Acts 21:37–22:29

21:37–39 Paul’s Request to Speak. Historically speaking, the followers of the Way were merely a minor sect of Judaism, which itself was hardly the center of attention in the Roman Empire. During the first century, only Jews and Christians understood the massive difference between themselves. Thus it should not surprise us that the Roman tribune does not know who Paul is and assumes he must be a certain infamous Jew from Egypt who had led four thousand terrorists (v. 38). The Assassins were a particular sect known as the Sicarii, “dagger-men.” The tribune is surprised to know that Paul speaks Greek—perhaps indicating that Judean Jews did not typically speak Greek—but he sees that there is more to Paul than meets the eye, and he allows Paul to speak.

21:40–22:29 Paul Testifies to His Conversion and Calling. Paul immediately wins the crowd’s attention by stepping up, motioning to them, and speaking to them in Aramaic (22:2; “the Hebrew language” means the language of the Hebrews, which had been Aramaic for a long time). Luke notes that this quiets the crowd even more. Paul addresses them as “brothers and fathers,” showing his respect for them and underscoring their shared covenantal heritage (22:1).

Paul begins by describing his background before narrating his conversion. His testimony here differs in some details from the account in chapter 9, which is Luke’s retelling of the event, while this is the testimony of Paul himself. The apostle’s summary of his Jewish background and experience as a persecutor of the church is reminiscent of Philippians 3:4–6; here Paul adds that he was taught by Gamaliel—the same Gamaliel that spoke up and urged the council to show caution in their treatment of Peter and the apostles (Acts 5:34–39). The “strict manner of the law” (22:3) refers to the Pharisaic tradition in which Paul was trained. He is letting his listeners know that he is one of them and, in fact, outdoes most of them in his Jewish pedigree. He is an expert in the law, something they should keep in mind when they charge him with breaking it.

As in Philippians 3, Paul links his former persecution of the church with his zealous background. In Philippians this link serves to show the false zeal and righteousness from the law that Paul relied on before his conversion. That idea is likely present here too, but his main purpose is to tell the crowd that he was once standing where they are now when he persecuted Christians before his conversion. If they do not believe him, the Jewish elders, including the high priest, can validate his claim, because he was working for them the day Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus (Acts 22:5). The irony here is that just as Paul now stands before them in custody, so he himself once set out for Damascus to arrest Christians and “bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.”

The “great light from heaven” (22:6) indicates the presence of God, a detail hardly missed by his Jewish audience, as God’s presence revealed in visible light of various kinds occurred throughout Israel’s history. Such revelations of God in light are particularly connected with, though not limited to, major covenantal events (e.g., Gen. 15:17; Ex. 3:2–3; 19:18; see also Ex. 13:21–22; 14:24; Num. 14:14). In a covenantal context, a voice speaking out of light recalls Deuteronomy 5:24, where Moses recalled the experience of God’s revelation at Sinai. This time, the voice coming out of the light is the Lord Jesus. Paul’s description of his conversion, read against its larger biblical background, strongly suggests the divinity of Jesus, for Jesus spoke to him just as Yahweh spoke to Moses and the Israelites.

As in Acts 9:4 and later in 26:14, persecuting Christians means persecuting Jesus: the people of Jesus are his body. The differences in the experience of Paul’s companions in the account in chapter 9 and Paul’s version here are easily reconciled. Acts 9:7 describes them “hearing the voice” but “seeing no one,” whereas in 22:9 they “saw the light” but could not “understand the voice.” They heard the sound of the voice but did not understand what was being said. They perceived the light but saw no one speaking to Paul. None of the accounts of Paul’s conversion in Acts (chs. 9; 22; 26) ever mentions Paul seeing a human form on the Damascus road—only that he saw a light and heard a voice. The conversion accounts are remarkably similar and contain no discrepancies. The differences in detail are simply due to the differences in the way humans tell stories, depending on the occasion and reason for the telling. The main reason Luke and Paul mention the traveling companions is to point to eyewitnesses who can confirm the event (Deut. 19:15; Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19; Heb. 10:28).

Paul fills in further detail concerning his encounter with Ananias. The account in Acts 9 highlights Ananias’s caution and hesitancy over Paul, in keeping with the emphasis of growth through persecution in that portion of the narrative. This version focuses more directly on Paul’s experience of God’s revelation to him in Jesus and his commission to be a witness for Christ. Paul points out that Ananias was a “devout man according to the law,” with a good reputation (22:12). This underscores the legitimacy of Paul’s story and also provides yet another level of confirmation: if there is any lingering doubt about the divine encounter from heaven and the voice Paul heard, the recounting of Ananias’s word to Paul removes it. Ananias tells Paul what the Lord directed him to communicate in 9:11–16, with more detail added. Paul recounts how Ananias explained the experience as nothing less than an encounter with their covenant God, who revealed the promised Messiah (“the Righteous One”; 22:14) and appointed Paul as his witness.

