Acts Chapter 22: A Man Tells His Own Story

Paul stood on the stairs of the Antonia fortress, chained, bruised from the beating, looking out over the crowd that minutes earlier had been trying to kill him. He motioned with his hand. They went quiet. He spoke to them in Aramaic.

Brothers and fathers, hear my defense. The address is careful. Brothers — peers, fellow Jews. Fathers — those senior in age and standing. Respect without submission. He was not going to say what they wanted to hear. But he was going to say it as one of them, not as an outsider looking in.

The Credentials

I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for Yehovah as all of you are this day. He was not going to pretend he had come to this from outside. He had been exactly where they were. He had been more zealous than most of them. He had persecuted the Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of the elders could testify. He had received letters to the brothers in Damascus and was traveling there to bring those who were there bound to Jerusalem to be punished.

The high priest who had received him was almost certainly still alive. The letters were a matter of record. Every word was verifiable. He was building a foundation of credibility before he said the thing that would cost him everything.

The Damascus Road

He told them about the road to Damascus. The light brighter than the midday sun flashing around him. Falling to the ground. The voice: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who are you, Lord? I am Yeshua of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.

He told them about Ananias — a devout man according to the Torah, well-spoken of by all the Jews who lived in Damascus — coming to him and saying: the God of our fathers appointed you to know His will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from His mouth. He told them about the restoration of his sight, about Ananias’s instruction: rise and be immersed and wash away your sins, calling on His name.

Every detail was chosen. The God of our fathers — the same Yehovah they served. Ananias described as a devout Torah-observant Jew. The Righteous One — a title that pointed directly to Isaiah’s suffering servant, a title every person in that crowd had grown up reading. Paul was telling them the story in their own language and from within their own Scriptures. The crowd was listening.

The Word That Ended the Silence

He told them about returning to Jerusalem, about praying in the temple, about falling into a trance and seeing Yeshua saying to him: make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me. He had protested: Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed I myself was standing by and approving, watching over the garments of those who killed him. He had thought his history as a persecutor would give his testimony weight.

Yeshua’s answer was: go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.

That word. Gentiles. The crowd had been listening to everything — the credentials, the Damascus road, the vision in the temple. They had been quiet through all of it. The moment Paul said Gentiles they lifted their voices: away with such a fellow from the earth. He is not fit to live. They threw off their cloaks and were throwing dust into the air.

The word that broke the crowd’s silence is the same word that has provoked religious exclusivism in every generation. Yehovah sending salvation to the nations — not through Israel’s gate, not on Israel’s terms, not as a secondary category below the covenant people — has always been the hardest thing for religious insiders to accept. The crowd was not wrong that Paul had said something radical. They were wrong about what it meant.

The commander ordered him brought into the barracks and examined by flogging. As they stretched him out for the lashes Paul said to the centurion standing by: is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned? The centurion went to the commander immediately: what are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen. The commander came himself: are you a Roman citizen? Yes, Paul said. The commander said he had purchased that citizenship for a large sum. I was born one, Paul said.

The men who were about to examine him withdrew immediately. Even the commander was afraid because he had bound him and Paul was a Roman citizen. The next day he wanted to find out the real reason why the Jews were accusing him. He released Paul and ordered the chief priests and the whole council to assemble. He brought Paul down and set him before them.

Next: Acts Chapter 23 — The Night Yehovah Spoke