being taken from the temple to the Roman Fortress of Antonia which is next to the temple court. This where we step back into the text… What we will see the 1st of 5 speeches that he will make to defend himself and his faith.
• Acts 21:37-40
• 37 As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?” He replied, “You know how to speak Greek? 38 Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?” 39 Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people. 40 After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic:
  • Who did the commander (Claudius Lysias) think Paul was?
    • He thought Paul was some kind of outlaw causing trouble.
  • Why did Paul mention where he is from?
    • To make it clear he was not the outlaw.
  • Why do you think the commander let Paul speak to the crowd?
    • The commander is surprised to hear Paul speak Greek and let him know where he was from.  I guess the commander could see that Paul did not appear to be a trouble maker he was rational. Also, Paul mentioned where he was born, in ancient thinking that counted for something, especially if you were from a noble and respected area, which Paul was. And maybe letting Paul speak would clear up a misunderstanding.  And we shouldn’t discount the Holy Spirit working here
  • Are you amazed that Paul was able to motion to the crowd and they quieted down?
    • One reason might be that Paul may spoke in Hebrew…The CSB says Aramaic but the Greek text just says native language…which could be Hebrew or Aramaic.  The Hebrew was the religious language and may have caught their attention.
  • Why do you think Paul wanted to address the crowd?
    • To defend himself from false accusations and to share the gospel.
• Acts 22:1-5
• “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.” 2 When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter. 3 He continued, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strictness of our ancestral law. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail, 5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
  • What is Paul proving to the crowed?
    • That he is a true Jew. 
  • What does Paul share about himself to show he is a Jew?
    • His birth and birth place
    • His place of training and his Rabbi
    • His Zeal for the law
    • His putting teeth to his zeal by persecuting followers of the Way
  • How well do you think Paul did with identifying with the crowd?
    • He is showing them that he can relate to them. In fact he used to be one of them.  In fact he shows he had more zeal than many of them by persecuting and chasing after Christians even in Damascus.
• Acts 22:6-11
• 6 “As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 “I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 “I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.’ 11 “Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.
  • How well does Paul do in relating his personal conversion this to hostile crowd?
    • Is Paul convincing? Does he have their attention? It appears he does.
  • What is the value of telling people one’s story of conversion or renewal of faith and commitment?
    • People relate to it…It makes it personal… 
• Acts 22:12-16
• 12 Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who had a good reputation with all the Jews living there, 13 came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth, 15 since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
  • What does Paul point out about Ananias and why?
    • Devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.
  • Paul is stressing his Jewish heritage to the crowd and explaining about Ananias brings validity to his conversion.
    • In other words Paul is not a heretic against Judaism. But rather he was led by an orthodox Jew to fulfill his faith by pledging allegiance to the nation’s Messiah.
  • How do the words of Ananias back Paul’s claim of seeing Jesus?
    • See verse 14. The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.
  • What view do Ananias, Luke and Paul share concerning Christian baptism?
    • The urgency of it, “What are you waiting for?”
    • Baptism is connected to the forgiveness of sin.
    • It is an enacted prayer of repentance, “Calling on His Name.”
    • See immersion into the name of Jesus as an integral element of conversion.
• Acts 22:17-21
• 17 “After I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 “But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten. 20 And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval and guarding the clothes of those who killed him.’ 21 “He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
  • Here we find out some new information about Paul that has not been shared before, this private conversation with the Lord during a trance at the temple.
    • Does Paul try to argue with the Lord about leaving Jerusalem?
    • It appears that way. Paul thought the Jews would listen to him because he had formerly persecuted Christians.
  • When did this event occur?
    • See Galatians 1:18 where Paul tells the time after his conversion. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. Paul identities a 3 years hiatus between his conversion and his return to his boyhood home.
    • Paul must have caused an issue in Jerusalem because he was debating with Grecian Jews trying to convince them Jesus was the Messiah. Paul wanted to stay in Jerusalem longer but Jesus says leave. In Acts 9:29-30 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
  • What does Paul tell us about Stephen’s stoning?
    • At that time he approved of it.
• Acts 22:22-29
• 22 They listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this man off the face of the earth! He should not be allowed to live!” 23 As they were yelling and flinging aside their garments and throwing dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be interrogated with the scourge to discover the reason they were shouting against him like this. 25 As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27 The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he said. 28 The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul said. 29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.
  • What subject threw the crowd into an uproar again?
    • The mention of going to the Gentiles.
  • How prejudiced was this crowd?
    • Evidently pretty much so…ESPECIALLY against the Gentiles. They fail to grasp that God loved them too. What did these Jews think of non-Jewish people?
  • How bad did they want to get rid of Paul? What were they shouting?
    • In the original language it carried the meaning of put him to death in fact he should have been put to death a long time ago.  What were their actions? Throwing dust and throwing off their cloaks…a sign of uncontrollable rage.
  • Paul was saved from the crowd but what were the Romans getting ready to do to him?
    • Flogged…beat and ask questions later.
  • What card did Paul play at the last second?
    • I am a Roman Citizen…not only, not to be flogged without a trial but also not to be put in chains either so this could be a big problem…the punishment to the guards would be to inflict the same punishment on them. 
    • How was Paul able to prove that he was a Roman citizen?
      • We don’t know…But notice it was more honorable to be born a citizen than to buy your citizenship. Paul stood in better position with the Roman government than did the Commander.
  • What does the Roman commander know about the situation around Paul?
    • Roman citizen who is Jewish and a near riot centered on him in the temple. So Claudius has more investigating to do…His next step is to take Paul to the Sanhedrin to see if they know anything.  
• TAKE AWAY
  • Is God working in Paul’s life even thru these difficult circumstances? Can God work in our difficult circumstances?
  • Was Paul willing to use whatever opportunity to share the good news about Jesus? What about us?
  • Do think Paul was wise to use his Roman citizenship to protect himself?
  • What else do you see?