Lechem Panim #223 “Paul Before Lysias” (Acts 21:31-22:2) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! It’s good to have you with us today.

Paul’s Show of Solidarity— If you’ve been with us recently, you’ll know that in our study of the book of Acts we have at last come to Paul’s arrest here in chapter 21. He’s trying to build bridges and discredit false rumors that are spreading about him and Christianity. It says in….

Acts 21:27-22:24 (NKJV)— 27 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, 28 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.” 29 (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)
30 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.

“Beaten by Peacekeepers"— Some time ago on the news following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we saw a large number of Russian protestors who chose to stand up and peacefully yet publicly demonstrate their opposition to the war against Ukraine. But of course they don’t have freedom of speech like we do here and so Putin has been having these people quickly arrested, sometimes beaten, and then carried away to prison, where many of them could spend up to ten years. And one image that was emblazoned on my mind was that of one of these protestors (a man) being picked up and held off the ground by a few of these so-called “peace-keepers” as another “peace-keeper” ruthlessly beat him with a black baton. And the man was being held in such a position that he couldn’t cover himself in any way. All he could do was receive blow after blow.

Beating Paul— Well that is the condition we find Paul in at the opening of our passage today. The unbelieving Jews have stirred the crowd into a frenzy and they are beating him. And they have no intention of stopping. They are intending to beat Paul to death; no trial, no imprisonment; no, they want Paul dead. Paul (and the message he bore) was, in their minds) to dangerous for him to be allowed to live. Now thankfully God intervened before they were able to carry out their plan. It says in…

Acts 21:31 (NKJV)— 31 Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

The Commander Comes— Now around the temple was built Fort Antonia. And they were supervising constantly to make sure that no riot would brake out in Jerusalem and particularly the temple. Now [The commander of the troops at this time was {a man by the name of} Claudius Lysias (23:36). He was commander of a regiment (a special group, part of a legion) of Roman soldiers and was the senior Roman official in Jerusalem.] The word [“commander” (Greek, chiliarch ) {means that he} was responsible for 1,000 soldiers (a regiment)…and he was stationed at the Fortress of Antonia.] It says in verse 32 that…

Acts 21:32 (NKJV)— 32 He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Battered & Bruised— Now you can imagine how badly shaken, battered and bruised Paul is at this point. He probably has to be picked up off the ground. But he’s obviously a great physical threat to everybody around him, because it says in…

Acts 21:33-34a (NKJV)— 33 Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; {then it says} and he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another.

Absentee Accusers— By the way, its interesting how the initial instigators of all of this are now curiously silent if not altogether absent. They’ve stirred the pot and are the true cause of the riot, but now seem to have withdrawn. So you have this mob (this large body without a head) that doesn’t even know why they are there. And because of that, the commander cannot figure out either who Paul is or what he has supposedly done. And so it says in…

Acts 21:34b-37 (NKJV)— So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks. 35 When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. 36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, “Away with him!” 37 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? {This surprised the commander because Greek was the language of cultured, educated men, not common criminals as he had at first assumed Paul to be. It was an indication that he was from out of town. And yet Paul could be a troublemaker from somewhere else. Greek was commonly spoken in Egypt, so Lysias thinks he may be a then well-known Egyptian troublemaker. And so he asks Paul…}

Acts 21:38 (NKJV)— 38 Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”

“The Egyptian”— Now this Egyptian to whom the commander is referring had tried to lead a revolt against Rome (21:37-38). He had taken a large number of people up to the Mount of Olives and promised that the walls of Jerusalem would fall at his command and that the Romans would be driven out. However, Governor Felix swept in with a bunch of Roman troops and routed the Egyptian and his followers, with the loss of many lives; and yet the Egyptian had escaped. So the commander had thought (probably because of the violent animosity of the crowd) that Paul was this Egyptian.

The “Assassins”— Now Lysias describes the followers of this Egyptian as “assassins”. And these “assassins” that he is referring to were actually a terrorist group that had arisen during the time when Felix was governor. Their strong Jewish nationalism caused them to fiercely set themselves against not only Rome, but also against those of the Jews who collaborated with Rome. And the latter were, in fact, the primary targets of these assassins. Now the word “assassin” (Sikariōn) actually derives from the Latin word for dagger (sica). And that was for good reason, because what these assassins would do is they would mingle with the crowds and quickly and stealthily stab their victims. And after they did this, they would do one of two things. Sometimes they would simply melt away into the crowd. Other times they would be so brazen as to feign shock and actually join the mourners in order to escape being detected. I mean, these were scary guys. And they would be particularly active during the Jewish festivals like Pentecost. And so this reaction from the crowd coupled with the fact that these assassination attempts were common, it would have been very natural for Lysias to assume that the crowd had caught one of these assassins in the act (or maybe even the Egyptian himself). However, Paul quickly dispels that idea. It says…

Acts 21:39-22:2 (NKJV)— 39 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.”
40 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, 22:1 “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” 2 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent.

Their Own Language— Now speaking to them in their own language caused them to get even more quiet because it showed them that he was likely not a Diaspora collaborator with the Gentiles, whom many of them may have supposed him to be. And he addresses them in a words that shows solidarity with them. He calls them “Brethren and fathers”, just as Stephen had done in 7:2. And here Paul says “hear my defense”.

Six Defenses– And the Greek word is apologia. Paul is making an apology for the Christian faith. Now that doesn’t mean what it would mean today; that he says “I’m sorry”. No, apology comes from the Greek word apologia and means to “make a defense” or “to state the case for”. It is where we get our word Apologetics. That is what is behind the admonition in 1 Peter 3:15 to “be ready to give an answer to every man who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have”. Well, that is what we will see Paul do in and throughout the remainder of the book of Acts, as we will find him giving six separate defenses of both himself and of Christianity. The first is before an unruly mob here at Jerusalem (21:27ff.), the second is before the Sanhedrin in 22:30ff, the third before Felix in 24:1ff, the fourth one before Festus (25:1-12), the fifth one before Herod Agrippa (25:13ff), and the sixth one before the Jews at Rome (28:17-28). And so here we find the first one. He stands on the stairs and makes an apologia to them in their own language. And next week we will see what he says.

The Fruit of Suffering— But you know, one of the things that we will continue to see as we move through these final chapters in the book of Acts (which focus on Paul’s ministry in chains) is the truth that God will often use our greatest trials; our greatest tribulations; our greatest hardships to produce some of his greatest fruit. Mind you that it was during his imprisonment at Rome that Paul wrote four New Testament books; Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. And you know, that makes me wonder if Satan didn’t regret the many persecutions he had helped instigate towards Paul; because of just how much fruit came out of those persecutions. I mean whenever Satan sought to crush Paul (and really many of the early Christians) through imprisonment, persecution, and even death, all that he ever succeeded in doing was helping to scatter the seed that would further expand and strengthen the Church. And Paul’s life stands as one of the greatest demonstrations of that principle. And that is a principle that is true for you and me as well. It is often through our hardships that God can produce the greatest fruit for His kingdom. And so I want to encourage you, whatever hardship you might be going through now, don’t linger in discouragement. Know that God is using that hardship for His glory; and that that hardship (if you let it) will draw you nearer to Him and help to bring about His amazing plans and purposes for your life and for the lives of others. And one day those sufferings will hardly even be remembered. I love what Paul himself writes in…

Romans 8:18 (NKJV)— 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Let’s Trust— Let us look forward to that future glory as we lean on God in the present and trust in Him and in His perfect plan for our lives. Amen.