Acts 21:40 So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language,
Acts 22:1--> saying, 22:1 “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” 2 AND WHEN THEY HEARD THAT HE SPOKE TO THEM IN THE HEBREW LANGUAGE, THEY KEPT ALL THE MORE SILENT. Then he said: 3 “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, 5 as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. 6 Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven 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 So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. 10 So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12 “Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, 13 came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. 14 Then he said, ‘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. 15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ 17 Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance 18 and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ 19 So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. 20 And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ 21 Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’”
Acts 22: Paul’s Chrisitian Testimony Enrages The Crowd
22 And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!” 23 Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him.
Paul’s testimony was a changed life- Acts 22:1-21. ”Upon a staircase leading from the temple stands a venerable apostle, chained between two soldiers. Around him is the Roman guard; beneath are scowling, bloodthirsty Jews; violent hands and feet join with raging tongues, so that a cloud of dust and garments thrown off obscure the sunlight. Why this uproar in such a place? Its sole cause is a recital of Christian experience. The witness is one well known to be competent and trustworthy--once Saul, breathing out threatenings and slaughter, now Paul, ready to die for that Master whom he had madly persecuted." (S. L. B. Spears)
They listened but would not hear him. “Paul's simple declaration of fact that he was called by the Lord by a direct revelation to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles threw the fanatical Jews into a perfect frenzy of fury.” (Kretzmann) ”Jews had taken messages from God to Gentiles many times in Israel's past (e.g, Jonah; the Pharisees, Matthew 23:15; et al.). That revelation could not have been what infuriated Paul's audience. What upset them was that Paul was approaching Gentiles directly about the Messiah without first introducing them to Judaism and its institutions. This was equivalent to placing Gentiles on the same footing before God as Jews, and this was the height of apostasy to the traditional Jewish mind.”(Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable) They saw Gentiles as dogs without Judaism. In fact, they were nothing without the Messiah.
Paul needed the torah of the Old Testament patriarch and prophets in making his case for Messiah to the Gentile nations. He needed the commandments of God and all of the precepts that would cause sinners to take refuge in Him of whom Moses and the prophets spoke. The Ten Commandments are a right moral code of all mankind. But he did not need the temple, nor the OT laws that offered lessons in ceremonial cleansing. For that, he offered his hearers Jesus- the end of the law for all who believe, who Himself saves and cleanses His people.
“On entering the Gudarigby Caverns, near the Murrumbidgee River, New South Wales, you will see large numbers of the great-leaved horseshoe bat. If you proceed with torches they will become so eager to escape from your light that they will annoy you exceedingly by flapping against your face in their eagerness to escape into a congenial darkness. How much they remind one of those ignorant bigots who, when the torch of truth is carried into the recesses of superstition, dash in wild exasperation against the enlightener, and do their utmost to seek intellectual gloom!"
(Scientific Illustrations)
“Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!” In the first wave of violence, Paul did not even have a chance to speak. Now he is allowed to speak, but their minds are closed. ”Let a man run counter to prevailing prejudices, and he is condemned unheard (not allowed to support his beliefs); and no vindication, however clear and cogent; is allowed to remove the prejudice... Let it be remembered that Paul’s attitude was not antagonistic to Judaism; he had simply advanced Christianity beyond the Judaic province." (J. W. Burn) They had the shadows; Paul had the substance— the risen and living Jesus.
25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.” 27 Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said, “Yes.” 28 The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
Paul is here commanded to be scourged and then examined. "This is hysteron proteron, justice turned topsy-turvy." (Trapp)
Yes, we must be willing to suffer and die for Jesus’ sake, but this does not mean that we do not defend ourselves. Before Paul put forth his religion, here his Roman citizenship, along with it's rights.
29 Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
Acts 22: Sadducees' Enmity Against Biblical Authority
30 The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.
The Roman chief captain was afraid because he had bound Paul— a natural-born Roman citizen. So: “The next day he looses him and brings him before the council, or Sanhedrim, of the Jews...." (Darby’s Synopsis)— the supreme judicial council of Judaism. "The history of the Sanhedrin is difficult to reconstruct. Jewish tradition recorded in the Mishnah views it as originating with Moses and his council of 70..." (Tyndale Bible Dictionary) He desired to know from the Jewish elders what their charge was against Paul.