In the last lesson Paul had gone to Jerusalem and in Acts 21:27 he was recognized in the temple by some Jews from Asia (probably Ephesus, since he had spent so much time there) who “stirred up the crowd and seized him.” Then verse 28 tells us what they said to get the crowd in an uproar, “Shouting, men of Israel, help us! Here is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people, our law and this place! And he has actually brought Gentiles into the temple and defiled this holy place.” The next verse tells us they had seen Paul in the city with Trophimus, an Ephesian (giving further evidence these Jews were from Ephesus) and used this as the basis for this false accusation to anger the crowd.
Verse 30 tells us the whole city was “moved” (from kineo, in the passive voice, used figuratively to mean, excited or impassioned) and they dragged Paul out of the temple and closed its gates. Let me stop here to comment on the reference to the “whole city” here. The population of Jerusalem during this time is estimated to be around 40,000 people. But, during the observance of special festivals and feast days it could swell to as many as 250,000. Remember, this was approaching Passover and the city would have been very crowded. I mention this simply to point out how quickly this happened.
The next verse tells us, “Now, as they were trying to kill him”. It doesn’t say they wanted to accuse him of a crime, or they wanted him arrested by the temple guard, or they wanted to turn him over to the Romans – they wanted him dead. And this caused such a commotion that word came to the “chief captain of the band” who immediately “took soldiers and centurions” to where the trouble was and when the people saw the soldiers coming, they stopped beating Paul (verses 31-32).
According to Acts 23:26, the chief captain in this instance was a man named Claudius Lysias. He commanded a cohort comprised of possibly 800 men (centurions commanded 100 men each). Paul was arrested and “bound with two chains”, meaning, his hands were chained to a soldier on each side (verse 35 says Paul was actually carried by the two soldiers because of the violence of the crowd). And when Lysias could not determine who Paul was or what he had done, he took him to the barracks, and the people followed them, shouting, “Away with him”. (Verses 33-36)
Then, as they were about to enter the barracks, Paul asked the captain, “May I say something to you?” To which the captain answered, “You can speak Greek? I thought you were that Egyptian who stirred up a revolt and led 4,000 terrorists out into the desert some time ago.” (Verses 37-38) This “Egyptian” was a man who claimed to be a prophet and had convinced his followers that if they would join him in an attack on the city, the walls would fall at his command and they would defeat the Roman garrison. However, the Romans met them with a superior force of both infantry and cavalry outside the city, killed over 400 of them and captured 200 more. The Egyptian and the rest of his followers escaped.
This was clearly a case of mistaken identity. The captain thought Paul was someone who had led one of the many revolts against the Roman occupiers during this time. So Paul told him, “I’m a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, no ordinary city. I beg you, let me talk to these people.” And when the captain realized Paul was not that Egyptian, he gave him permission to speak to the crowd. (Verses 39-40)
When Paul began to speak to them in Hebrew, the crowd quieted down to listen (Acts 22:2). What follows is a detailed account of Paul’s life before, during and immediately after his conversion. All of this has already been discussed as we went through Acts chapters 7 through 10, so we won’t go over it again. The significant part of Paul’s defense comes in verses 17-21 when Paul explains that during his first visit to Jerusalem following his conversion the Lord told him to get out of Jerusalem, that they would not receive his testimony concerning Christ and that he was to go far away to take the gospel message to the Gentiles.
This enraged the crowd. Verses 22-23 tell us they listened attentively until Paul mentioned going to the Gentiles, then they began to shout, “Away with this fellow from the earth. He’s not fit to live!” And they were shouting, waving their clothes and throwing dust in the air, so the captain ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks to be flogged and questioned to find out what Paul had done to make the people so angry.
So, there are a couple of things here. The idea of Paul taking the gospel to the Gentiles was repugnant to the Jews, because it intimated that Gentiles were equal to Jews, that God had rejected the Jews in favor of the Gentiles and the Gentiles would distort or have contempt for the message (which some did, saying it was foolishness that their salvation depended on a crucified criminal, I Corinthians 1:23). The other issue of note is that the captain probably didn’t understand Hebrew, didn’t know what Paul had been saying, didn’t understand what the crowd was shouting, and knew only one way to get to the truth, beat Paul until he confessed to his crimes.
