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Paul Addresses the Crowd
At the end of our last study (chapter 21), Paul’s audience wanted to kill him thinking that he had profaned the temple by taking a gentile into the inner court of the temple. Once Paul was in Roman custody and requesting permission to speak, he spoke in Aramaic rather than Greek. As soon as they heard their native tongue they were surprised and their shouts ceased, at least for the time being. Paul would defend himself in three parts: (a) his conduct before his conversion, (b) his conversion, and (c) his commission to minister. The vocatives Men, Brethren, and fathers with which Paul began his speech are those Stephen used (7:2). Paul began with his roots as a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia; his education was at the feet of the great rabbi (teacher) Gamaliel, and his instructions in Judaism. He gave special emphasis to his zeal as a Jew. Paul related how he had persecuted the Christian faith (this way), filling the prisons with those who believed in Jesus.
The high priest and the Sanhedrin could bear witness to the thoroughness of his methods. It was from them that he received letters authorizing him to go to Damascus and bring back Christians from there to Jerusalem to be punished. Up to this point in Paul’s message the Jews could understand perfectly, and if they were honest, they would have to agree that what had been said was true. Now Paul will tell them of an event that changed his life forever. As Paul neared the end of his journey to Damascus he was confronted with a great light from heaven. The fact that it happened about noon, here recorded for the first time, indicates that the light was more brilliant and glorious than the sun itself. Struck to the ground by the intensity of the light, the persecutor heard a voice from heaven saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me”? Upon asking “who art thou” he learned that it was Jesus of Nazareth who was speaking to him from heaven.
The men traveling with Paul saw the light and heard the sound of the voice (9:7), but they did not hear the actual words that were spoken to Paul. In other words they were conscious of noise, but not articulate speech. Having had this private audience with the Lord of glory, Paul made a complete commitment of his spirit, soul, and body to the Lord. This is indicated by his question “what shall I do Lord”. The Lord directed Paul to go into Damascus and there he would receive his instructions. Blinded by the light, he was led by the hand into the city.
In Damascus Paul was visited by one named Ananias. Paul describes him to his Jewish audience as a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there in Damascus. Ananias testimony as a respected member of the Damascus Jewish community would carry a lot of weight with the hostile audience. Ananias after addressing Paul as brother demanded that he receive his sight. It was then Paul first looked upon Ananias face. In verses 14-16 we learn for the first time what Ananias said to Paul. He informed Paul of several key points. First, he stated that it was God the Father who had ordered the events on the Damascus road. The reference to “that just one” is a reference to Jesus Christ, a title used by Stephen in Acts 7:52 also. This is important because it qualified Paul as an Apostle.
Second, the men to whom Paul was to present the gospel included Gentiles, kings and Jews (9:15). Finally, Paul was told to arise and be baptized, and wash away his sins. Now, for the first time, we learn of an experience Paul had toward the close of his first visit to Jerusalem after conversion. While praying in the temple, he fell into a trance and heard the Lord commanding him to leave Jerusalem quickly because the Jews would not receive his testimony concerning Christ. It seem incredible to Paul that his own people would refuse to listen to him. After all they knew what a zealous Jew he had been, how he had imprisoned and beaten the disciples of Jesus, and how he had even been an accomplice to the murder of Stephen. But the Lord repeated his command for Paul to depart quickly because now he will send him far from Jerusalem to the Gentiles.
Up to this point the Jews had been listening to Paul quietly but when his mention of going to the Gentiles with the gospel, this was too much for the crowd. Filled with rage and jealously they cried out for Paul’s life. The people in the mob threw off their cloaks and flung dust in the air an expression of intense anger. The commander who could not understand Aramaic was confused by everything that had just happened. He was determined to get to the bottom of this event even if it meant scourging Paul. As the preparations for the scourging were moving ahead, Paul quietly asked the centurion if it was legal to scourge a Roman citizen when he had not be found guilty of a crime. As a matter of fact, it was unlawful to even to tie up a Roman citizen before his quilt was proven.
