Acts 22 Round Two: Bad Times Create Great Opportunities

A riot, an arrest, and a microphone—sometimes the worst hallway hides the best doorway. We open Acts 22 and watch Paul turn a hostile crowd into a moment of witness, not by shouting louder, but by speaking with honor, clarity, and courage. He anchors his story in shared roots, names his past without hiding it, and describes his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus with disarming simplicity. Then comes the spark: a call to the Gentiles that ignites the crowd, forcing Roman intervention and revealing how citizenship, law, and mission intersect in surprising ways.

We walk through Paul’s strategy step by step: speaking Aramaic to reduce friction, citing Gamaliel to establish credibility, confessing his former persecution to demonstrate transformation, and asking the prayer that still changes lives—What should I do, Lord? Ananias enters like a quiet storm, calling Paul to sight, baptism, and witness. The sequence is practical and powerful: receive grace, go public, tell what you’ve seen and heard. When the commander orders a lashing to extract answers, Paul wisely invokes his Roman citizenship, not to dodge discomfort but to steward the mission for another day. Wisdom and boldness are not rivals; they travel together.

Along the way, we draw out everyday applications: how to spot opportunity inside opposition, how to share a testimony without hype, and how to use whatever leverage you have—education, networks, legal rights—to serve a purpose bigger than comfort. We also leave space at the end for quiet reflection, because truth needs room to settle and become action. If your day feels like it’s sliding from bad to worse, this conversation offers a grounded path forward: honor people, tell your story, take the next faithful step, and trust God with the results.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBibleBreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's wordtogether.
Hello, everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
Today, Acts chapter 22.

(00:22):
If I were to give this one atitle, it would be Bad Times
Create Great Opportunities.
Bad times create greatopportunities.
If you're with us yesterday, wetalked about how Paul has been
just attacked by this mob inJerusalem.
And then because he gotattacked, he got arrested.
And because he got arrested, hegot bound up.

(00:43):
They're getting ready to takethat joker out of there.
And he says, Hey, can I talk toall these people?
So all this bad stuff ishappening, but it has now
provided an amazing opportunityfor him to share his story.
And so we're going to talk aboutjust a moment.
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(01:03):
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(01:26):
Brandon Cannon was taken.
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I I have this idea in my head ofyou and I sitting across the

(01:49):
coffee table and we're just kindof gushing about God's word.
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(02:09):
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We're going to get into thatmore as we go into it.
Also, I want to know how youenjoyed me adding the music at

(02:31):
the end.
Now, once again, obviously, noneof this is required.
And so if you have to go as soonas this is over with, that's
great.
But as I was telling youyesterday, many times I just
need a minute to sit and justthink about what we just read.
Think about what I'm going to doabout it.
Because if we read God's word,it blesses us.

(02:51):
But when we apply God's word, itchanges us.
And sometimes we have to thinkabout it so that we can apply it
to our life.
And so we're going to keepadding that for a few days.
And as if you guys say that it'shelpful, we may just leave it
there.
So as soon as we end, we justturn on the music and we just
let it play for a moment.
And you know, one of one of youhave already told me that what
you did was is you listened toit on your way to work, and so

(03:12):
you just kind of let it play andyou just thought about it on the
way.
I think that's amazing.
So we're going to get into thatmore at the end, but we're
picking back up at Acts chapter22, and we're seeing now that
Paul has been arrested.
And he's getting ready to getled away, but he looks at the
Roman guard and he's like, hey,listen, let me talk to these
people.
Now I have no idea what theRoman officer thought.

(03:34):
I'm guessing maybe he thoughtthat Paul was going to calm down
the crowd.
What he doesn't realize isPaul's about to rev up the crowd
in all the wrong ways.
But I love this because Paulsees an opportunity where
everybody else will see aproblem.
Remember, on the way, they weretelling him, Paul, please don't
go to Jerusalem because you'regoing to get you beat up.

(03:57):
It's going to be bad.
Everybody saw the problems.
Paul sees the opportunity, notfor freedom, not to not have a
bad day, but to share his story.
And I think that is an amazingthought process that for many of
us, myself included, we try toavoid bad situations.
Paul is not afraid of a badsituation because it might be a

(04:18):
chance to tell someone elseabout Jesus.
I just love that idea.
So we're going to dive in,listen to how Paul is doing
this.
And once again, once you getthis mental picture as you're
getting your Bibles out, yourNLT Bible, Acts 22, get your cup
of coffee ready.
Now, I want you to think aboutthe idea.
Paul is standing on some steps,and all around him is a violent
mob saying who knows what tohim, trying to get through to