But when they had Paul stretched out, ready to begin the torture, he asked the centurion standing near him if it was legal to flog a Roman citizen who had not even had a trial (verse 25). The centurion then told the captain Paul was a Roman citizen and they immediately left him alone. And, as noted before, during the reign of Julius Caesar the inhabitants of Tarsus (where Paul was born) showed kindness to the Romans and were granted full rights as Roman citizens. The captain now knew he was dealing with a Roman citizen and had to be careful. However, the next day the captain still wanted to know why the Jews were accusing Paul, so he ordered the chief priests and the council (the Sanhedrin) to assemble and brought Paul to them. This ends chapter 22.
Now Paul is standing before the Sanhedrin and opens his defense with this statement, “Brethren, I have lived before God, fulfilling my duty in all good conscience to this very day.” And at this, the high priest ordered those standing close to Paul to strike him in the mouth (Acts 23:1-2). The verb “lived” above is from politeuomai, to live as a good citizen, obeying all the laws. Of course Ananias violently disagreed with Paul’s statement. But, he was being truthful. As a Jew persecuting Christians, he was sincere and honest, convinced that what he was doing was what God wanted him to do. Then, when confronted by the Lord, he repented, and then served God with conviction and obedience.
Paul’s response is interesting in verse 3, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you act as judge to examine me in accordance to the law, yet order me stricken in violation of that law!” As it turns out, this statement is prophetic. In less than 5 years, there would be a situation caused by one of his sons and Ananias would be caught and killed by his enemies.
Then some of the council asked, “Do you dare insult the high priest of God?” To which Paul answered, “I was not aware that he was the high priest, the Scripture says, You should not speak evil of a ruler of your people.” (Verses 4-5) The fact was (and Paul, no doubt, knew this) Ananias was a corrupt priest and had been removed from the office of high priest. Jonathan was appointed high priest, but was soon murdered. During the vacancy, Ananias usurped the position, though his friends on the council could not officially install him as the high priest. I only point this out to expose the corrupt nature of the council (more like a crime syndicate) that continued until the destruction of Jerusalem.
The following verses (6-10) describe how Paul diverted attention away from himself by manipulating the council so they would fight each other. He knew they were divided both politically and in their religious beliefs. So, Paul told them he was a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees, and was being judged by them because he believed in the resurrection. This immediately divided the council in an angry argument, because many of them were Sadducees, who did not believe in a resurrection. And Paul’s strategy worked. The meeting became so heated that the captain feared for Paul’s safety and had to forcibly remove him and take him back to the barracks. And that night the Lord stood by Paul and told him, “Take courage, in the same way you have testified of Me in Jerusalem, you will also testify in Rome.” (Verse 11)
The next section in chapter 23 starting in verse 12 describes a conspiracy to kill Paul. Apparently there were over 40 men who vowed to not eat or drink until they had killed him (and since we know they were unsuccessful, they either broke their vow or starved to death, probably the former). They came up with a plan, but verse 16 says Paul’s sister’s son heard about it and warned Paul. This is interesting because this is the only reference we have to any of Paul’s family, with the possible exception of Romans 9:3, 16:7, 11 and 21 where we see “kinsmen” taken from sungenis, and word used to denote either family or nationality, making Paul’s reference unclear.
As we follow the account, Paul tells Lysias about the plot, and Lysias needing to protect this Roman citizen he has in custody, decides to send him to Caesarea to Felix, the procurator or governor of Judea. Lysias writes a detailed letter to Felix introducing Paul, who is then taken to Caesarea, guarded by 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen (Lysias wasn’t taking any chances). When Paul arrived, Felix read the letter, understood that Paul was a Roman citizen and ordered he be held in Herod’s judgment hall (the Praetorium), a combination palace, courthouse and apartments used as holding cells. (Verses 17-35)
Before we move on and see what happens to Paul in Caesarea, let’s look at a little background on Felix. The emperor Claudius made him procurator in 52 AD (some 6 years earlier). His brother Pallas, who was favored in Rome for reasons not clear, secured the position for him. Felix was said to have ruled with the authority of a king, but with the insolence of a rebellious slave. He had three wives, each one the daughter of a king. Josephus gives numerous details of his cruelty, greed and treachery in his Antiquities.