Acts 22:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.

NIV: You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.

NASB: For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

CSB: since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

NLT: For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard.

KJV: For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

NKJV: For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

The mob that moments ago tried to kill Paul is still listening politely to his account of the events that led him to follow Jesus. At least part of the mob thinks Paul brought a Gentile into the temple (Acts 21:27–29, 33–34). It is true that Paul came to Jerusalem with several Gentiles and has been with them since, but he would never break the Mosaic law—or the Roman law—that prohibits Gentiles from the temple. He tells his story to try to explain why he, a devout Jew trained by Gamaliel to be a proper Pharisee, now travels with Gentiles: Jesus told him to.

On his way to arrest Christ-followers in Damascus, Paul encountered Jesus in a bright light that left him blind. After fasting for three days, a Gentile Jesus-follower named Ananias visited Paul and led him through the final steps to faith in Christ. When Jesus called Ananias to go to Paul, He told the man that Paul would bring Jesus' name "before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15). Paul did so. Everywhere he traveled, he started either in the local synagogue (Acts 13:14–44; 14:1; 17:1–2, 10; 18:4) or, if there was none, the place the God-followers met (Acts 16:13). Invariably, some Jews and many God-fearing Gentiles believed his message about Jesus; but those Jews who didn't believe drove him away from the synagogue. Paul would find a new place to meet, build the church, and move on to the next city, thus fulfilling Jesus' word he would reach Jews and Gentiles. In three years' time, while under house arrest in Caesarea Maritima, Paul will tell his story to Herod Agrippa II, thus preaching to a king (Acts 26).

Throughout Paul's ministry, he typically starts by teaching how Jesus fulfills the Jewish prophecies or how He brings the kingdom of God. Many Gentiles and some Jews believe. Sometimes, however, Paul leads with his own conversion story. He did so when he first arrived in Jerusalem, at the same time he met Barnabas (Acts 9:27). And he will do so when he speaks with Agrippa (Acts 26:2–23). Sometimes, to tell Jesus' story is to tell our own.

Acts 22:6–16 continues Paul's defense against accusations that he both breaks the Mosaic law and associates with Gentiles. He has described his early life training to be a Pharisee and persecuting the church (Acts 22:3–5). Now, he explains how he came to follow Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. His accusers show polite interest in his story until he arrives at the point in the narrative where Jesus tells him to give Gentiles the way of salvation. Paul's conversion experience is also recorded in Acts 9:1–19 and reiterated in Acts 26:12–18.

In Acts 22, a young Roman military officer realizes he cannot control Jews who do not wish to be controlled. He has just rescued Paul from a crowd that largely doesn't know why they want to kill Paul. In hopes of gathering information, the tribune allows Paul to speak to the crowd. The crowd listens only briefly, then explodes again. The tribune tries flogging but is foiled by Paul's Roman citizenship. Finally, the tribune schedules a meeting with the Sanhedrin. It does not go well (Acts 23:1–10).

Paul came to Jerusalem to tell the church of his ministry's success with Gentiles. The leaders are more worried about a rumor that Paul no longer respects the Jewish law. Paul agrees to perform a very Jewish ritual, but in the process is falsely accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple. A mob assaults him, and the Roman tribune arrests him (Acts 21:17–36). The tribune tries to uncover the truth by letting Paul speak to the crowd, then almost flogging him (Acts 21:37—22). Next, he will bring Paul to the Sanhedrin, to no avail (Acts 23:1–10).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.