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3. The Jews attack Paul, the Roman soldiers rescue him (Acts 21:27-40)
ACTS 21:27-40
27 When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place. Moreover, he also brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place!” 29 For they had seen Trophimus, the Ephesian, with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 All the city was moved, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple. Immediately the doors were shut. 31 As they were trying to kill him, news came up to the commanding officer of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 Immediately he took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. They, when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commanding officer came near, arrested him, commanded him to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he was and what he had done. 34 Some shouted one thing, and some another, among the crowd. When he couldn’t find out the truth because of the noise, he commanded him to be brought into the barracks. 35 When he came to the stairs, it happened that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd; 36 for the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, “Away with him!” 37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he asked the commanding officer, “May I speak to you?” He said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Aren’t you then the Egyptian, who before these days stirred up to sedition and led out into the wilderness the four thousand men of the Assassins?” 39 But Paul said, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” 40 When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with his hand to the people. When there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying,
Do you see Paul’s humility and love? He came to Jerusalem as a general of a great army, who had won many battles, and brought with him considerable financial contribution. The brothers, who had not left the homeland, asked him to forget about all his struggles and the church revival he had worked hard for in the world, and become a servant for four persons with long hair and financially lacking. Paul denied himself, forgetting his triumphs, and submitted himself to the yoke and bondage of the law. He paid, on behalf of the poor four who had taken a Nazirite vow, the price of their offerings, and completed the duty of love. He did not want to become a stumbling block for his Jewish brothers, but chose to remain a servant of the poor in spirit. As such, he fulfilled the commandment of love, which he had long asked the churches to fulfill, that there might not be a divided unity among the brothers.
When the days of purification had ended, some of the Jews, who had returned to Jerusalem from the province of Asia and the city of Ephesus, saw Paul and Trophimus, the Gentile convert, walking together in the marketplace of Jerusalem. They also saw him later, alone in the courtyard of the temple. Thinking that Paul had taken the Gentile into the temple, they became angry and began shouting loudly: “Help! Help! This man destroys our religion, and teaches unclean Gentiles to enter into the fellowship of God without circumcision, without pilgrimage to the temple, and without keeping the law. He is contrary to God. Separate this deceiver from out of your midst immediately, and destroy him at once.”
Confusion spread throughout the entire multitude. He who profanes the temple and defiles the holy place brings the wrath of God upon the city, and becomes the first enemy of the nation. The defilement of the holy place moved the city off its foundations. People began gathering in streets and in houses. They seized Paul, and furiously dragged him out of the temple. In keeping with religious custom, they did not shed his blood inside the holy place. When the shouters arrived outside the temple the guards closed its doors, in order to preserve its holiness and tranquility.
Now, outside the temple, the mob began beating Paul violently. They struck and kicked him with their hands and feet, trying to kill him. It is probable that Paul began thinking of Stephen, who had been executed a quarter of a century earlier, when this first Christian martyr breathed his last under a shower of stones. At that time Paul was young, and had been fully in agreement with the violent action. Now he was encountering the same torment, and the words of Christ once again became real about Jerusalem and its injustice: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!”
Alas, not one of the ten thousands and multitudes of believers of Jewish origin, of whom James had told Paul, appear to help him in his need. Probably some of them were glad to see the life of this quarrelsome man finished off. But Jesus had another plan with His servant, whose hour had not yet come. God did not send an angel, in the radiance of his glory, to help, but used a Roman commander, who had 1000 soldiers under him. This commander rushed down with some of his officers and soldiers to the site of the uproar. The entire city was in confusion over this disturbing event. His first thought was to suppress and crush the sedition. When the zealous, wicked Jews saw the chief captain with his soldiers, they became fearful and stopped beating Paul, which gave the commander the opportunity to arrest him. He ordered him to be bound like a criminal, in order to save him from the violent multitude. The commander asked some in the crowd about the reason for the uproar, but because of the noise and shouting was unable to find out what had happened. When he ordered his men to take the prisoner up into the fort the angry Jews screamed with rage, for he was rescuing him out of their hands. When Paul came to the stairs leading up to the castle, the soldiers were forced to lift him up in their arms and carry him, to keep him from being killed by the mob. He may have been unable to stand up on his own on the steps, because of his wounds. The crowds screamed, just as they had screamed against Christ: Take him! Slay him! Kill him immediately!”
At the door of the tower of Antonia, which overlooked the temple, Paul, with a great deal of meekness and deference, asked the commander, in eloquent Greek, to listen to him. He first clarified that he was not the false prophet of Egypt, who had deceived four thousand men and led them across the Mount of Olives into the desert to meet the coming Christ, in order that he might use this army to free the country from the Roman yolk. He was nothing of the like, but a polite man, and not a rebel. He came from a respected Roman town. In his reply he proved his equanimity, even though he was on the verge of death, with his wounds bleeding.
The commander complied with his request and gave him permission to speak. Through his address to the multitude he was hoping to be able to discern the reason for the enmity between him and the furious throng. Paul stood, perhaps supported, at the head of the stairs, as if he were on a pulpit. He motioned with his hand to the mass crowd of people, and then began speaking to his countrymen. He would never have found such a favorable occasion to address multitudes of Jews if he had not been charged with defiling the temple. Jesus used the sufferings of his servant to preach a sermon calling for a great repentance among the Jewish people. There was a glum silence among the discontented listeners, who were attentive to hear what this deceiver had to say. They listened carefully, and understood every word coming out of Paul’s mouth.
PRAYER: O Lord Jesus Christ, You suffered for us, and Your apostles experienced pain, suffering, and shame because of Your name. Teach us how to live in Your presence, and grant us to be faithful to Your name. May Your will be done in our lives, so that many may hear Your Gospel.
QUESTION:
- Why did the Jews want to kill Paul?