Acts 21:27-22:29
English Standard
Version (ESV)
Paul Arrested in the Temple
27 When (A)the seven days were almost
completed, (B)the Jews from Asia, (C)seeing him in the temple, stirred
up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying
out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who (D)is teaching everyone everywhere
against the people and (E)the law and (F)this place. Moreover, he even
brought Greeks into the temple and (G)has defiled (H)this holy place.” 29 For
they had previously seen (I)Trophimus the Ephesian with him in
the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then
all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and (J)dragged him out of the temple, and
at once the gates were shut. 31 (K)And as they were seeking to kill
him, word came to the tribune of (L)the cohort that all Jerusalem was
in confusion. 32 (M)He at once took soldiers and
centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the
soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the
tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him (N)to be bound (O)with two chains. He inquired who he
was and what he had done. 34 (P)Some in the crowd were shouting one
thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar,
he ordered him to be brought into (Q)the barracks. 35 And
when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of
the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mob of the
people followed, crying out, (R)“Away with him!”
Paul Speaks to the People
37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the
tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Are
you not (S)the Egyptian, then, who recently
stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out (T)into the wilderness?” 39 Paul
replied, (U)“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in
Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the
people.” 40 And when he had given him permission,
Paul, standing on the steps, (V)motioned with his hand to the
people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in (W)the Hebrew language,[a] saying:
22 (X)“Brothers
and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in (Y)the Hebrew language,[b] they became even more quiet.
And he said:
3 (Z)“I
am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated (AA)at the feet of (AB)Gamaliel[c](AC)according to the strict manner of
the law of our fathers, (AD)being zealous for God (AE)as all of you are this day.4 (AF)I persecuted (AG)this Way (AH)to the death, binding and
delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as (AI)the high priest and (AJ)the whole council of elders can
bear me witness. From them I received letters to (AK)the brothers, and I journeyed
toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to
Jerusalem to be punished.
6 (AL)“As
I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven
suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the
ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting me?’8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
And he said to me, ‘I am (AM)Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are
persecuting.’ 9 (AN)Now those who were with me saw the
light but did not understand[d] the voice of the one who was
speaking to me. 10 And I said, (AO)‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the
Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told
all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And 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.
12 “And (AP)one Ananias, a devout man (AQ)according to the law, (AR)well spoken of by all the Jews who
lived there,13 (AS)came to me, and standing by me
said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And (AT)at that very hour I received my
sight and saw him. 14 And he said, (AU)‘The God of our fathers (AV)appointed you to know his will, (AW)to see (AX)the Righteous One and (AY)to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for (AZ)you will be a witness for him to
everyone of what (BA)you have seen and heard. 16 And
now why do you wait? (BB)Rise and be baptized and (BC)wash away your sins, (BD)calling on his name.’
17 (BE)“When
I had returned to Jerusalem and (BF)was praying in the temple, I fell
into (BG)a trance 18 and
saw him saying to me, (BH)‘Make haste and get out of
Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And
I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another (BI)I imprisoned and (BJ)beat those who believed in you. 20 And
when the blood of Stephen (BK)your witness was being shed, (BL)I myself was standing by and (BM)approving and (BN)watching over the garments of
those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me,‘Go,
for I will send you (BO)far away to the Gentiles.’”
Paul and the Roman Tribune
22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their
voices and said, (BP)“Away with such a fellow from the
earth! For (BQ)he should not be allowed to live.” 23 And
as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the
air, 24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into (BR)the barracks, saying that he
should be(BS)examined by flogging, to find out
why they were shouting against him like this. 25 But
when they had stretched him out for the whips,[e] Paul said to the centurion
who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog (BT)a man who is a Roman citizen and
uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he
went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is
a Roman citizen.” 27 So the tribune came and said
to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The
tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But
I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were
about (BU)to examine him withdrew from him
immediately, and the tribune also (BV)was afraid, (BW)for he realized that Paul was a
Roman citizen and that (BX)he had bound him.
There is a lot of
scripture to read today but I could not break any of this up! Simply said, Paul was faithful and gave his
testimony to people who wanted him dead.
The Lord had warned him that the people would not listen but he still
insisted that he must share with them.
To look at Paul’s
life and the radical change he made after the Lord had spoken to him is a
testimony that you would think people would really listen to. However, these people had hardened hearts and
there was nothing anyone could say or do to change them. God had closed their eyes to the truth. Yet these words have inspired many to believe
and to live a life worthy of the calling of Christ Jesus for many ages.
Do you ever
encounter people like the Jews who simply refuse to believe and put their trust
in God? They would rather ridicule, put down, mock, those who do believe. They are closed to the Gospel of Christ. They may not try to take your life but they
certainly don’t want to have any part of your life. I have a tendency to just shy away from them
but Paul plowed forward. Whether they
wanted to hear it or not, they were going to hear how the Christ changed his
life forever. He had no fear of
death. He had no ties to this world, he
simply wanted to share the Gospel with those that he held close to his heart. He wanted to right a wrong that he had committed
as a zealous Jew.
He used his
citizenship to keep him alive and from being beaten. He had political clout, you might say. He used his native tongue to share with those
he once fellowshipped with and they became quiet while he spoke. He used whatever means that God had given him
to share the Gospel. There is no doubt
that they heard the words that he had spoken.
Yet they still rejected the Lord.
We need to examine ourselves
and decide, are we using every means we have to share the Gospel of Jesus
Christ or are we using excuses not to?
Ponder that today as you seek Him with all your heart.
Seeking Him with
all my heart,
Sheila
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