Acts 22:17-21

CRITICAL REMARKS

Acts 22:17. Begins the third portion of the defence. When I was come again to Jerusalem.—This visit to the Metropolis, which occurred at least three years after his conversion (Acts 9:26), and lasted fifteen days (Galatians 1:18), is connected with the story of his conversion (overleaping all that happened in the interval), to show why he turned to the Gentiles with his gospel, rather than to the Jews. The trance into which he fell, while praying in the temple, resembles Peter’s in the house of the Joppa tanner (Acts 10:10).

Acts 22:18. In the trance he saw him—i.e., Christ, the righteous One (Acts 22:14). This vision not the same as that referred to in 2 Corinthians 12:2. Quickly.—Perhaps accounts for the fifteen days of Galatians 1:18. That this vision is not mentioned in the epistle need not militate against its credibility. Thy testimony.—Better, testimony of or from thee concerning me.

Acts 22:19. The reply of Paul cannot be explained after the analogy of Exodus 3:11, but must be understood as stating either why it was natural that the Jews should not listen to him (Ewald), or why he should remain in Jerusalem—because the knowledge his countrymen had of his previous notorious character would convince them of the sincerity of his conversion (Lechler, Wendt, Bethge), and cause his words to carry greater weight (Hackett, Alford, Plumptre), or because he wished to undo the mischief he had formerly wrought (Alford). Another view sees in the reference to Paul’s earlier career a reason why his mission should be carried on at a distance from the theatre of his former deeds (Holtzmann). Thy martyr should be thy witness.

Acts 22:21. I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles.—The school of Baur and Holtzmann finds in this supernatural authorisation of Paul’s Gentile mission an artificial (but why artificial?) parallel to that of Peter in Acts 11:5. That both were divinely authorised presents no difficulty to those who accept the historic verity of the narrative.

HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Acts 22:17

Paul’s Adoption of a Gentile Mission; or, His Interview with Christ in Jerusalem

I. The circumstances connected with Christ’s appearing to the apostle.

1. The place where this occurred.

(1) Not in Damascus, which lay outside the Holy Land, but in Jerusalem, its metropolis and centre.
(2) Not in some obscure supper room while associating with the disciples, but in the temple itself, out of which they, his hearers and he, had just come, and on which they both looked with reverence.
(3) Not in the court of the Gentiles while engaged in denouncing the temple worship, in which they supposed he was now constantly occupie!, but in the court of the women, while praying like themselves in accordance with its accustomed ritual. All circumstances calculated to gain the favour of his hearers, or at least disarm their hostility.
2. The time when this occurrence. After his return to Jerusalem, which took place three years subsequent to the day of his leaving it for Damascus (Acts 9:26). This visit is that referred to in Galatians 1:18 as having continued only fifteen days. The present narrative supplies the reason of its speedy termination. Thus both history and epistle indirectly confirm each other.

3. The manner in which this occurred. Paul having fallen into a trance or ecstasy, as Peter in similar circumstances had done in Joppa (Acts 10:10), while thus withdrawn from the contemplation of “things seen and temporal,” with his soul’s eye open to the “unseen” and the “eternal,” he beheld again the same glorified form which he had seen before Damascus’ gate, and recognised it as that of his exalted Lord.

II. The instruction given to the apostle by Christ, whom he beheld.

1. The tenor of it. To depart from Jerusalem with all speed. The order, which was clear, short, and peremptory, must withal have been surprising and painful to Paul, who intensely loved his countrymen and desired their salvation (Romans 9:1; Romans 10:1), and who doubtless had heard that Christ Himself once commanded His disciples to begin at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47).

2. The reason of it. Because his countrymen would not receive from him testimony concerning Christ. This, too, must have sounded sad in Paul’s ears—that his countrymen would not accept testimony concerning Christ from any one, and certainly not from him. It seemed like an intimation beforehand that Israel’s heart was hardened and Israel’s doom sealed. Yet his experience in Jerusalem (Acts 9:29) must have begun to prepare him for some such announcement. Only love is slow to convince that its holy purpose to bless others will prove ineffectual.

III. The objection offered by Paul to Christ’s instruction. The exact thought which lay in the apostle’s mind is difficult to determine (see “Critical Remarks”); but, accepting what appears the more probable interpretation, we may understand Paul as attempting to show cause why he should be allowed to remain in Jerusalem.

1. The knowledge which the inhabitants of the Holy City possessed of his previous character as a persecutor would (he believed) dispose them to credit the sincerity of his conversion, and lead them to hear what he had to state in justification of his tergiversation, which would secure him the opportunity of testifying concerning the transcendent fact of Christ’s resurrection.

2. The part he had previously taken in persecuting the disciples—as witness his conduct in connection with the murder of Stephen—seemed (in his eyes) to establish a claim for Jerusalem that he should remain within its precincts and endeavour at least to undo the mischief he had done.

IV. The dismissal intimated by Christ to the apostle.

1. Peremptory. Depart! Talk no more of remaining. My counsel is fixed. Outside Jerusalem is henceforth to be the sphere of thy labour. Whether My grace shall ever reach Jerusalem or not, thou art not to be the channel through which it is to flow.

2. Deliberate. Christ had other work prepared for His servant. “I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.” What a reminiscence this must have called up in Paul’s soul (Acts 22:15; Acts 9:15)! And what a vista it must have opened up before his spirit!—of wanderings, and labours, and sufferings!