(04:42):
him so they can kill him.
And finally he says, Men ofJerusalem.
And finally everybody quietsdown, waiting to hear what he
has to say.
And in that he says this, verseone, brothers and esteemed
fathers, Paul said, listen to meas I offer my defense.
When they heard him speaking intheir own language, the silence

(05:03):
was even greater.
Because at first people arelike, I don't listen to him.
But when he's speaking inAramaic, like, well, maybe we
should hear what he has to say.
Verse 3.
Paul said, I am a Jew born inTarshis in Cilicia, and I was
brought up and educated here inJerusalem under Gamaliel.
Now pause.
Gamaliel during the time, whichby the way is a really cool name
to say, I'm gonna say it onemore time.

(05:25):
Gamaliel, you should try that,all right?
He was known to be one of themost brilliant scholars of his
time.
So when Paul says, I waseducated here in Jerusalem under
Gamaliel, that's the same thingas him saying, I was trained up
at the finest universities thatare there.
What you picked what you thinkof Harvard, Yale, Stanford, the
nicest university you can thinkof, that's the one he's saying.

(05:48):
He's saying, I got a doctoratedegree in theology at Harvard
University.
Everybody's like, whoa.
Then he keeps on going.
As his student, I was carefullytrained in our Jewish laws and
customs.
I became very zealous to honorGod in everything I did, just
like all of you today.

(06:10):
And I was persecuting thefollowers of the way, hounding
some to death, arresting bothmen and women and throwing them
in prison.
Now it was considered to bepretty unheard of to arrest
women.
So he's saying, I was hardcore.
I didn't care.
I was taking them all down.
Verse 5 The high priest and thewhole council of elders can
testify that this is so.

(06:31):
For I received letters from themto our Jewish brothers in
Damascus, authorizing me tobring the followers of the way
from there to Jerusalem inchains to be punished.
As I was on the road approachingDamascus by noon, a very bright
light from heaven suddenly shonedown around me.
I fell to the ground and heard avoice saying to me, Saul, Saul,

(06:55):
why are you persecuting me?
Who are you, Lord?
I asked.
And a voice replied, I am Jesusthe Nazarene, the one you are
persecuting.
The people with me saw a light,but didn't understand the voice
speaking to me.
I asked, What should I do, Lord?
And the Lord told me, Get up.
Get up and go to Damascus, andthere you will be told

(07:18):
everything you are to do.
I was blinded by the intenselight and had to be led by the
hand to Damascus by mycompanions.
A man named Ananias lived there.
He was a godly man, deeplydevoted to the law, and was well
regarded by the Jews ofDamascus.
He came and stood beside me andsaid, Brother Saul, regain your

(07:38):
sight.
And at that very moment I couldsee him.
And then he told me, The God ofour ancestors has chosen you to
know his will and to see therighteous one and hear him
speak.
For you will be his witness,telling everyone that you have
seen and heard.
And what are you waiting for?
Get up and be baptized.

(07:58):
Have your sins washed away bycalling on the name of the Lord.
Just pause for a moment to go.
Ananias is a boss.
He walks into the house or thelodging, wherever the hotel room
of a guy who he thought was outto kill him, because he was, and
he just boldly says, Boy, it'sover for you.

(08:21):
You're now gonna serve the Lord.
I mean, I'm come on now.
When I get to heaven, I want totalk to Ananias, give him a high
five, and go, bro, you're cool.
All right, here we go, verse 17.
After I returned to Jerusalem, Iwas praying in the temple and
fell into a trance.
I saw a vision of Jesus sayingto me, Hurry, leave Jerusalem,
for the people here won't acceptyour testimony about me.
But Lord, I argued, theycertainly know that in every

(08:43):
synagogue I imprisoned and beatup those who believe in you.
And I was in complete agreementwhen your witness, Stephen, was
killed.
I stood by and kept the coatsthey took off as they stoned
him.
But the Lord told me, Go, for Iwill send you away to the
Gentiles.
The crowd listened to Paul saythat word.

(09:04):
Then they all began to shout,Away with such a fellow! He
isn't fit to live.
They yelled, threw off theircoats, and tossed handfuls of
dust into the air.
So it just got real.
You want to talk about thatthey're mad, but then they start
tearing their clothes, theystart uh throwing handfuls of
dust into the air.
And one of the reasons isbecause, number one, they said

(09:25):
he heard God talk to him.
And number two, he's he wassaying that he was talking to
the Gentiles.
Two things that they didn't wantyou to say.
And so it just, I mean, nowthey're even more angry.
So whatever whatever thecommander thought was going to
happen, the exact opposite iswhat happened.
Verse 24.
The commander brought Paulinside and ordered him lashed
with whips to make him confessto his crime.

