Commentary by Ron Beckham

Verse 1.  “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

Just a short time before, Paul had been taken by an angry mob and was nearly killed - again.  He had been rescued (captured, actually) by a group of Roman soldiers who were stationed at the Temple mount, and taken to the barracks of the Castle of Antonia.  Though he was now a prisoner, he was permitted to speak from a window to the very people who had just tried to kill him.  It was a miracle he was allowed to speak and an even greater miracle was that he simply raised his hand and the mob became quiet and listened to him.

It was really the Holy Spirit that was speaking through this man of God.  It was the same Holy Spirit who had caused him to be rescued – or captured, whatever it should be called.  And now it was the Spirit who enabled him to speak and quiet the crowd.  There’s an old expression, “When God guides, God provides”, and He certainly does, in surprising and unexpected ways.  Paul KNEW he was in the center of God’s will.  When we have that understanding, we find Him flowing through our lives in unexpected, often subtle and beautiful ways.

Verse 2.  “And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said,”

They were not on the Temple mount proper but at the Tower of Antonia, a Roman fortress next to the Temple.  One of the listeners would have been Dr. Luke, the Greek physician who accompanied Paul, the man who was to become the author of the Books of Luke and Acts.  It is not clear whether the Greek doctor/author knew the language he was hearing at that moment, but he was certainly an intelligent man, and associated with Paul like he was, he may well have learned it.  “Hebrew” was not precisely the language spoken, by the way, for the people were now using a blended language; actually a form of Aramaic.

Again, the Holy Spirit was holding sway over the crowd, which, just a few moments before, had been an angry mob.  Most of my adult life, I’ve been interested in the workings of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Evangelism is fascinating and typical of the gifts, for the Holy Spirit not only works through the heart and words of the speaker, but He is active in the hearts and minds of the listeners, as well.  They heard Paul speak in their own language, which was calming to them, but they also heard a “voice” deep inside, breathing to them, “Hush” and instructing them, “Listen to this man.”  They became even more quiet than before.

Verse 3.  “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.”

Paul was a Jew.  Not just any Jew, but one who had probably been more zealous for that religion than anyone who was listening to him at the moment.  He was of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5) and his upbringing was strict, in accordance with the teachings of the Law.  He was born in Tarsus of Cilicia, which had been a cultural and manufacturing center for centuries, under varying empires.  But his family had come to Jerusalem when he was quite young and he was educated under Gamaliel, grandson of Hillel, a great Rabban of the Jews.

That his family had come to Jerusalem, instead of just Paul, is glimpsed in Acts 23:16, when Paul’s nephew came to him and warned of a plot to kill him.  His sister’s family was nearby.  There was a point when Paul (using his Hebrew name of “Saul”) had been a great persecutor of Christians and they all knew it.  His audience was “caught” – Paul had been a famous person and they had heard of him, both when he had persecuted Christians and then later, when he became a visible defender of the Christian faith.  His audience was listening intently to his every word.

Verse 4.  “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,”

Ironically, Paul had been in chains until that that moment, and when he raised his hand to quiet the crowd (Acts 22:40), that hand was likely still chained to the other one.  Paul, also known as Saul, had been a monster to early Christians.  He was a leader at the murder of Stephen (Acts 7:58), whose only crime was that he loved his Lord and spoke openly of Him.  As it says in this verse, he put the followers of the “Way” (Christians; a reference to John 14:6, where Jesus said, “I am the way”), into chains and then into jail.

To be tossed into prison in those days was not an easy thing.  The prisoners were beaten, whipped, maimed in some cases, separated from families, and if they were ever released, it was to be sold into a hopeless life of slavery for a heartless taskmaster.  Paul had been like an “Adolph Hitler” to the Jewish-Christians of the Early Church.  He treated them worse than anyone else of his time, and that was saying a lot.  His conversion and changed life is even more startling when we realize just who this man had been.

Verse 5.  “as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.”

Ananias, who was presently the high priest, was likely already a member of the Sanhedrin (council of Jewish elders), at the time Saul (Paul) was given letters by that body, authorizing him to imprison those of the Christian faith and bring them to Jerusalem to be “punished”.  Ananias was probably listening to him at that moment.  The “letters” given to Paul were particularly aimed at those Christian-Jews who had fled north and east to Damascus, to escape the persecution against them in Jerusalem. 

