Paul is in Jerusalem at great risk to his life. Having spoken in Greek to the Roman tribune, he now tells his conversion story in Hebrew to the Jews on the steps of the Antonio Fortress. In this chapter we get a more detailed account of his vision of Christ on the way to Damascus and also learn in verses 17 and 18 that he sees Christ a second time in vision. It's in this chapter that we learn he was taught by Gamaliel who was a renowned doctor of law and celebrated Jewish teacher. Gamaliel's influence carried great weight with the Sanhedrin. We learn Paul was born a free person. Not all Romans are born free. After Paul tells of his visions and baptism, and tells the crowd how he consented to Stephen's death and held the clothes of those who stoned Stephen, the people become angry and remove their robes and throw dirt because the are getting ready to stone him.
The Roman tribune comes out and arrests Paul so he can find out why Paul is causing such a commotion. The Greek suggests that Paul isn't just bound, but he's stretched out so he can be scourged. That is when he tells the chief captain (who is Claudius Lysias, the tribune and commander of the Roman garrison) that he is a free Roman citizen. It would be against the law to scourge a Roman citizen without having been condemned in a trial. The chief captain is impressed with Paul's freeborn status because the chief captain had to purchase his own freedom at a great price.
It is obvious Paul understands how much the Savior suffered for him, because he courageously faces danger and is willing to suffer beatings, prison and death because of his bearing witness of Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment