“Acts 22: Paul’s Defense”

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Paul begins his defense in the Hebrew language by referring to the Jews as “brethren and fathers.” He is showing his respect for them and he captures their attention as “they kept all the more silent.” He continues on to describe his own Jewish heritage.

Paul tells them of his early rabbinical training as he sat under the teaching of the highly respected Gamaliel. (Do you remember him from Acts 5:34-40?) He describes his attitude of persecution against the early Christians and then his trip to Damascus to continue his efforts to make havoc of the church.

And then a truly life changing event happens. The resurrected Lord appears to Paul personally. Remember that he was called, Saul, at that time. (It was necessary for an apostle to see the Christ after His resurrection – Acts 1:22. That’s one of the reasons there are no apostles today.)

This is what changed Saul of Tarsus, Christian hater and persecutor into the apostle Paul, gospel preacher and defender of the faith of Jesus Christ. He knew that Jesus had been put to death on that Roman cross. He had no doubt in his mind, whatsoever, that Jesus had died on Golgotha. And now that he has seen Him alive, Paul realizes that Jesus of Nazareth is truly the Messiah.

Paul relates how the Lord brought him together with Ananias who teaches him the gospel and baptizes him into Christ to wash away his sins. He tells them that he returned to Jerusalem, was praying and while in a trance, Christ commissioned him as an apostle (“one sent”) and sent him to preach to the Gentiles.

The idea of God showing mercy to the Gentiles is just too much for these zealous Jews. They begin shouting their protest and the Roman commander retreats with Paul into the barracks and decides to scourge him to get to the real truth. Told that Paul is a Roman citizen, the commander backs away and instructs Paul to appear the next day before the Jewish Sanhedrin Council.

--Roger Hillis

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