Paul's Speech
Notes
Transcript
Passage
Passage
Paul’s Getting Dragged to the barracks, but he asks the commander to say something:
“Wait, you that Egyptian?”
“What?! No, I’m Paul from Tarsus!”
Paul’s given permission to speak to the mob:
There’s a big hush… He speaks in Hebrew/Aramaic
v. 3: Born in Tarsus
v. 3: Educated at the feet of Gamaliel zealous for God as all of you are (notice, not zealous for the Law, but zealous for God!).
v. 4: Persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering men and women.
v.5: Ready to arrest more in Damascus
v. 6–10: Jesus confronts Paul:
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
“I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.”
“Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.”
v. 11-12: Meets up with Ananias: Restored his sight.
v. 14–15: Ananias to Paul: You saw the Righteous One, to hear from himself, to be a witness!
v. 16: “So that’s what I’m doing! Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”
v. 17: Jesus then came to Paul at the Temple in a trance, “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.”
v. 18: “But Lord, the people know I was ruthless against the Way and even stood over Stephens death!”
v. 21: Jesus, “Go, I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”
The people freak out! Complete mayhem. Crichendo to chaos!
NIV: “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”
Throwing their cloaks, dust flinging everywhere.
Commander’s like, “What’s happening?!”
Get him out of here and get him flogged so we can figure this all out. Get the truth out of him.
Paul’s stretched out, ready to get flogged:
“Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”
Centurion leaves to approach the commander:
Commander goes to Paul: “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
Paul: “Yup!”
Commander: “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.”
Paul: “I was born into it.”
All those who were interrogating him withdrew right away. Commander is all shaken up for binding up and almost flogging a Roman citizen.
Introduction:
Focusing on Paul’s Message:
Spiritual gut punched!
“I’m just like you!”
And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying...
“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said:
Spoke to them in the Hebrew language: “Aramaic Dialect”
Crazy moment: Hush in the crowd…
Worked! Immediate sense of familiarity!
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.
Lists of items proving his loyalty:
I am a Jew
Born in Tarsus in Cilicia
But brought up in Jerusalem
Very smart, studied under Gamaliel: B. Rapske: “Arguably the most significant and influential Pharisaic educator in the early 1st century.”
“Strict manner of the law.” So not only was he taught the law, but taught with the strictest manner!
He embraced that strictness and took manners into his own hands against this growing threat called “THE WAY.”
“Hebrew language”=Aramaic Dialect:
This is no small detail in the text:
The crowd hushes not because he flashed his credentials: “Hey, guess what!? I studied under Gamaliel!”
No, he just spoke and spoke with an Aramaic Dielect.
Not about WHAT he spoke, but HOW he spoke!
I found this to be such an interesting detail in the text...
Accents are powerful indicators that people aren’t, you know, “from around here.”
When we first moved here: “You aren’t around here, are you?!”
But I still get it…
These are all the words I’ve learned I need to avoid:
Magazine
Bagel
Dragon
Bag
“Eh?”
Hozer
Out. About.
Advanced Green (the real way of saying “Green Arrow”)
Pylons (the real way of saying “Orange Cones”)
Story about Aunt Audrey: “I don’t have an accent, I talk just like you do.”
“What do people think I talk like.”
Have to consciously change to fit in.
General American English: Spoken by Newscasters: Consciously change their accents to fit a more neutral/bland accent.
According to one famous linguist, (John Christopher Wells) “the typical Canadian accents align with General American in nearly every situation where British and American accents differ.”
But Paul speaks and the places hushes! No one picks up an accent. Everyone just stops and listens. It’s an amazing moment!
It’s like they hear the voice of Walter Cronkite and just sit down to listen to the 6 o’clock news.
HOW he spoke gave him the credibility to speak…
What gave him credibility was familiarity, a powerful force…
People were impressed with how he spoke, not what he spoke:
Why is this a problem??
Because spiritual religion doesn’t have an accent.
The People of God stopped because of the sameness of speech, which is a real problem in the text. It’s as if Luke is trying to get us to see that the crowd cared more about how people sounded that the content of that which was said...
It’s another example of Luke pointing out that what matters to this passionate group of believers is not the Gospel, but the gutteral tone and style of speech. They were not concerned about the Message of Christ, but the speaking method of the culture.
It reminds me of the Vision of the Kingdom that actually embraces accents and languages. It celebrates all the ways in which people can praise the Lord!
It’s a reverse of Pentecost!
30 years earlier, Pentecost came, and what happened!!
Acts 2:1-4 “1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
It’s the sameness of speech that brought people together, but that’s not the vision of this book! This is not going to end well for Paul!
No matter how much Paul tried to make connections with people, no matter how much he sounded the part, he was not the same...
He looked like a duck. He quaked like a duck. But on the inside he was a goose...
Perhaps a Canadian goose?
“I’m just like you...”
“But with a Spiritual Twist...”
6 “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.
The Spiritual twist was Paul’s encounter with Jesus!
