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Verses 1 thru 21 of Chapter 22 record Paul's words to his fellow Jews. Paul told
them his life story and he spoke to them in Hebrew. He told them of his education,
his commission to Damascus, his conversion on the road to Damascus, his mission to
the Gentiles, and with the mention of the word Gentile, the crowd began to riot and
the Centurion had Paul brought into the barracks, and ordered him to be bound and
examined by scourging in order to arrive at the truth.
The Crowd Explodes Again
["Click here for Acts 22:22-30"]
Verses 22 thru 30 record the turning point in this story and in the life of Paul. Up to this time, Paul was just another Jew who had gotten in trouble with his fellow Jews. The Centurion's part was to keep the peace and to do this he needed to find out the facts in the cast to see who was at fault, then he would turn his over to the Jewish authorities for punishment, but all of a sudden, Paul speaks of his Roman citizenship. This made Paul a "Ward of Rome", subject to its protection and courts. So by asking for the rights of a Roman Citizen, he would now have to abide to their laws and judicial procedures.
What choice did Paul have? If he had kept quiet about his Roman citizenship, he would have been wiped by the Romans and then turned over to the Jewish authorities who would probably have asked that he be crucified as they did Jesus. The crowd here was just as angry as they were at the trial of Jesus. On the other hand, Roman Courts were notorious for their delays and people laid for years in jails awaiting trial.
So Paul placed his life in the hands of the Lord and quietly called over the Centurion and calmly said to him, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a Roman Citizen who is uncondemned?" A discussion occurred between the Roman Centurion and the Roman Tribune and fear fell upon them, they realized that Paul was a Roman Citizen and that they had bound him without trial or evidence.
What might have happened to these Roman Officers had they gone through with this? Matthew Henry says that there was a Roman Law that was called "Lex Sem-pro-nia". If any agent of Rome did chastise or condemn any "Freeman of Rome", without hearing him speak for himself and them deliberating upon the whole of the case would be liable for the same sentence imposed on the freeman. It was the intent of this law that no Roman Citizen have any wrong done to him by legal authorities without the due process of the law. Well you can see why Paul's disclosure of his Roman Citizenship stopped the whole procedure and got them worrying about what they had already done in binding Paul.
Notice the little sideline chat between Paul and the Tribune. The Roman Tribune was proud of his citizenship for he had paid a great sum of money for it, but Paul simply said that he had been born a citizen.
The fact that Paul was a Roman Citizen required an entirely different approach by the Tribune in resolving the case. He would have to protect Paul and at the same time, determine what charges the Jews had against him. To do this, the next morning he sends word to the Temple and demands that the Sanhedrin assemble and be ready to present their case against Paul. The Sanhedrin was made up of the council along with the chief priests. Verse 30 of Chapter 22 and verses 1 thru 10 of Chapter 23 record this trial.
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