20  Paul’s Arrest  (Acts 21:27–22:29)

And when the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the multitude and laid hands on him, crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people, and the Law, and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. And all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together; and taking hold of Paul, they dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. And while they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. And at once he took along some soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. But among the crowd some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts on account of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. And when he got to the stairs, it so happened that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; for the multitude of the people kept following behind, crying out, “Away with him!” And as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying, “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.” And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you all are today. And I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished. And it came about that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And I answered, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ And those who were with me beheld the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go on into Damascus; and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. And a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’ And it came about when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in Thee. And when the blood of Thy witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the cloaks of those who were slaying him.’ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” And they listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!” And as they were crying out and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air, the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, stating that he should be examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. And when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” And when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” And the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” And the commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains. (21:27–22:29)

This passage marks a major transition in the life and ministry of the apostle Paul. Since his conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1ff.), he had ministered freely (except for brief imprisonments such as in Philippi [Acts 16:23ff.; cf. 2 Cor. 11:23]). But from this point on in Acts, Paul will be a prisoner.

This turn of events did not end the apostle’s ministry, however (cf. Acts 28:30–31; Phil. 1:12–13). No longer free to travel, he became an “ambassador in chains” (Eph. 6:20) for Jesus Christ. As a free man, he preached the gospel throughout the Roman world. As a prisoner, he preached the gospel to Roman officials—possibly including the emperor himself. And like John Bunyan, who wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress while in Bedford jail, Paul wrote four New Testament books (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) during his imprisonment at Rome.

During this incarceration, Paul gave six separate defenses of his actions: before the unruly mob at Jerusalem (21:27ff.), the Sanhedrin (22:30ff.), Felix (24:1ff.), Festus (25:1–12), Herod Agrippa (25:13ff.), and the Jews at Rome (28:17–28). Those masterful defenses ably answered the false charges leveled against him—a fact even the Roman authorities acknowledged (26:30–32). This passage, describing his first defense, unfolds in five scenes: the attack of the mob, the arrest by the Romans, the apology of Paul, the action by the people, and the attitude of Paul.

THE ATTACK OF THE MOB

And when the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the multitude and laid hands on him, crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people, and the Law, and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. And all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together; and taking hold of Paul, they dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. (21:27–30)

Paul, at the urging of James and the elders, had agreed to underwrite the expenses of four men who had taken a Nazirite vow (see chapter 19 of this volume). They hoped that doing so would silence those who falsely claimed he taught Jewish Christians to abandon Jewish customs (21:21). But since Paul had recently returned to Israel from Gentile lands, he needed to undergo ritual purification. Only then would he be ceremonially clean to participate with the four in the ceremony marking the end of their Nazirite vows.

The process of purification required Paul to visit the temple on the third and seventh days. On the latter visit, when the seven days were almost over, the apostle encountered some old enemies: Jews from the Roman province of Asia, in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. They were likely from Ephesus, since they recognized Trophimus, who was a resident of that city (v. 29). Since Paul had ministered in Ephesus for three years (Acts 20:31), they had no trouble recognizing him.

Upon seeing Paul in the temple, these enemies of the gospel wasted no time in seizing their opportunity. They immediately began to stir up all the vast multitude of devout pilgrims who were in the city for the festival. Having laid hands on Paul, his assailants began crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid!” Acting as though Paul had committed an act of blasphemy, they called for help in dealing with it. To stir up the crowd against Paul, they made three false accusations (cf. the similar false accusations made against Stephen in 6:11–14). They first accused him of being anti-Semitic, an enemy of the Jewish people and their religion, identifying him as the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people. That was the same false accusation that the Judaizers had used to poison the minds of the Jewish Christians against the apostle. But Paul was no enemy of Jews, as Romans 9:1–5 and 10:1 make clear. Paul nowhere taught Jewish believers to forsake their customs—merely that Gentiles not be pressured to observe them.

A second charge was that Paul opposed the Law. That was a particularly serious accusation in this setting, since the Jewish people were especially zealous for the law at Pentecost. Originally a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest, in Paul’s day Pentecost had come to be a celebration of the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Charging Paul at this time with teaching against the law was sure to infuriate the crowds.

