You may remember that Paul agreed to take part in a purification rite at the temple to show his Jewish critics that he still kept the law (Acts 21:23–26). It did not go as planned.
A group of Jews from the province of Asia stirred up the crowd against him. They claimed Paul taught against the Jewish people, the law, and the temple, and they accused him of bringing a Greek into the temple courts. Like the other charges, that one was false.
The whole city erupted. The mob dragged Paul out of the temple, intent on killing him. A Roman commander heard about the uproar and rushed in with his soldiers, saving Paul’s life. He had Paul taken toward the barracks to find out what was going on, while the crowd kept shouting, “Away with him!” (Acts 21:27–36).
Once the commander learned that Paul was not the Egyptian rebel he suspected but a citizen of Tarsus, an important city in Cilicia, he allowed Paul to address the crowd from the steps of the barracks.
Building Bridges
When Paul finally had a chance to speak, his first move was to build a bridge rather than a hurdle. He spoke to the crowd in their own Hebrew dialect, and they grew quiet to listen (Acts 22:2).
Imagine standing in that crowd. You have been told this man committed terrible crimes against your people. Then he begins to speak, and you discover how much you have in common with him.
The first plank in Paul’s bridge was his background. He was a Jew who had come to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel, a well-known rabbi from a family of respected rabbis. Anyone trained at Gamaliel’s feet was someone to be taken seriously.
“I am a Jew born in Tarsus in Cilicia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today.” (Acts 22:3)
There was no doubt the mob was full of zeal. What they did not realize was that Paul had been just as zealous.
The crowd wanted Paul dead. What they may not have known was that, after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, Paul had once pursued Jesus’ followers with that same deadly fury.
“I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison.” (Acts 22:4)
Paul didn’t have social media broadcasting his daily life to the world, so many in the crowd may not have known that he had once traveled all the way to Damascus to arrest Jesus’ followers.
“As the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.” (Acts 22:5)
Everything Paul had said so far was a bridge, preparing his listeners to hear the story of God’s grace. By showing them how much they had in common, he opened the way for at least some of them to hear him out.
God’s Grace for a Man with a Past
One of my friends, Barry, was an alcoholic who lived in a small apartment on Independence Avenue in Kansas City. He worked at a vinegar factory, and people on the street knew him as “Scary Barry.” His heavy drinking made his mental health struggles worse. He weighed 250 pounds, and his health was poor.
One day his kind and wise boss called him into the office and said, “Barry, why don’t you try going to church?”
Barry took his advice and began attending a large but sparsely attended Christian church on Independence Avenue, where a wise older pastor met with him and helped him greatly. Around the same time, a man with a street ministry began investing in Barry’s life, and the two became close friends.
By God’s grace, Barry stopped drinking and got most of his mental health struggles under control. In time, he needed only a small amount of medication to stay stable.
After the older pastor retired, Barry and his street-minister friend moved to Maywood, where I was serving as pastor. That is where I met Barry and heard his amazing story. He became one of our church’s best greeters. He even saved his money so he could buy a birthday gift for every person in the church.
Barry recently died from an aggressive form of cancer. I’m sure his welcome into heaven was amazing. He was a quiet example of God’s grace—once lost, now found—and he served God with every ability he had.
Barry, Paul, and You
Barry and Paul were very different men, but they had something in common. Each had a past that others could relate to. Each had an encounter with Jesus and served Him with everything he had.
We will look at Paul’s own encounter with Jesus in tomorrow’s article.
You and I can relate to these two men, because we have a past too. If we know Jesus, we also have a present with Him, a great future, and people around us who need to hear our story. Who might need to hear yours this week?
Watch the Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed Acts 21:27–22:5 on YouTube today.
