THE PREACHER & THE MOB

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 19, 2023 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: July 19, 2023 from Acts 21:27-22:24

Theme: We must have courage and clarity of speech when proclaiming Jesus in irrational times.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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The gospel of Jesus Christ is a rational faith. It’s based on the eyewitness testimony of what Jesus has done for us—as was promised by God in the Scriptures. It’s grasped by the mind in such a way as to appeal intelligently to the will … and to thus move the heart.

But in sharing that gospel in our times, we’re faced with a unique challenge. Many people today have become so influenced by misconceptions about the Christian faith that they often respond emotionally rather than rationally. And what’s more—perhaps more than at most times in history—people today are influenced by a mob mentality rather than by individual reasoning. How do we reach our fellow human beings with the gospel in such times such as these?

Well; we find an example in the apostle Paul. Acts 21-22 contains a story of how Paul attempted to faithfully proclaim the gospel of Jesus under just such a circumstance. We would have to admit that his situation was very unique; and it’s very unlikely that most of us would ever find ourselves in anything like it. But in it, we nevertheless see how Paul was careful to proclaim the gospel to an angry mob—a crowd that was deeply emotional in its reaction, and deeply enraged by misunderstanding and misinformation. Paul told his testimony with courage, and confidence, and with a commitment to clarity of speech. And though we can’t say that it changed the mob’s mind; it does give us an example of courage in presentation—and of saying what needed to be said in a clear and orderly manner. Given the circumstances in which his words were spoken, it should be considered one of the greatest examples of oration in ancient history.

And from it, we learn that we must have courage and clarity of speech when proclaiming Jesus in irrational times such as ours.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; let’s remember the circumstance of this remarkable speech. Paul had been making his way to Jerusalem to deliver a relief fund that had been collected for Jewish Christians by their Gentile brethren in the faith. All along the way, he had been warned that trouble awaited him—that he would be arrested, bound, and handed over to the Gentiles. But he nevertheless went—trusting that God was calling him to go.

Once he arrived, he was told by the leaders of the church in Jerusalem that a terrible misunderstanding about him had spread. Many of the Jewish Christians had believed rumors that Paul had been telling the Jews within Gentile nations that “they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs” (Acts 21:21). None of these rumors were true, of course. And in order to dispel them, the leaders urged Paul to take four men who had been under a Nazarite vow, be purified with them, and pay the expenses of their vow; so that everyone could know that those things of which the Jews had been informed were nothing, but that he indeed walked orderly and kept the law.

And so; that’s what Paul did. Acts 21:26 tells us;

Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them (Acts 21:26).

But it was then that the prophetic warnings he had been given—concerning the troubles he would see in Jerusalem—finally came to pass. And this is where we read of …

1. THE UPROAR FROM THE MOB (21:27-36).

In verses 27-29, Luke tells us;

Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him 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.” (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple) (21:27-29).

The man that Paul had with him—Trophimus—was first introduced to us in Acts 20:4. He was one of the men that Paul thought it would be wise to bring with him to Jerusalem in delivering this gift from the Gentiles to the Jewish believers. Trophimus was from Asia Minor; and he would have been a good representative of the love the Gentile believers felt for their Jewish brethren. But some of the hostile Jews in the temple who spotted Paul were also from Asia. They may have recognized Trophimus. And having already believed the bad reports about Paul—that he spoke everywhere against the people, the law, and the temple—they wrongly assumed that Paul had brought this Gentile man into the temple in violation of the law of Moses.

Paul never would have done that, though. He walked faithfully according to the law that God gave His people through Moses. False accusations and misunderstandings, however, abounded in this situation. And when people act hastily and emotionally on the basis of misinformation, it always causes further trouble. It caused a great commotion at the temple; which set the whole city of Jerusalem into turmoil. Verse 30 tells us;

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 (v. 30).

It wasn’t enough, however, that they dragged Paul out of the temple. They also sought to beat him to death. And they no doubt would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for the fact that the commotion brought the Roman authorities into the situation. As keepers of the peace for the cause of Rome, they had a vested interest in stopping trouble. Verses 31-36 tell us;

Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately 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 took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done. And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another. So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks. When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, “Away with him!” (vv. 31-36).

They were shouting for his death, even as the Roman officers tried to find out what all the trouble was. And so; those were the circumstances in which Paul gave this remarkable speech! It would have been the kind of situation in which most people would have decided not to speak at all—if they could have avoided doing so! But Paul—always confident in the sovereignty of God and the providence of His call—had been waiting for a moment like this. He had already made it clear that he was ready, not only to be bound, but to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord (21:13).

And this leads us to …

2. THE REQUEST FROM THE APOSTLE (21:37-40).

Paul did something remarkable. (He often did remarkable things in remarkable situations like this!) Verses 37-38 tells us;

Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I speak to you?” He replied, “Can you speak Greek? Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?” (vv. 37-38).

