Acts Chapter 22

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.

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Acts Chapter 5

This chapter recounts the tragic fall of Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11), the continued success and popularity of the Apostles’ mission (5:12-16), and the renewed opposition of the Sanhedrin with another arrest of the Apostles (5:17-32). The purpose of the Sanhedrin was to kill the Apostles, but this was prevented by the Rabbi Gamaliel and the beating of the twelve by the Jewish authorities (5:33-42).

Ananias and Sapphira wanted to look good before the other people (vs.1). They sold some land and kept back part of the money. They did not give it all to the church as they led the people to believe (vs.2). What was wrong here was that they lied. They wanted the Apostles and others in the church to think that they had given over all the money to them. The sin Ananias and Sapphira committed was not stinginess or holding back part of the money as they could have chosen whether or not to sell the land and how much to give. Their sin was lying to God and God’s people. Peter tells Ananias (vs.3) that the enemy has filled his heart. This act was judged harshly because dishonesty and covetousness are destructive in the church. God knows all things. We cannot lie to Him.

Peter’s rebuke of Ananias was administered in the Holy Spirit; and there is not the slightest hint that Peter struck Ananias dead, or even that God had told Peter that such a thing would occur. This was something God did independently of any of the Apostles. Peter probably was more surprise than any one. Fear spread among the church. The young men buried Ananias, but his wife did not know what had occurred. She came in three hours later. Peter asked her how much money they had from the sale of the land. In this way, Peter gave her a moment when she could have told the truth. Sadly, she repeated the lie her husband told. Sapphira was a knowing and willing participant in this scheme. God’s judgment was just as righteous for her as it was for him.

The community of believers knew it was a serious matter to be a follower of Christ. People were added to the Lord, not the church, not the pastor, nor any movement, but to the Lord Himself. The believers were so convinced of the power of the Apostles that they believed Peter’s shadow could heal them. It was not Peter’s shadow, but God’s power working through him. What did these miracles healing do for the early church? (1) They attracted new believers; (2) they confirmed the truth of the Apostles’ teachings; and (3) they demonstrated that the power of the Messiah, Who had been crucified and risen, and was now with His followers. The religious leaders were jealous as Peter and the Apostles were already commanding more respect than they had ever received. The difference, however, was that the religious leaders demanded respect and reverence for themselves while the Apostles’ goal was to bring respect and reverence for God.

The Jewish leaders did not like what they came to know about the church. They needed the honor which the people gave instead to the church and the Apostles. The Apostles were again arrested by the sect of Sadducees and again thrown in jail. The Apostles’ imprisonment did not last for long. The Apostles were supernaturally released from prison and were encouraged to continue witnessing to the people. The angel of the Lord gave them three commands: go, stand, and speak to the people in the temple. The Apostles filled with the Holy Spirit did as the angel commanded them; they went and preached in the temple to the people early in the morning. The temple at daybreak was a busy place. Many people stood at the temple to pray and worship at sunrise. When the people got there, the Apostles were already there. The Sanhedrin came together to discuss what to do with the Apostles and summoned them to be brought before the council. Not finding the Apostles in lockup, the council was informed of the Apostles where about, in the temple preaching. Peter and the Apostles where brought before the council quietly for fear of starting a riot. They feared the people but not God. The high priest was right (vs. 28). He had told them not to preach the good news. Yet the Apostles stated that they must obey God not men. The high priest did not want them to explain how they escaped from prison. He did not believe in angels anyway! The accusations by the Sanhedrin were a wonderful testimony to the effectiveness of the Apostles’ preaching. If the high priest believed the good news, then the blood of Jesus would cleanse him from his sins. God would forgive his guilt. If he did not believe, it is not the Apostles, but the Jewish leaders who would bring guilt upon themselves. They were rightly afraid that God will punish them for the death of Christ.

Peter once again reminded them that they crucified Christ the Messiah and hanged him from a tree. But God the Father raised Him from the dead to be a Prince and Savior and to be exalted to His right hand, to bring repentance to Israel, and the forgiveness of their sins. The Apostles proclamation was grounded in the fact that they had witnessed the things they spoke of. They did not speak as individuals, but their witness was empowered by the Holy Spirit, who spoke through them. The Holy Spirit was for all who obeyed God. In verse 33, Luke used a word to tell us how angry the Jewish leaders were. Luke said that it was as though someone had cut them through with a saw. The Apostles had a wonderful message of salvation yet they, the leaders, had a mind set to kill them.

The Sadducees could not just do what they liked. Gamaliel, a Pharisee and a teacher of the law spoke to the council without the Apostles being present. The council was not united and they did not want the Apostles to know this. In verses 36-37 Gamaliel used two examples of revolutionary movement that had amounted to nothing, so would this one. His reason is that (1) if this movement (CHRISTIANITY) was of a human origin it would be overthrown and come to nothing: (2) but if this was of God, then they would not be able to overthrow the movement, it would be acting against God himself. The Sanhedrin agreed with Gamaliel. To them it seemed important to agree with each other. They did not want the truth of the good news to divide them. Despite agreeing with Gamaliel, they had to get something out of all this. They had the Apostles beaten, believing that this might discourage them (How wrong they were). The Apostles left rejoicing. They were rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ. They were by no means discouraged for they continued their mission of preaching and teaching Christ, both publicly and in Christian homes.

Questions/Answers:
Who was Gamaliel?
Gamaliel was a prominent Jewish Rabbi, a Pharisees (teacher of the law). The Apostle Paul sat at his feet (anther term for being a student).

What is the good news?
The message and teaching of Jesus Christ

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