The Book of Acts
The Arrest of Paul
Acts 21:27-36
The events that are recorded in Acts 21, beginning at verse 27 actually extend all the way to the end of chapter 22. So obviously, it will, take a while for us to cover all of that in the limited time we have each Wednesday. That is unfortunate because these narratives deserve to be seen in their fullness and context, but I'll do my best to pull out so stand-alone lessons for us to see.
In this section, we are quickly approaching the end of Paul's public ministry. He will now become a prisoner, and even though he will continue to be a major force in Christianity, it will no longer be through a public preaching and teaching ministry.
He has been free since his ministry began back in the 9th chapter of Acts. He has traveled and ministered under the Spirit's direction without any limitations at all. The closest he has come to being a prisoner for any length of time occurred in Philippi, where he was in jail, and the Lord knew it wasn't time yet for his prison ministry, so he sent an earthquake and the whole jail fell apart, and he walked out.
So up until this time, he has been free. But beginning here in chapter 21, he becomes a prisoner. And as a prisoner, he gives six separate defenses of his actions. The first one begins is 21:18, and they follow from there.
He defends himself before a mob, before the Jewish council, before Felix and Festus, who are Roman governors, and lastly, before the Jews. These defenses are scattered across three cities, the first two occur in Jerusalem, the next in Caesarea, and the final one in Rome.
As we study through these defenses you will see he personalizes the defense to share a specific gospel presentation to those who are accusing him. After all, that's what he's been doing for all these years, and just because he is under arrest or being tried doesn't alter that.
We come to the first defense tonight which occurs before a mob in Jerusalem, and if I were going to title this section, I would call it "How to give a positive testimony in a negative situation." In fact, that could serve as the topic for the rest of Acts as Paul continually finds himself in negative situations, but gives a positive testimony.
And what we find here is a great teaching moment for those of us who want to share our faith because we all find ourselves in those negative situations where we wonder, "What should I say?" or "How do I deal with this situation?" How do we give a positive testimony in a negative situation?
Well, Paul knew how to take a negative situation and make it into a positive testimony. Now, keep in mind, leading up to this chapter, we've talked about the courage of his convictions, and we've observed his humility, but know we see his boldness. And maybe that is what is lacking more than anything among modern Christians.
So let's see what we can learn from a man who has a holy boldness to share the gospel who finds himself in the negative situation of facing a crowd of people who have heard that he is encouraging people to forsake their Jewish traditions and ceremonies.
Directed by the church leaders in Jerusalem, he has tried to ease some of the tension of the situation by going to the temple and fulfilling a Nazarite vow along with four other men, and he even pays the expenses. But that didn't help, and as we see in tonight's study, the situation explodes.
1. The Accusation by the Jews
verses 27-28
What we have here is a mob situation. It is a frenzied group of Zealots who intend to murder Paul for what they believe he has done. Now, it's rather interesting that the Jews that initially stir things up are from Asia.
That is a reference to Asia Minor, which is where Ephesus, Laodecea, Philadelphia, Thyatyrus, Sardis, Smyrna, all the cities that receive letters in the book of Revelation 2 and 3 are located.
Now Paul spent a large amount of time in that area, e years in Ephesus alone. And while he had tremendous successes in his ministry, apparently, he has also created some enemies! And there is a good indication they were from Ephesus because of what they say in
verse 29
They recognize Trophimus, the Ephesian.
Anyway, it is these Jews from Asia Minor who start this riot, and according to verse 27, they are able to stir up everyone in the temple, and called for the men of Israel to help them. This is a call to protect their faith! And by the way, that would have been an exclusively Jewish crowd, so they saw their opportunity.
Historians tell us it was probable that there were as many as 2 million people in Jerusalem at feast times. And remember, Paul wanted to get there before Pentecost, which, by the way, indicates he still honored the Jewish ceremonies and traditions, so this is one of those high and holy times. That's why these Asian Jews were there.
So here they are, at a holy time in Jewish life, in the city of Jerusalem, with Jews from all over the world gathered, and somebody is telling lies on Paul and his opposition to Judaism. It is a recipe for disaster!
So they stir up the crowd and accuse him of
verse 28b
The first accusation is he is anti-Semitic. Which seems a little odd, since he is a Jew! But it is a reminder that Jews have never been able to accept the fact that one of their own embraces Jesus as the Messiah! The Jewish nationality is so connected to their religion that to be one, requires that you be the other. And if you aren't, you are a traitor.
It's ironic that the real rebel against Judaism, is the unbelieving Jew who will not accept his Messiah. But that is the first accusation. Paul is anti-Semitic.
