Acts 28:17-22 meaning

In Acts 28:17-22, Paul will give an explanation of himself to the local Jewish leadership. Since he is new to Rome and a prisoner due to accusations against him by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, Paul will try to make peace with the Jewish leaders in Rome.

Paul has finally made it to Rome after months of doomed seafaring and wintering in Malta. He was received by the Roman believers on the road to Rome, and has been permitted to live in a home under house arrest rather than locked in a standard prison. The fellowship he found with the Roman believers was deeply encouraging to him (Acts 28:15). Now established in Rome, though a prisoner, he reaches out to the local Jewish leaders:

After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans (v. 17).

It was After three days that Paul called this meeting. For three days he settled into his new quarters in Rome, and may have been busy writing letters or being processed for a court date with Caesar. But it was important to Paul to try to establish a friendship with the Jews in Rome. It was the Jewish leadership that had persecuted him back in Judea.

Paul wants to make his case to the leading men of the Jews in Rome, not because they have any say over his imprisonment (only Caesar can condemn or free him), but because Paul is always on mission (1 Corinthians 9:16). He did not have to call attention to himself; he did not have to make the leading men of the Jews in Rome aware of his presence in the city. But he wanted to tell them the truth of his innocence in case they had heard otherwise, and to direct them toward the truth of the gospel.

Had Paul come to Rome of his own free will, as he’d hoped to years earlier on an unrealized mission trip to Spain (Romans 15:23-28), he would probably have gone to the local synagogues to preach to the Jews from the Old Testament and try to lead them to faith in Jesus Christ, as he consistently did throughout his prior missionary travels (Acts 9:20, 13:5, 13:14-16, 14:1, 17:1-2, 17:10, 17:17, 18:4, 18:19, 19:8).

These leading men of the Jews in Rome were probably respected rabbis and elders in the local Jewish community. They likely were aware of the local church of believers and their faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. In their reply to Paul during this interaction, they tell him that they know the sect he belongs to is spoken against everywhere (Acts 28:22).

The leading men obliged Paul when he called them together. Since Paul was a prisoner under house arrest, they probably came together to hear him at this rented house. Paul began saying to them his defense of his innocence and the context for his arrest, “Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Roman.

Paul calls these leading men of the Jews his brethren. In contrast to the believing brethren from earlier, these brethren are so-called because Paul is Jewish just as they are. He addressed the crowd that wanted to beat him to death as his “brethren and fathers” years earlier in Jerusalem (Acts 22:1). He addressed the Jewish high council as brethren when they put him on trial (Acts 23:1, 5, 6). These are Paul’s Jewish brethren, and his aim is to bring God’s message to them. Despite the slander against him throughout his ministry (Acts 21:21, 24:5-6, 25:7), Paul is not seeking division; his aim is to preach the truth revealed to him by God, so that he might help reconcile people into a right relationship with God, Jew or Gentile (Acts 22:14-15, 2 Corinthians 5:20).

Paul begins by immediately declaring that he is guiltless: I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers. This was the accusation against him, “This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place” (Acts 21:28). It was first levied against him in Jerusalem by Jewish Ephesians who recognized him from the two years he spent planting churches in Ephesus and the surrounding area.

These Jewish Ephesians roused a mob to beat him to death, before the Romans intervened (Acts 21:32). Nor was it true that Paul had brought Greeks into the temple, thereby violating the Law; this was an assumption or lie made by the Jewish Ephesians when they, days earlier, also recognized an Ephesian Gentile with Paul in Jerusalem. Paul and this Ephesian, named Trophimus, were casually walking around the city at the time, not the temple, so it was totally false to claim Paul brought Greeks into the temple building.

Paul also faced untrue rumors among believing Jews when he had come to Jerusalem. When he met with James, the head elder of the church, James told him there were “many thousands” among the Jews “who have believed” but who also had been “told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs” (Acts 21:20-21).

Paul had participated in some Jewish customs to prove that this rumor was false. Throughout his ministry, Paul kept the basic agreement reached at the Jerusalem Council that Jewish believers would continue to practice Jewish customs, but that Gentile believers would only be asked to do those things that allowed fellowship between them and the Jews (Acts 15:19-21).

