Acts 22:1-5

Sometimes in my more mature years I can rush to judgement. 

Wisdom tells us to slow down and ask for guidance in handling the myriad of things that an ordinary life brings our way. We had roof damage from the storms earlier this month and things are not handled as they were 20 years ago…I confess to being totally overwhelmed and not in a good way. Lord help me!

The name of Jesus is "the name that is above every name" (Philippians 2:9). And He does not redeem us "with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Jesus is the reason we can have hope.

Jesus is the reason we can sing again.

Jesus is the reason all things can be made new. 

So when we are in a season of joy, let us praise Him. And when we are in a prolonged season of sorrow, let us praise Him. When we can sing of God's goodness while it is still yet dark, our song of praise becomes a prayer of hope. First5

My faith is held together by wonder—by every defiant commitment to presence and paying attention. I cannot tell you with precision what makes the sun set, but I can tell you how those colors, blurred together, calm my head and change my breath. I will die knowing I lived a faith that changed my breathing. A faith that made me believe I could see air.” From Cole Arthur Riley, Sabbath Moments

Acts 22:1-5

22 “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” 2 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said: 3 “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, 5 as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. The New King James Version

Paul proudly proclaims he is a Jew. This emphasizes to the audience that the allegations against him are false.

Paul had evidently moved to Jerusalem as a young man and studied under Gamaliel. Paul was well known among the nation’s elite. Faithlife Study Bible

This was the first of five defenses Paul would make. After speaking Greek to the commander Paul addressed the people in the Hebrew dialect, most likely Aramaic. When the people heard him speaking to them in their own language they were reminded that Paul was not a Gentile but a Jew like themselves. Therefore, they listened to what he had to say.

Paul explained to the crowd that he understood why they were beating him and wanted him dead. They were zealous for God. Paul was not blaming them for what they had done to him. He pointed out that in his former zeal he would have done the same thing. Paul showed compassion even to his attackers; we should model that same type of compassion for all people who have not yet placed their faith in Jesus. The NKJV Study Bible

Acts 8:3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Acts 9:2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Acts 9:11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.

Acts 26:11 And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.