This is week 7 of the series “Bound and Determined! – Paul’s Farewell Tour”
Introduction
Last week we saw another surprising response to the mob by Paul that had tried to kill him. This week, we will see the mob’s response to Paul’s response.
21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
Paul the Roman Citizen
22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”
23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”
26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”
27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes, I am,” he answered.
28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29 Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.
Paul Before the Sanhedrin
30 The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.
23 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” 2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”
4 Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!”
5 Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”
6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)
9 There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.
11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
Last week’s message concluded with 21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” While this seems to be an insignificant statement by Paul; what immediately follows shows that it had a tremendous impact on his Jewish audience as evidenced by: “The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” This was followed by the crowd shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air as a continued response to Paul mentioning that his ministry included Gentiles! That word sent the crowd over the edge!
The Roman commander took over once again, but this time he wanted to find out why the people were in such an uproar. Read Acts 22:24-30
As we have just read, the Roman commander had no right to have Paul flogged because of his Roman citizenship which included the following rights: voting, serving in the army, a legal trial, property ownership, exemption from some taxes, bringing lawsuits and capital punishment excluded be crucified on a cross.
Note: Roman citizenship was granted in two ways – one was paying (usually a bribe – doing something special for the Roman officials) for it and the other was being born a citizen which meant both parents had to be Roman citizens. As Paul noted, his citizenship was based on his parents.
So the commander came at the question of why the people were in such an uproar by releasing Paul to the Sanhedrin (The 70 member plus the high priest Jewish high [supreme] court body) and having them do the interrogation in his place.
Things do not go well for Paul. He was struck in the mouth. “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” 2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.”
Paul then switches from gospel presentation to self-preservation.
3 “Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”
4 Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!”
5 Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”
6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)”
See https://www.gotquestions.org/Sadducees-Pharisees.html for more information about the Sadducees and Pharisees.
We end with Paul being taken back to the barracks. Next week, we will investigate the plot to kill Paul.
Concluding Remarks and Application
Think about this. Paul must have relished the opportunity to speak to his Jewish brethren about Jesus. Obviously, things did not go as he had hoped – Round 1 – He is beaten by them because they thought that he had brought a Gentile into the temple. Round 2 – Given the opportunity to speak to them again immediately after he was arrest did not go well when he dropped the bombshell word – Gentiles during his address to them. Round 3 – Yet another opportunity to actually go into the Temple and address the people with the most influence (The Sanhedrin) and once again that did not go well.
Suffice it to say, Paul’s expectations were not met although he had been warned numerous times that things would not go well once he reached Jerusalem.
Paul must have felt discouraged by these turn of events. However, verse 11 provided him with encouragement – “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
At times our expectations are not met. However, how many times have we found that God had a different expectation for us? Paul was a gifted and special person who was bound and determined to spread God’s message. And we also are gifted and special people who should be bound and determined to bring the Gospel message to those around us.