It was made clear that all were saved by God’s grace, not by religious observance (Acts 15:11). But Paul had maintained his Jewish observance throughout his ministry, which allowed him at this time, after all his missionary journeys, to declare he had not violated the customs of our fathers.

The Greek word “ethos” translated as customs is applied to Jewish religious observances in Luke 1:9, 2:42, Acts 6:14, 16:21, 21:21. Paul maintained to the Corinthians that he was Jewish to the Jews as a testimony to them (1 Corinthians 9:20). He had his disciple Timothy circumcised as a testimony to the Jews, since he had a Jewish mother (Acts 16:1-3).

And though he had done nothing he was accused of, yet he was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Paul has been a prisoner in the hands of the Romans for over two years by now (Acts 24:27).

But the Romans could not find fault with Paul either:

And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death (v. 18).

This reference to when they had examined Paul may refer to the many examinations he endured from the Romans, though it most recently refers to his trial before Porcius Festus. He was questioned by the commander Claudius Lysias, and stood trial before two separate governors at separate times, Felix and Festus (Acts 24:22-23, 25:4-5, 25-27). But when these Romans had examined Paul and heard his story, they saw his innocence.

Paul says they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death. Claudius Lysias expressed his belief that Paul should be a free man in a letter to Felix (Acts 23:28-29), and Felix was willing to release Paul should Paul pay him a bribe, which Paul did not do (Acts 24:26).

When Festus became governor, the Jews reopened their case to this new administrator, seeking to receive Paul back into their custody with the ultimate goal of putting him to death (Acts 25:24). Festus was willing to release Paul, but as the new regional governor he also was attempting to curry favor with the leading Jews in Jerusalem (Acts 25:9).

The general point here is that the Romans concluded Paul was innocent. They did not understand or particularly care about the religious disputes between the Jews; from their point of view Paul had niche beliefs that irritated the Jewish elites, but nothing more serious than that. Even King Agrippa II of Judea, who was friendly with the Romans and had grown up in Rome, saw Paul’s innocence. After hearing Paul defend himself, Agrippa II, his sister Bernice, Governor Festus, and other officials agreed Paul had done nothing deserving of “death or imprisonment” and he “might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar” (Acts 26:30-32). There was obviously no ground for putting Paul to death.

Paul continues his story:

But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation (v. 19).

The Jews, referring to Jewish leaders in Judea, had been trying to regain custody of Paul for years, under the pretense that they would judge Paul according to their laws. They petitioned the Romans to have him put to death (Acts 25:24). They also plotted to assassinate Paul if given the chance to transport him back to Jerusalem (Acts 25:2). They objected to the Romans’ judgment that Paul was innocent, and were relentless in insisting he was a criminal deserving death, just as their predecessors had hounded Pilate to crucify Jesus, despite Pilate’s judgment that Jesus was innocent (Acts 27:20-23).

Paul, seeing he would be killed by the Jews sooner or later, and that the Romans were motivated to placate the Jewish leadership, was forced to appeal to Caesar. That is why Paul was brought to Rome—to face judgment before the emperor of Rome.

As a Roman citizen, Paul had the right to appeal to Caesar to judge his case, if he felt like he wasn’t receiving justice from one of Caesar’s appointed governors (Acts 25:10-12). Paul says that he was forced to appeal, since he had been held prisoner in Caesarea for two years by men who knew he was innocent but would not release him, and was likely to be sent back to Jerusalem for yet another trial, where he suspected  that the Jews would kill him outright regardless of a legal sentence, as they had tried to do years before (Acts 23:12-15).

Appealing to Caesar was the only move Paul could make to stay alive, thus he was forced to, which is why he is now in Rome. He clarifies to his audience of leading Jews in Rome that he has not come to Rome to make any accusation against his nation—Israel/Judea. He has not come to appeal to Caesar in an attempt to punish the leaders in Judea or to raise concerns about Judea. He is the defendant, not the prosecutor. He was forced to appeal merely to save his own life and be declared innocent of wrongdoing. Again, Paul is trying to make it clear to these Jewish leaders that he is not their enemy, he is not against the Jewish people, the Law, or Jewish customs. He is, rather, a victim of false accusations.

He declares his purpose in calling the Jewish leaders to his house,

For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel (v. 20).

Rather than an opponent of Israel, as he has been accused of being, Paul is a friend and servant to Israel. He says, For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you, referring to the leading Jews who lived in Rome. Paul wanted to speak to them to explain the circumstances of his imprisonment, that he is wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.