Mercifully, he never completed the journey.  Notice that Paul’s testimony was very simple – He just told what had happened.  Sometimes testimonies “grow” over the years, and that is not a “testimony”, it’s just a lie.  We do not resort to sensationalism; we live by the power of God.  At this point in his testimony, his hearers could only stand and nod, for he spoke a truth they remembered.  We must speak the truth also, to those we love, the neighbor next door, to everyone we meet.  All we need to do is tell what Jesus Christ has done in our lives.

Verse 6.  “But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,”

God has a “very bright light” in your future and mine.  We all need to look to Him now and trust Him through the Lord Jesus.  He will send us His Spirit and we can rely on Him.  He will lead on to the victory which was won on the cross of Jesus Christ and He will deliver us from all fear.  But to the extent we are serving ourselves, as Saul had been to that moment; and to the extent that we intend to bring harm to others, God will stop us, at a time and in circumstances we do not expect.

We have met people, vital people, who have been brought very low by some circumstance or another.  Most do not like to be thwarted from what they want to do, to the extent that many resent the person who makes it through the traffic light when they don’t.  But by missing that light, you may have been saved from an accident up ahead; that did not happen because you were not there.  The hospital bed, the lost partner, the ruined circumstance of your life - What would you have become, if you were allowed to do whatever you wanted?  Paul was STOPPED, for his benefit and for yours.

Verse 7.  “and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’”

This was to be a greater shock to Saul than the bright light he had just seen and the blindness (verse 11) he was now experiencing.  He BELIEVED in the words of the Old Testament, knew much of it by heart, and understood that God SPOKE to His prophets.  He possibly, as a persecutor of Christians, expected that God would speak to him at some point.  But this voice, obviously the Lord, was claiming that Saul was persecuting HIM!  Saul was shocked beyond his wildest ability to imagine – anything!

We should carefully and prayerfully examine how we treat others and what we say to them.  In our zeal to be “good”, we sometimes hurt others, and when we harm the people of God, we are really coming against – HIM!  Prayerfully examine that “doctrine” you think is so important.  Is it essential to salvation?  Do arguments come from your expression of it?  Are others coming closer to Him, because of what you are saying?  Speak the truth, but always act in love.

Verse 8.  “And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’”

Saul was clueless.  You have to give this to the man: He had been horrible to the people of God and treated them badly, but there was a certain innocence in the crimes he had committed.  Oh yes, he was GUILTY as charged.  He was a murderer, who would never in his life on earth forget what he had done and who he had harmed.  But now he had met the Lord, learned that His name was Jesus, and that in persecuting the “people of the Way”, he had been coming against the very God he had been pretending to serve.

Notice that the Lord called Himself, Jesus “the Nazarene.”  He could have chosen any number of names to identify Himself, but He chose the “Nazarene”; a word used to disparage Him, during His time on earth.  And this was a name used to insult Christians of the time – they were called “the sect of the Nazarenes” (as in Acts 24:5).  The name He called Himself is perfectly in keeping with the character of Jesus, for He said of Himself, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29).  And we should not regard ourselves highly, either.  Saul/Paul was now on a journey where he would begin to find this “meekness” in himself.

Verse 9.  “And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.”

God does not often seem to use the miraculous, in the sense that voices and lights from heaven are not commonplace in the world or in the church.  But they do occur.  I was fascinated, years ago, by the testimony of Nora Lam, whose life was saved by a light that blinded those of the firing squad who were attempting to shoot her.  They failed in that attempt, and she went on to a life spent in bringing others to Christ.

Perhaps there are more “voices” and “lights” than we know about, for it may be that we encounter the miracles of God, but like those in this verse, do not understand what is happening.  But Saul did understand, for the very One he was pretending to serve, was now accusing him of hypocrisy and had just blinded him, rendering him helpless and unable to do anything but listen.  Sometimes, by the way, the miraculous is not perceived by others, because the miracle is not intended for them.  This was for Saul, and he understood.

Verse 10.  “And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’  And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.”

Saul’s response, “What shall I DO, Lord” was uncharacteristic for the kind of man he had been.  He had been an extremely decisive man.  He was a leader.  The kind of person who KNEW what to do, and DID IT, often before others even really saw the extent of the problem.  But now the whole world had turned upside down for him and suddenly, perhaps for the first time in his adult life, he had no idea what to do next.

