38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?”
A terrorist training camp! And they thought they had just captured the leader. That would have been a good day and a positive statement to put in his job performance review. The guards have just seized Paul as a riot was growing in Jerusalem after his return. His long missionary trip has just concluded. Paul has been warned repeatedly that trouble awaits him in Jerusalem and now he is in the middle of some of that trouble. Since the Romans are responsible for keeping the people from getting out of hand, they grab Paul to arrest him. They don’t really know who they have arrested. They think it is a terrorist leader. But it is just Paul, a Jewish teacher. But Paul is also a Roman Citizen and he has certain privileges under Roman law. He is arrested because they think he is a terrorist. I guess they had a terrorist watch list back then as well. I wonder if they had playing cards with the most wanted criminals’ pictures on the back. Or whether the guards just grabbed Paul because there was a riot beginning and he seemed to be the focus of the riot. Have you ever been accused of being someone you are not? Of doing something you didn’t do? On the other hand, have you ever gotten away with something you should have been punished for? Paul speaks up and clears up at least part of the identity puzzle. He is not the terrorist, but a Jew, a Roman Citizen, and he wants to speak to the people. God wants to use us even when others get our identity wrong. God never gets our identity wrong. He always knows us by name.
The Arnold Journey 