"He's against his people, he's against the Law, which means he is against God, he's against Moses and he's against the temple."
And then, to cap it all off, verse 28, he polluted the temple by allowing Gentiles to come in. Now that's a very strong accusation, and much liek we are witnessing in our own country today, you don't have to have proof, just bring an accusation.
verse 29
They didn't see him in the temple, they just assumed and supposed that he had accompanied Paul. You say, "Maybe Paul did bring him in." No, he didn't. You say, "How do you know he didn't?" Because that would really be stupid. Paul just spent seven days going through a Nazarite vow to convince the Jews that he honored their customs, so now he's going to turn around and undo everything he's just done and take a Gentile to church with him? I don't think so!
For a Gentile to enter the temple was terrible. The Gentiles could only go to the outer court. In fact since that was true, it became known as the Court of the Gentiles. And between that and the inner court, the next court was called the Court of the Women, and it got that name because the women could go into that court. And then further on in the men went, and then of course the priest and the high priest all the way into the holy of holies. But in the outer court, the Gentiles could go.
Now, between the outer court and the inner court, the Court of the Women, the temple treasury, was a barricade. And periodically, along pillars on the barricade were placed signs.
And they were written in two languages, Latin and Greek, so that all the pagans could read them. This is what they said, and interestingly enough, we have found two of those from Herod's temple.
Archaeologists discovered one in 1871, another one in 1935, and they both said the same thing: "No man of alien race is to enter within the barricade that goes around the temple. And if anyone is taken in the act, let him know that he has himself to blame for the penalty of death that follows."
So any Gentile who went in the temple committed a capital offense. So if Paul had taken Trophimus in, it would have cost him his life. Paul is not going to do that to his friend and brother in Christ.
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whole thing was a trumped up charge to feed the mob mentality. And it worked.
Verse 30
After all, you wouldn't want to interrupt the worship of God, so we better shut the doors while we kill God's anointed apostle!
But, in the providence of God, the life of Paul was not yet over, and God still has some ministry for him to do. Next we see
2. The Arrest by the Romans
verses 31-36
The one thing that the Roman Government wanted in its colonies and its possessions was civil order. They didn't tolerate civil disorder and uprisings. They didn't tolerate it from the people, and any commander who allowed it was in real trouble. And so they had an observation tower to watch because most of what went on in terms of congregating went on in the temple courtyard.
So on this particular day, the soldiers looking down saw what was going on and realized, to quote Barney Fife, they had a situation.
So they rush in to restore order and put a stop to the beating Paul is receiving. Obviously, something is going on so he has Paul bound and arrested until he can determine what's happening.
By the way, what we read in verse 33 is a fulfillment of prophecy. And I can just hear Paul saying, "What Agabus told me in Caesarea has come to pass." Just as he illustrated, Paul is now bound in Jerusalem.
Now their assumption is that Paul is a rebel leader trying to stir up the people and cause an overthrow of the Roman government. But the Romans were good at trying to bring about justice. And so this guy wanted to find out what the demands were that had been made on this man, what he was accused of, who he was, what was going on.
But when he asked, and according to verse 34, several in the crowd starts answering him.
He couldn't make any sense out of what was being said, so he commanded that Paul be taken into the barracks. That may have been for protection as much as anything.
And we can see how unruly the crowd is because the soldiers have to carry Paul up over their heads to keep people from pulling at him and trying to take him away from them. And their intentions are clear from what we read in
verse 36
"Away with him" means kill him.
Now what I find amazing, and I mentioned this last week, is that Paul doesn't struggle or say anything about what's happening or what he's being accused of.
With all this Supreme Court nonsense that is going on, one of the things the Democrats have been critical of is how Cavanaugh lashed out at them. Well, the man has been accused of lying, covering up the truth and committing a sexual crime. His family and reputation has been brutally attacked and I think how he responded is exactly how I would expect someone to respond.
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Paul does none of that. And it is his humility that make him usable. Paul humbly accepted what was happening as he served God.
In fact, the next thing we see in this text is
3. The Apology of Paul
Acts 22:1
The word defense in Greek is apologia, from which we get apology and apologetic. Apologetics is a speech in defense of something. Nowadays, an apology has a negative meaning, but in this sense, it has a positive meaning.
Actually, biblical apologetics means to give a reason for your behavior or a reason for your faith, or a reason for what you believe in.
So what we have is his apology, his speech in defense of his faith. And basically, it is his personal testimony. So here is where we get to see how Paul takes this negative situation and turns it into a positive.
And we'll look at that next time.
Let's pray.
