Acts 22: Paul's discourse

The crowd in Jerusalem (near the temple) thought that Paul was some kind of helenist guy, that didn´t care about the Lord or the people of Israel. The proof to it was that they thought that Paul was leading some gentiles inside the inner courts of the temple (which would profane the temple). The crowd wanted to kill him, but when Paul was being rescued by the Roman commander in the stairs of of the Fortress of Antonia, he asked the commander to speak some words to the crowd (who was against him). 
His purpose was to explain that his acts were not against the Lord but by the opposite: his acts were in obedience to the Lord.
He began to talk in Aramaic, not in Greek. He began saying about his high level Jewish degrees (education, obedience to the tradition, etc.). In a way, he was far superior in Jewish tradition than the normal crowd. He explained that Jesus (who was crucified and cursed by the Lord) was indeed resurrected and alive.
We read:
21 And He/Jesus said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22 They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!”

Why the sentence in 21 made the crowd so angry? 
They always say the Gentiles as the uncleans while they were the chosen people of the Lord. It seemed very offensive to them that the Messiah would accept the Gentiles as his people.
And here I am: a gentile in 2026, that belongs to the Messiah, chosen by the Messiah.

Acts 21: Paul cared about the Jews to the point of risk his own life

Paul loved the gentiles and saw the Spirit changing their hearts. Paul also loved the Jews in the Jerusalem church and cared about what they were thinking. Some Jews were suspicious of Paul: wouldn't he be teaching the gentiles that the Mosaic law is useless? Paul had decided to go to Jerusalem and bring a great donation from the gentiles to them. However, the daughters of Philip, the Evangelist and Agabus were predicting that he would be captured there, so they were advising him not to go to Jerusalem. He said:

13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

So he went there. He wanted to show that he was not against the Mosaic Law, but that backfired and he was captured.
People are very difficult to change opinion. I am reluctant to say things that are against others opinion. In doing so, I live in a comfortable world where I really don't interact very much to other people. Paul was different. He wanted to unite Jews and gentiles in the people of the Lord and he was not afraid to risk his life to get on it. Paul loved and was loved.

Acts 20: Paul's farewell

Nero became Caesar in 54 AD. Paul was in Ephesus and stayed there for three years. Acts 20 happens around 58 AD when the "peaceful years" of Nero’s reign were starting to fray. Paul was in his 3rd mission trip. He was heading Jerusalem but wanted to say goodbye to his friends of Ephesus. He went to Miletus, a city next to Ephesus and called his friends and church leaders from Ephesus to meet him there. It was the last time they were seeing each other because Paul would face a persecution and finally die in Rome for the gospel. There he said:

25-27 “And so this is good-bye. You’re not going to see me again, nor I you, you whom I have gone among for so long proclaiming the news of God’s inaugurated kingdom. I’ve done my best for you, given you my all, held back nothing of God’s will for you.

28 “Now it’s up to you. Be on your toes—both for yourselves and your congregation of sheep. The Holy Spirit has put you in charge of these people —God’s people they are— to guard and protect them. God himself thought they were worth dying for.

The Church is like a chain of love: Jesus, Peter, Paul, leaders in Ephesus, the congregation, etc. In his farewell, Paul asks them to take of the Ephesus congregation because God himself thought they were worth dying for. I must always remember that God himself thought I were worth dying for, despite being a sinner.

Acts 19: Who is great in Ephesus?

Ephesus was a great city with the great temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the world. In his third mission trip, Paul taught first in a synagogue but he was not welcomed; so he decided to teach daily in the School of Tyrannus to gentiles. The Lord opened the eyes of the city to the point that Demetrius goddess sales plummeted. For him, the gospel preached by Paul was destroying the city, was destroying the great Artemis, but who was great in Ephesus? Certainly, Jesus, although not using strength. That is why Paul had to flee from Ephesus.

Acts 18: Paul was afraid in Corinth.

 Corinth was worse than Las Vegas:
AI: Corinth was the "Sin City" of the ancient world. It was a place of extreme wealth, intense idol worship (the Temple of Aphrodite had 1,000 ritual prostitutes), and litigious, aggressive people. It was an intimidating environment for a small group of tent makers.
Paul came from Athens, where he was mocked by the intellectual elite.
Paul had been already experienced persecution in many cities.

9 And the Lord said to Paul by a vision at night, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Imagine the joy to listen from Jesus: "I am with you". Besides, Jesus told him there were many Christians in Corinth. Paul was certainly not alone.
Jesus kept Paul on the way, strengthening him.

Acts 17: Paul in Athens

Paul was used to preach first in synagogues, but in Acts 17 he is preaching in the marketplace where gentiles could listen to him.

18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers as well were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What could this scavenger of tidbits want to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?

The Greeks were like scholars of today: they are very curious, they like to ask questions, to learn new things, and they look to themselves as smart and rational people. The reaction of the philosophers resemble the reaction in a university.

AI: The primary goal of an Epicurean was not "wild partying" (a common misconception), but Ataraxia — a state of tranquil calm (as in nirvana?). Because the gods were in a state of perfect ataraxia, they would never "pollute" their peace by listening to human prayers, judging sins, or managing the universe. When Paul spoke of a God who "commands all men everywhere to repent" because He has "appointed a day on which He will judge the world" (Acts 17:30-31), he was attacking the very core of Epicurean peace. To an Epicurean, a body coming back to life was scientifically impossible and philosophically disgusting. The goal was to be free of the body, not to have it restored. They called Paul a spermológos ("seed-picker" or "babbler"). To these sophisticated philosophers, Paul sounded like a street-peddler selling "superstition" (Greek: deisidaimonia).


AI: The Stoics were the "Moralists". The Stoic did not seek "pleasure" like the Epicurean; they sought Virtue (aretē). They believed the universe was a rational, orderly system. To be happy, one must align their will with the "Providence" of the universe. They taught that you cannot control external events (sickness, war, poverty), but you can control your reaction to them. Stoics were Pantheists. They believed God was not a person outside the universe, but the "Soul of the World"—a divine, rational fire that permeated everything. They used "Logus" to describe the "Reason" that holds the stars in place and gives humans logic. It resembles Christianity but: Paul’s God was a Creator who made the world, not just a force that was the world. This God has a will and can be grieved. Stoics were famously proud of their self-sufficiency. Paul’s message was that humans are sinners who cannot save themselves and must repent. To a Stoic, "repentance" looked like weakness. Stoics believed in the "Great Conflagration"—that the universe is periodically destroyed by fire and starts over. They believed the soul might survive for a while but eventually merged back into the "Divine Fire." The idea of an individual, physical body rising from the dead was illogical to them.

Even though the stoics seemed more Christians, they thought that through reasoning (and their superior way to look things) they could get the answer for a better life. In Christianity, it is different: the Creator moves to his creatures, show love and call them to repentance and acceptance through Jesus.

Acts 16: Πίστευσον

In Acts 16, Paul , Silas, Timothy, Luke are in Philippi. Paul and Silas were put in jail, but at night, there was a great earthquake that set them free. The jailer was responsible for them and he thought that they had feed from prison (as any normal man). Then, he decided to take his own life because he was afraid of the Roman punishment. When he was about to kill himself, Paul shouted at him, claiming not do that. The jailer asked what he should do to be saved (from the Roman punishment). 

31 They said, “Believe/Πίστευσον in the Lord/Κύριον Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set [j]food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

It is very interesting that the jailer was afraid of the Romans, but this was the process that guide him and his family to Jesus. The Lord has his ways to call people to him.