If the tribune had been paying any attention to Paul’s speech, the crowd’s reaction to it made absolutely no sense. So what if Paul saw a vision of a god in the skies? So what if this god had told him to go and tell the nations about his vision? Roman mythology was full of such stories, but they never made anyone angry enough to commit murder. No, there had to be another reason for the uproar, and he was determined to discover it, even if he had to beat Paul with a whip to get him to explain what had made the crowd so upset.

Except that Paul wasn’t responsible for the riot. Back in 21:28, we find that people from the province of Asia were spreading lies and stirring up the people in Jerusalem to try to kill Paul. But the Romans weren’t really concerned with administering justice to those who lived in their far-flung dominions. No, they had scattered their legions across the Mediterranean world simply in order to keep order, to make sure that commerce flowed without interruption. So, anything or anyone that disturbed the peace had to be squashed, regardless of the reason they may have had to be upset.

No, there was only one thing the Romans really cared about, and that was Rome itself. The people, the citizens of Rome were to be defended at all costs, and their rights were to be protected without question. So, when the tribune discovered that Paul was actually a Roman citizen from Tarsus and not a Jew from Jerusalem, he turned on a dime, and determined to protect Paul from the crowd. Even if Paul was guilty of somehow disturbing the peace, his citizenship was a “get-out-of-jail-free” card.

And so, it turns out that the Romans and the Jews had a lot in common after all: the Jews hated Paul because he dared to state that God cared about people besides the Jews, and the Romans were determined to protect other Romans regardless of their guilt or innocence. Both groups were willing to use force to defend their own tribe, and neither of them was really interested in the truth. None of them really wanted justice to be done.

And as long as people continue to place their top priority on what ethnic group they belong to, and as long as people are primarily interested in the peace and prosperity they can find in this world, well, the cycle of violence will continue. There can’t be any lasting justice or any peace to those who refuse to acknowledge the authority of King Jesus.

Acts 22:22-30 (ESV)

22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”
23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,
24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this.
25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?”
26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”
27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.”
28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.”
29 So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
30 But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.