Paul, the Persecutor

Acts 21:40-22:5 Having received 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: 22 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” 2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
 
WHEN the crowd had been so vicious, crying, “Kill him! Kill him!” we may be surprised Paul could quiet them with a wave of his hand. Paul had a practiced presence in front of a crowd. He had spent his adult life leading Jews and then leading people to Jesus. God had anointed him to his apostolic authority, and that authority became evident when Paul spoke.
   As always Paul’s goal was to testify of Jesus’ eternal redeeming power. To that purpose he needed his adversaries to listen, so he spoke Aramaic, the Jews’ language then. Paul connected more when he called them, “Brothers and fathers.” The Jews needed to know Paul was not a foreigner who sought them harm. It worked. They stopped shouting and began to listen.
   Paul told them he was thoroughly trained in the law. He was zealous for God as any of you are today. He wanted them to  know he understands their passion for truth.
   Paul also wants them to know he had hated Christians as much as they do. Indeed, Paul may have been worse than most who persecuted Jesus’ followers. As we’ve been reading of Paul’s great commitment to the gospel, we do not grasp how severely Paul had persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison!
   Paul had hated Jesus and murdered his followers. Not satisfied to limit his persecution, Paul traveled to other cities, even Damascus, a long journey on foot and horseback. Paul saw Christians as prisoners to be punished.
   When we observe and remember Paul’s depraved life, we can more completely know God’s power to change our lives. Paul knew the absolute truth of God’s renewing grace when he wrote: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
   The Jews became quiet to listen to Paul because they recognized he was a Pharisee with a learned background. They will hear him speak and reserve judgment after his testimony.