Introduction
In Acts 22:22-29 Luke records Paul’s interrogation by the civil ruler–the tribune of the cohort in Jerusalem. In last week’s text, the Hebrew crowd shouted Paul down when he uttered one simple sentence: “And He (God) said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21).’” Thankfully, the authorities already held Paul in custody. If he had not been, it is likely the blows would have begun to rain down upon him again. Remember, the tribune rescued Paul from the mob, but he also arrested him:
“Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. 31 And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done (Acts 21:30-33).”
The Jews response–literally what they shouted at him once he mentioned God’s inclusion of the Gentiles in Christ was–“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live (Acts 22:22).”
Paul’s Interrogation
The Jews’ sudden and violent response to Paul’s speech, which the tribune can’t understand because Paul spoke in Hebrew, causes him to believe that Paul has provoked the crowd somehow. Determined to get to the bottom of the matter, the tribune has the centurions bring Paul inside the barracks. According to all the modern police shows that my wife watches, I believe Paul is about to get what they call “a tune-up.” That’s where we will pick up this week.
Acts 22:22-29
“Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” 23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips,[d] Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?”26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.”
Living With Wisdom In The World
Paul’s situation shifts from extremely bad—beaten by the Jews—to just plain bad—arrested by the Romans. Then, after his speech in Hebrew he is now on the verge of very bad again, interrogation under a Roman whip. Today gives us an opportunity to do something we don’t normally get to do. Talk a little about how to engage the civil ruler, from a Christian perspective. Everyone prepare to clutch your collective faux pearls as we explore Paul’s interaction with a Roman tribune.
Acts 22:24
“the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this.”
What is A Tribune?
First, what is a Roman Tribune? This tribune’s name is Claudius Lysias (Acts 23:26). He is a “tribuni militum.” We learn from Wikipedia, (Don’t worry. I confirmed from other sources too, like the Encyclopedia Britannica, etc):
The tribuni militum, known in English as military tribunes or literally, tribunes of the soldiers, were elected each year along with the annual magistrates. Their number varied throughout Roman history, but eventually reached twenty-four. These were usually young men in their late twenties, who aspired to a senatorial career. Each tribune would be assigned to command a portion of the Roman army.
During Claudius Lysias time period “ten cohorts to make up a legion, and each legion had six tribunes with a thousand men.”
Where Does This Scene Take Place?
To help us get a little better feel for Paul’s situation, let’s ask the question, Where is Paul? Where are these “barracks?” Paul is inside a building called the Tower or Fortress of Antonia. Herod the Great built it. He was the king that tried to kill Jesus by killing all the children under two years old near Bethlehem.
Herod built the fortress and named it in honor of his patron, Marc Anthony. Octavian (Augustus Caesar) defeated Marc Anthony in 31 BC. Herod become King in 37 BC. Herod the Great likely rebuilt and renamed the Fortress of Antonia between those dates. It was in the northwest corner of the Temple wall and connected it to the Temple by porticoes or covered walkways.
The image above shows the location of the Fortress of Antonia in the second wall around Mt. Zion. The image below is a close up of the Fortress itself, as seen looking out over it into the city of Jerusalem. The wall beyond the city is the first or outer wall of defense.
Acts 22:25
“But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned (Acts 22:25)?”
Here Paul, in wisdom, makes use of his earthly citizenship to protect His life and limb. The Christian doesn’t fear death, but he doesn’t court it either. Paul uses his Roman citizenship for the Gospel’s sake. The Roman state will eventually take Paul’s life, in 70 AD. However, that is twelve years from now. Twelve fruitful years from now. Paul has yet to write the letters to the
- Romans (58 AD)
- Philemon (61-62 AD)
- Colossians (61-62 AD)
- Ephesians (61-62 AD)
- Philippians (61-62 AD)
- Hebrews (60-65) I still hold to Pauline anonymous authorship, due to his complicated history
- 1 Timothy (66-67 AD)
- Titus (66-67 AD)
- 2 Timothy (68 AD)
It Is Not Paul’s First Rodeo
The situation before us is not the first time Paul has used his earthly citizenship to his advantage either. He invoked his citizenship in Philippi after the authorities mistreated him there.
“But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city (Acts 16:35-39).
He created a public situation that made the magistrates actually apologize and likely insulated him from further mistreatment. A future court case against him would likely reveal their first transgression against him. Best to steer clear of Paul then. Why? Because t here are plenty of witnesses to the event. Paudid not fall for the trick of leaving quietly. He makes sure everything is public. Per his rights. That is wisdom friends.
God Is A God Of Wisdom
I am constantly drawing us back to “the already” and “not yet aspects” of the Gospel. There is a danger when engaging in theology of doing something called, “immediatizing the eschaton.” That is a fancy way of saying, “bringing something from the not yet into the already.” Christians do this with their earthly citizenship all the time in an effort to avoid engaging in the political processes. They say something completely true things like, “This world is not our home.” True, we are pilgrims here. However, God is the God of wisdom too.
Paul Had Multiple Intellectual Interests
We should not overlook Paul’s use of his Roman citizenship and rights under Roman law. Paul’s chief concern was Christ and Him crucified, however, he was an intellectual with multiple interests. He knows Roman law.
He also quotes a poet from Crete to Titus:
“One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons (Titus 1:12).”
Paul quotes Greek philosophers to the Greek philosophers in Athens.
“‘In him we live and move and have our being (Epimenides)’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring (Aratus of Soli) (Acts 17:28).’
