In-Depth Bible Study Notes For Acts 22:1-21

In-Depth Bible Study Notes For Acts 22:1-21

Acts 22 can be broken into two sections.

Verses 1-21 describes Paul's speech before the crowd on the steps of the fortress. He gives his testimony and describes his conversion.
Verses 22-30 describes the Roman commander's reaction when he discovers that Paul is a Roman citizen

Read Acts 22:1. Paul starts out on a gentle, conciliatory note by pointing out their common Jewish heritage. They are like "brothers and fathers" to him.

Read Acts 22:2. Hebrew and Aramaic are not the same language. The majority of the Palestinian Jews would have spoken Hebrew, not Aramaic. And in fact if Paul had spoken in Hebrew they probably would have become even quieter, so as not to miss a word, since it would have been a more difficult language for them to understand!

Paul then starts to point out the commonalities between himself and his audience. Read Acts 22:3. { Point out Tarsus on flannel map } Paul was probably brought to Jerusalem at an early age, perhaps when he was old enough to begin training under Gamaliel. Gamaliel was probably the most honored rabbi of the first century. That would have been a great "selling" point with his audience. He certainly was known for being very "zealous" for God during his time.

Read Acts 22:4-5. That Paul in the past hated the Christians as vehemently as his audience does now was very clear. We need to remember that the incidents that Paul is talking about now happened 20 years prior. There would be many people in the audience he did not remember him from his pre-conversion days and would not know that he was a well known persecutor of the Christians. I think we sometimes forget the passage of time when we read historical books like Acts and tend to think of events happening closer together than they do. The high priest, Caiaphas, would have been the one who had given Paul that letter of permission all those years ago, but the current high priest, Ananias would have had historical records to show that what Paul was saying was true.

So what is Paul getting at? He is setting the stage to show why he changed so dramatically, a 180 degree turn-around. He had been as zealous as any of the men before him now, as fanatical, as violent.

In Acts 9 we have the first version or description of Paul's dramatic conversion, his "road to Damascus" experience as it is sometimes called. Here, in Acts 22 we will read the second version. He will present a third version in Acts 26 when he gives his testimony before Agrippa. Each version provides slightly different details not provided in the other versions, as one would expect when retelling a story. Also, Paul would have tailored his versions, somewhat, depending on his audience.

Read Acts 22:6. In this version we learned that the bright light shown at about noon, a detail not included in the earlier version.

Read Acts 22:7-8. My commentary pointed out the following: In rabbinic tradition such a voice from heaven would have been understood as the voice of God himself. The solemn repetition of Saul's name and the bright light suggested to him that he was in the presence of deity.

This story has been painted and drawn countless times. One of my favorite versions is the painting done by Caravaggio. { Show painting on pg. 860 from "Reader's Digest Bible"}

Read Acts 22:9. This is a little different from Acts 9:7. His companions, obviously, saw the light, heard a sound, but didn't understand the words being said.

Read Acts 22:10-11. Self-explanatory, and pretty close to the earlier version.

Read Acts 22:12. For this audience it was very important that Ananias was a devout observer of the law, and highly respected by the Jews in Damascus. When Luke writes the first version he does not include any of that information. Let's review how Ananias is described there. Read Acts 9:10. There he is only called a "disciple." Also in this second version Paul does not take the time to describe how Ananias had a vision and was commanded by God to go to Paul or that he balked originally at going, out of fear. Read Acts 9:13-14. In this first version we learn quite a bit more about Ananias and the kind of man he was, as opposed to this second version which focuses primarily on Paul and his reactions and interactions.

Read Acts 22:13. We have much more description in the earlier version. Read Acts 9:17-18. But I would expect that Paul would be far more pressed for time, giving his defense on the fortress, and would have to decide quickly what to put into his story and what to leave out!

But now, in this second version, we are given more information about what specifically Ananias said to Saul/Paul. Read Acts 22:14. Note that Ananias confirms for Saul that it is the God of their fathers, the Hebrew God, the One True God, who is behind all these events. As Saul is a zealot, this would have been very important to him. Also, it was very important to Paul that he have seen the resurrected Jesus, the "Righteous One" and hear Him speak. Read 1 Corinthians 9:1, 15:8.

Read Acts 22:15. Paul is told what his main purpose will be on the Road to Damascus: to be a witness for Jesus, the one he had been persecuting.

Read Acts 22:16. In the first version we are told that Paul was baptized, here we are given a bit more information about how Ananias commanded it and how it is specifically noted that Paul called on the name of Jesus. As a quick side note, my commentary points out that baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace. That is that the act itself does not cause salvation or cleansing of sin, but that it allows others to see what has happened in your life. When we study baptism in the New Testament we see that the act and the reality are closely associated. Read Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21. However other passages make it clear that it is not ritual or works that saves. Read Ephesians 2:8-9. End rabbit trail.

Read Acts 22:17. The visit to Jerusalem that Paul is talking about is probably the one described in Acts 9:22-26. I can just imagine how frustrated and discouraged Paul must have been! He has just escaped being killed in Damascus, being lowered over the wall in a basket, and he comes to Jerusalem hoping to meet with the other followers of Jesus (for which he was risking his life) and they are afraid of him! But back to 22:17... remember, again, who his audience is: Jews extremely zealous for the law and the temple. Paul, in his testimony, has demonstrated that he is not a blasphemer of the temple, but rather one who honors it by coming there to pray. And while he is there, he falls into a trance.

Let's now read what the Lord said to him in this trance: Read Acts 22:18-21. I'll be honest here - I do not know exactly how this fits in with the timeline given in Acts 9. For if we continue reading in chapter 9, we see that while Paul is initially rejected by the apostles, Barnabas steps in and Paul travels freely in Jerusalem preaching. Read Acts 9:27-30. In the trance, it appears that Paul is speaking with the Lord right after his initial rejection by the brothers and that the Lord is telling him to immediately leave Jerusalem, but in chapter 9 he clearly stays. { ask group for their input } In any case, it is important to note that Paul openly admits his guilt in the part he played in the killing of Stephen and in persecuting other believers. He knows this is why he is being rejected by the others. I found it interesting that the Lord doesn't say anything about Paul having been forgiven of this; it is almost as if that is a "given" and doesn't even need to be mentioned. Instead the Lord is emphatic about what Paul's mission is: he will be sent to the Gentiles.

To be continued...

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version

Written by Gail_Sanders

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Friday, August 26, 2011

In-Depth Bible Study Notes For Acts 22:1-21

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