The Apostle Paul has been addressing a crowd at Jerusalem from the steps of a Roman garrison near the temple mount. He related to them that God told him in a vision that his own people would reject his message about Christ. God told him that instead he would be sent far away to preach to the Gentiles.
The mob has been listening silently until he mentions the Gentiles, but these particular enemies of Paul also harbor an intense hatred for the Gentiles. They are enraged by the very idea that God would have anything at all to say to people they consider unclean and unworthy of salvation. "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!'" (Acts 22:22)
This mob's attitude doesn't represent the attitude of everyone present in Jerusalem. The mob was begun by the men from Asia Minor who previously caused Paul trouble there. They stirred up the anger of men who were already prejudiced against Christians and Gentiles. There are thousands of extra people in the city because of Pentecost, and in a crowd that large anywhere there are going to be troublemakers. It wasn't that difficult for Paul's enemies from Asia Minor to incite a riot.
"As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks." (Acts 22:23-24a) The men are likely flinging their cloaks off in preparation to stoning Paul to death, just as men flung their cloaks off to stone Stephen to death. The commander quickly orders Paul to be brought inside.
"He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 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?'" (Acts 22:24b-25) Rome's legal system was very clear about the enormous amount of rights granted to its citizens. The commander has already broken the law by binding and arresting a Roman citizen. Flogging him without a trial and conviction would be a very serious crime, a crime for which the commander could face the loss of his job or something even worse.
"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.' The commander went to Paul and asked, 'Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?' 'Yes, I am,' he answered. 'Then the commander said, 'I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.' 'But I was born a citizen,' Paul replied." (Acts 22:26-28) Before Claudius became the emperor it cost a large sum for anyone not born free to obtain Roman citizenship. The commander must have bought his citizenship under a previous emperor if it cost him a great deal of money. Some Bible scholars believe Paul was automatically a citizen because he was born in the free Roman territory of Tarsus. Others dispute the claim that a Jew would have been granted automatic citizenship no matter where he was born in the Roman Empire, so they assert that citizenship was bestowed upon either Paul's father or grandfather under either Emperor Tiberius or Emperor Caligula for some valuable service rendered to Rome.
The men who were about to beat and interrogate Paul are ready to split the scene at the news that he is a Roman citizen. "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." (Acts 22:29)
The commander wants to get to the bottom of this problem. Why do some of the Jews hate Paul so much? Why do they want him dead? Paul is a Roman citizen but also a Jew, so the commander decides to hand him over to the Sanhedrin for questioning. Paul is held at the barracks overnight for his own safety, but it is not legal for the commander to continue holding a Roman citizen indefinitely without any charges having been brought against him, so he solves the problem by placing Paul into the hands of the Jewish religious leaders. The council will be able to interrogate Paul and perhaps then the commander will learn what all the commotion is about. "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." (Acts 22:30)
In tomorrow's study we find Paul presented with an opportunity to preach the gospel to the Sanhedrin. He dearly wants to be an apostle to his own people, and although God has already made it very clear that He has chosen Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles instead, God will allow Paul to preach the gospel to the religious leaders before fulfilling His word that He will send the apostle "far away to the Gentiles". (Acts 22:21)
It could be that Paul, deep in his heart, hasn't yet fully accepted that he isn't called to be an apostle to his own people. The Lord is going to use the meeting of the Sanhedrin to prove to Paul that His plan is right for him. The meeting will not be a success and the commander will have to drag the apostle from the assembly in order to keep him from being torn limb from limb. If Paul needed a clear sign that he is not God's choice to be an apostle to the Jews, this is it. God is so gracious, isn't He? He knows we are weak and doubtful creatures. He knows we have trouble letting go of ideas that are dear to us. Sometimes He mercifully grants us a little taste of what we thought we wanted in order to prove to us it isn't right for us. Paul is called to lead the Gentiles to Christ. This is not what he would have chosen for himself, but this is what God has chosen for him, and when he leaves Jerusalem he will spend the rest of his life preaching the awesome salvation of Christ to people of other nations and tongues. He will stop fighting against his calling and will consider it the greatest honor to be known as the apostle to the Gentiles.
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