The Bible: Instruction Manual For Human Engagement
Becoming a Christian and living as a Christian means reading the Bible and growing in your knowledge of the Truth. Why? So you can then go out and apply it by evaluating systems of thought. You can read history and not only detect lies–you can see God’s hand. Mathematics becomes a Divine order. Morality is goodness from Him for our good. Music? That is beauty in sound you make with math. Art the combination of truth and goodness to form beauty. The Bible is an instruction book for human engagement and the basis for all Judeo-Christian societal order. Our ancestors knew the truth and applied it.
Not Avoiding But Overcoming
That means Christians also have to think about other important topics too, like law, government, authority, and political order. We have to be able to engage with the world in order to deliver our message. Imagine if the Pilgrims and Puritans had no knowledge of law or governance when they arrived. The Bible is not a book about avoiding the world but about living in it and overcoming it.
Acts 22:26
Paul, though a citizen of heaven, is also a Roman citizen. He listened in Roman civics class. Evidently, so did the centurion stretching him out. How do we know? “When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen (Acts 22:26).”
Paul, the centurion, and tribune share a common understanding of law. Paul makes the centurion stretching him out for interrogation afraid when he asks, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned (Acts 22:25)?” Roman officials could remove a tribune from office for punishing a citizen without a trial.
Acts 22:27-28
27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.”
The tribune finally asked Paul the question he should have asked before stretching him out on the rack for interrogation. Roman citizens had rights that others didn’t. Going back to the 4th century BC the Romans had something called the Twelve Tables of Roman Law. They only applied to citizens. Foreigners, which the tribune assumed Paul to be, really had no rights.Essentially, the authorities arrested Paul without mirandizing him—you know, saying, “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you,” and so on.
Paul’s Timely Question
There has been a breech of law. In the next chapter, this man will keep Paul safe from assassination with an overwhelming show of force. It may be this breech, and Paul’s not legally pursuing it, that leads to Claudius Lysias showing him favor and protecting his life. If that is the case, then a good understanding and wise use of his citizenship not only saved him from a beating, it may have saved him from assassination.
Paul reserves the question for maximum impact too. He asks the man stretching him out right before the whip starts to crack. Pair the tribune’s breach of law with Paul’s rare status as a freeborn citizen and his timely revelation, and you see a man saved—by the skin of his teeth, as my grandmother would say. I am not sure what would have happened to the centurions. Some of them possibly earned their citizenship upon promotion to the rank of centurion. If they weren’t citizens already, they received citizenship when they advanced to that rank. By their reaction, they may have purchased their citizenship too.
Acts 22:29
29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.”
The Lord Jesus, before His crucifixion told the Apostles to “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles (Matthew 10:17-18).”
Bearing Witness Before Kings
Part of the Church’s role is to bear a faithful witness before governors and kings. We do not have the sword, they do. They do not have the Truth, we do. They are to repent before the King of Kings and submit to his rule. Kings are to listen to Him in all moral matters. He determines the good. They are to punish evil and nourish the Church. Why? She is “the the pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).” As reformed people we believe that:
Westminster Confession of Faith Ch. 23 Sect. 3
The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven:a yet he hath authority, and it is his duty, to take order, that unity and peace be preserved in the Church, that the truth of God be kept pure and entire; that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed; all corruptions and abuses in worship and discipline prevented or reformed; and all the ordinances of God duly settled, administered, and observed.b For the better effecting whereof, he hath power to call synods, to be present at them, and to provide that whatsoever is transacted in them be according to the mind of God.
Rulers Are To Nourish The Church
Isaiah writes “Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame (Isaiah 49:23).” That is a prophecy about the condition of the Church under the New Covenant. Kings and Queens converting from paganism to then serve and nourish the Church. Yes, of course Christians and their magistrates made mistakes in the past. However, they transformed the world for good.
The Example of Old Testament Kings
In the Old Testament it was frequently the king that brought peace through reform in the Church and society. King Asa brings covenantal reform:
“9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. 12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, 13 but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14 They swore an oath to the Lordwith a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns (2 Chronicle 15:8-14).”
The Example of Old Testament Prophets Advising Kings
He acts after the prophet (officer of the church) Azariah advises him.
The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law,4 but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. 5 In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress. 7But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. 8 As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord (2 Chronicles 15:1-8).”
Magistrates, Councils, & Creeds
And as for calling Councils and Creeds, the WCF Ch. 31 Section 2 says that, “magistrates may lawfully call a synod of ministers and other fit persons to consult and advise with about matters of religion;a so, if magistrates be open enemies to the Church, the ministers of Christ, of themselves, by virtue of their office, or they, with other fit persons, upon delegation from their churches, may meet together in such assemblies.”
Constantine convened and attended the Nicene Council 1700 years ago this week. Three hundred and eighteen bishops from all over the world attended. The men there produced one of the most enduring Christian confessions of all time, acknowledged broadly in East and West. A Roman Caesar requested the creation of the most enduring confession.
The Political Implications of the Gospel
The Roman Empire persecuted the Church until 312 AD for proclaiming that Christ had risen from the dead and is King of Kings. The nature of “bearing witness” means political involvement is unavoidable. Making disciples means teaching morality with a vision toward creating a whole redeemed society. The Church is that redeemed society. Which means repentance builds Christian culture. However, when building Christian culture the Holy Spirit destroys the world’s. He “plows up fallow ground (Jeremiah 4:3).” That makes a culture war inevitable. Bearing Witness to Christ & making disciples summarizes the Church’s mission. Both have political implications. Both provoke rulers. Engagement with the civil ruler takes godly wisdom to navigate and sometimes to survive. Jesus sent us out into the “midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:17).”
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord in wisdom!
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