Finally, the Jews falsely accused Paul of speaking against this place (the temple). Because the Jewish people revered the temple (the focal point of their worship), an accusation of blaspheming or defiling it was also a very serious matter. Jesus (Mark 14:57–58) and Stephen (Acts 6:13) were also falsely accused of speaking against the temple—accusations that helped lead to their deaths. Paul’s accusers undoubtedly hoped for a similar outcome in his case.

To substantiate these general accusations, Paul’s accusers came up with a specific one, crying out to the crowd “he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” Their “proof,” Luke notes, was that they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. That charge was absurd. While taking part in a purification rite, Paul would hardly defile the temple by bringing a Gentile into it. And to do so, Paul would have had to bring Trophimus past the court of the Gentiles, where Gentiles were permitted. But that would have cost Trophimus his life, since the Romans allowed the Jews to execute any Gentile who entered there—even Roman citizens (cf. Josephus Wars 6.2.4). An inscription, found in 1935, solemnly warns, “No Gentile shall enter within the partition and barrier surrounding the temple, and whoever is caught shall be responsible to himself for his subsequent death” (E. M. Blaiklock and R. K. Harrison, eds., The New International Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983], 389). Paul would never have so endangered his friend’s life. And if the Asian Jews had really seen Trophimus there, why had they not seized him then and executed him?

False or not, the accusations spread like wildfire. Soon all the city was aroused (cf. Matt. 21:10), and the people rushed together to the vicinity of the temple. Determined to appear as if they desired to protect that sacred place from further defilement, they seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. The temple guards shoved the frenzied mob outside (so Paul’s death would not defile the temple; cf. 2 Kings 11:15) and then closed the doors (between the Court of the Women and the Court of the Gentiles). Their religious zeal inflamed by the false accusations of the Asian Jews, the infuriated and irrational crowd began savagely beating Paul. Too impatient to drag him out of the city and stone him (as had been done with Stephen), they intended to beat the apostle to death on the spot. They would have succeeded, but God providentially intervened to protect His servant. Help arrived in the form of Roman soldiers.

THE ARREST BY THE ROMANS

And while they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. And at once he took along some soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. But among the crowd some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts on account of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. And when he got to the stairs, it so happened that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; for the multitude of the people kept following behind, crying out, “Away with him!” (21:31–36)

The headquarters of the Roman occupation forces was Fort Antonia, located on a precipice overlooking the temple grounds. From its towers sentries had a clear view of the temple area, where civil unrest in Jerusalem was most likely to break out. During major religious celebrations, such as Pentecost, the Romans were especially watchful. Thus, it did not take the alert sentries long to spot the riot breaking out below them. While the mob was seeking to kill Paul, a report came from the sentries to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. The commander (chiliarchos, from the Greek word for “one thousand”), or tribune, commanded the entire Roman cohort of one thousand men stationed at Fort Antonia. In Acts 23:26, Luke gives his name as Claudius Lysias. He was the ranking Roman official in Jerusalem when the governor (whose official residence was in Caesarea) was not in the city. Lysias was thus the Roman official most concerned with maintaining order in Jerusalem.

Having received the report that all Jerusalem was in confusion, Lysias acted quickly and decisively to quell the riot. At once he took along some soldiers and centurions, and ran down the steps leading from Fort Antonia to the Court of the Gentiles, where the enraged crowd was beating Paul. Luke’s use of the plural centurions suggests Lysias took two hundred soldiers or more, since a centurion commanded one hundred men. This massive show of force broke up the riot (and saved Paul’s life). When the crowd saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul, since they did not want to be arrested themselves.

Because Paul was evidently the cause of the disturbance and must have done something very serious to excite the Jews to such fury, Lysias took hold of (arrested) him. As verse 38 reveals, he assumed (incorrectly) that Paul was an Egyptian terrorist. Having arrested him, Lysias ordered him to be bound between two soldiers with two chains (cf. 12:6), thus fulfilling Agabus’s prophecy (21:10–11). Attempting to sort out the chaotic situation, Lysias then began asking who Paul was and what he had done. But in the confusion, with some among the crowd shouting one thing and some another (cf. 19:32), he could get no clear answer. Realizing that he could not find out the facts on account of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks. There he intended to question the apostle in private and, if necessary, use torture to extract a confession.

