When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him. Acts 21:27
It’s hard to describe the melee in the temple that occurred at the tail end of the purification process Paul agreed to participate in and fund, other than to say, “All hell broke loose.” At the instigation of the Jews from Asia, Paul was wildly accused, violently seized, yanked out of the temple, and its doors slammed shut as he exited. It was not, however, hard for Luke to more succinctly describe the drama.
Then all the city was provoked, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. Acts 21:30
Then they took to beating him in typical Jewish fashion, which seemed to be death by a thousand blows, since there was time for the Romans to be alerted and mobilize to the scene to stop the madness. When the mob saw the Roman soldiers coming, they stopped pummeling the apostle.
The first thing the soldiers did was bind Paul with two chains. One can’t help but recall the prophecies concerning the apostle from all corners saying he’d be bound. As with Peter, two chains were used. Then they questioned the people as to what this was all about, but could not make sense of the chorus of accusations and supposed Paul was a notorious Egyptian insurrectionist.
But among the crowd some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. Acts 21:34
While in the clutches of the soldiers on the stone stairs leading into their quarters (the Fortress of Antonio), Paul asked to address the crowd. When Paul spoke, the Romans suspected that he was indeed not the Egyptian and they allowed him to introduce himself.
“I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” Acts 21:39
I propose that one hundred percent of us in the same situation would have blurted out, “I’m a Roman citizen!” But Paul kept that card close to his vest, using his choice of language (Greek) to do the talking. After gaining permission to speak, he then chose Aramaic, which combined with hand motions caused an immediate hush to come over the mob. Paul would get his “fair” hearing, as did Stephen, albeit with “examination by scourging” looming in his immediate future. (Acts 22:24)
Ironically, out of all this chaos, the gospel would still go out, to Paul’s accusers and to his captors. In a sense, all parties present comprised a captive audience. I ask, who was actually bound of those described here? Certainly not the word of God nor his courageous messenger!
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