Acts 22 - Hate

Here in chapter 22, we continue where we left off in 21, where Paul was arrested and taken by the Roman soldiers. Separating Paul from the rioting crowds, the soldiers carried Paul up the steps to deliver him to safety. Paul, wanting to seize the moment, talked the Roman commander into allowing him to address the crowd publicly.

“...Please let me speak to the people.” After receiving 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:” - ‭‭Acts‬ ‭21:39-40‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.” - ‭‭Acts‬ ‭22:1-2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This is pretty fascinating to me. One, Paul was able to convince the commander to let him speak. And two, these rioting crowds that were ready to take Paul's life became very quite. We do read here that Paul chose to speak in their native language, Aramaic. Some powerful takeaways solely in that point that I will let you ponder and process. 

Ok, so Paul had his opportunity, here he is, up high on stairs surrounded by Roman soldiers and Paul was handed the microphone (actually there was no microphone, this was Ancient Greece) to address the silent crowd. What does Paul preach, what sermon is he going to deliver? Paul opts to share his testimony. 

This is a great reminder that our testimony, how God has transformed us, changed us, and made us new is often the best way to reach others. Usually, it’s not Bible knowledge, the ability to read and speak Greek or Hebrew, or understanding the ins and outs of the Old and New Testement...these are not the things that work with evangelism. Simply sharing our stories with others is the best way to help people understand the power of Jesus. This was Paul’s approach. 

Paul captivated the audience. They were silent and on the edge of their seat listening. But, something changed, something sparked a rage in them that lead them to this:

“The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” - ‭‭Acts‬ ‭22:22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What threw them on tilt? From captivated to kill him, what was so enraging to lead them to this?

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” - ‭‭Acts‬ ‭22:21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

There it was, that is what Paul shared. The Lord said to me to go, as a Jew, and reach the Gentiles for Jesus. This one word, “Gentiles,” literally caused a nuclear reaction. This Jewish mob was outraged at the thought that God’s salvation could be given freely to believing Gentiles.

As I was reading and studying this morning, this expert from a commentary was really interesting to me:

These Jews of that day did not have a problem with Gentiles becoming Jews. But they were incredibly offended at the thought of Gentiles becoming Christians just as Jews became Christians because it implied that Jews and Gentiles were equal, having to come to God on the same terms.

The thinking of the Jews at the time, believing in the exclusivity of Jesus just for Jews, was outrageous to Paul. He understood it, empathized with it because he was the same way, but Jesus transformed his heart. This exclusivity was false, and it was not the way of Jesus. The hate that was formed and propagated through the Jews at the time was intense. 

As I read this, I am unsure if this was racism or if this was culturally based on religious adherence to Torah or Jewish rabbinic teachings and practices. I do not think it matters to split hairs on this topic, what we know is there was hate! Reading this just pushes me to a place to call out hatred, to despise it and want nothing to do with it. Watching news stories, seeing the political wars, the division in just about everything in our society, the simple social media posts that invoke hate and rage...all this is not honoring or raising the name of Jesus. It’s sickening. 

Hate. It has been with us since the original sin and the fall of man. Knowing that still does not change the fact that it’s wrong, and breaks the heart of God, and does not honor or glorify Jesus. Possibly this, like many other things, is one way that we yearn and desire heaven, a place where hate does not exist. But until then, we as Christ-followers must do our part to bring heaven to earth and attempt to abolish hate in the name of Jesus.