The Lord was very specific in His instructions to Saul.  He often is very specific with you and me, but usually He does not have our full attention, as he had this man’s at that moment.  Many ask, “Why does God not speak to us today?”  He does speak to us, in His Word, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit is continually speaking to our hearts.  He has much to say but we often do not listen.  Paul was LISTENING at that moment, as we should be listening right now.

Verse 11.  “But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.”

Something wonderful happened to Saul (Paul) – a light flashed and he was struck blind (verse 6)!  Now, to be hit with something as serious as blindness is not often received as good news, but correct understanding is important and God always has good in your circumstance and mine.  There was a saying, years ago, and you might remember it when trouble comes: “Some people complain that roses have thorns; others rejoice that thorns have roses.”  The Apostle Paul was learning about roses (the love of God).

Note that Paul had been “directing traffic” until that moment.  He had been leading others to commit violence and do major harm to the lives of people.  He looked around and thought HE could do what others could not do (destroy Christianity).  We should look at this verse carefully and understand that in our intense life style, we could be struck down at any moment.  It’s time to be grateful for what we have and to use those resources to HELP others; not to do them harm.

Verse 12.  “A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,”

Here’s yet another man who is otherwise an obscure person to those who read about him, but he was (and is) well known to God.  It was reported by the early church that Ananias was “one of the bishops of Damascus”.  Nobody special, for the term “bishop” really was similar to our word “elder”.  People tend to like titles but God uses people who trust in Him.  Ananias was useful to God, because he trusted in the Lord and loved His Word.

He was devout.  He loved God and had a deep faith in the dead, buried, but now RISEN Jesus Christ.  He loved the Law of God, which should remind us that the so-called “Old Testament” is alive and should have just as many tear stains and underlined places as the “New”.  He loved the Lord and he loved the Word of God.  Just like in your live and mine, there is a pay-off for those that revere Him and His Word – He offers us lives of holiness that will bless the Lord who has saved us, and we become USEFUL to Him.

Verse 13.  “came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him.”

Ananias (verse 12) was a man who LISTENED to God and FOLLOWED Him.  I’m sure that previous to the time Saul had been knocked off his animal, blinded by the light and spoken to with a great voice, God had softly and gently spoken to him, pointing him in the way of His Son.  But Saul had not listened and harsher measures were brought to bear.  That process will occur in your life and mine.  If you won’t go the “easy” way, God will take you the “hard” way, for He longs to deliver you from selfishness, sin and death.

But Ananias was a man who had listened to the still, small voice of God, and was being called to do something others might refuse to do.  He was now being led by the Holy Spirit of God to reach out and touch someone who was feared and no doubt loathed by almost all Christians of the time.  It would have been difficult for him, and I think sometimes people don’t acknowledge that God is speaking to them today, because they don’t like what He has to say.  As led by God, Ananias now spoke words of healing and Saul was able to look up and see his face.

Verse 14.  “And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.’”

The Apostle Paul is continuing to speak to an open-mouthed audience from a window in the barracks of the Castle of Antonia, next to the Temple in Jerusalem.  He is recounting the prophetic words of Ananias, a “bishop” of Damascus, who had spoken as led by God, and Paul had received his sight.  I don’t think anybody in history was more surprised at the words Paul had heard, unless it was the Jews who stood outside the window in Jerusalem and were listening to him talk at that moment.

The Jews who listened to him were no different than the people of today.  A minority of the people on earth read about the miracles in Scripture, and of those who read, some believe in Jesus Christ to a point where they receive Him as Lord and Savior of their lives.  Of those who believe, a few are willing to accept that Christ intends to be just as active in our lives as He was in the life of the Apostle Paul.  “Saul” as he had called himself, was now being prepared for what would happen in his life, and the Lord would like to prepare you, also.

Verse 15.  “For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.”

Considering these verses in relation to the character of this “Saul” who was now to be called “Paul the Apostle”, we have to be amazed.  Certainly Gideon, Peter, Samson, Elijah – God’s choices would not be our own.  He has taken people who were kind of dopey, silly, ignoble, rebellious and foolish, and used them for His kingdom.  And just when we think we’ve got it all figured out, we find that He also chooses people of intelligence and good repute.  Paul would never be the choice of those in the Early Church.  He was somebody they ran away from; not someone they would embrace and call “brother”.