Here was yet another misunderstanding. (There seemed to be a lot of them to go around in this story!) This time, it was on the part of the Roman commander—whose name we find out later was Claudius Lysias (23:26). The New Testament scholar F.F. Bruce tells us about the basis of this misunderstanding as it had been reported in the writings of the ancient historian Josephus:

Some three years previously, an Egyptian adventurer appeared in Jerusalem, claiming to be a prophet, and led a large band of followers out to the Mount of Olives. There he told them to wait until, at his word of command, the walls of the city would fall flat; then they would march in, overthrow the Roman garrison, and take possession of the place. But Felix, procurator of Judaea, sent a body of troops against them; they killed several and took others prisoner. The Egyptian himself discreetly disappeared. Those whom he had duped would cherish no friendly feelings toward him. Now, thought the tribune, the imposter had reappeared and the people were venting their rage on him (The Book of Acts, NICNT, p. 412).

The fact that Paul spoke Greek made the Roman commander realize that Paul wasn’t the man that he thought he was. And Paul—obviously—would have also been eager to correct this misunderstanding. Verses 39-40 tell us;

But Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.” So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying (vv. 39-40) …

Obviously, the Roman officer would have been impressed with the intelligence and courage of this multilingual man. He trusted him enough to let him speak. And though he still didn’t understand what the uproar was all about, he learned even more about Paul when he heard …

3. THE DEFENSE TO THE JEWS (22:1-21).

Verses 1-2 of Chapter 22 tell us that, after bringing a hush to the crowd, Paul then said …

“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent (22:1-2a).

In the original language of the Book of Acts, it tells us that he began by saying, “Men, brethren, and fathers …” And this may indicate that he intended to be heard by more than just the Jews alone, but also by the Gentiles who were then listening. And what a remarkable speech it was! It can be divided up into three main sections; and these three sections show us the wise approach that he used in addressing this hostile crowd.

First, he begins with his identity and background. Verses 2b-5 tell us;

Then he said: “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished” (vv. 2b-5).

Paul’s reference to his teacher Gamaliel would have appealed very much to the devoted Jews who were listening. We encountered this man Gamaliel in Acts 5:33-39. His wise words of restraint prevented the Jews earlier from putting the apostles to death. Many considered him to be the most noteworthy rabbi and greatest teacher of Judaism in his time. And Paul had been his student. He spoke of his efforts to persecute “this Way”; and even of how many of the Jewish leaders who were present could testify that they authorized him to do so. Later on, on another challenging occasion, he declared this to the Roman governor Felix in his defense against the accusation of the Jewish leaders; that

“… they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city. Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me. But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets. I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men (Acts 24:12-16).

In saying all this, he was able to demonstrate that he could readily identify with the devotion that his accusers had toward the law, the traditions, and the temple. But that’s when he next goes on to tell them the story of his conversion to Christ. In verses 6-16, he tells them the story that we first learned in Acts 9—and that he will tell again to King Agrippa in Acts 26;

“Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. “Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord’” (vv. 6-16).

It seems that in all that Paul had said up to this point, the angry mob listened intently. He told them of how he had been among them—standing out among them as greatly educated in the religion of the Jewish people; and more zealous than they had been in protecting it and defending it. In none of these things could they disagree. But then, he finally tells them about his call from the Lord. In verses 17-21, we read that he told them;

“Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles’” (vv. 17-21).

Paul rested on the fact that the Jewish leaders would have known that he had already sought to persecute the followers of Jesus—and that he had even supported the death of Stephen (see 7:58; 8:1). But then came the word that caused all of Paul’s listeners to suddenly fly into a rage against him. He said that the Lord told him, “Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.”

This had been God’s plan all along—clearly declared in the Scriptures that the Jewish people loved. But this then led to …

4. THE OUTRAGE OF UNBELIEF (vv. 22-24).

Luke writes,

And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!” Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air, the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him (vv. 22-24).

You can tell that Paul was an effective presenter of the gospel in this difficult circumstance, because we’re told that they “listened” until they heard the word “Gentiles”. Then, all the rage of their rebellion against God’s plan and disbelief in the message of His grace came to the surface.

* * * * * * * * * *

Was Paul trying to change their minds about himself? Was he trying to persuade them not to want to beat him to death? If that had been his goal, then he never would have said the things he said. Instead, what he sought to do was use the occasion to set before them the full truth of how he had been transformed by the gospel—and how God’s grace now reaches even to the gentile people.

And what we find in this passage is a model for us to follow in proclaiming a very rational gospel in irrational times. It doesn’t always mean that people will repent of their rejection of the message. But it does mean that it will become clear to them what they’re really rejecting.

May God thus also give us courage and clarity of speech when proclaiming Jesus in irrational times—such as the times in which we’re living. May God use us to make it as plain as possible—that it might yet reach some!

AE