And
having given him leave, Paul, stood there on the steps, motioning to the
people. And when there was enough quiet he addressed them in Hebrew:
"Brethren and fathers, hear this defence which I make now to you."
Hearing him address them in the Hebrew dialect, they quietened down as so he
began: "I am a Jewish man, born at Tarsus in Cili'cia, but brought up in
this city at the feet of Gama'li-el, educated in strict accordance with
ancestral law, as zealous for God as you all are today. I persecuted this Way
to the death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison; the
high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness on this. From
them I received letters to the brethren, and I journeyed to Damascus to take
hold of those also there and bring them bound to Jerusalem to be punished. As I
made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon, a great light from
heaven suddenly shone about me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' And I answered, 'Who are
you, Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are
persecuting.' Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the
voice of anyone speaking to me. 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.' And when 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. That was when a devout man according to the law, by name of
Anani'as, well spoken of by all the Jews living there, came to me, and standing
by me said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And in that very hour I did
receive my sight and I saw him. And he said, 'The God of our fathers appointed
you to know his will, to see the Just One and to hear a voice from his mouth;
for you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.
And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling
on his name.' After, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the
temple, I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and get
quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not accept your testimony about
me.' And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I
imprisoned and beat those who believed in thee. And when the blood of Stephen
thy witness was shed, I also was standing by and approving, and keeping the
garments of those who killed him.' And he said to me, 'Depart; for I will send
you far away to the Gentiles.' " Up to this point the crowd had listened
to him. Then they lifted up their voices and said "Away with this fellow
from the earth! For he ought not to live!"
In a Nutshell
Paul is able to calm the crowd and explain to them who he is, what he has been doing and what he believes.
Questions
Look at the last sentences in Luke's account of Paul's address. What is Luke discovering about the Gospel?
So Paul gives his story. He addresses the Jews in Hebrew. In
all likelihood the tribune may have needed an interpreter if he was to assess
the content of Paul's address. He realised that Paul was no terrorist when he
had spoken to him in Greek. But would Paul's message get through to the crowd?
Reading it again we wonder if Paul thought he was close to convincing them.
Wouldn't they want to believe that the Messianic promises from Moses and the
prophets had come true? The Messiah had come and many Jews, Paul says, will
attest to what I say. So then, to push home his advantage, Paul gets personal.
He tells how he had hounded the followers of The Way just as this mosh-pitted
frenzy had bashed him to within an inch of his life. Paul then gets even more
personal, telling them how Jesus appeared to him. It is as if we hear a pause
and then: "And Jesus said to me: Depart; for
I will send you far away to the gentiles!"
The crowd erupts in total antagonism - we need to keep in mind that Luke is telling us of what Jesus continued to do after His ascension to Glory (Acts 1:1). We are also reading this as Luke's account of how his own faith was strengthened through the ongoing support and encouragement of the Holy Spirit. This occurred when Paul's confession that the Messiah has sent him to tell the news to all the Gentiles is fiercely resisted by people from the Messiah's own nation.