Acts 22:1-30

(Acts 22:1-30)

Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.  (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)  I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.  And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.  And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, LORD? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.  And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.  And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,  Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.  And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.  For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.  And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.  And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;  And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:  And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.  And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.  And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?  When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.  Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.  And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.  Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.  On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.

 

The apostle Paul defended himself before the people of Jerusalem, before the Sanhedrin, before Felix and before Festus, Agrippa, and Caesar, the Roman emperor. And all he argued was the gospel of God's love. In chapter 22, where his first argument begins, Paul stands before the furious crowds of Jerusalem. It is reminiscent of the crowd who cried out to crucify Jesus. All the crowd in front of Paul hated and hated him. And he began to argue before such a court.『 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.  (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) 』

 

Paul was able to talk in front of the crowd, emphasizing that he had no desire to violate the Mosaic Law, as the Jews have misunderstood. However, he is arguing himself with different content.『 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.  』 In front of those who want to kill him, he does not say, "I am innocent, let me free", but rather, Paul, who was more zealous about the Mosaic Law than anyone else, persecuted Christians, imprisoned them, and even killed them. Talk about your mistakes. The crowd tried to kill Paul while keeping the Mosaic Law thoroughly. Before them, Paul introduces himself as one of the crowds before and teaches that it is wrong. And he explains why he changed this way.

 

『 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 』

 

On the way to Damascus, Paul fell on the spot, surrounded by a great light from heaven. And when Paul heard someone calling his name, he asked who you were. That voice was Jesus. At that moment, Paul becomes a completely different person. That moment of confrontation with Jesus is the reason for Paul to live a completely different life. Paul asked Jesus what he should do. 『And I said, What shall I do, LORD? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. 』
Later, at the command of the Lord, Paul stayed in Damascus and met Ananias, who was respected by the Jews in the area.

 

Paul met Jesus, and he was completely surrendered. If the life Paul pursued so far was a life in which he was living in opposition to God's will, he is now transformed into a person who is willing to give death to that order according to Jesus' command. Jesus did not reveal Paul's past or impose any punishment for his sin. Rather, the Lord met Paul and forgave all his sins. When Paul was baptized, he left the path of sin and became the only minister of the Lord. Such a Paul, Jesus hoped to convey the Lord's love to the Gentiles far away.

 

『And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. 』He only obeyed God's command. However, his determination leads to further intensifying the anger of the crowd who were listening to it quietly.『 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.』

The crowds despised Paul and considered it abominable. Paul was a man who obeyed God's command, but in their eyes Paul was seen as a person who violated God's law and despised their Mosaic Law. The crowd tied Paul with leather straps, whipping him, and trying to kill him. Under such circumstances, Paul pleaded with the centurion standing next to him that it was not legal to bind himself as a Roman citizen with leather straps and lash without any trial. The centurion knew that Paul was a Roman citizen, and he went to the commander and informed him of this. When he found out that Paul was a Roman citizen, Chief Chun was surprised to find out that he was a Roman citizen because he had treated him illegally without a legal trial. Chief Chun previously spent a lot of money to obtain Roman citizenship, but Paul was afraid to know this because he was a citizen at birth. Paul worked on preaching the gospel of Jesus only in front of those who would kill him. Rather than defending his resentment, he defended the Lord before a large crowd who misunderstood Jesus Christ and became his spokesman.