The centurion quickly went and told the commander to be very careful of how they treated Paul, because he was a roman citizen. This brought the commander quickly to Paul side. On inquiry he learned that Paul indeed was a Roman citizen. There were three ways a person could become a Roman citizen. First, citizenship was sometimes granted by imperial decree as a reward for services rendered. Second, it was possible to become a citizen by birth, this was the case with Paul; he was born in Tarsus, a free Roman city and his father was a Roman citizen. Finally, it was possible to purchase citizenship often at a very high price. The commander explained that he brought his citizenship with a large sum of money. Paul stated he was born free.
The commander was obviously nervous for bounding Paul which was unlawful. Anxious to know for certain why the Jews wanted Paul dead, the commander decided to carry out the proceedings in a legal and orderly manner. Therefore on the day after the mob scene in Jerusalem, he had Paul taken out of prison and brought before the chief priests and the Sanhedrin.
Questions/Answers
Why was Paul baptized?
First, it is evident that Paul was thoroughly converted on the road to Damascus, yet at that time water baptism was still required for salvation (Mark 16:16) thus he was called upon to “wash away his sins” by water baptism, not that water in itself could wash away sins, but an expression of faith. When God said water baptism was necessary to salvation, faith would respond by being baptized (Acts 2:38). Water baptism is a natural symbol for washing or cleansing as this passage and many others indicate (Mark 7:1-5 where baptizo is twice rendered wash and where it is used alternately with nipto, another word for wash; also Heb. 9:10 where the original word is baptismos ). It should be observed here that Paul relates what took place at the time of his conversion. He was converted under the economy of the kingdom gospel where water baptism was required. When Ananias in chapter 9 came to Paul, why didn’t he tell Paul to believe, repent, and be baptized? Paul had talked with Jesus (9:1-19), he believed. Paul had three days to think about all that he had done (9:9), he was repentant. Ananias came and baptized Paul.
At the end of our last study (chapter 21), Paul’s audience wanted to kill him thinking that he had profaned the temple by taking a gentile into the inner court of the temple. Once Paul was in Roman custody and requesting permission to speak, he spoke in Aramaic rather than Greek. As soon as they heard their native tongue they were surprised and their shouts ceased, at least for the time being. Paul would defend himself in three parts: (a) his conduct before his conversion, (b) his conversion, and (c) his commission to minister. The vocatives Men, Brethren, and fathers with which Paul began his speech are those Stephen used (7:2). Paul began with his roots as a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia; his education was at the feet of the great rabbi (teacher) Gamaliel, and his instructions in Judaism. He gave special emphasis to his zeal as a Jew. Paul related how he had persecuted the Christian faith (this way), filling the prisons with those who believed in Jesus.
The high priest and the Sanhedrin could bear witness to the thoroughness of his methods. It was from them that he received letters authorizing him to go to Damascus and bring back Christians from there to Jerusalem to be punished. Up to this point in Paul’s message the Jews could understand perfectly, and if they were honest, they would have to agree that what had been said was true. Now Paul will tell them of an event that changed his life forever. As Paul neared the end of his journey to Damascus he was confronted with a great light from heaven. The fact that it happened about noon, here recorded for the first time, indicates that the light was more brilliant and glorious than the sun itself. Struck to the ground by the intensity of the light, the persecutor heard a voice from heaven saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me”? Upon asking “who art thou” he learned that it was Jesus of Nazareth who was speaking to him from heaven.
The men traveling with Paul saw the light and heard the sound of the voice (9:7), but they did not hear the actual words that were spoken to Paul. In other words they were conscious of noise, but not articulate speech. Having had this private audience with the Lord of glory, Paul made a complete commitment of his spirit, soul, and body to the Lord. This is indicated by his question “what shall I do Lord”. The Lord directed Paul to go into Damascus and there he would receive his instructions. Blinded by the light, he was led by the hand into the city.
