Acts Chapter 21 Expository Thoughts and Considerations

Verse 21:40b-22:1 -- When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic: Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense. Having raised his hand, Paul quiets the crowd. They want to hear his defense. Paul addresses them in either Hebrew or Aramaic – both are possible interpretations for the phrase HEBRAIDI DIALECTO. Some suppose Paul would have used the pure Hebrew of the temple, rather than the Aramaic of the street. Either way, he gets their attention. Brothers and fathers is the same address as that used by Stephen. Possibly this was standard when addressing the elders and scribes.

“Hear my defense” – Paul intends to defend himself and his ministry before these people. Why bother? The answer is that he truly loves his countrymen. Here is another opportunity to try and show them why he has embraced Christianity.

Verse 2 -- When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. It is probable that their greater silence is a show of at least polite interest. Anyone speaking in Hebrew is unlikely to say anything against either the Law or the temple. They seem to be giving Paul at least an opportunity to speak in his own defense. We will refer to what follows as Paul’s first defense of the gospel.

Verse 2b-3 -- Then Paul said: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.” Paul is defending himself against the idea that he has abandoned Hebrew connections. His defense includes his Hebrew birth, association with Jerusalem, education under the deeply respected Gamaliel, and proper education in the Jewish Law. He was completely zealous.

Verse I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. Paul’s defense begins by explaining that once he too felt as these people now do about Jesus and Christianity. The Way is another name for the church.

Verses 6-21 – (because this is repetitive information we will only make a few brief notes for these verses) Paul recounts the events of Acts 9 We learn here that Paul’s encounter on the road to Damascus took place about noon. We learn that Paul’s companions heard, but could not comprehend the voice of Jesus. We learn that Ananias was a devout keeper of the Law – though also a devout Christian.

We have one of the greatest defenses of baptism for remission of sins from Paul’s own mouth. His instructions from Ananias were: “arise and be baptized washing away your sins.” This clarifies chapter 9:18, which commands baptism but does not address the information on remission of sins. Salvation is a process, of which baptism is an indispensable part.

In verse 17, Paul mentions a vision received in Jerusalem. We must assume that this happened during his first return to Jerusalem, about three years after his conversion. The contents of this vision are highly volatile to the Jewish people: First that God would suggest that Gentiles receive salvation equally with Jews was unacceptable to their ethnic pride. Second that God would purposefully send Paul to the Gentiles in preference to the Jews was almost blasphemous to them.

Verse – Paul suggests that his testimony, as a former enemy of Christianity, might be beneficial in helping these enemies to accept Jesus. But, Jesus sends him away to the Gentiles, knowing the Jews will not accept. Certainly it is proven here that Jesus was correct and even now the Jews will refuse to entertain the possibility that Jesus is the Messiah.

Verse 22 – 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!“ At the mention of Gentiles and salvation through Jesus the Jews stop listening. They are unworthy of the gospel because their prejudices blind them to the truth. They are calling for the death penalty for Paul. He is not fit to continue living.

Verse 23 – …As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air… The mob has reached a boiling point and is reacting with rage at Paul’s statements. Throwing off their cloaks is an indication they are about to get down to serious business. Flinging dust in the air is in protest to Paul’s defense. Chances are they were throwing the dust toward him – lacking any rocks to do the job properly and hindered by the presence of the Roman soldiers.

Verse 24 – the commander ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and questioned in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. Paul is taken away to get him out of the sight of the excitable mob. The commander orders Paul to be flogged, as a means of determining why the Jews are so angry with him. They are hoping to “beat a confession” out of him.

Verse 25 – 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?“ It seems that Paul is already bound to be flogged before he interrupts the proceedings to insist upon his rights as a Roman citizen. The centurion mentioned here is not the commander mentioned earlier. The commander will be addressed by the centurion in verse 26.

Verse 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." It was unlawful to punish a Roman citizen in any way without a trial. Any punishment given to a prisoner who had not been tried would be given to the punisher if the prisoner later pressed charges against them.

Verse 27 – The commander went to Paul and asked, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I am," he answered. The punishment for making a false claim of citizenship was death. Each city kept a census list of all Roman citizens, so proving Paul’s citizenship would be a relatively easy matter.

Verse 28 – Then the commander said, "I had to pay a big price for my citizenship." "But I was born a citizen," Paul replied. There were three ways to obtain a Roman citizenship: Birth to Roman parents Birth in a Roman colony (Tarsus was a free city and therefore not subject to this rule) Purchase of a Roman citizenship or having one conferred for a benefit done to a high- ranking official.

Verse Those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. It was illegal even to put Paul in chains without an official charge being made. Paul has neither been charged nor tried, so he is immediately released. Their alarm is the result of their knowledge of the penalties for mistreating a Roman citizen.

Verse The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. Paul spends the night in the barracks, still guarded but no longer chained. We see the power of the Roman commander in that he can order a meeting of the Sanhedrin for an immediate trial to determine proper charges.