The Mob in the Temple: Acts 21:27-36; 22:22-29

When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple.

Paul had come to Jerusalem. He had agreed to purification rites, demonstrating his respect for Jewish custom. But Jews from Asia—from Ephesus, where Paul had ministered for years—recognized him.

They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place.

The accusation shouted. Against our people. Against our law. Against this place—the temple itself. The charges were false but effective. The crowd responded.

And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.

The specific charge: Greeks in the temple. The penalty for Gentiles passing the barrier was death. Signs in Greek and Latin warned them. Paul, they claimed, had violated the most sacred boundary.

(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

The basis: assumption. They had seen Trophimus—a Gentile—with Paul in the city. They assumed Paul had brought him into the temple. Assumption became accusation.

The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions.

Jerusalem erupted. Running crowds. Gathering mob. The city that had cried "Crucify him" for Jesus now turned on Jesus' apostle.

Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut.

Dragged out. The temple gates slammed behind him. The holy place closed to contain the violence. Paul was outside, at the mercy of the mob.

While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.

Trying to kill him—the beating had begun. But the Romans noticed. The commander of the cohort—perhaps a thousand soldiers—heard about the riot.

He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Roman intervention. The commander ran—this was urgent. Officers and soldiers with him. The sight of Roman military stopped the violence.

The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains.

Arrested. Bound with two chains—one on each arm, attached to soldiers. The commander assumed Paul was the troublemaker.

Then he asked who he was and what he had done.

Who is this? What did he do? The basic questions.

Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.

Conflicting answers. No coherent accusation. Too much noise. The commander ordered Paul into the Antonia Fortress—the Roman barracks adjacent to the temple.

When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers.

The steps—the stairs from the temple courts to the fortress. The mob pressed. Violence renewed. The soldiers carried Paul to protect him.

The crowd that followed kept shouting, Get rid of him!

Get rid of him—away with him. The same cry spoken against Jesus before Pilate.

Paul asked permission to address the crowd. He spoke in Aramaic. He told his story—persecution of Christians, Damascus road, vision of Jesus, commission to the Gentiles.

The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!

The trigger word: Gentiles. Paul's mission to the Gentiles was the offense. Rid the earth of him. Not fit to live.

As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.

Cloaks thrown—preparing for violence. Dust flung—expressions of outrage. The commander pulled Paul inside.

He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this.

Roman interrogation: flogging. Beat the truth out of him. Find out why the Jews were so angry.

As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?

Paul spoke just in time. Stretched out for the whip. Is it legal? Roman citizens could not be flogged without trial. Paul's citizenship was his protection.

When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. What are you going to do? he asked. This man is a Roman citizen.

The centurion rushed to the commander. Roman citizen. The flogging stopped.

The commander went to Paul and asked, Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?

Yes, I am, he answered.

Direct question. Direct answer. Citizenship claimed.

Then the commander said, I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.

The commander had bought his citizenship—a common practice under Claudius. He wanted Paul to know his credentials.

But I was born a citizen, Paul replied.

Born a citizen—higher status than purchased citizenship. Paul's family had citizenship from an earlier grant, perhaps for services to Rome.

Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

Immediate withdrawal. The commander alarmed—he had chained a citizen. Careers ended over such mistakes.

The mob that nearly killed Paul was stopped by Rome. The flogging that would have scarred him was prevented by citizenship. The prisoner was protected. But the journey was just beginning—toward Caesar's judgment seat.