When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, ‘Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.’ (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)
The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, ‘Get rid of him!’
As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, ‘May I say something to you?’
‘Do you speak Greek?’ he replied. ‘Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?’
Paul answered, ‘I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.’
After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he spoke to them in Aramaic. (Acts 21.27-40, NIV)
There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law, (v23-24): Following the requirements of Jewish and Gentile converts, Paul did as requested, and participated in the religious rituals, as required by Jewish religious law. At this point, the Church was beginning to move away from a simple relationship with Jesus, and returning to a rules based system of salvation. Yes, it is important for there to be order and obedience in the Church, but our salvation is through faith in Christ. We must get back to the simplicity of the true Gospel message of salvation. When Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross – it literally was finished! Nothing else is required! – Only faith to accept this truth. (Galatians 5:6).
When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, ‘Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.’ (v27-28): This is a false accusation against Paul, which upset the whole of Jerusalem. Seizing Paul, they dragged him out of the Temple in order to kill him. The news of this riot reaches the commander of the Roman army; and in verse 32, they take action against the rioters. By verse 33, Paul is arrested and bound. Yet the riot continues to become more violent. In verse 34, the commander takes Paul into the army barracks.
As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, ‘May I say something to you?’
‘Do you speak Greek?’ he replied. ‘Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?’
Paul answered, ‘I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.’
After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic: (v37-40, NIV).
In chapter 22 Paul makes his defence: ‘I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished, (v3-6). By verse 6, Paul gives the testimony of his conversion and subsequent instruction from the Lord.
‘A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. He stood beside me and said, “Brother Saul, receive your sight!” And at that very moment I was able to see him.
‘Then he said: “The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
‘When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking to me. “Quick!” he said. “Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.”
‘“Lord,” I replied, “these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.”
‘Then the Lord said to me, “Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”’ (Verse 12-21, NIV.)