In Damascus Paul was visited by one named Ananias. Paul describes him to his Jewish audience as a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there in Damascus. Ananias testimony as a respected member of the Damascus Jewish community would carry a lot of weight with the hostile audience. Ananias after addressing Paul as brother demanded that he receive his sight. It was then Paul first looked upon Ananias face. In verses 14-16 we learn for the first time what Ananias said to Paul. He informed Paul of several key points. First, he stated that it was God the Father who had ordered the events on the Damascus road. The reference to “that just one” is a reference to Jesus Christ, a title used by Stephen in Acts 7:52 also. This is important because it qualified Paul as an Apostle.
Second, the men to whom Paul was to present the gospel included Gentiles, kings and Jews (9:15). Finally, Paul was told to arise and be baptized, and wash away his sins. Now, for the first time, we learn of an experience Paul had toward the close of his first visit to Jerusalem after conversion. While praying in the temple, he fell into a trance and heard the Lord commanding him to leave Jerusalem quickly because the Jews would not receive his testimony concerning Christ. It seem incredible to Paul that his own people would refuse to listen to him. After all they knew what a zealous Jew he had been, how he had imprisoned and beaten the disciples of Jesus, and how he had even been an accomplice to the murder of Stephen. But the Lord repeated his command for Paul to depart quickly because now he will send him far from Jerusalem to the Gentiles.
Up to this point the Jews had been listening to Paul quietly but when his mention of going to the Gentiles with the gospel, this was too much for the crowd. Filled with rage and jealously they cried out for Paul’s life. The people in the mob threw off their cloaks and flung dust in the air an expression of intense anger. The commander who could not understand Aramaic was confused by everything that had just happened. He was determined to get to the bottom of this event even if it meant scourging Paul. As the preparations for the scourging were moving ahead, Paul quietly asked the centurion if it was legal to scourge a Roman citizen when he had not be found guilty of a crime. As a matter of fact, it was unlawful to even to tie up a Roman citizen before his quilt was proven.
The centurion quickly went and told the commander to be very careful of how they treated Paul, because he was a roman citizen. This brought the commander quickly to Paul side. On inquiry he learned that Paul indeed was a Roman citizen. There were three ways a person could become a Roman citizen. First, citizenship was sometimes granted by imperial decree as a reward for services rendered. Second, it was possible to become a citizen by birth, this was the case with Paul; he was born in Tarsus, a free Roman city and his father was a Roman citizen. Finally, it was possible to purchase citizenship often at a very high price. The commander explained that he brought his citizenship with a large sum of money. Paul stated he was born free.
The commander was obviously nervous for bounding Paul which was unlawful. Anxious to know for certain why the Jews wanted Paul dead, the commander decided to carry out the proceedings in a legal and orderly manner. Therefore on the day after the mob scene in Jerusalem, he had Paul taken out of prison and brought before the chief priests and the Sanhedrin.
Questions/Answers
Why was Paul baptized?
First, it is evident that Paul was thoroughly converted on the road to Damascus, yet at that time water baptism was still required for salvation (Mark 16:16) thus he was called upon to “wash away his sins” by water baptism, not that water in itself could wash away sins, but an expression of faith. When God said water baptism was necessary to salvation, faith would respond by being baptized (Acts 2:38). Water baptism is a natural symbol for washing or cleansing as this passage and many others indicate (Mark 7:1-5 where baptizo is twice rendered wash and where it is used alternately with nipto, another word for wash; also Heb. 9:10 where the original word is baptismos ). It should be observed here that Paul relates what took place at the time of his conversion. He was converted under the economy of the kingdom gospel where water baptism was required. When Ananias in chapter 9 came to Paul, why didn’t he tell Paul to believe, repent, and be baptized? Paul had talked with Jesus (9:1-19), he believed. Paul had three days to think about all that he had done (9:9), he was repentant. Ananias came and baptized Paul.
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