The Book of Acts
The Arrest of Paul, Part 3
Acts 22:6-14
I always feel like I need to apologize for the breaks we have to take in our studies because it is such an interruption to understanding the flow of the text and seeing the continuity of what is happening.
But I don't know of any way to avoid that other than just briefly touching on the verses and not providing you with much background or commentary, and that's not fair to you or the text.
So, I'll just take a little bit of time each week to review and bring us to date, and hopefully, prompt your memory and go from there.
So, Paul is in Jerusalem and there is a big riot that breaks out because many of the Jews believe he is teaching Jews who live in Gentile areas that they don't have to be obedient to Jewish law and custom. Their charge is that Paul is anti-Jew, anti-God and anti-temple. Beyond that, they've also accused him or desecrating the temple by bringing Gentile inside.
As the Roman soldiers are taking Paul to prison, he asks for the opportunity to speak. Now remember, we are looking for the keys to taking a negative circumstance and using it to share a positive witness for Christ. I don't know that we could find circumstances any more adverse or negative than these.
But Paul recognizes he is not there by accident. Instead, and we identified that in order to offer a positive witness in a negative situation, we need to recognize that
- God places us in the situation
Paul understood he was there by diving appointment, and realizing that, number two, he
- takes advantage of the situation
Here he stands, an accused man, bound in shackles, on his way to prison, yet he initiates the opportunity that will result in sharing a positive witness for Christ. He does it by giving a defense of the gospel. In theological terms, that is called an apology, or apologetics. If you were at the meeting at Mary Niblack this week, you learned about that.
His presentation of the gospel involves three things: his life before conversion, how he met Christ, and what happened as a result of that.
We looked at his life before Christ last week as he walks them through his life as a Jew, right up to the time when he was on his way to Damascus with extradition papers authorized by Jewish leaders to bring Christians back to Jerusalem for trial.
Then, beginning at verse 6, we move to the second part of his testimony which is
- the circumstances of his conversion.
verse 6
Now I want you get the picture. He is going to Damascus for the purpose of extraditing Christians to haul them back to be punished. He is not going to a revival meeting. He does not have a clandestine meeting with some Christian. He is not searching around to try to get exposed to Christianity. He is on Christianity’s tail trying to rub it out.
He is not trying to find out how he can meet Jesus or investigate whether or not He is Who He claimed to be. He is trying to destroy everybody who names the name of Jesus. That’s exactly what he says here. “I was going to Damascus to bring Christians back to punish them. And there I was, minding my own business, walking down the road; and right out of heaven comes this light.”
By the way, this text adds a detail we haven't heard in previous accounts of his testimony, and that is it happened around noon.
I think that detail is added to highlight just how bright was this light that surrounded him. It was at noon, which means the light on earth is at its peak, and yet, a great light from heaven shines on him. How bright was that light if it was noticeable in the brightest part of the day in the Middle East?
Obviously the sun is hot and bright and intense, but even more intense is the light from heaven.
By the way, later when Paul shares his testimony before King Agrippa in chapter 26, he says this light was "brighter than the sun".
In fact, so bright is this light, Paul says,
verse 7a
So what was that light? Nothing other than the glory of Jesus Christ, the blazing shekinah glory of God. In fact, Paul uses that very word in
verse 11
“I couldn’t see for the glory”
It was the blazing glory of God. God is light, and God reveals Himself throughout the Old Testament in light and accompanies the presence of Christ from His birth to His return with the glorious light of heaven.
And it is that same glory of God, the shekinah, that is revealed to Paul, and he falls to the ground. As we'll see, the glory light is so intense, Paul is blinded by it. His eyes are so lit up with those sparkling little things you see when you’ve been blinded by the flash camera, only a million times like that, that all he could see is the flashing sparks of glory that are left.
And as a result, for three days, he was able to concentrate on nothing but the image and glory of the Resurrected Savior in light that God had blazed before his eyes.
verse 7
If we were to put Paul's thoughts in Southern English, he must have been thinking, "I have done messed up!"
There he lays with a mouthful of dirt, flat on the ground, blind as a bat, and all that light flashing around in his eyes; and, all of a sudden, a voice from heaven says, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
verse 8
Try to grasp the intensity of that moment. Jesus of Nazareth is talking to Saul of Tarsus from heaven. Now remember, to Paul, Jesus of Nazareth was a charlatan. He was a fraud. He was a conman. He was a huckster. He was a phony Messiah. They executed him for blasphemy. What a surprise it must have been to hear Him speaking from heaven!
By the way, that designation wasn't included in chapter 9 when Luke originally gave us the writing of his conversion. In the details of what happened in chapter 9, when Saul asks Who is speaking, the response is "Jesus, whom you are persecuting."
But here, Paul gives a little extra emphasis and tells them it was Jesus of Nazareth. He wants to make certain they understand the despised Nazarene is the Lord of glory and God's Messiah.
Remember, he's not just sharing his testimony. He is defending the faith. He is trying to convince them of Christ. And just to keep in mind what's going on, he tells them about his traveling companions. Can you imagine what they must have been thinking? The next verse tells us those who were with him saw the light, but didn't hear the voice.
They just see Saul fall off his mount and start talking to the air.
In so many words, he says, “If you don’t believe this happened, just go find those guys who went with me to capture those Christians, and they’ll tell you that it happened.”
He is corroborating the authenticity of this testimony. They can check out his motives and Jewish-ness with the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. They can check out the details of his conversion and how GOd intervened in his life on the road to Damascus with those who were traveling with him.
And I'm assuming if they were going to bring back a bunch of Christians as prisoners, there must have been a bunch of them. After all, they sent hundreds after Christ at His arrest.