Yet, you and I can look at the life of Paul and discover there is NOTHING we have done that is greater than the grace of God.  Our sins, our selfishness, our crimes, whether small or large – all were paid for on the cross of Jesus Christ.  If Saul can be saved and then USED by God as a witness of His grace to all mankind, then you can be, too.  Our perspective is limited, anyway.  He was considered a pillar of the community by the Jews who sent him to Damascus, and a monster by those he attacked, but God would use him, just like He can use you and me.

Verse 16.  “Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”

Paul is telling Jewish listeners who are outside of the Castle of Antonia, at the Temple in Jerusalem, what had happened to him in Damascus, some years before.  This man who had been called “Saul” had terribly persecuted the Christians but then was confronted by Jesus and changed into a new man.  He was “born again” by the grace of God.  Ananias had told him, “Hurry up; get up and be baptized NOW; have your sins washed away and call on His name.”  And Saul did exactly that.

Paul continued to recount the words of Ananias, who spoke to him at the time he was given back his eyesight.  Have you been called by God?  Do you “feel” in your heart that He is inviting you to some kind of service?  Do you have a dream of some “direction” that you think he would have you go?  Find out!  Get moving!  Be in prayer!  ACT on the leading that is in your heart.  Ananias, who was speaking in this verse, was telling Saul (Paul) something very much like that, in this recollection of the events first seen in Acts Chapter 9.

Verse 17.  “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,”

Paul is speaking of events that are probably those in Acts Chapter 9.  “The Jews plotted to kill him” (Acts 9:23), which was to be among the first of many such plots in his life.  Verse 24 says, “Their plot became known to Saul” and it is here in Acts 22:17, that we learn how he knew of their plot.  He fell into a God-induced “trance” while he was praying in the Jerusalem Temple, at which time God spoke to him and warned him of impending danger.

Verse 18.  “and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’”

I do not think it is necessary for us (as in verse 18), under normal circumstances, to need lights from the sky, words from heaven, or conditions of trance in a religious setting, in order to understand and know the will of God.  He is always helping His people, and I do believe that we can KNOW His will, which is always based in His love.  This apostle was an interesting and different character, and sometimes God just had to hit him with a “2 by 4” (“make haste”), in order to get his attention.  He was intensely FOCUSED in all that he did.

The Holy Spirit was in him, just like He is in ALL who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, but Paul had a stubbornness, which came to be based in love, that sometimes made it difficult for him to hear.  The Holy Spirit is inside all of us, gently urging us away from danger and into the will of God.  Paul loved his (Jewish) people and would have died or worse, if it would help them come to the Lord (Romans 9:3), but it had been necessary at that moment for him to be driven out of Jerusalem.  Nothing he did at that point would help them, and it was time for him to go.

Verse 19.  “And I said, 'Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.”

Notice the simple openness of Paul in recounting these events.  It is not necessary to either hide our sins or exaggerate them, for God uses the ordinary, just like the extraordinary, in order to reach the hearts of people.  It turns out, by the way, that Paul not only had gone into the homes of Christians but also into synagogues, rooting out those who believed in Jesus Christ.  And as he was dragging them off, he also beat them before he had them put into prison.

Saul was not a good man, but we have a good God, who can turn us from evil to good.  And He has done that.  We need to understand that the evil person who harms someone, can be changed by what Jesus Christ did on the cross.  Paul was that evil person and God turned him completely around.  We have seen this in the Kairos Prison Ministry – People who would have killed each other, start to love one another.  Give yourself to Jesus, for He will CHANGE you and me.

Verse 20.  “And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’”

What an impact the man Stephen must have had on the Apostle Paul.  Years later, when he was recounting these events to Dr. Luke (the human author of the Book of Acts), he acknowledged that Stephen was “full of faith and power, doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8).  And when they were killing him, Stephen did not cry, or yell, or wail, or curse like so many, but instead he called on God, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59).  And with his last words, he cried out for his persecutors, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” (Acts 7:60).  Then he was gone.

