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Acts 22:1-24 NKJV– Paul Silences a Mob by Sharing His Testimony in Jerusalem

People can never unhear what they have heard.

In Acts 22:1-24a, we find Paul standing on the staircase of Fort Antonia in Jerusalem, the temporary quarters for over 1,000 Roman soldiers who arrived in Jerusalem during every major Jerusalem Feast to keep peace in the city. Thousands of Jewish Pilgrims flocked to this building to hear what Paul was going to say after he requested the Roman Commander to speak to the mob. This raucous mob was out for Paul’s blood but paused to hear what he had to say. The mob became deafeningly silent as Paul opened his mouth to speak. So, when given permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying…” (Acts 21:40 NKJV).

Paul shared the Gospel by means of sharing his testimony. It seemed to Paul that the most effective way to reach these people with the Gospel was for them to experience how a person (in this case, Paul) experienced hearing and receiving the truth of the Gospel rather than simply lecturing to them. This turned out to be an effective approach to engage these people, because they were captivated by his presentation. They were forced to process the details of the story, consider what they would do in the same scenario that Paul was in, and were given an education on how Paul got to his point of belief in Jesus. It made Paul human and not necessarily a renegade and abandoner of the Jewish faith, as they had initially concluded. In essence, they experienced the Gospel message rather than simply receiving a lecture about it. Paul struck the right balance of sharing details about his past while making every detail about what God did in his life. And they initially connected to what he was saying.

They immediately heard Paul speak like a Jew. For, in fact, he was a Jew - just like them. And they found themselves in the awkward position of actually agreeing with what he was starting to say, though no one would dare admit this openly. It was for this reason that Paul frontloaded his testimony with details of his life that he knew they would connect to and could easily agree with.

He stated that he was a Jew (Acts 22:3a), born in Tarsus—home to one of the top three universities (Acts 22:3b), he was brought up in Jerusalem (Acts 22:3c), he was mentored by the popular and respected Jewish teacher, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3d), he was taught the law in the strictest fashion (Acts 22:3e), and he grew up to be equally as eager as them to protect everything he was ever taught just as the people standing before him (Acts 22:3f). Then Paul added vividness to his testimony that was immediately relatable to these people. Paul described how he, too, had literal hands-on experience of persecuting people of “this Way” (Acts 22:4a NKJV). He too wanted to put them to death. He physically participated in the binding of Christians and delivered men and women to prison (Acts 22:4). He even received letters of extradition from the chief priest and the Sanhedrin (i.e., the Jewish Supreme Court) to travel as far as Damascus (approximately 150 miles away) to extract Christians from their homes to return them back to Jerusalem to be punished (Acts 22:5).

The people continued to hold their peace because they did not hear anything disagreeable. And knowing that either Paul was one of the 70 members of the elite Jewish Sanhedrin or, at the very least, had a very close relationship with the popular and powerful ruling body, they probably began to cultivate a sliver of respect for him, though once again, they would never admit this publicly. This respect was shown in their continued silence as Paul explained his conversion experience.

Paul then explained the miraculous conversion he experienced while on his way to perform the Sanhedrin-sanctioned persecution of Christians. Paul explained that he experienced a great light that shone from heaven (Acts 22:6). And as he fell to the ground, he heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 22:7 NKJV). Wondering who it was, Paul asked and received his answer that it was Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 22:8 NKJV). At this point in Paul’s speech, one would expect the crowd to lose all control and want Paul to be killed because they all knew what the formal position of the Jewish leaders was on the person of Jesus of Nazareth. But miraculously, the crowd remained silent! Somehow, in some way, they were captivated by Paul’s testimony. This made it easy for Paul to continue.

Paul continued sharing that after all this occurred, he did not know what to do while on the road to Damascus. Paul said that he asked the Lord for guidance on what he should do next. And Paul described the first command he received from the risen Lord, and he obeyed it. “Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do” (Acts 22:10 NKJV). He described how he was struck with temporary blindness and had to be led by hand all the way to Damascus (Acts 22:11). Not knowing where this story was going but intrigued by the strong Jewish connection and miraculous confirmation, there was no way they were going to stop him from continuing.

