Acts 22 · The Lantern

“Noble brothers and fathers, listen to the explanation that I now give to you.”

"He spake unto them," it says, "in the Hebrew tongue, saying, Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you." Mark his address, at once so free from all flattery, and so expressive of meekness.

"Men, brethren, hear ye the account which I now give unto you," etc. Paul, being inclined to simplicity of heart, told the people, in order, how he had been chosen by the Lord when he was a persecutor of the church; he did not even fail to mention, with a broken heart, his crime relating to Stephen's blood; but he said that he had heard from the Lord, whom he could not oppose,…

The expression "fathers" is a sign of respect, and the expression "brethren" is an indication of kinship. Notice, his speech is both free from flattery and full of gentleness. He did not say "lords," but "brothers," which was especially pleasing to the people. I am not a stranger to you, he says, nor am I against you.

And when they heard him speaking to them in the Hebrew language, they offered a greater silence.

And he said: “I am a Jewish man, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but raised in this city beside the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous for the law, just as all of you also are to this day.

"I am a man," he says, "which am a Jew:" which thing they liked most of all to hear; "born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia." That they may not again think him to be of another nation, he adds his religion: "but brought up in this city." He shows how great was his zeal for the worship, inasmuch as having left his native city, which was so great and so remote too, he chose to be bro…

Educated according to the truth, being a zealot of the paternal law. In Greek it is added more: Being a zealot of God, according to that in Romans: For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

With such a beginning he paves the way for his speech: "I," he says, "am a Jew." To hear this was most pleasant of all for them.

I persecuted this Way, even unto death, binding and delivering into custody both men and women,

just as the high priest and all those greater by birth bear witness to me. Having received letters from them to the brothers, I journeyed to Damascus, so that I might lead them bound from there to Jerusalem, so that they might be punished.

But it happened that, as I was traveling and was approaching Damascus at midday, suddenly from heaven a great light shone around me.

And falling to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

And I responded, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

And those who were with me, indeed, saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of him who was speaking with me.

"And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of Him that spake to me." But in another place he says, "Hearing the voice, but seeing no man." It is not at variance: no, there were two voices, that of Paul and the Lord's voice: in that place, the writer means Paul's voice; as in fact Paul here adds, "The voice of Him that spake u…

Paul, speaking of his deeds, says that his companions saw the light there some time ago, yet that they did not drink in the voice with their ears; but then, at the time when he fell blind, his companions are said also to have heard the voice. Thus the work of the narrator varies.

This was done with purpose, since he alone was to hear that voice. And since rather ordinary people trust sight more, those who were with Saul only "saw the light and were filled with fear; but did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me." And the light produced such an effect not for them, but for Saul; therefore it deprived him of sight, and not them; but at the time when t…

And I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ Then the Lord said to me: ‘Rise up, and go to Damascus. And there, you shall be told all that you must do.’

And since I could not see, because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by my companions, and I went to Damascus.

It was of Him, too, that he had said in a previous passage: "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to the only God; " so that we might apply even the contrary qualities to the Son Himself-mortality, accessibility-of whom the apostle testifies that "He died according to the Scriptures," and that "He was seen by himself last of all," -by means, of course, of the light w…

"And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus." See how great was the excess of the light.

"Those who were with me led me by the hand into Damascus." The mention of the city is fittingly added so that the Jews would know that Saul was a persecutor. Paul-Saul interweaves the testimonies of persons with the testimonies of circumstances, both those concerning himself and those concerning others; the witnesses are the priests, the elders, the companions.

Then a certain Ananias, a man in accord with the law, having the testimony of all the Jews who were living there,

drawing near to me and standing close by, said to me, ‘Brother Saul, see!’ And in that same hour, I looked upon him.

But he said: ‘The God of our fathers has preordained you, so that you would come to know his will and would see the Just One, and would hear the voice from his mouth.

For you shall be his witness to all men about those things which you have seen and heard.

And now, why do you delay? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, by invoking his name.’

Then it happened that, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, a mental stupor came over me,

and I saw him saying to me: ‘Hurry! Depart quickly from Jerusalem! For they will not accept your testimony about me.’

And I said: ‘Lord, they know that I am beating and enclosing in prison, throughout every synagogue, those who have believed in you.

And when the blood of your witness Stephen was poured out, I stood nearby and was consenting, and I watched over the garments of those who put him to death.’

And he said to me, ‘Go forth. For I am sending you to far away nations.’”

Now they were listening to him, until this word, and then they lifted up their voice, saying: “Take this kind away from the earth! For it is not fitting for him to live!”

And while they were shouting, and tossing aside their garments, and casting dust into the air,

the tribune ordered him to be brought into the fortress, and to be scourged and tortured, in order to discover the reason that they were crying out in this way against him.

And when they had tied him with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing near him, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and has not been condemned?”

"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?" Paul lied not, God forbid: for he was a Roman. If there was nothing else, he would have been afraid to pretend this, lest he should be found out, and suffer a worse punishment.

For the divine command made what seems shameful honorable. Thus the apostle called himself at one time a Pharisee and at another a Roman, not because he was afraid of death but because it was fair to do so in a fight. Likewise he appealed to Caesar upon learning of the Jews' plot against him.

"Is it lawful for you to scourge a Roman citizen, and uncondemned?" Paul did not lie in saying that he was a Roman, because his father, for the sake of status, had purchased this title with money, since those deemed worthy of being called by this name enjoyed great honor. Paul says this so that, in the event of his punishment, they would not begin to treat him with contempt.

Upon hearing this, the centurion went to the tribune and reported it to him, saying: “What do you intend to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

And the tribune, approaching, said to him: “Tell me. Are you a Roman?” So he said, “Yes.”

And the tribune responded, “I obtained this citizenship at great cost.” And Paul said, “But I was born to it.”

Let it suffice to the martyr to have purged his own sins: it is the part of ingratitude or of pride to lavish upon others also what one has obtained at a high price. Who has redeemed another's death by his own, but the Son of God alone? For even in His very passion He set the robber free.

But how is it possible to be both from Tarsus and a Roman? Hear then the Philippians, when they dragged Paul and Silas before the rulers into the marketplace, since the Pythoness' slave-girl was released, what do they say?

"But Paul said: and I was born in it." Look: his father too was a Roman. Before Paul was born, Cilicia had already come under Roman rule, and therefore his father, as one who had come under their authority, necessarily had to be a Roman. Paul, according to the prophecy, was bound in Jerusalem, and the prophetic word was fulfilled. What happens next?

Therefore, those who were going to torture him, immediately withdrew from him. The tribune was similarly afraid, after he realized that he was a Roman citizen, for he had bound him.

But on the next day, wanting to discover more diligently what the reason was that he was accused by the Jews, he released him, and he ordered the priests to convene, with the entire council. And, producing Paul, he stationed him among them.

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