TESTIMONY (PART 1)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.”

“I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.”

Acts 22:3-5

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The assembled mob, once raucous and calling for Paul’s execution, now stood silent as the man they wanted killed stood tall before them and signaled that he was ready to provide his defense. Speaking to the crowd in Aramaic, we find Paul providing a testimony in the early part of Acts 22 and we will look at his words over the next four messages.

Today, we cover the first three verses and see how a testimony often involves a confession. Look again at Paul’s words here:

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.”

“I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.”

What were Paul’s main points in his opening?

He wanted all the people to know two things:

First, he was one of them

Paul made it clear right away that he was a Jew and although he was born outside of Israel’s capital city, he was raised in Jerusalem. During his Jewish development, Paul studied under one of the most respected Pharisees in Jerusalem, a rabbi and Sanhedrin leader named Gamaliel. Under the tutelage of Gamaliel, Paul was “thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors”. Note again how Paul connects himself to his Jewish assailants. Their law was his law too and this allowed Paul to transition to his second main point.

For Paul wanted the people to know is that he once behaved as they were toward him. Fully instructed in the law, Paul was a zealous, legalistic Jew, as passionate as anyone in the crowd. He opposed Jesus believers, those who were followers of the Way, even going as far as executing Christians. He didn’t discriminate in his persecution, “arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison”.

And just in case anyone questioned the validity of his testimony, Paul let the crowd know that the “high priest and all the Council” (i.e. the Sanhedrin) could verify his words were true through their own testimony. Further corroboration of his prior actions could be found in letters that Paul received from the Sanhedrin permitting him to travel outside Jerusalem to Damascus for the express purpose of taking Christians there into custody and escorting them back to Jerusalem as prisoners destined for punishment.

Of course, the parallel Paul was touching on was that he had been taken into custody by the crowd who wanted to exact their own punishment on him before the Roman officials intervened.

So the start of Paul’s testimony serves to set the stage for what was to follow. Paul was a Jew and he persecuted Christians once, just as he was now being persecuted. Tomorrow, we’ll see how the apostle builds on this opening to start bringing the Gospel to his audience.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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