(Suggested Reading: Chapter 22)
From his position on the stairs of the fortress Paul has a ready-made vantage point overlooking the people beneath. His voice will carry well. His composure is remarkable considering that he has just survived a beating, is in chains, and faces an uncertain future. “Hear my defense which I now make to you” he says. He hopes to answer the two false charges laid against him. The first charge—21:28—is that he is the man who taught all men against the Jewish people, and the law, and the Temple—the second that he polluted the Temple by bringing Gentiles into the forbidden area. Because of his former prominence among the Jews some explanation of his present Christianity is needed. Unavoidably then the story of his conversion is introduced into his defense. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus was an earthquake. The narration of it involves God and the two classes of men—Jews and Gentiles. Luke first gave us the divine account of his conversion—after that the Gentile—here the Jewish version.
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin
Like the Lord, Paul is delivered by the Jews to the Romans at Jerusalem. Above the Lord’s cross was an inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and these languages appear in the text in Acts in connection with Paul’s imprisonment and defense and nowhere else. The Chiliarch, astonished that Paul is not the brigand he thought him to be, had exclaimed “can you speak Greek!” Here Paul addresses the crowd in the Hebrew tongue—21:40; 22:2. In his account of his conversion before the Gentiles he also relates how the Lord had spoken to him in Hebrew—26:14. Although this had broken him down, his address to the Hebrews here—and he was an ambassador for Christ—does not break down his fellow countrymen. He is delivered to the Romans and must declare his Roman citizenship to secure immunity from scourging. To do this he will utter the well-known Latin words— “civus Romanus sum” — “I am a Roman citizen.” It would have been ridiculous, of course, for a Roman citizen to demand his rights in Greek or Hebrew. Scripture ignores this detail in the wisdom of God. Hebrew and Greek were the languages God used in writing the Bible. Latin was the language the Romish Church used to obscure the teachings of the Bible—in the chanting of the mass etc. which the common people could not understand. Luke omits direct mention of the Latin language possibly to keep in the background the tongue man was later to advance to the foreground.
Paul Relates His Early Life and Conversion
The Jews now keep silence, hearing Paul address them in their own tongue. He tells them what he has just told the Chiliarch—that he is a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, but adds his Jewish education. He was a pupil of the great Rabbi Gamaliel, taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God “as ye all are this day.” This tribute shows us once more what we gleaned from Paul’s speech at Athens—that he never intentionally antagonizes people in his preaching. At Athens he had been forcibly taken away from the Agora; at Jerusalem he had been beaten in the Temple. But in both instances, he sought for whatever was good in his audience and bestowed praise ungrudgingly for that. If this courteous approach does nothing else, it grants him an attentive audience until his message is delivered. May we profit from such a wise example in our own preaching.
Next, he relates how his zeal made him a persecutor of “the way” as Christianity was scornfully termed at the beginning. This phrase was probably adapted from the Lord’s words— “I am the way, the truth, and the life” —John 14:66Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6). While journeying to Damascus to persecute believers the Lord arrests him. Suddenly, there shines from heaven a great light round about him. This is the Shekinah glory of the God of Israel. From that bright glory Jesus the Nazarene calls him by his Jewish name—Saul. This is the last reference to Jesus the Nazarene in Acts from the glory of God. Nazareth was a place of reproach to a Jew “can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” —John 1:4646And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. (John 1:46). The gentle gracious Savior who endured the cross and the shame of its title— “Jesus of Nazareth” has been raised from among the dead by the glory of the Father. This is the discovery Saul makes on the road to Damascus, and his conversion is like a flash of lightning. When Peter cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus performed His last miracle on earth by healing it—Luke 22:5151And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. (Luke 22:51). Now in the glory He heals the ear of the high priest’s servant—Saul. The effect of Peter’s preaching in Jerusalem and who could wield the sword of the Spirit like Peter—had only been the cutting off of Saul of Tarsus’ ear and those like him. At Stephen’s death—and Stephen saw the glorified Man who appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus— “they . . . stopped their ears” —7:57. But now Saul’s ear is healed. He hears the voice of the Son of God and lives.
