Lesson 4694

 (Lesson 4694)(12-11-24) Acts 22:22-30 

   “And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.” 

 

   Today’s quote relates that when Paul mentioned that God had sent him to the Gentiles, the crowd erupted in anger, calling for his death. The Roman commander ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks and flogged to find out why the crowd was so angry. As the soldiers were about to scourge Paul, he asked the centurion if it was lawful to flog a Roman citizen who had not been convicted of a crime. The centurion reported this to the commander, who was afraid when he heard that Paul was a Roman citizen. The commander then came to Paul and asked if it was true that he was a Roman citizen. Paul confirmed that he was, and the commander admitted that he had paid a large sum of money for his citizenship. Paul, however, was born a citizen. The commander immediately released Paul from the threat of flogging, and the next day, he ordered the chief priests and council to meet to investigate the charges against him. ~