The book of Acts
The arrest of Paul by the Romans
Chapter 21:27 to 40
The “seven days” were probably the days of purification mentioned in verse 26, but could also be the Pentecostal week during which Paul had wanted to be present (Chapter 20:16). The following incident resulted in the imprisonment of Paul by the Romans for five years, during which he was taken to Rome.
Paul had been absent from Jerusalem for many years, having made only four quick visits to the church there. He was no longer personally known very well inside the temple, although he had been one of the leaders of the opposition to the Christians after the death of Stephen.
However, Paul was well known to the Jews of Ephesus, who had failed in a plot against him there (Acts 19: 23-41; 20:19), and undoubtedly kept their hatred against him. These were the “Jews from Asia”, who rarely came to worship at the temple in Jerusalem but lived happily in the distance, looking after their own interests, and now became very zealous for the holiness of the temple, as if they could in this way reconcile their habitual neglect of it.
They saw their opportunity to show their zeal by stirring the whole crowd against Paul (as did Demetrius at Ephesus), falsely accusing him of preaching everywhere against the Jews, against the Law of Moses and against the temple. The enemies of the Gospel of Christ, unable to prove it is a bad thing, have always worked hard to give it a bad name and so smother it with outrage and outcry.
They accused Paul of false doctrine: he would have been teaching everyone everywhere against the people of Israel, against the Law and against their temple. Paul really taught that Jews and Gentiles alike needed to repent of their sins and receive Christ as Lord and Saviour. Circumcision does not guarantee a special privilege for Jews. He had moved away from the unbelieving Jews and brought the Gospel to the Gentiles, but that did not mean rejecting the entire Jewish people.
He really taught that the Law led to Christ, and the Gospel established the Law (Romans 3:31). As for the temple, Paul taught that the temple of God is not made with hands, but every believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The temple in Jerusalem was a model of this true spiritual temple.
It is remarkable that false accusations of this nature were also made by the Jews against Stephen at the court of the temple, and he was convicted and stoned in the presence of Paul, or Saul as he was then called, who agreed with what was being done as he confessed later (Chapter 22:20).
Paul was also accused of having introduced Greeks to the temple to desecrate it. Actually, they had only seen Trophimus, a Gentile converted in Ephesus, accompanying Paul in the city and assumed that Paul had taken him inside the temple with him, to the place forbidden to Gentiles.
The wickedness of these Jews is revealed by the aggression made inside the temple, place of sacrifice, praise and worship to God, a sanctuary in the grounds of which any Jew should be protected. It happens that he was not just any common Jew, but one of the greatest ornaments of the true spiritual temple of God, one of the greatest of its foundation stones. The mighty zeal, which they pretended to have, actually resulted in the desecration of the temple of God.
The church of Christ has also been desecrated throughout the ages by zealous religious apostates who, supposedly in defence of the "Church" persecuted, mistreated and martyred multitudes of believers who insisted on being faithful to the true doctrine of Christ and His apostles. As those Jews, they were blind to the light of the Gospel and became deaf to the Word of God.
The tactic of those Jews was to appeal to the religiosity of Jewish people and inflame their hatred against Paul. They did not go to the high priest or the rulers of the city with the charge (because it probably would not be accepted by them), but incited those who at that time were disposed to create a turmoil. These are the ones that are most disposed to be used against Christ and His flock, as they are governed less by reason than by their wrath; Paul described his pursuers as "unreasonable and wicked men" (2 Thessalonians 3: 2).
The arguments used against him were popular, but false and unjust. They shouted, "Israelites help us" implying, "If you really are men of Israel, true Jews by birth, who have concern for your religion and your country, now is the time to prove it to others by helping to grab an enemy of both". “So they shouted at him as at a thief” (Job 30:5), or a rabid dog. Without any prior legal trial, they grabbed him, asked for the support of the crowd, and dragged him out of the temple. After closing the doors of the temple, they tried to kill him.
During the feasts of the Jews, when riots provoked by nationalists against the Roman occupation might take place, a detachment of the Roman guard was placed in a tower located in the northwest corner of the temple, called the Tower of Antonia, connected with the temple by staircases.
The commander of the Roman cohort (consisting of a thousand men) had informers in the temple to alert him of any irregularities that arose among the people, and so he was told about the turmoil involving Paul. He immediately went there, accompanied by soldiers and centurions.
Seeing them, the crowd ceased beating Paul, and the commander (named Claudius Lysias -. 23:26) arrested and chained him, supposing him to be a violent and dangerous criminal. Then he asked the crowd what he had done, but he did not get a satisfactory answer because of the tumult and the contradictory shouting of the crowd. The commander then ordered Paul to be taken to the fort, and the soldiers had to carry him up the stairs because of the violence of the mob that followed him shouting, "Kill him".
When the soldiers were about to enter the fortress of the tower, Paul asked the commander for permission to speak to him. The commander was startled to hear him speak in the Greek language, for he had thought that Paul was an Egyptian who had incited rebellion and led four thousand assassins out into the wilderness with him (this explains the rigour with which he arrested and tied Paul).
Paul immediately assured him that he was a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia. It is understood that it was founded by Sardanapalus, king of Assyria, and was the chief city of Cilicia. Its wealth and its schools and universities that rivalled, if not surpassed even Athens and Alexandria, distinguished it. Therefore, Paul modestly called "no mean city."
With characteristic boldness, the apostle asked for permission to speak to the people. This was immediately granted him by the commander, now aware that he was a learned man and of a good education. Just as he was, standing at the top of the staircase, flanked by Roman soldiers, he quieted the crowd waving his hand and waited until everyone was quiet. Now he was ready and in a good position to give his public testimony to the Jews of Jerusalem, from a high and well kept "pulpit".
He spoke to them in Hebrew (some translators and commentators understand it would have been Aramaic, a language very similar to Hebrew that was commonly used by Jews at the time), a language all those people understood.
R David Jones
27 Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him,
28 crying out, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place."
29 (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)
30 And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.
31 Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
32 He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33 Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done.
34 And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another. So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks.
35 When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob.
36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, "Away with him!"
37 Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I speak to you?" He replied, "Can you speak Greek?
38 Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?"
39 But Paul said, "I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people."
40 So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying,
Acts chapter 21, verses 27 to 40