(09:45):
He wanted to find out why thecrowd had become so furious.
It's also likely because thisguy likely didn't speak Aramaic.
So he's not sure what justhappened, but it wasn't good.
When they tied Paul down to theto lash him, Paul said to the
officer standing there, Now waita minute, is it legal for you to
whip a Roman citizen who hasn'tbeen tried?

(10:06):
When the officer heard this, hewent to the commander and said,
Um, what are you doing?
This man is a Roman citizen.
So the commander went over toPaul and said, Tell me, are you
a Roman citizen?
Yes, I certainly am, Paulreplied.
I am too, the commandermuttered, but it cost me plenty.
Yes, Paul said, but I am acitizen by birth.

(10:29):
So the soldiers who were aboutto interrogate Paul quickly
withdrew when they heard that hewas a Roman citizen, and the
commander was frightened becausehe had ordered him to be bound
and whipped.
Now, the reason why is becausewhen you were a Roman citizen,
you were considered under theprotection of Rome and its
emperor.
And so if you ever accusedanybody, you had to be able to

(10:50):
prove it, or they would kill youfor it.
So it was it was not it wasconsidered to be not cool.
That there was a statusinvolved.
And so the fact that he wastelling them to whip him and
interrogate him, if theycouldn't prove it, they died.
So all of a sudden they're like,oh, hold up, hold up, hold up.
So then verse 30, the next day,the commander ordered the

(11:12):
leading priest into the sessionwith the Jewish High Council,
and he wanted to find out whatthe trouble was all about.
So he released Paul to have himstand before them.
So as we get ready to end ourtime together today, what have
we just read about?
Paul sees a problem as actuallya great opportunity.

(11:32):
He's been arrested, he's beenhit, he's been beat, and now he
could have just ran away.
But instead he said, I'm gonnatake this bad day as a chance to
do something good for the Lord.
And he got up and he told hisstory, and then it wasn't up to
him what they did with it.
His job was to be obedient towhat God had said.

(11:54):
Well, how can we apply thistoday?
And that is, sometimes thingsare gonna go from bad to worse
in our life.
And sometimes the best thing wecan do is just make it through
the day.
But even within bad days,there's opportunities to honor
the Lord.
And I'm just curious about this.
Have you ever had one of thosedays when bad goes to worse?

(12:15):
And you just get in that momentwhere like, I don't know what to
do.
You know, I have those a lot.
And one of the things I try todo, learning from the Apostle
Paul, is when bad things go toworse, and I'm just trying to
get through the rest of the day,I start to look around because
many times it's in those badmoments when God opens a door to
speak to someone's in someone'slife.

(12:36):
And the great thing about it is,is when you get a chance to
share your story or to sharehope with them, it uh it is
something that that helps them,but you know what else it does?
Is it encourages you.
I want to encourage you withthis that the next time you're
going through a bad day, find away to bless somebody else.
Find a way to give a blessingthat you want to receive.

(12:57):
And watch what it does.
Not only does it bless them, butit encourages you as well.
And so I think Paul would tellus in this chapter, when you're
having a bad day, keep going,but find a way to make it
life-giving, and then trust theLord with the rest.
And you might be surprised whatit ends up doing.
Well, what I want to do today isI want to pray for us.
I want to share our scripture,and then we're gonna turn on

(13:19):
some music.
We're gonna give you anopportunity just to reflect on
what the Lord maybe has put inyour heart today.
Maybe what I just got throughsaying didn't speak to you at
all.
Maybe it was uh another part ofthis as we were reading
together.
Just a moment just to decompressGod's word and let it speak to
our lives, and then I hope youhave a wonderful day.
Let me pray for us.
Father, thank you so much.
That sometimes it's in the worstdays that we see the greatest

(13:42):
lights, greatest opportunities.
Lord, I pray today that everyonehas the best day of their life.
But if, God, if our journeytakes us through challenges
today, unmet expectations,difficult moments, whatever it
may be, I pray, God, that whilewe are going through that, you
help us to see the opportunitiesto make a difference, to know

(14:04):
that you are with us and you'refor us, and that you'll give us
the courage to take that nextstep.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Don't forget that God's Wordsays, Jesus said in Acts chapter
1, he says, You will receivepower when the Holy Spirit comes
upon you, and you will be mywitnesses to the ends of the
earth.
My prayer today is that you'llreceive the power of the Holy

(14:25):
Spirit, and it will encourageyou to share your story with
someone today.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow for Actschapter 23.