The soldiers began escorting Paul through the crowd, and when he got to the stairs, it so happened that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. The Romans had lifted Paul up and transported him above the mob to the stairs. Seeing their intended victim being carried to safety, the multitude of the people kept following behind Paul and the soldiers. In mindless, faceless fury, losing all sense of fear for Roman soldiers, the crowd pushed and shoved, trying desperately to get at him. All the while they kept crying out, “Away with him!”—that is, “kill him” (cf. Luke 23:18; John 19:15; Acts 22:22).

THE APOLOGY OF PAUL

And as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying, “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.” And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you all are today. And I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished. And it came about that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And I answered, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ And those who were with me beheld the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go on into Damascus; and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. And a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’ And it came about when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in Thee. And when the blood of Thy witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the cloaks of those who were slaying him.’ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” (21:37–22:21)

Up to this point in his ordeal, Paul had remained silent. But reaching the top of the stairs, as he was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” Shocked by the language Paul spoke, Lysias asked him incredulously, “Do you know Greek?” Greek was the language of cultured, educated men, not common criminals such as he assumed Paul to be. Lysias’s next question revealed his wrong assumption of who his prisoner was: “Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” The question assumes a positive answer. Since Paul spoke Greek, he was probably not a local troublemaker, as Palestinians generally spoke Aramaic. Greek, however, was commonly spoken in Egypt, hence Lysias’s assumption. The Egyptian was a false prophet who some years earlier led a group of his followers to the Mount of Olives. He proclaimed that the walls of Jerusalem would fall at his command and that the Romans would be driven out. Before that prophecy could come to pass, however, Roman troops led by Governor Felix arrived on the scene. They attacked the Egyptian and his followers and routed them. Several hundred were killed or captured and the rest (including the Egyptian) vanished. Josephus, who also records this incident, gives the number of the Egyptian’s followers as 30,000, instead of the four thousand Luke mentions. Josephus, however, tends to exaggerate numbers. Some commentators have argued that Josephus’s figure reflects the total number of the Egyptian’s followers, whereas Luke gives only the number of fighting men. Still others have suggested a scribal error in the manuscripts of Josephus’s writings to account for the discrepancy. They note the similarity in the Greek capital letters (which are used to represent numbers D (four) and L (thirty). In any case, it must be remembered that Luke was divinely inspired; Josephus was not.

Lysias described the Egyptian’s followers as Assassins. The Assassins were a terrorist group that emerged during Felix’s term as governor. Their strong Jewish nationalism made them bitter enemies of both the Romans and Jewish collaborators. The latter were the Assassins’ primary targets. (Sikariōn [Assassins] derives from the Latin word sica [dagger].) Mingling with the crowds, they stabbed their victims. They would then either melt away into the crowd or brazenly join the mourners to escape detection. The Assassins were especially active during the Jewish festivals, such as Pentecost. Lysias no doubt assumed the crowd had caught one of them (maybe even the Egyptian himself) in the act of murder.

But Paul, of course, was neither an Egyptian nor an Assassin. He identified himself to Lysias as a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. As a Jew, he had every right to have been where he was in the temple. Withholding for the moment the fact of his Roman citizenship, Paul declared himself to be a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia. Tarsus, as Paul notes, was not an insignificant city but rather a cultural center with a university rivaling those of Athens and Alexandria. Being a citizen of Tarsus explained the apostle’s knowledge of Greek.

Having identified himself to Lysias, Paul courageously requested permission to speak to the people. Although battered, bruised, and in chains, the apostle did not think of his own safety and comfort. Instead, his passionate desire to see his countrymen saved (Rom. 10:1) drove him to seize the opportunity to recount his conversion to the crowd.

Hoping to calm the explosive situation and discover what had triggered it, Lysias consented. When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand to quiet down and let him speak (cf. Acts 12:17; 13:16; 19:33). A great hush came over the unruly crowd, and then Paul spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect (Aramaic).