And Saul was not only present, but was also the one who was placed in charge of the outer garments of the participants, while they bared their arms to better throw stones at Stephen.  The one who held the garments at a stoning, was in a place of special honor and was a leader of those events.  Notice he was “standing by APPROVING” the death of this righteous man.  In God’s eyes, just like in our law, the person who drives the getaway car is as guilty as the one who robs the store.

Verse 26. “When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, ‘What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.’”

Paul’s arms were stretched out tautly and his wrists were tied wide apart with leather thongs. He was to be severely whipped. But suddenly everything stopped because the prisoner (Paul) had given the information that he was a Roman citizen. It was illegal to whip a Roman until they had first been found guilty of some crime in a court of law. The soldiers stopped what they were doing, for THEY could have been severely punished as lawbreakers for doing such a thing.

Notice the preparation given by God for the life of the Apostle Paul. He was a Jew, which allowed him to speak in Synagogues. He was also a Roman, which let him travel freely in the Roman Empire. He was multi-lingual, allowing him to fluently speak to various groups. He was cultured and could present Christ to the intelligentsia of his day (as in Athens – Acts 17:16-33). There is more about Paul but the important news is that God is preparing YOU just as carefully. Each one has special training, useful in service to Christ. Will you GO for the Lord?

Verse 27. “The commander came and said to him, ‘Tell me, are you a Roman?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’”

The commander of the Roman garrison (the leader of one thousand Roman soldiers) returned to the barracks of the Castle of Antonia, where Paul was being readied for a severe whipping. He already had concerns about this man, who had shown by his speech that he was a cultured person, eloquent in the Greek language (Acts 21:39-40). And now, open to the probability that Paul was much more than a common criminal, the Roman Commander, dropped everything he was doing and returned to the barracks.

If we are ever in a setting like Paul was at that moment, will we manipulate circumstances in relation to information about ourselves, or just keep quiet and let God deliver us? The answer, of course, is that not all situations are the same. In one setting, God will touch you to speak, and in another, to keep still. The purpose is that we are to finally understand that all is to be done by God and not by our own strength. We must learn to respond to both His Word and His Spirit.

Verse 28. “The commander answered, ‘I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.’ And Paul said, ‘But I was actually born a citizen.’”

The Commander of one thousand Roman Soldiers, whose name was Lysias, had purchased his Roman citizenship, which included truly wonderful rights and protections as a full citizen of the Empire. To be born as a Roman citizen was a considered a high honor, and God had seen to it that Paul would bear the label “Roman” all his life. We probably do not know all of the reasons why Paul was given this citizenship by the Lord, but one of them is here, right in these verses. Though Paul was beaten many times (2 Corinthians 11:23-33), he was not to be harmed on THIS occasion.

Verse 29. “Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.”

As stated in verse 28, the Roman Commander (Lysias – Acts 24:7) had paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen. He had privileges and protections under Roman Law for himself and his family that anyone of the time would want and enjoy. Everything and everyone he valued was in jeopardy right now. One complaint from Paul, and the Commander would be at risk – he might actually be stripped of EVERYTHING and take the PLACE of the Apostle Paul at that whipping post!

We should watch what we do and say. The casual word, the bit of gossip, can act like whips that would harm the reputation of another person. Just like the Roman Empire was watching that Roman Commander, God Almighty is indeed watching you and me. We should be very slow to harm another, and not just out of personal fear – we should act out of love for people we don’t even know. We represent God, just like that Commander represented the Roman Empire.

Verse 30. “But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.

Lysias, the Roman Ciliarch, who was the Commander of 1000 men stationed at the Castle of Antonia (at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem), now “released” Paul from custody. “Released” is not quite what we would understand, for he merely lessened the severity of Paul’s detention. The Apostle was still a prisoner, though his status had changed for the better. 

Note that although Paul was the prisoner of Lysias, he was also under God’s protection, through that Roman Commander. God was using this Roman Officer to protect him from men who would surely kill him if he was on his own. And also note that Lysias, in a way, was the prisoner of Paul, for if he was accused of mistreatment by this Roman citizen in his custody; his career – and his life - would likely have been over. These two men were bound together at the moment, for God had made it so.

Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
PO Box 92131
Long Beach, CA 90809-2131
www.fridaystudy.org
Ron@fridaystudy.org