Acts of the Apostles

Compared to the overall story outlined in Acts, it seems that this chapter has only to say that God wanted Paul to arrive in Rome and, therefore, saved him from the shipwreck: it seems little to justify this detailed story, we will therefore try to grasp other aspects of it. The story begins with: «When it was decided that we should sail for Italy». This means that there was also Luke on the ship, who presumably was there as Paul’s assistant, and since Luke saw God at work on that trip, this itself is a good reason to tell the story. The [...]

While the Jewish ruling classes met with a communal attitude and therefore sometimes vitally disordered, in this meeting at the presence of King Agrippa we perceive a hierarchical disposition; this reflected the Roman mentality, with the "landlord" Festus giving the first seat to those who, like Agrippa, are of higher rank (vv. 24-27). Agrippa thus takes over the presidency and it is, therefore, he who gives Paul the floor to speak (26:1) and whom Paul addresses first (v. 2). Paul’s choice to address Agrippa alone may seem inappropriate, but it will prove necessary, because the audience was of a composite nature [...]

The prophecy that Paul would bear the name of Jesus «before the Gentiles and kings and children of Israel» (9:15) had little effect on the political authorities, while it becomes central in this final part of Acts, where Paul has the opportunity to be face to face with two governors (Felix and Porcius Festus) and with King Agrippa: great opportunities to train in a task to be carried out then even in the capital of the empire. While in his witness «to the Gentiles» and «to the children of Israel» Paul always reaped some fruit of conversion, in his preaching to [...]

Paul’s accusers brought a lawyer to speak on their behalf, whom, as those who have no proof do, focused on flattering praise addressed to the governor Felix and on the invitation to immediately save time by condemning Paul, trusting the accusations as expressed by friends of the governor, as they were. Paul is defined as «a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world» (after all, a beautiful compliment!), being pointed at as «a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes» (v. 5). Paul, unperturbed, replied only at the governor’s request; by contrast to the pompous eloquence of [...]

Acts 22  PAUL’S DISCOURSE TO THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM   Paul spoke to the people in the Hebrew language, an indication that it was still understood (though probably with Aramaic variants), and chose not to make a theological discourse, as he did on other occasions (13:14ff), but to give his testimony. It began with a «Brothers and fathers [...] I am a Jew» (vv. 1-3). He does not say that ‘I was a Jew’, because for Paul to accept Jesus as Messiah was to remain a Jew in all aspects and, if anything, it was others who were no longer in line [...]