Real Hope: Acts (A Study of Acts 18 -23)Sample

Acts 22

READ ACTS 22

Acts 22 continues Paul’s story. Paul is back in Jerusalem, and the crowd is very hostile towards him, accusing him of speaking against Jewish law and tradition. They want the soldiers to arrest him and take him away. The start of Acts 22 sees Paul speaking to the crowd and telling them his story about how he trained as a Rabbi and how he persecuted the early Christian church including approving of Stephen’s death. He tells them about his encounter with Jesus, his conversion, and how he came to preach to the gentiles.

But the crowd is not happy nor satisfied and want him taken away and killed. As the soldiers start to do this, he challenges them because he is a Roman citizen (see v26–29). This concerns the commander greatly, and they withdraw from interrogation. Paul is released and then is brought before the Jewish leaders the next day.

Ironically, it is his citizenship that gets him released not his faith. It is his faith in Jesus that has him in chains. The story of Paul through the bulk of Acts reminds us about the difficulties of the early Christian church.

It should also remind us that many of our brothers and sisters today still suffer for proclaiming the good news of Jesus. We need to pray for them. Even though we don’t know them personally, we can thank God for their strength to stand up as Christians and can pray that God will protect and uphold them physically and spiritually so the good news of Jesus can go out and provide true freedom.

Written by DAVID BARKER