So God assembles this big crowd of well-respected people to travel with Paul and they will now serve as witnesses to this event. They are not privy to the details of the conversation Christ has with Saul, but they know something happened that day!
You could go to any one of them and ask, "Did that really happen like Paul told it?" And they would say, "Oh man, did it ever! I've never seen a light like the light we saw that day! It was something brighter than the sun, and Paul hit the ground and starts talking to Someone!"
So why didn't they hear the voice? Some believe they heard a noise, but were unable to discern the details. Others say they heard nothing. I don't know that we can be sure either way, but it really doesn't matter. We do know they didn't hear the Voice that spoke to Paul.
Why not? Jesus wasn't talking to them! When God speaks regarding salvation, God speaks directly. It is a specific calling from His heart and God was dealing specifically with Paul. The others saw the light; they were stunned in fear. They saw Paul fall to the ground. They are aware that something terrifying is happening, but Jesus Christ was communicating with Paul.
verse 10a
Given the circumstances, that's probably the best thing that could have been said. “What do I do now?”
verse 10b
Underscore the word "appointed". God had chosen him. God had called him and God had appointed his destiny. This is God’s plan. One of the most exciting discoveries you will ever make in the Bible is to realize that you are a part of an eternal plan made, developed and initiated by God.
verse 11
Quite a change in the scenery has taken place! Saul, the vicious defender of Judaism and terrorist of the church has now been brought low. He who went forth to destroy and conquer is now led by the hand into Damascus to discover what God has appointed him to do.
By the way, keep in mind, he's not been converted yet. He has responded in faith, and yet God has his life mapped out, before he’s even made a statement of his faith.
All of that plan is about to be set in action through a man named Ananias.
verse 12
Again, notice the wording and remember, Paul is talking to Jews about salvation. He could have said, There was a strong Christian named Ananias who live in Damascus and they would have tuned him out.
Instead, notice how he introduces Ananias. He is a devout man according to the law who had a good testimony among the Jews who lived in Damascus.
He bypasses the fact that he’s a Christian for the moment, and instead, plays up the fact that he is a Jew. And again, he does that because he wants the people who are hearing him to know that Christianity was not something concocted by a bunch of anti-Jewish people.
He was pro-Jewish. It was Jesus of Nazareth, whom they knew to be Jewish, that spoke to him. It was Ananias who was a devout Jew, who was involved. So far, the whole thing is Jewish.
It's always been a mystery to me why Christians bet accused of being anti-Semitic, and yet it happens all the time. It isn’t true. The completion of all that Judaism means is found in Christ. That’s the completion story of the Gospel. If it weren't for Jews, we'd all be sunk!
So this devout, well-respected Jew who happens to be a Christian is sent to greet Saul upon his arrival in Damascus.
verse 13
When the very first thing that happens to you is an undeniable miracle, chances are good whoever does the miracle will have your undivided attention. And that is true of Saul with Ananias.
verse 14
“Then he said,”. Now understand, Ananias said a lot of things. Some of them are recorded in chapter 9, some are recorded in chapter 26, some are recorded in 22, but whatever is recorded meets the context and the situation. And if you want to consider the entirety of the speech of Ananias, you have to look at three passages and assemble it together.
But for this time, Paul picks out one thing in particular that that Ananias said and he shares it there in verse 14
Ananias said, “The God of our fathers has chosen you.” Hear what he's saying? The God who spoke to me as Jesus, the One who was surrounded by the Skekinah of God, is the God of Israel."
The consistency of Paul's testimony is amazing! It's obvious that he's thought it out and given time and consideration to his words. It is a very carefully designed and delivered presentation of the gospel with a sensitivity to a Jewish audience.
It’s a devout Jew. It’s a zealous Pharisee.
Ananias said, “The God of our fathers has chosen you to know His will, meet His Messiah, hear His voice and share His witness.”
Well, here sits Paul, still rubbing his eyes and taking in his surroundings. He hasn’t said a word as God just overloads him with information.
And the whole point of what he's saying is this: the God of Israel chose and transformed my life! That’s his testimony.
So what do we learn from Paul's testimony so far?
What does he teach us about giving a positive testimony in a negative situation?
Number one, accept the situation is from God. Number two,, take advantage of the Good-given opportunity.
Number three: do everything you can to find common ground with your audience.
One of the most important things in sharing your faith is to establish some point of contact and empathy.
If you're talking to a carpenter, then talk about carpentry and weave Jesus into the conversation. If you're ministering to someone who's lost a loved one, then draw from the strength and wisdom you found through Christ when you were grieving.
Then move from the experience to the truth of God's word. It is important in giving a positive testimony in a negative situation that you win the confidence and trust of the people. We don't have to be offensive or barge in like a bull in a china closet.
God will give you an opportunity to bring Him into the conversation and the right time.
That's all Paul is doing. From the very first words he speaks when he says, "Brethren and fathers", he looks for ways to maximize what they have in common. He understood where they were. He understood their skepticism and doubts. he had been there. He had walked in their shoes.
And unfortunately, too many of us have forgotten how we thought and lived and reacted as a lost person. But we who are saved by the grace of God ought to be the most sensitive to where people who have not received Christ find themselves because we've been there.
We can say, I understand where you're coming from. I was the same way. I thought the same thoughts and did the same thing. I was just like you were. And you know what happened? I got smart and came to Jesus.” No.
“You know what happened? All of a sudden, I was going about doing what I was doing when God began to move in my life.”
So, number one, accept the situation is from God. Number two, create an opportunity, and number three, when you get that opportunity, be loving and not judgmental, Instead, do everything you can to win their confidence so you can share the gospel that changed your life.
Let's pray.
