Acts 22: Paul Gives His Testimony

Read Acts Chapter 22

Introduction: Acts 22 sheds light on Apostle Paul’s conversion and his mission to spread the gospel. The chapter points out his unwavering faith in God, and his willingness to face persecution for Christ’s sake. This chapter outlines how Paul was able to connect with his audience using their shared Jewish heritage, and how he fearlessly preached his calling that came directly from Jesus Christ.

I. Acts 22:1-2 – Paul Preaches to Jews
Paul preaches to the crowd in Hebrew, immediately grabbing their attention due to their shared language and cultural background, and the fact he was a Pharisee. These verses bring to mind Genesis 11:1 where a shared language united people for a single cause. This is a display of Paul’s strategy to connect with his audience before delivering his message.

II. Acts 22:3-5 – Paul Taught by Gamaliel
Paul introduces himself as a Jew, trained under the respected teacher Gamaliel, and zealous for God. He shares his past as a persecutor of Christians, which leads up to him telling about his life changing even on the Damascus road. This sounds somewhat like Saul in 1 Samuel 9:21 who, despite his humble background, was chosen by God for leadership.

III. Acts 22:6-16 – Paul Gives Account of Encounter With Jesus
Paul gives the account of his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his life changing transformation due to this encounter. Paul’s experience on the Damascus road reminds us of Moses in Exodus 3:2-6 where he encounters God in the burning bush. Both of these transformations display God’s ability to bring about dramatic life changes through His saving grace. He did it for them, and He will do it for you!

IV. Acts 22:17-21 – Paul Shares His Vision from God
Paul shares how he received a vision from God telling him to leave Jerusalem due to his life being endangered there. These verses remind us of God’s instruction to Joseph in Matthew 2:13 to escape to Egypt with Mary and Jesus to avoid Herod’s wrath. Here, God directly intervened to ensure the safety of His servants.

V. Acts 22:22-29 – Paul Arrested 
Some of the crowd (the Jews) rejected Paul’s message and sought to kill him, this led to his arrest by the Roman soldiers. This brings to mind  Jesus’s arrest in Matthew 26:47-55. Both these situations show that proclaiming the truth of God often causes hostility toward the people who are bringing the truth.

VI. Acts 22:30 – Paul Before the Sanhedrin
Paul is going to be put on trial before the Sanhedrin, a Jewish council. The same thing occurred in Jesus’ life,  He stood trial before the Sanhedrin in Mark 14:53-65. The trials of both Jesus and Paul point out the opposition that the early Christian church faced from Jewish authorities, mainly the religious leaders.

Conclusion: Acts 22 gives us the account of Paul’s transformation from a persecutor of Christians to a proclaimer of the gospel. His courage and commitment to God’s call, even in the face of opposition are an example for all believers who have ever faced opposition. Just as Paul was not deterred by the challenges he faced, we as believers should boldly declare our faith in Christ, confident in His promise to guide and protect us. After all, is not Jesus able to protect his own.