This reveals to us that Paul was in chains of some kind, because he is still a prisoner awaiting trial. The chain he is wearing prevented him from going freely wherever he liked, since he was not yet declared a free, innocent man. There was also a guard watching him at all times to prevent him from escaping (Acts 28:16).

But Paul requested to see and to speak to the Jewish leaders to preach the gospel to them. He has been put on trial for his belief in resurrection from death, that of Jesus of Nazareth, whom he believes is the Messiah and has risen from the dead. This is what incensed the priests to persecute Paul and the other apostles (Acts 23:6). The high priests wanted the name of Jesus to remain dead (Acts 4:17-18, 5:27-28). But Paul preached the truth, though it resulted in him wearing a chain, for the sake of the hope of Israel. Jesus the Messiah was the hope of Israel. He was the promised anointed servant sent by God to save Israel, though the leaders of His people rejected Him (Acts 4:10-11, Isaiah 49:5-6, 53:3).

Jesus came first to save Israel (and the Gentiles) from our sins (Matthew 1:21). He came first to bring us into new spiritual life, we who are otherwise in a state of spiritual death (Ephesians 2:1), to build a bridge between us and the holy God through His perfect sacrifice which paid all and cleanses us from unrighteousness if we trust in Him (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 10:12-14). Jesus will come again to fulfill the remainder of the messianic promises, to reign as a forever king over the earth in perfect justice and peace (Isaiah 9:6-7). This is a message of great hope, for all people, beginning with Israel, God’s chosen people.

The Jewish leadership in Rome reply to Paul’s testimony

They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you (v. 21).

It may have brought relief to Paul to learn that they had not received letters from Judea concerning him. They had heard nothing about Paul or his trial in Rome, not by way of letters or by any of the brethren from Judea. No one had sent word or come personally to warn the Roman Jews about Paul. We might find that surprising since in Paul’s prior letter to the Romans, he said his teaching of the gospel was being slandered by competing Jewish “authorities” (Romans 3:8, 2:17).

Perhaps the reason these Jews had not heard of Paul is because those opposing him in Rome were believing Jews while these were the leaders among Jews who had not believed. As Acts 28:17 tells us, Paul is speaking here to “the leading men of the Jews.” No one has reported or spoken anything bad about him that they have heard. As far as the Roman Jews were concerned, they had nothing against Paul nor any opinion of him one way or another.

The Jewish leadership in Judea was possibly content to have Paul out of Judea and were no longer trying to destroy him. The leading Jews of Rome express their desire to learn what it is Paul believes and teaches, since it has caused such controversy:

But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere” (v. 22).

To them, Paul is an intriguing character. They desire to hear from him about his faith, what his views are (literally “what you think”). The Roman Jews have heard some things concerning this sect, the sect of the Nazarenes, which is what the Jewish leadership called those who believed Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah/Christ (Acts 24:5).

The main thing that is known to the Roman Jews about this sect is that it is spoken against everywhere. Word had spread everywhere about this faith in Jesus, and it is spoken against. Probably starting in Jerusalem, word had spread throughout the diaspora of Jews in the Roman empire that the growing sect of Christians were heretics and blasphemers. We saw in Acts 21:20-21, 28, 31 the virulent opposition against the gospel that was present in Jerusalem.

There was perhaps a warning not to associate with or listen to anyone who believed in Jesus as the Christ. There were sometimes calls to violence against believers in Jesus. Paul had experienced this opposition firsthand many times (Acts 17:5-7, 18:12-13, 17, 21:30-32). The fact that this belief was spoken against seems to have aroused curiosity in these leading Jews in Rome.

They are not heeding the condemnation against this sect, but would rather like to hear about it and decide for themselves. And who better than Paul to hear from about what his views are. If the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem had spent years trying to end his life for his views, to the point that he had to appeal to Caesar and escape to Rome, then he is more than qualified to explain what Christians believe.

Consistent with his past practice, Paul must have been more than willing to share the gospel with them. This was his whole purpose in life, whether in chains or free. And as he had told the leading Jews, he was wearing a chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.

In the following passage, the Roman Jewish leaders will schedule a day for Paul to not only teach them, but other Jews in Rome.