ACTS 22:1-30 - Corps Notes - January 4, 1977
ACTS 22:1-30 January 4, 1977 Acts 22:1 “defence” - apologia – transliterated; apology and in the theological world as apologetics One of the reasons Paul had to go through this is because he had flipped on the revelation that originally had been given to him. Whenever you flip out on God then you have to apologize for your lack of knowledge or believing or your walk. Acts 22:2 “Hebrew” – it says Hebrew here – it was Estrangelo Aramaic to them Acts 22:3 “which am” - delete “Cilicia” - was the province “this city” – i.e. Jerusalem “Gamaliel” - was the grandson of Hillel who was the one who wrote so much of the Talmud “at the feet of” - This was literally true because the teacher would always sit on a raised dais, as if I sat on this table and crossed my legs and you kids would sit at my feet. That literally was their educational system. Paul must have been in the city (Jerusalem) when he was not over thirteen. “according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers” – means: according to the law that they set for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses; all of those things. “zealous” – the Zealots were called Zealots because they were zealous for what they believed in. This “zealousness toward God” can be right and it can be wrong. “as ye all are this day” - What were they (Jews) trying to do to him, (Paul)? They were trying to kill him. They were zealous toward God. They thought they were doing the true God a favor by the way they treated Pau1. Zealousness is much like sincerity. Sincerity is no guarantee for truth. Zealousness is no guarantee for truth either. You can be zealous for something without being right on. He relates here how “according to the perfect manner of the law” he was zealous toward God. Acts 22:4 “this way” - As I’ve told you; before people were called “Christians,” they were called “followers of the way.” We all know that this came from Jesus’ teaching and statements where he said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) The people who follo
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followed the Lord Jesus Christ were called “followers of the way.” It was sort of a derogatory thing; “Oh, they’re followers of the way, followers of Jesus Christ.” 383 The reason for that was, of course, because they thought Jesus Christ was a counterfeit. They had crucified him and anybody that was crucified was really to be defamed. The “no-gooders” were crucified, and therefore, since Jesus Christ was crucified, this word “followers of the way” has that negative connotation. Like the Orientalism; they’d lifted their noses up at them and say, “Ah, you’re a follower of ‘the way.’” “binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” - I often wonder about these things when I read them in the Word. How much respect would the world have for you if you had a history like Paul had and then you got saved, born again and then started moving with the greatness of the Word. Some of you hav