Any question of whether Paul was converted or simply put on the right road to becoming a truly faithful Jew in acceptance of Jesus as Messiah is answered unequivocally in this text. Ananias instructed Paul to be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins (22:16). The message for Saul, a law-abiding Pharisee who at one point lived to kill Christians, is the same as Peter’s answer to those gathered on Pentecost: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (2:38).

Common threads tie conversion in Acts to Paul’s experience. Soon after Pentecost, standing before the Jewish rulers, Peter declares, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (4:12). Though Ananias did not say “be saved,” he did say “wash away your sins” (22:16), another way of referring to salvation. The same sort of language associated with coming to faith in Jesus, being converted from either Jewish or Gentile unbelief (16:31), in the name of Jesus, is exactly the kind of language Paul recounts when he relates his own testimony. This is not a story of getting on some sort of journey with God; it is an account of a sinner saved through the name of Jesus.

Paul continues by revealing previously undisclosed events (22:17–19). His trance in the temple almost certainly occurred during his first trip to Jerusalem as a believer (ch. 9). The temple, though its time in redemptive history is over, remains a focal point for Christians in Jerusalem. However, there is no particular link between Paul’s receiving a direct word from the Lord and his being in the temple. With this exception, every special revelation Paul receives occurs outside Jerusalem. If one thing is clear from Acts, it is that God is at work seemingly everywhere but inside the temple in Jerusalem.

But the fact that Paul’s vision and his word from the Lord occurred in the temple would be of importance to his Jewish audience. The temple is precisely the place where one might receive a word from God. More importantly, the Jews accuse Paul of speaking against the temple (21:28). Like the other apostles, Paul does not speak against the temple. They do, however, teach that the presence of God is not limited to, and no longer resides in, the temple. God does not live in man-made buildings, and the old covenant era, and therefore the temple, has come to a close with the fulfillment of God’s promises in Jesus the Messiah. In fact, venerating the Jerusalem temple is a form of idolatry. Paul and the other apostles hear from God anywhere and everywhere—in jail cells (5:19–20), on rooftops (10:9–20), and while traveling far from Jerusalem and the temple (13:2). It is through the apostles that the Lord speaks to those who believe in the Messiah, Jesus. The temple and all that took place there are, like the priests and the leaders of Israel, eclipsed by Jesus.

This is not the only depiction in Acts of an apostle falling into a trance. Peter had a similar experience on the rooftop in Joppa, where he saw a vision of animals on a sheet (10:10–16). That vision revealed how everything was now clean to eat, the ultimate significance being that the Gentiles, beginning with Cornelius, were to be fully accepted and included in the new covenant people of God. Similarly, the word of the Lord to Paul while in a trance at the temple is that his mission would be to the Gentiles. We take it for granted that the Gentiles are fully included; at the outset, however, it took special revelation (as well as many years of evidence, controversy, setbacks, and perseverance) to reach that point.

Paul never forgot his former role as persecutor of the church (Gal. 1:13–14; Phil. 3:6; 1 Tim. 1:13). He viewed himself as an unworthy latecomer, the least of all the apostles, “because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:9). In the early days he was, understandably, concerned with what Christians would think of him. The former persecutor who wanted believers dead was now preaching the gospel (Gal. 1:23). He was also apparently aware of what his former Jewish colleagues would think of him. When the Lord warned him to leave Jerusalem because the Jews would not listen to him (Acts 22:18), Paul responded in a way that sounded like he knew exactly why they would reject him: they would think him a hypocrite. Paul replied, in effect, “Of course they will reject me, and I will tell you why: I used to be one of them when I was hunting down your people, and I cheered on those who killed Stephen” (cf. 22:19–20).

Paul recounts these events especially because his former life played a providential role in his becoming the apostle to the Gentiles—and, subsequently, in his ending up in custody in Jerusalem. The Lord, like Paul, knew that Jerusalem and Israel generally were not Paul’s best field of mission in light of his former public life as a persecutor. So Paul went to the Gentiles instead (22:21). It is his ministry among and with Gentiles that has led to the accusations against him. Paul began by persecuting the church; after his conversion he became the apostle to the Gentiles, and largely because of his ministry among the Gentiles he is persecuted by the Jews. Paul tells his accusers plainly that not only did the Lord speak to him; the Lord is the one behind his ministry to the Gentiles.

Paul’s mention of his ministry to the Gentiles is more than the crowds can stand. Their verdict is clear: Paul must die (22:22). They work themselves into a frenzy, taking off their cloaks and throwing around dust. These are strange reactions to us but were expressions of lament, condemnation, and anger in that cultural context (22:23). The tribune seeks to defuse the crowd, but his primary goal is to get the truth out of Paul by beating him. Once again, however, Paul’s Roman citizenship saves the day (cf. 16:37–40). It is illegal to beat a Roman citizen without a trial and a judgment of guilt. The tribune and soldiers understand the consequences of unlawfully beating a Roman citizen, and so they back off.