Paul’s Defense Before the Jerusalem Mob

Acts 22:1-30     

When chapter 22 opens, Paul makes his appeal before the Jerusalem mob, and when he spoke in their native tongue of Hebrew, the mob began to be silent (vv. 1-2).  As Paul addresses these Jewish leaders, he presents his tremendous Hebrew background, recounting the way he had persecuted the church of God, really revealing the fact that he was a zealous Pharisee that hated “the way” (Christianity).

Paul relates his Damascus Road experience and how that experience impacted his life.  Paul unveiled the fact that he persecuted the church of God, but was arrested on the Damascus Road.  After surrendering to the Lordship of Christ and being blind, Saul (Paul) was lead to Damascus, where he met Ananias, a devote man, and was told that Saul (Paul) would be a witness of all men of what he had seen and heard (vv. 3-15).

From verses 16-20, Paul recounts that after his conversion, he was water baptized, and after some time, he went to Jerusalem, where he was not readily received!  When Paul went to Jerusalem, he thought the Jews would be impressed by the radical change in his life; after all, he had been most zealous in persecuting believers (Acts 8:3; 9:2; 22:4-5; 26:11) even taking part in the martyrdom of Stephen.  Paul never forgot that he had been present at the stoning of Stephen and actually had charge of it.

In verses 21-22, when Paul mentioned his commission to preach to the Gentiles, the mob was moved to instant rage and violence!  Preaching to Gentiles could not have caused such a response because the religious authorities of Israel had preached to Gentiles (Matthew 23:15).  Paul’s message that infuriated the mob was that Jews and Gentiles were equal without the law (Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:2-6; Galatians 3:28).

According to verses 23-24, the people in the mob threw off their cloaks and flung dusk in the air as expressions of intense anger and rage.  As the mob continued to break out into a rage, the chief captain decided to bring Paul into the castle, where Paul would have been scourged.  As chapter 22 closes (vv. 25-30), Paul appeals to his Roman citizenship to escape the scourging of a prisoner.  After Paul was brought into the castle by the captain as a result of the raging mob, Paul will appear before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 23.

May God Bless!