Paul’s apology, or speech in defense of himself, is biographical. He defended both his motives (he was not anti-Jewish) and his actions (he acted only in submission to God). It was a strange place for Paul to preach—standing on the steps, surrounded by Roman soldiers, before the mob who sought his death. He began to address the crowd with courteous, conciliatory words reminiscent of Stephen (Acts 7:2): “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.” Recognizing that he was addressing them in their own Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet. Paul then told them of his dramatic conversion, as he went from Christianity’s most violent persecutor to its greatest missionary. As in the other four New Testament accounts of his conversion (Acts 9, 26; Phil. 3; 1 Tim. 1), the emphasis is on God’s power and sovereign grace, not Paul’s achievements.

Paul’s testimony may be divided into three sections: his conduct before his conversion, the circumstances of his conversion, and his commission after his conversion.

PAUL’S CONDUCT BEFORE HIS CONVERSION

and he said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you all are today. And I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished. (22:2d–5)

Paul began by refuting the spurious charge that he opposed the Jewish people (cf. 21:28), declaring emphatically, “I am a Jew!” Far from being anti- Jewish, the apostle had unimpeachable Jewish credentials. Although born among the Hellenistic Jews of the Diaspora in Tarsus of Cilicia, Paul had been brought up in this city (Jerusalem). Further, he was educated under Gamaliel—the most revered rabbi of that time and one of the greatest of all antiquity (for further information on Gamaliel, see Acts 1–12, MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1994], 172). As a student of Gamaliel, Paul was educated strictly according to the law of our fathers. He had been carefully and thoroughly instructed in the Old Testament law and the rabbinic traditions, and he was once a Pharisee who was blameless under the law (cf. Phil. 3:5–6). Considering that, the charge that he opposed the law (21:28) was ridiculous. His personal conviction was that the law was “holy … and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12).

Nor was Paul’s training a mere academic exercise. He was, he declared to the crowd, zealous for God, just as you all are today (cf. Rom. 10:2). Generously crediting to them the best of motives for their violent attack on him, Paul attributed it to zeal for God. But his zeal had far surpassed theirs, for because of it Paul had persecuted this Way (Christianity cf. Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22) to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons. He had been the Christians’ most-feared persecutor from Stephen’s martyrdom until his conversion. His reputation as a persecutor of Christians was well known, as Paul acknowledged when he reminded the Galatians, “You have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it” (Gal. 1:13).

If any still doubted his zeal for God, Paul could call on the high priest and all the Council of the elders (the Sanhedrin) to testify for him. It was from them that he had received letters to the brethren (non-Christian Jews), and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished. Such was Paul’s zeal that the highest Jewish authorities chose him for the mission of arresting and extraditing the Christians, even as far away as Damascus.

Paul’s conduct before his conversion refuted the false allegations against him. Far from being an enemy of his people, he had been “advancing in Judaism beyond many of [his] contemporaries among [his] countrymen, being more extremely zealous for [his] ancestral traditions” (Gal. 1:14). No one could legitimately question his regard for God and His law.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF PAUL’S CONVERSION

And it came about that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And I answered, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ And those who were with me beheld the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go on into Damascus; and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. And a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’ (22:6–16)

Having shown the absurdity of the charge that he was motivated by enmity toward the Jewish people, Paul then defended his actions. The God of Israel had sovereignly, powerfully intervened in his life and turned him from being Christianity’s foremost persecutor to being its foremost proponent. Paul had acted in submission to Him.

The account of Paul’s dramatic conversion appears three times in Acts (cf. 9:1ff.; 26:4–18), thus stressing its significance. Indeed, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus was a major turning point in both church and world history. As the crowd listened intently, Paul recounted the events of that remarkable day on the road to Damascus.