Learn.—

1. That heaven is never far from praying souls. Prayer a sort of window through which the soul looks into the unseen, and the unseen shines in upon the soul.
2. That Christ knows who will and who will not receive God’s testimony concerning Him.
3. That Christ’s ministers are not so good judges of the spheres of labour best suited for them as Christ is.
4. That the evil wrought by Christ’s people before conversion can never be entirely undone.
5. That men in God’s sight are chargeable with the evil they consent to, no less than with that they commit.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Acts 22:1. Paul’s Sketch of His own Life.—Or how a servant of God looks back upon the course of his own life.

I. With grateful remembrance of human benefactors (Acts 22:3).

II. With penitent confession of his own erroneous ways (Acts 22:4).

III. With humble praise of the Divine gracious dealings (Acts 22:6).

IV. With clear consciousness of the life-call allotted to him (Acts 22:18.)—Gerok.

Paul’s First Apology; or, his speech to his countrymen from the castle stairs.

I. What Paul says about himself.—

1. Rehearses the character of his early years.

(1) Claims to have been a good Jew, by birth, education, personal belief, and outward devotion (Acts 22:30; compare Philippians 3:5).

(2) Confesses to have been a zealous persecutor. Reminds them of his commission and mission to Damascus (Acts 22:4; compare Philippians 3:6).

2. Tells the story of his conversion.

(1) Narrating where it happened, near Damascus; when it happened, “at midday;” how it happened—by the appearance of Jesus Christ (Acts 22:6; Acts 22:8).

(2) Citing, as proof that it happened, the experience of his fellow-travellers (Acts 22:9) and the action of Ananias (Acts 22:12); and

(3) mentioning, as the result of its happening, his call to be an apostle, and his submission to baptism (Acts 22:15).

3. Explains the origin of his Gentile mission.

(1) Stating when, where, and from whom, that mission had been received (Acts 22:17);

(2) declaring his original reluctance to enter upon it (Acts 22:19); and

(3) intimating that it had been practically thrust upon him by the hand of Heaven (Acts 22:21). A noble confession: that his whole pre-Christian life, though learned, religious, and active, had been wrong; that it had been changed by a higher power rather than by any effort of his own; and that his Christian life had begun and was being directed by Jesus Christ. A difficult confession: for any man, but especially for an intellectually and religiously proud Pharisee, such as Paul was. A courageous confession: to be made in face of a hostile multitude and by a man who was at the moment under arrest for a supposed crime. A good confession; such as must have brought comfort to Paul’s own heart and secured for him the approbation and support of his Master.

II. What Paul testifies about Christ.—

1. His heavenly glory and power. Paul’s hearers imagined that Jesus of Nazareth was dead: Paul told them He was alive. They fancied Jesus had been overwhelmed with shame; he assured them Jesus was crowned with celestial glory. They conceived Jesus had been rendered for ever powerless; he reminded them that Jesus was invested with resistless power. They supposed Jesus had been only a man; he announced to them that Jesus was God.

2. His fellowship with His persecuted disciples upon the earth. How contemptuously Paul’s hearers looked upon the followers of that way. Paul had formerly done the same. Now he understood and intimated to his hearers that Christ and His disciples stood in closest intimacy with one another—so much so that what was done to them He regarded as done to Himself.

3. His grace to poor sinners of the human race. Even to the worst; to himself, for example. Christ showed this in the days of His flesh by pardoning such transgressors as the woman of the city and the dying robber; after His resurrection, by commanding the eleven to begin at Jerusalem; subsequent to His ascension by converting Paul and employing him as an apostle.

4. His world-wide plan of salvation. Christ had no idea of restricting His gospel to Palestine or the Jews. Nor is it His mind to-day that the good news of Heaven’s mercy should be published alone in Britain or in Christendom. His desire is that the gospel should be preached among all nations and to every creature under heaven.

Acts 22:17. Paul in the Temple at Jerusalem.

I. What he did.—Prayed. The temple a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7; Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:46).

II. What he saw.—Christ. Who is

(1) always present in His own house (Psalms 132:13; Matthew 18:20), and

(2) ever near to the praying soul (Matthew 28:20).

III. What he heard.—Voices from the risen Christ

(1) warning him of danger (Acts 22:18);

(2) instructing him as to the reasons of his peril (Acts 22:18); and

(3) pointing out to him the path of duty.

Acts 22:19. Great Crimes Remembered.

I. For their forgiveness.
II. For self-humiliation.

III. For a stimulus to holy living.
IV. For attempts at their undoing.

Acts 22:20. Stephen thy Martyr or Witness.—Christian martyrs are—

I. Christ’s servants, who go upon His errands to the world.

II. Christ’s witnesses, who proclaim His gospel to mankind.

III. Christ’s friends, in whom He takes a special interest.

IV. Christ’s property, whom therefore He cannot afford to lose. Note: “It is hardly likely that the sense in which we understand the word ‘martyr’—viz., ‘one who dies for his religion,’ belonged as yet to the Greek term μάρτυς or μάρτυρ. It would therefore be more strictly accurate to render here ‘the blood of thy witness Stephen.’ But there is little doubt that, very early indeed in the Christian story, the to us well-known sense of the beautiful word martyr became attached to it. Possibly the transition from the general sense of witness to the specific meaning of ‘martyr’ is traceable to its use in such passages as this and Revelation 2:13; Revelation 11:3; Revelation 17:6.”—Spence.