When Paul arrived in Damascus, he received confirmation that all that happened to him was of God, relayed through a highly respected man in the Jewish community, “Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour, I looked up at him. Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:12-15). The people were stunned at this development. Because not only is there seemingly no difference between them and Paul, and not only did he share their same zeal to persecute anyone who spoke against the Temple and the Jewish teachings, and not only did he experience a miraculous sign from heaven, but now he told them that an extremely respected Jew confirmed all that had happened to Paul was indeed from God! And God had personally chosen him to fulfill God’s plan on earth, that God promised Paul that he would actually see the true messiah (“Just One” Acts 22:14 NKJV) and would be given a platform to speak about this very moment, on numerous occasions! They had to have thought at some point that maybe they got Paul all wrong. Maybe they were too hasty and rushed to judgment about him. Maybe he was not worth the persecution they doled out upon him. Maybe…

Paul continued and boldly testified that Ananias himself told Paul, “Now, why are you delaying [being baptized in Jesus’ name]? Having washed your sins away by calling on the name of the Lord, get up and be baptized” (Acts 22:16 NKJV, original translation). What was the people’s reaction? Nothing. No reaction from the people. Just silence. Stunning. It is as if the Lord is performing here in front of Paul the same miracle the angel of the Lord did when he shut the mouths of the lions in the presence of Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 6:22). It is as if the Lord was once again silencing the raging storm just as Jesus did in Mark 4:39. What was crystal clear to Paul was that God wanted this formerly chaotic crowd to listen intently and clearly hear Paul’s salvation testimony. And that they did! And they could never unhear it.

So, now, Paul thought that he should tell them that this miraculous salvation testimony could be anyone’s story and tell them that God Himself desires that all mankind be able to enter this type of relationship with Him. So, Paul said that he returned to the very Temple he was just dragged out of and prayed to God. And while he prayed, the Creator of the World Himself spoke to him and said, “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me” (Acts 22:18b NKJV). But at the moment, Paul said that it did not make sense. Why would the Jewish people hate me so much, Lord? So, Paul described how he asked the Lord, “‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe in You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’” (Acts 22:19-20; 9:23, 29-30 NKJV). I do not understand, Lord. Why would the Jewish people hate me? Then Paul revealed the reason the Lord gave him for why the Jewish people hated him, “Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles’” (Acts 22:21 NKJV, emphasis added). And that did it! The silence had been broken. The crowd erupted in anger. Paul finally revealed what Ananias said in general, “For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:15 NKJV, emphasis added), Paul defined them specifically as “Gentiles!”

“[T]hey listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!’ Then, they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air” (Acts 22:22-23 NKJV). It did not matter that Paul was divinely redirected by God. It did not matter that the Sovereign God of the Universe, whom they served personally and directly, called Paul to be a witness to the Jews and Gentiles. It did not matter to them. There simply was no way they were going to include, let alone embrace, Gentiles as part of the same spiritual family.

The instant uprising with its screaming and shouting was all the Roman Commander needed to know it was time to remove Paul from the scene. The Roman Commander ordered that Paul be brought into the building (Acts 22:24a).

Ponder & Pray Today…

Reflect on a couple of testimonies that you have heard of how someone came to faith in Christ. Ask yourself why you are able to still remember some of the details from the testimony when it might have been months or years ago. Think about what specific details from these testimonies still stick out in your mind. As you rehearse these testimonies again, how does it make you feel about the power/mercy/patience/love of God? What does your mind think about God when you hear how He changed a life after remembering these testimonies?

Pray and thank God for how powerful, merciful, patient, and loving He is for changing a life. Ask Him to expose you to more testimonies of true life change so that you can be reminded of how great He has been to others and to you in saving your soul.