On a mission to extradite Christians back to Jerusalem for punishment (v. 5), Paul was approaching Damascus about noontime. The time of day, absent from the account in chapter 9, stresses how very bright the light was that suddenly flashed from heaven all around Paul and his companions. The blazing glory of the glorified, exalted Jesus Christ far outshone even the brilliant midday sun (26:13). Speechless with terror, Paul fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Lying prostrate, stunned and blinded, Paul could only stammer out, “Who art Thou, Lord?” The Lord’s reply, “I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting,” shocked and horrified him. Instantly Paul knew how terribly wrong he had been. The One whom he had despised and rejected as a charlatan, a blasphemer, and a false Messiah was in fact the Lord of glory. That Jesus the Nazarene had spoken to Paul from heaven was also disturbing news for the crowd to hear, since they, too, had despised and rejected Him. Perhaps some of the ones who cried out concerning Paul, “Away with him!” (21:36) had many years earlier raised that same cry against Jesus (cf. Luke 23:18; John 19:15).

Knowing that some in the crowd would question whether the Lord had really appeared to him, Paul introduced corroborating witnesses. Those who were with him on the road, he noted, beheld the light, to be sure. Momentarily stunned by its brilliance, they fell to the ground in terror with Paul (26:14) but unlike him were then able to stand up (9:7). Unable to understand the voice of the One who was speaking, they stood by speechless with fear while Jesus addressed his message singularly to Paul. Although some have imagined a contradiction between verse 9 and 9:7, this is not true. Because Jesus’ message was only for Paul, he alone understood the words; his companions merely heard the sound (cf. John 12:29). Similarly, although his co-persecutors saw the light (v. 9), only Paul discerned the Person of Jesus Christ (9:7; cf. 9:17, 27; 22:14; 26:16; 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:8). Nevertheless, Paul’s traveling companions on that fateful day could testify to the objective reality of what had happened. They saw the blinding light and heard the sound of Jesus’ voice speaking to Paul. Paul’s experience, therefore, could not be dismissed as either a subjective delusion or a lie.

Overwhelmed by the glorious confrontation by the Lord Jesus, the proud Pharisee could only humbly ask, “What shall I do, Lord?” In reply the Lord said to him, “Arise and go on into Damascus.” Paul was to continue his journey to Damascus, but now as the Lord’s servant, not His adversary. Upon arriving there he would be told of all that God had appointed for him to do. He was, as the Lord informed Ananias, “a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (9:15).

And so, since he could not see because of the brightness of that light, he was led by the hand by those who were with him, and came into Damascus. Paul finally reached his destination but under circumstances he could hardly have imagined when he started his journey. In Damascus, he met a certain Ananias, whom the Lord had sent to him (9:11–12). Though Ananias was one of the leading Christians in Damascus, Paul described him to his hostile Jewish audience as a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there. Identified as a Christian, Ananias’s testimony would have been suspect to them; identified as a devout member of the Jewish community, it offered further corroboration of Paul’s story.

Ananias came (reluctantly, cf. 9:13–14) to Paul, and standing near said to him, “Brother Saul, receive your sight!” He declared that God had miraculously given him back his sight, and at that very time Paul looked up at him. He told Paul what God had said to him in his vision (9:15): “The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.”

Ananias’s declaration “the God of our fathers has appointed you” stresses the biblical truth that God is sovereign in salvation. “No one can come to Me,” declared Jesus, “unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44; cf. Mark 13:20; Eph. 1:4; Col. 3:12; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1–2). The Lord also sovereignly chooses those who serve Him (Luke 6:13; John 13:18; 15:16, 19; Acts 1:2). He chose Paul to know His will, to see the Righteous One (a messianic title, Isa. 53:11; Acts 3:14; 7:52), to hear an utterance from His mouth (leading to Paul’s salvation), and to be a witness for Him to all men of what he had seen and heard. The dramatic conversion of Saul of Tarsus is compelling testimony to the sovereign purposes of God.

But the sovereign purpose of God in choosing individuals does not relieve them of their responsibility to respond properly. Therefore Ananias exhorted Paul: “And now why do you delay? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.” Some have mistakenly sought support for baptismal regeneration (the false teaching that baptism is required for salvation) in this verse. Although baptism is an act of obedience required of all Christians, it does not save. Paul understood that clearly. To the Romans he wrote:

Paul preached that salvation came from belief in the heart (cf. Acts 16:31; Rom. 3:28) and public confession of that faith (cf. Matt. 10:32; Rom. 10:13). Obviously, he did not understand Ananias’s words to mean that baptism saves.

