“Paul replied, I am
a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the
people. And when he had given him
permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the
people. And when there was a great hush,
he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying, ‘Brothers and fathers, hear
the defense that I now make before you.’…Paul said, ‘But I am a citizen by
birth.’ So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately,
and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul
was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.” Acts 21:39-22:1; 22:28b-29
(ESV. Read Acts 21:37 – 22:29).
When
Paul was taken from the irate mob and arrested by the tribune and Roman
soldiers, Paul asked for permission to speak to the tribune. (We learn this tribune’s name by looking
ahead to Acts 23: 26 when he writes a letter to Governor Felix concerning
Paul). At first, when Claudius realized Paul could speak Greek, he asked if he
was the Egyptian Jew who had led 4,000 men in a revolt against the Romans. Paul told him he was a native of Tarsus, and
wished to speak to the people who were accusing him. Just as he had gotten the tribune’s attention
by speaking Greek, he soon quieted the riotous mob by speaking Aramaic. Paul, an educated man, was fluent in
languages. To these Jews he gave his Jewish background, even to his persecution
of the Christians prior to his marvelous conversion on the road to
Damascus. For a summary of how Paul had
come to his current position, read carefully Acts 22:3-21. It is a beautiful testimony of God’s work in
Paul’s life. His defense before the Jews
was his Christian experience. One’s
personal Christian experience is definitely unarguable. No one can refute what has happened between
and individual and God. Paul, who had
stood on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece and spoken eloquently on the theme of “the
unknown God” to whom that culture had statues throughout the city, now stood before his Jewish accusers and gave
his personal story of how God changed his life and made him a light to the
Gentiles. Note particularly verse
14. It is a summary of Paul’s life but
also of each Christian life. It contains
three important statements: (1) to know the will of God; (2) to see the Just
One; and (3) to hear the voice of God. His
oration was heard until he stated that God told him to, “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” (Acts. 22:21). This statement from Paul aroused the Jews
again, and they yelled, “Away with such a
fellow from the earth” For he should not be allowed to live.” (Acts 22:22).
The
crowd became so unruly that the tribune ordered the soldiers to take Paul back
into the barracks. There he was to be scourged,
beaten with a leather whip into which were tied pieces of sharp bone and
lead. It was an effort to get the truth,
a confession, out of the accused. Many
did not survive the terrible scourging.
As he was on the rack ready to be beaten, Paul declared his Roman
citizenship. Roman law forbade scourging
any citizen who had not been charged.
The tribune, Claudius Lysias, knew
he could lose his position and maybe even his own life from this
injustice. He himself had purchased his
citizenship, and Paul was a Roman citizen by birth. Paul knew his work for the Lord was not
finished. He claimed his citizenship and
received a reprieve from the severe punishment of scourging. Paul was using his Roman citizenship for the
cause of Christ. God was using the
mighty Roman government to allow his servant Paul to eventually get to
Rome. With the same words as I concluded
yesterday’s devotional, I will repeat again:
God’s ways are higher than
man’s ways, in all ways, and always. To God be the glory!
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