Paul continues with his account of his conversion, varying the details slightly from the divine account in Acts 9, but in a way that presents no real difficulty to us on investigation1. His testimony here is related to the need of his Jewish hearers. Ananias had told him that he would be the Lord’s witness to all men of what he had seen and heard. The word “witness” is found ten times2 in Acts. Ten in Scripture is the measure of human responsibility. This word has not been used since the days of the twelve apostles. They witnessed to the resurrection of Christ. Paul here witnesses to His ascension and glory. It was from the glory the Lord addressed Saul. The force of the expression that he should witness “to all men” is not at once understood by his listeners for they remain silent.
Next Paul describes his baptism. This must have raised the temper of the crowd, but for the moment it is restrained. Paul continues. He relates how he was in a trance in the Temple. The Lord had told him to depart from Jerusalem for the Jews would not receive Paul’s testimony concerning Him. “Depart” he is told “for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”
This is too much for the Jews. They erupt in violence shouting “away with such a fellow from the earth—it is not fit that he should live.” They cast off their clothes and throw dust in the air. Now God had permitted Paul’s journey to Jerusalem, even though in making it Paul ruined his public work. It was needful to bring the sin of the Jews to a climax, to provide the final witness to which they would not listen, and lay the ground for that judgment which should fall on the guilty nation. This happened in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed their city even as the Lord had prophesied. Three grave sins are charged against them:
First, they rejected Christ on earth and crucified Him. This was the sin of ten thousand talents Mat. 18:24.
Secondly, they rejected Christ in heaven when they stoned Stephen, who told them He was there.
Thirdly, they fill up the measure of their sin by attempting to deny God’s right to show grace to the Gentiles after they refused it. What rouses their hatred the words “depart, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles” is not something Paul said. It is a message from the Lord’s lips and that in His Temple which Paul merely quotes. Eight hundred years before in Isa. 6 God had announced judgment on them. Paul now sees for himself that what constituted his life’s work the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles is the object of their deepest hatred.
Paul in the Fortress
The enraged mob has numbers on its side but is no match for the experienced Roman soldiers. The Chiliarch orders Paul to be brought in to the fortress barracks. There he is to be scourged, until he breaks down and confesses what he has done. The Chiliarch may know some Hebrew but even if he does, he cannot relate Paul’s speech to the violent rioting of the Jews. The Roman scourge will make Paul talk he thinks. It is a dreadful thing, lacerating the back. Scourging often ends in death.
As the soldiers bind Paul with thongs, he speaks to the Centurion who is to supervise the torture. He asks him if it is lawful to scourge a man who is a Roman without a legal trial. The binding has taken place in the turmoil of the moment. By declaring his Roman citizenship Paul prevents the further step of scourging. But Paul’s declaration alarms the centurion. Leaving Paul, he reports to the Chiliarch that Paul is a Roman citizen and warns him. The Chiliarch returns and questions Paul, officially and under adjuration, with the words “tell me, are you a Roman?” It is a most serious crime liable to punishment by death to claim Roman citizenship falsely. Paul truthfully answers ‘yes’. In this connection Paul has a duty to declare his Roman citizenship. If he fails to do so and is scourged, the Chiliarch may well be dealt with severely afterward. How highly prized this Roman citizenship is can be seen in the Chiliarch’s conciliatory words “with a great sum obtained I this freedom.” Paul’s reply is “but I was free born.”3
The wheels of Roman judicial procedure now begin to turn. The scourgers leave him. Fear settles on the Chiliarch, knowing that he has bound a Roman citizen.4 Still he must now proceed with the next step under Roman law. He must discover what caused the uproar in the Temple so charges can be laid against the prisoner. So he convenes a meeting of the Jewish Sanhedrin. He feels he can learn from this responsible Jewish Council what wrong this troublous Roman citizen has done, since he cannot find out through scourging. As for Paul, he must spend the night in the fortress, kept from sleeping no doubt, by the tramp of the soldiers’ boots and the clash of their armor.
Let us compare Paul’s circumstances now with the prison at Philippi. There he had Silas as his companion here no man. Both of them had bleeding backs and prayed and sang praises to God and the prisoners heard them. Not so here, nor does God intervene with an earthquake. The jailer at Philippi was saved; the jailer here is in great fear. At Philippi he was freed, and the authorities apologized. Here, though ostensibly protected by the power of Rome, he is in great jeopardy. His Roman citizenship won’t help him if it can be proved that he has disturbed the peace. Rome stands for law and order and sternly punishes those who break it. The next day Paul will be released from his bonds but only in connection with an official investigation of the disturbance in the Temple.