Acts 10:44–48 clearly reveals the relationship of baptism to salvation. It was only after Cornelius and his friends had received the Holy Spirit (giving evidence that they were saved) that Peter ordered them baptized (10:47). Baptism thus follows salvation and does not cause it. (For further discussion of baptismal regeneration, see MacArthur, Acts 1–12, 73–75).

Ananias’s words in verse 16, when properly understood, are in full agreement with the New Testament teaching that salvation is by faith alone. The phrase wash away your sins must be connected with calling on His name, since connecting it with be baptized leaves the participle epikalesamenos (calling) without an antecedent. Paul’s sins were washed away not by baptism but by calling on the name of the Lord (cf. Rom. 10:13). A literal translation of the verse says, “Arise, get yourself baptized and your sins washed away, having called on His name.” Both imperatives reflect the reality that Paul had already called on the Lord’s name, which is the act that saves. Baptism and the washing away of sins follow.

By relating the circumstances of his conversion, Paul turned the tables on his adversaries. He had acted only in submission to God; therefore indicting him was tantamount to indicting God. His continued testimony reinforced that point.

PAUL’S COMMISSION AFTER HIS CONVERSION

And it came about when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, and I saw Him saying to me, “Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.” And I said, “Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in Thee. And when the blood of Thy witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the cloaks of those who were slaying him.” And He said to me, “Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” (22:17–21)

After his conversion and a brief period of ministry at Damascus (9:20–25), Paul spent three years in Nabataean Arabia (Gal. 1:17–18). Having returned to Jerusalem, Paul was praying in the temple. Here was further evidence that he had not rejected his Jewish heritage, as his accusers falsely insisted. While in the temple, Paul fell into a trance. Ekstasis (trance) describes the unique apostolic experience of being transported beyond the normal senses to the supernatural realm to receive divine revelation. The word is twice used to describe Peter’s vision at Joppa (Acts 10:10; 11:5).

In his trance, Paul saw the Lord and heard Him saying, “Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.” Since his arrival in the city, Paul had fearlessly proclaimed the faith he had once tried to destroy (9:28–29). His shocking turnabout, from Christian persecutor to Christian preacher, outraged the unbelieving Jews, who deemed him an apostate and blasphemer. Learning of a plot to kill him, the Christians hustled Paul out of Jerusalem and sent him home to Tarsus (9:30). Evidently it took this word from the risen, glorified Christ to persuade Paul to leave. Even then, he did not go willingly, protesting, “Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in Thee. And when the blood of Thy witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the cloaks of those who were slaying him.” Paul wrongly believed that seeing the radical transformation the Lord had wrought in his life would convince the unbelieving Jews of the truth of the gospel. The Lord knew better, however, and repeated His command for Paul to leave, saying to him, “Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” The Lord now makes clear what was hinted at in the words of Ananias—that Paul would be a “witness for Him to all men” (22:15; cf. 9:15)—commissioning him as the apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul’s conversion and commission were both unmistakably sovereign acts of God. By making those acts the focus of his defense to the crowd, the apostle put the crowd on the defensive. Since he had merely acted in obedience to divine confrontation and communication from God, how could they question, let alone condemn him?

THE ACTION BY THE PEOPLE

And they listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!” And as they were crying out and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air, (22:22–23)

Members of the crowd had listened to Paul up to his statement that God had sent him to minister to the Gentiles. But that was the end of their interest, since they could not tolerate the suggestion that Gentiles could be saved without first becoming Jewish proselytes. That would make them spiritually equal to the Jewish people before God—the most blatant heresy imaginable to the crowd.

Their fury at Paul reignited: they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!” Anyone who dared place Gentiles on an equal footing with Jews in God’s saving purpose should not be allowed to pollute the earth with his presence. Overcome with rage, they were crying out and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air. The Jews may have removed their cloaks in preparation to stone Paul, torn them in an expression of horror at his “blasphemy,” or thrown them and the dust into the air as an expression of outrage. In any case, racial prejudice had pushed their passions further beyond the bounds of reason. They stopped Paul before he could defend himself against the charge that had sparked the riot in the first place—that he had brought a Gentile into the inner court of the temple (21:28).

