Acts 22

Acts 22:1

22:1, 2 In addressing the Jewish mob, the apostle wisely used Aramaic rather than Greek. As soon as they heard their mother tongue, they were pleasantly surprised, and their shouts subsided, at least for the moment. 22:3-5 Paul began with his roots as a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia; his education at the feet of the well-known Jewish teacher, Gamaliel; and his instruction in Judaism. He then gave special emphasis to his zeal as a Jew. He had persecuted the Christian faith, 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. 22:6-8 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 the apostle is going to tell them of an event which changed the entire direction of his life. It will be up to them to decide whether this event was of God. As Paul journeyed to Damascus … a great light from heaven shone around him. 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 at its height. 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 inquiry, he learned that it was Jesus of Nazareth who was speaking to him from heaven. The Nazarene had risen from the dead and was glorified above. 22:9 The men who traveled with him saw the light, and heard the sound of the voice (Act_9:7), but they did not hear the actual words that were spoken. In other words, they were conscious of noise, but not of articulate speech. 22:10, 11 Having had this private audience with the Lord of Life and Glory, Paul made a complete commitment of his spirit, soul, and body to the Savior. This is indicated by his question, What shall I do, Lord? The Lord Jesus directed him to go into Damascus, and there he would receive his instructions. Blinded by the light of Christ’s glory, he was led by the hand into the city. 22:12 In Damascus he was visited by 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. The testimony of such a man was important in corroborating the account of Paul’s conversion. 22:13 Addressing Paul as Brother Saul, Ananias commanded him to receive his sight. It was then that Paul first looked up at him. 22:14-16 In verses 14-16 we learn for the first time that Ananias said to Paul, The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.Several points of interest and importance should be noted in these verses. First, Ananias stated that it was the God of our fathers who had ordered the events on the road to Damascus. If the Jews were to oppose and resist what had happened, they were really fighting against God.

Second, Ananias told Paul that he would be a witness for the Lord to all men. This should have prepared the Jewish crowd for Paul’s announcement that he had been sent to the Gentiles. Finally, Paul was told to arise and be baptized, and wash away his sins. Verse 16 has been misused to teach baptismal regeneration. It is possible that the verse only applies to Paul as a Jew who needed to dissociate himself from his Christ-rejecting nation by water baptism (see comments on Act_2:38). A simpler solution, based on the grammatical construction of the original is as follows: Unlike the KJV, which punctuates as if there are four items in a row on the same level, the NKJV, following the original, pairs the first two items and the second two items. In the Greek there is a finite verb modified by a participle in each half of the verse. A literal rendering would be: Having arisen be baptized, and have your sins washed off (by) calling on the name of the Lord. This last clause is supported by general biblical teaching (cf. Joe_2:32; Act_2:21; Rom_10:13). 22:17-21 Now, for the first time, we learn of an experience Paul had toward the close of his first visit to Jerusalem after conversion. While he was praying in the temple, he fell into a trance and heard the Lord commanding him to get out of Jerusalem quickly, because the people would not receive his testimony concerning Christ. It seemed incredible to the apostle 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, Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.22:22, 23 Up to this point, the Jews had been listening to Paul quietly. But his mention of going to the Gentiles with the gospel aroused insane jealousy and hatred. Chanting furiously in wild disorder, they cried out for Paul’s life. 22:24, 25 When the commander saw them in their mad frenzy, he concluded that Paul must have been guilty of some very serious crime. Apparently he could not understand Paul’s message since it was given in Aramaic, so he determined to extract a confession from the apostle by torturing him. He therefore ordered his prisoner to be brought into the barracks and bound with thongs in order to be scourged. As these preparations for the scourging were moving ahead deliberately, Paul quietly asked the centurion if it was legal to scourge a Roman citizen when he was uncondemned. As a matter of fact, it was unlawful even to tie up a Roman citizen before his guilt had been proved! To scourge him was a very serious offense. 22:26 The centurion quickly went and told the commander to take care what he did to Paul, because this man was a Roman citizen. 22:27, 28 This brought the commander to Paul in a hurry. On inquiry, he learned that the apostle was indeed a Roman citizen. There were three ways to become a Roman in those days. First, citizenship was sometimes granted by imperial decree as a reward for services rendered, etc. Second, it was possible to become a Roman by birth. This was the case with Paul; he was born in Tarsus, a free city of the Roman Empire, and his father was a Roman citizen. Finally, it was possible to purchase citizenship, often at a very high price. Thus the commander had obtained his citizenship by paying a large sum. 22:29 Disclosure of Paul’s Roman citizenship cancelled all plans to scourge him, and caused fear among the authorities. 22:30 The commander was obviously anxious to know for certain why Paul had been accused by the Jews. At the same time he was determined 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.