Paul is taken captive in Jerusalem

Paul was happy to do what God wanted, even if it meant going to prison in Jerusalem. 

Review: Last week a prophet named Agabus came to Paul and took off his belt. He wrapped up his hands and feet and told Paul that he would be tied up just like this if he goes to Jerusalem. The people begged Paul not to go, but they said if that is what the Lord wants, then that is what he would do. He was ready to be put in prison or even to die if that’s what God wants. The people said, "The Lord's will be done."

Lesson: Scripture is Acts 21:27-40 & 22:1-30.  Paul went to Jerusalem and while Paul was in the temple, some Jews from Asia saw Paul and they got the crowd worked up. They shouted out that “This is the man that teaches against the law, and he even brought Greeks into the temple to ruin the holy place!”

The whole city was getting worked up and they grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the temple. Immediately the doors were shut. They were trying to kill Paul by beating him and the commander of the garrison received word that all of Jerusalem was in chaos! So, at least 200 soldiers came running to the temple!

The commander immediately took his soldiers and ran to where the crowd was. When the people saw the commander with the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. The commander went and took Paul, and the soldiers tied him up with two chains. (According to my studies, Paul probably had a chain on each wrist with a soldier attached on each side. That would be the two chains in the scripture. Acts 21:33) He asked Paul who he was and what he had done. 

The crowd kept shouting different things to the commander and because of the commotion, he couldn’t decide who was telling the truth. He commanded the soldiers to take Paul to the barracks. When they reached the stairs, Paul had to be picked up and carried by the soldiers because the mob was so vicious. The people followed shouting “Away with him!” The people were trying to grab Paul from the soldiers!

While Paul was being taken to the barracks, he asked the commander if he could speak to him. Paul told the commander who he was and asked if he could talk to the people. The commander said that he could, so Paul stood on the stairs.

Paul held out his hand to the people and when they were quiet, he spoke in Hebrew to them. He said, "Hear my defense." Paul told them who he was, how God led him to preach about Jesus. And how he became a Christian. But the crowd didn’t want to believe, and they cried out, tore off their clothes, probably their outer robes, and threw dust in the air.

The chief captain, Lysias, ordered the soldiers to take Paul back to the barracks. Lysias said "Maybe if we scourge you, we will find out the truth."     

 

But Paul asked him if it was lawful for them to do that to a Roman citizen? When the centurion heard that, he told the commander to “Take care what you do because this man is a Roman.” The commander said, “You’re a Roman?” and Paul answered “Yes.” Paul told him that he was born a Roman.

That made the commander afraid to hurt Paul, so he left. The next day the commander came to Paul and asked what the Jews had accused him of. He took off the bonds from Paul and told the council to gather. Paul was kept under 'protective custody'.

The Lord came to Paul during the night and told him to be happy. He told Paul that he had told people about Jesus in Jerusalem, and he is needed to teach to others in Rome. Acts 23:11

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This is the finished project for today. For discussion, talk about what is the Lord's will and what things they can do that He wants.

This is a pocket on the door hanger. It is very easy to put together. The kids can store the cards in the pocket and hang it on the door knob. I put the cards in baggies so they don't get lost on the way home.

The first photo shows you what the pocket looks like, and the second shows the back with the pocket attached. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue, but I also used scotch tape to seal it. I put my hand into the pocket and pressed down on the edges so the pocket would be sealed all around. 

These are the cards that are included. There is a page that has lines so each person can add what they can do for the Lord. You can print it in color or black and white. You can print it here:

in Color

in B/W 

This is something else you can use with the same idea. Last year I must have had this lesson earlier in January, but it still applies. I had the year for most of the thought starters, but changed them to be appropriate anytime. Click here to download.

Click here to print the worksheet.

You can find all the Acts worksheets here.

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Click here to download the pictures to color.
(These are the same as the visuals but are black & white.)

Bible Verse: Acts 22:26

Passport: Jerusalem

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.

Used by permission.