THE SPREADING IN ASIA MINOR AND EUROPE THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF PAUL AND HIS COMPANIONS (26)
Read and pray: "I asked: Who are You, Lord? And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'" (Acts 22:8)
SEIZED BY THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM
In Acts 21:27-28 we read: "When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, 'Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.'" Yes, the New Testament teaching of God according to His New Testament economy is indeed against the Jews who oppose such an economy (Matt. 21:41, 43-45; 22:7; 23:32-36; Acts 7:51; 13:40-41), against the law of dead letters (Rom. 3:20, 28; 6:14; 7:4, 6; 12:19, 21; 5:4), and against the holy place, the temple (Matt. 23:38; 24:2; Acts 7:48).
Since Paul’s ministry was to carry out God’s New Testament economy, he could not please the Jews who were possessed and usurped by Satan, God’s enemy, with their distorted traditional religion, which led them to oppose God’s New Testament move and to devastate it.
Rather, Paul’s ministry offended them and stirred up their envy and hatred to the utmost, so they made a conspiracy (20:3) to kill him (21:31, 36). In 21:28, "this place" and "this holy place" refer to the temple. In verses 29 and 30, we read: "For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. And all the city was disturbed, and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut." Literally, the Greek words translated "the people ran together" mean "a gathering of the people occurred."
THE INTERVENTION OF THE ROMAN COMMANDER
Acts 21:31-33 says: "And as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came near and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done."
This commander was a chiliarch, in charge of a thousand soldiers or a cohort. The cohort was one of the ten divisions of the ancient Roman legion. In His sovereignty, the Lord used the intervention of this Roman commander to rescue Paul from the Jews who sought to kill him.
Paul requested permission from the Roman commander to speak to the people (v. 39). Having been granted permission, he addressed the people in the Hebrew dialect. This dialect was Aramaic, the language spoken at that time in Palestine. In 22:1 he said: "Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now." He faced his opponents differently from Christ. Christ was a lamb led to the slaughter, and like a sheep silent before its shearers, He opened not His mouth when He was judged by men (Isa. 53:7; Matt. 26:62-63; 27:12, 14).
But Paul, a faithful and bold apostle sent by the Lord, needed to make his defense and exercise wisdom to save his life from his persecutors in order to fulfill the course of his ministry. Although he was willing and ready to sacrifice his life for the Lord (20:24; 21:13), he still endeavored to live longer to carry out the Lord’s ministry as much as possible.
Enjoy more: Hymn S-99
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