The Book of Acts Chapter 22

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The Book of Acts Chapter 22

Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/ACT.22.NIV

Captured Paul Speaks

Speech to the Crowd

1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” (Paul took the chance in such a disadvantageous moment to share the Gospel.)

2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. (Using Aramaic, the local common language, he grabbed the attention of the crowd.)

Then Paul said:

3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city (Jerusalem). I studied under Gamaliel (one of the most renowned teacher of the time, 5:34ff) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors (He was a qualified rabbi- teacher). I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. (He was from very authentic family and also learned the highest Jewish school; emphasizing his genuine origin as a Jew.)

4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. (As a orthodox Jew he, Saul, was passionate persecuting Jesus followers.)

6 “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. (He encountered the Lord Jesus in a bright light on his way to Damascus.)

7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

8 “ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. (Jesus identified Himself as the persecuted Jesus by Saul.)

9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. (It was a Saul's very intimate personal experience.)

10 “ ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. (It was an overwhelming experience for Saul so that he could not deny or have any doubt on what's happening.) “‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ (He was told to go Damascus and wait for something that is supposed to happen.)

11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. (He was led by the companions to Damascus because the bright light blinded him.)

12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. (The respected man Ananias, whom had been directed by the Lord previously, came to Saul.)

13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him. (Ananias opened his sight.)

14 “Then he said: ‘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. (Paul was emphasizing that all of this is the will of God, the Ruler, whom the ancestors of the Israelites worshiped from the beginning to the present.)

15 You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. (Saul was commissioned to testify his experiences to all people; Undeniable, irresistible Great Commission.)

16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’ (Saul became a new person for the new duty.)

17 “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple (As a Jew), I fell into a trance 18 and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’ (Saul heard a message in his prayer saying go to somewhere else because the Jews in Jerusalem would not accept his message about Jesus.)

19 “ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.

20 And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ (Saul was yet guilty himself for his persecution and being the witness for Stephen's martyrdom.)

21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” (But It is God who renew the old Saul to new Paul. In spite of his hesitance, he couldn't refuse God's FORCEFUL will. That God is sending Paul to Gentiles.)

Paul the Roman Citizen

22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” (Even they heard that the Paul's ministry was designed and forced by God whom the Jews worshiping, the crowd disregard the God's sovereignty due to their partial and biased obsession on the law. People can be this much foolish but also stubborn.)

23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, (The people were about to riot.) 24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. (So the commander ordered that Paul be separated from the crowd and interrogated with physical torture.)

25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” (Paul appealed the commander if the flogging is lawful for a Raman citizen. He used his privilege of his Roman citizenship.)

26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered.

28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

29 Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. (Paul succeeded to avoid the unlawful physical torture with his status. He was a authentic Jew by blood and Roman citizen by the law.)

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

30 The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. (The commander summoned the members of the Sanhedrin for Paul's case because the issue was about the Jewish belief system.)