THE ATTITUDE OF PAUL

the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, stating that he should be examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. And when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” And when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” And the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” And the commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains. (22:24–29)

Since the riot was breaking out afresh and he was no nearer to understanding its cause, the commander again ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks (cf. 21:34). He made clear what his next step in resolving the situation would be, stating that Paul should be examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. Scourging by the Roman flagellum (a wooden handle to which were attached leather thongs tipped with bits of metal and bone) was a fearful ordeal from which men frequently died (from loss of blood or infection). Jesus endured it before His crucifixion (John 19:1). Such a beating would have surpassed anything Paul had previously experienced. In preparation, the guards stretched him out with thongs to make his body taut and magnify the effects of the flagellation.

Fortunately, Roman citizens were exempted from such brutal methods by the Valerian and Porcian laws (F.F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971], 445 n. 34). Therefore Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” As he had in the face of the crowd’s hostility, Paul remained calm. He did not hurl invectives at the Romans but quietly informed them of the terrible injustice (and violation of his rights as a Roman citizen) they were about to do.

When the centurion supervising Paul’s beating heard the apostle’s claim to Roman citizenship, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” To subject a Roman citizen to the flagellum could have destroyed Lysias’s military career or even cost him his life.

Gravely concerned, he came and said to Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” Claims to Roman citizenship were generally accepted at face value, since the penalty for making a false claim was death. Lysias’s remark about his own citizenship and its value, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money,” may indicate his relief at not having thrown it away by beating Paul. Or he may have been expressing sarcasm, lamenting that Roman citizenship had been greatly devalued if someone like Paul could obtain it. Roman citizenship was officially not for sale. However, particularly in the reign of Emperor Claudius (whose name Lysias may have taken when he acquired his citizenship), it could be obtained by bribing corrupt officials. Paul’s devastating reply came with quiet dignity, “But I was actually born a citizen.” Unlike Lysias, Paul had not obtained his citizenship by bribery but by birth. Lysias, again, had badly misjudged his prisoner.

The discovery that Paul was a Roman citizen brought an immediate halt to the proceedings. Those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains. Alarmed at how close he had come to scourging a Roman citizen, Lysias immediately ordered his subordinates to release Paul. He was also afraid because he was guilty of putting a Roman citizen in chains without a preliminary hearing (which was also illegal). By now thoroughly perplexed, he decided to bring Paul before the Jewish judges, the Sanhedrin (v. 30).

Paul’s conduct throughout his ordeal provides an example for all believers of how to give a positive testimony in negative circumstances. Several principles can be noted.

First, Paul accepted the situation as God ordained it. Facing persecution never caused him to be unfaithful to God’s plan. He had known for some time that he faced arrest when he arrived at Jerusalem (20:22–23; 21:4, 10–13). He calmly accepted that as God’s will, telling those trying to dissuade him from going to Jerusalem, “I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (21:13).

Second, Paul used his circumstances as an opportunity. The crowd had not gathered to hear him preach but to beat and kill him. Paul, however, used that occasion to proclaim to them how God’s saving power had transformed his life.

Third, Paul was conciliatory toward his persecutors. He did not threaten the hostile crowd or seek revenge. Instead, he courteously addressed them as “brethren and fathers” (22:1) and even assigned to their vicious beating of him the noble motive of zeal for God. Paul practiced the command he had earlier given to the Roman Christians: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not” (Rom. 12:14). He was like his Lord Jesus, who “being reviled … did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet. 2:23).

Fourth, Paul exalted the Lord. His defense to the crowd focused not on his impressive credentials and achievements but on what God had accomplished in his life. That was consistent with his words to the Corinthians: “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:31). Exalting the Lord also served to exonerate Paul and put the crowd in the position of opposing God.

Finally, and most important, Paul maintained the proper attitude—one of selfless love. It was his love for other believers that brought him to Jerusalem (to deliver the offering). It was his love for his weaker brethren and desire for unity in the church that brought him to the temple. It was his love for his unsaved countrymen (cf. Rom. 9:1–3) that led him to evangelize the hostile crowd. And it was his love for God that motivated his love for people and caused him to give glory to Him.

Believers who practice these principles will, like Paul, be able to give a positive testimony in the most negative of circumstances.