Red Letter Bible: As a kid, tried to find it outside of the Gospels
Why are there red letters way out here??
Three Times Jesus speaks in verses 7–10: Paul shares with us the Pattern of Repentance
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
Question unique to Paul. Paul needed to hear THAT question.
What question do you need to hear?
Insert your name:
“Melody, Melody, why are you avoiding me?”
“Trevor, Trevor, why are you denying me?”
“Stephanie, Stephanie, why do you attack me?”
“Frank, Frank, why do you doubt me?”
“Allie, why do you hold me back?”
“[name], why do you reject, oppose, hate?
And remember, Paul didn’t realize he was doing anything to Jesus! He was trying to get rid of people… These words should make us think how we treat other people! Jesus makes Paul’s religious vendetta against a people group a personal attack!
Next: “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.”
“I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are avoiding, denying, attacking, doubting, rejecting, opposing, hating...”
You may not have experienced Jesus face to face like Paul, but the Holy Spirit makes Jesus present for us! The Holy Spirit challenges us to consider what you are doing against him! Even if you’re a Christian, it’s worth reflecting on how to think about what we need to yet give up!
Because Jesus makes this issue of repentance personal:
“What you’re doing against is actually about me!”
“This is who I am, and this is what you’re doing to me”
“Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.”
Annanias: v. 14–15: “The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
Jesus puts Paul to work right away!
Amazing progression: Jesus just puts Paul to work! No statement of judgment. No invitation for Paul to repent… Just tells Paul: You thought you were appointed to snuff out the church, but I have appointed you for something else…
Appointed: What I have prepared for you? Or arranged for you.”
Acts 13:48: “48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”
Annanias: God has a new job for you. Appointed for another task. Rather than destroy the WAY, you’re going to join the WAY!
I’m hiring you for something else!
Not the same word used in Ephesians for predestined… Not in the sense of salvation but of vocation. UNIQUE TO PAUL!
Be careful to personalize, but at the same time, this is how God works!
Jesus confronts us.
He challenges us.
He invites us.
He appoints us!
Jesus hires us for a new path forward!
That’s the work of the Holy Spirit today. The work of the Holy Spirit for you and me is to help us face Jesus through the Word, with this message!
If you say, “I believe in Jesus,” then Jesus has appointed you!
Not for an easier life...
Not for a comfortable life...
You may not have mo money, and you may have mo problems!
But Jesus has an appointment for you.
“Make disciples of all nations!”
Stop whatever agenda you have in life and consider yourself appointed!! You’ve been bought, and bought at a price, Jesus life, for his appointment to make disciples of all nations!
Because those appointed are new creations!
“I’m just like you, but with a spiritual twist, which redefines everything!”
“That redefines everything!”
The most fascinating thing about this passage is how Paul ends this speech! This is when studying the Bible is just so much fun! When things come alive!
22:1: “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”
17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
What Luke is doing here is he’s getting us to harken back to Acts 7 when Stephan was martyred. So before Paul met Jesus, he was killer… and it says that Paul watched the stoning of this amazing, humble, incredible witness for Jesus named Stephan.
Before Stephan is kill, however, he gives this empassioned speech, this very long sermon he gives to a religious crowd.
Do you know how Stephen begins his speech? “Brothers and fathers, hear...”
Only two times in the entire Bible are the words “Brothers and fathers, hear...”
It’s Stephen’s speech to the religious elite before he dies.
Second, it’s Paul’s speech to the religious crowd who wants him dead!
Luke is up to something here… what is it??
Well, Paul then shares with us in this speech a story we haven’t heard yet…
He goes into a trance and sees Jesus!
Who else saw Jesus in a trance? Stephen did! Stephen saw Jesus before he died sitting beside the Father!
And where is Paul in this trance?
He’s in the Temple! He’s in the very place of sacrifice!
Who sacrificed his life? Stephen did!!
“When the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed...” That statement is sacrifice language… The crowd would have known exactly what Paul is doing here… And it makes sense why their blood started to boil!
Paul suggests that Stephen was a sacrifice??
David Peterson: “Blood of Stephen being shed, “which suggests the pouring out of the blood in sacrifice… Refers to 2 Old Testament texts: Ex 24:6 and Number 35:33.
And so Luke it trying to make these important connections between Stephen and Paul in this moment:
Opening Speech link
Trance/Vision Link
Temple/Sacrifice Link
By making these connections, Luke is getting the reader to understand how Jesus fulfills all things!
Sacrifice is no longer associated with the Temple! MAKE HASTE, Jesus say, OUT of the Temple! This is not the place of sacrifice anymore… What Stephen did, that’s sacrifice now! It’s not animals on stone in building...
Sacrifices are people who give their all of Jesus…
Romans 12:1-2 “1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Conclude:
Christians don’t find their comfort or their identity in accents, apparel, a people group!
Christians find their identity, purpose, and mission in Jesus! Christians are appointed...
Appointed for what?
For sacrifice! Just like our savior:
Luke 9:23–24: “23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
Bringing it home...