Paul Arrested In Jerusalem

The whole city was aroused by the cry
That Paul was in the temple, and men came
Running; Greeks he had taught shouted the lie,
A Gentile was there, and Paul was to blame!
A mob gathered, berserk, and beating Paul;
He would have been killed, had the Romans not
Rushed down, shackled him, and quieted them all!
Paul asked leave to speak to them, which he got;
He told of being trained a Pharisee;
His zeal in persecuting The Way;
The call from Christ to teach Gentiles to see;
The mob would hear no more; resumed the fray!
He was locked in jail, to restore the peace,
And never would he obtain his release!

“When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia [Turkey] saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, ‘Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place [the temple]. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.’ (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)” (Acts 21:17-29) [Brackets added]

“The commander went to Paul and said, ‘Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?’ [This was in the jail just prior to Paul’s scourging, as ordered by the commander; Paul had asked if it was legal to whip a Roman citizen not yet proven guilty.] ‘Yes, I am,’ he answered. Then the commander said, ‘I had to pay a big price for my citizenship.’ ‘But I was born a citizen,’ Paul replied. Then those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized he had put a Roman citizen in chains.” (Acts 22:27-29) [Brackets added]

The complete account of the events mentioned in the poem should be read in the Bible, Acts 21:27 through Acts 22:29.

This was a pivotal point in history. It marks the beginning of the complete separation of Judaism from Christianity; it also reveals the chief reason that God sent Paul to Jerusalem. More than that, it is the reason God called Paul to be an apostle in the first place; the original apostles did not fully understand His plan of salvation through grace alone; the eleven were not strong enough to tear themselves or the Jerusalem church completely away from the clutches of Judaism and its required works. Paul’s place in the ranks of God’s heroes of the Bible has to be equal in importance to Abraham and Moses; there is certainly none higher. Peter, chief of apostles and called the first pope by the Roman Catholic Church, fell short of his responsibility in comparison to Paul. Had it not been for Paul, the doctrine of Christianity would have been a jumble of grace and works; a combination of good works and God’s mercy would be necessary for a person to be saved. He would have to earn part of his salvation and depend upon mercy to provide the remainder. The arrest of Paul brought the conflict between Judaism and The Way to a head and settled the question: we are saved by grace, not works.

Paul’s Roman citizenship was as essential to his call by God as was his education and abilities. He had already made use of it in Philippi, Macedonia, to get an apology from city officials, who had jailed him overnight; it saved him a scourging here in Jerusalem. However, its supreme benefit would be to insure that he would continue his ministry to the emperor of the Roman Empire, for it would be his ticket to trial by Nero and numerous high officials. Paul was never free again, but his ministry continued for years and went to high places.