Chapter 22 begins with Paul addressing the crowd. He addressed them as "brothers and esteemed fathers" and spoke to them in their own language. First Paul established his citizenship and training. He spoke of the fact that he was Jew born in Tarsus which was a city in Cilicia, making him a Roman citizen. He then spoke of his education and training which had taken place in Jerusalem. He was a student of Gamaliel who carefully trained him in a strict manner of all the Jewish laws and customs.
Gamaliel had trained Paul when he was younger and they encountered one another at a later date recorded in Acts 5. Paul and his men were being harassed by the Jewish leaders. Paul and his men were brought before the High Council which decided to put them to death. Gamaliel who was a Pharisee, stood up and persuaded the council to not kill them, He said if what they were doing was not truth it would die out and go aways as so many other things had. He also said if what they were doing was from God no one would be able to overthrow them no matter what they did. It is interesting because one thing that has been said of Gamaliel was that many of Gamaliel's legal decisions were prefaced with the words, "for the benefit of humanity." That type of thinking on his part is surely evident in this situation as well.
Paul explained how he had become very zealous in the Jewish law and customs just as those he addressed were. He spoke of how he persecuted and imprisoned followers of the Way. (Just as was being done to him now) He stated that the entire High Council and elders could conform what he just said. He even was given letters from them to other Jewish leaders in Damascus giving Paul the authority to take Christians back to Jerusalem to be punished.
(Verses 6- 10) Paul told of his journey on the road to Damascus. He was nearing the city about noon, when a bright light shone down from heaven around him. Paul fell to the ground and heard a voice speaking to him. The voice said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" (At the time Paul was still called Saul)
Paul spoke back to the voice asking, "Who are you lord?"
The voice replied, "I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting."
Paul explained that the others who were with him saw the light but did not understand the voice that spoke to him.
Paul then asked, "What should I do Lord?" (Notice the first time Paul used the word lord, it was lowercase because he had no idea who he was speaking to. However the second time he addressed the voice, Lord is spelled with a capital L for now he is speaking to the Lord.)
The Lord spoke again saying, "Get up and go into Damascus and there you will be told everything you are to do." Paul was blinded by the light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus. He met with a highly regarded, godly man who was deeply devoted to the law. His name was Ananias. Ananias stood beside Paul and said, "Brother Saul, regain your sight", and Paul saw.
Ananias told Saul God had chosen him to know His will, to see the Righteous One and hear Him speak. God had chosen Saul to see the Righteous One (the Lord) and hear Him speak. So Saul's encounter on the road to Damascus was God's plan. Ananias told Paul God had chosen him to be His witness and tell everyone what he had seen and heard. He was instructed to get up right then and be baptized and have his sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.
Paul went to Damascus to persecute the Christians and now he had become one and would protect and support them.
Paul explained that he returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the Temple when he fell into a trance. He saw a vision of Jesus saying to him, "Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won't accept your testimony about me." But Paul argued with the Lord reminding Him that the people certainly knew he had been the one had those who believed in Him beaten and imprisoned. They also had to know he agreed with those who stoned Stephen to death and had even held the coats of those doing the stoning. (I believe Paul was trying to convince the Lord that people who knew all that about him and now know he is a believer, they would surely listen to him because of the change in direction he had taken.)
The Lord answered, "Go for I will send you far away to the Gentiles."
The crowd had been listening until Paul said, "Gentiles". He was telling them the Lord told him to leave the Jews and tell the Gentiles all about Him and that infuriated the Jews because of the implication that Jews and Gentiles were equal. Note that at this point the Jews could listen to Paul and hear the Good News but they refused the message of Jesus Christ thus sealing their fate.
Again, people wanted to kill Paul. They took off there coats and threw handfuls of dust into the air. Such action was an expression of their intense anger and dissatisfaction.
The Roman commander brought Paul inside and gave orders to have Paul lashed to make him confess his wrongdoing in getting the crowd to riot. When the soldiers tied Paul down to lash him, Paul asked an officer standing near him if it was legal to whip a Roman citizen without a trial. The officer asked Paul if he was a Roman citizen. Paul answered yes. (The whips with which Paul was to be beaten had steel on them at the tips and could kill or permanently cripple a person. It was what was used to beat Jesus.) The commander then came and asked Paul if he was a Roman citizen to which Paul again answered he was. The commander said he was too and had paid a lot to become one. (During the rein of Emperor Claudius, it was possible for a person to buy Roman citizenship by bribing corrupt Roman officials.) Paul had not purchased his citizenship. He was born a Roman citizen because both his parents were Roman citizens. The soldiers immediately backed away from Paul because it was unlawful to bind or beat a Roman without a trial. The commander was particularly afraid because he had given the orders to do that and if Rome heard of his action he could be in serious trouble. You might wonder why they would just take him at is word. That can be answered by the fact if one was to be punished but claimed to be a citizen to avoid punishment but was not a citizen they would be put to death. Surely lying to get out of a beating would be not worth the risk of death.
The next day, the commander ordered the High Council to session in an effort to find out what all the trouble had really been about. He had Paul released to stand before them as the discussion took place.