Acts 22:17-21
The risen Christ directs His mission sovereignly, appointing witnesses beyond Israel according to His redemptive plan.
17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance,
18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not receive testimony concerning me from you.’
19 I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed in you.
20 When the blood of Stephen, your witness, was shed, I also was standing by, consenting to his death, and guarding the cloaks of those who killed him.’
21 “He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’”
The risen Christ directs His mission sovereignly, appointing witnesses beyond Israel according to His redemptive plan.
To recount the temple vision in which the Lord commissions Paul to the Gentiles.
This section continues Paul’s defense before the Jerusalem crowd. It shifts from his Damascus conversion to a temple-based revelation in Jerusalem. The mention of the Gentile mission marks the turning point that will provoke renewed hostility from the audience.
Paul refers to an earlier visit to Jerusalem after his conversion, likely corresponding to events described in Acts 9 and Galatians 1. The vision occurs in the temple during prayer, reinforcing Paul’s continued respect for Jewish worship practices. The directive to go to the Gentiles anticipates his later missionary journeys. The crowd’s sensitivity to Gentile inclusion explains the reaction that will follow in verse 22.
Paul’s Defense: Christ Appears, Sends, and Preserves His Witness
Acts 22 shows that Paul’s mission to the Gentiles came from the risen Jesus himself, and that even rejection, chains, and Roman custody become instruments for preserving and advancing his witness.