# Paul and the Enraged Crowd - The Book of Acts

An episode of [Kids Bible in a Year with Julia Jeffress Sadler](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1696638708), 8 May 2024, 13 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/f8ddd7fd-69c6-48d0-804f-b4d6010c327c/d7a8c83b-67ab-4f67-bc2b-b4d6014a70fa/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=14e8ed60-20b2-4d5c-a832-b4d6010c3283

Join Julia Jeffress Sadler as she takes us on an incredible adventure in Episode 213. Sign up to receive Kids Bible in a Year devotionals in your inbox every weekday: https://www.kidsbibleinayear.com/ Get ready to experience the Bible designed specifically for children with the official KidsBibleinaYear.com podcast, led by Julia Jeffress Sadler. This captivating audio series presents the age-old wisdom of the Bible in an engaging format that will captivate your kids. Each episode Julia translates biblical teachings into real-life applications, making Bible comprehension a breeze for young minds. And if you want more Christian resources and content, you can download the Pray.com app. Pray.com is the digital destination for faith, offering over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime Bible stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible. For more resources on how to live a successful Christian life, visit Julia Jeffress Sadler's website at https://ptv.org/julia/. This episode is sponsored by Little Passports. Visit LittlePassports.com/blessed and use promo code BLESSED to receive 20% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: On the next day, desiring to know the truth about
[0:03] Speaker 1: why he was accused by the Jews, he freed him
[0:06] Speaker 1: from the bonds and commanded the chief priests and all
[0:10] Speaker 1: the council to come together and brought Paul down and
[0:14] Speaker 1: set him before them. Dear God, we want to be
[0:18] Speaker 1: faithful to you and obey you like Paul, even in
[0:20] Speaker 1: the hardest times. Thank you for his example of keeping
[0:29] Speaker 1: his eyes focused on you no matter what else was
[0:33] Speaker 1: going on around him. Help us to follow you that way.
[0:37] Speaker 1: Please use us as you use Paul to point many
[0:41] Speaker 1: people to Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen.
[0:47] Speaker 2: Thank you for praying with us today. The Kids Bible
[0:50] Speaker 2: in a Year podcast is sponsored by Little Passports. delivering
[0:54] Speaker 2: monthly activity kit subscriptions that help kids explore the world,
[0:58] Speaker 2: cultivate curiosity, and discover new interests with hands-on crafts and
[1:02] Speaker 2: activities in cooking, science, crafts, and more, all with a
[1:06] Speaker 2: unique cultural twist. Visit littlepassports.com slash blessed to learn more
[1:12] Speaker 2: and save 20% with code blessed.
[1:21] Speaker 3: Paul and the Enraged Crowd In our last story, Paul
[1:25] Speaker 3: encouraged and said goodbye to the elders in Ephesus and
[1:29] Speaker 3: made his way to Jerusalem, even though it was dangerous,
[1:33] Speaker 3: because he said that he was ready to die for
[1:35] Speaker 3: the Lord. In this story, Paul will be in Jerusalem
[1:39] Speaker 3: and be arrested in the temple and enrage the crowd
[1:42] Speaker 3: by his speech, as inspired by Acts.
[1:49] Speaker 1: Hi everyone, it's Julia here. Welcome back to the Kids
[1:53] Speaker 1: Bible in a Year podcast. Today, Paul is handed over
[1:57] Speaker 1: to Roman custody and more beatings and trials are ahead
[2:00] Speaker 1: of him. But do you think that's going to stop him?
[2:04] Speaker 1: Let's dive in.
[2:08] Speaker 3: Once Paul and the other disciples arrived in Jerusalem, the
[2:12] Speaker 3: fellow Christians welcomed him warmly. The following day, Paul went
[2:16] Speaker 3: to see the elders. Paul described in great details what
[2:20] Speaker 3: God had done through his ministry to the non-Jews, who
[2:23] Speaker 3: were also called the Gentiles. All the elders were amazed
[2:27] Speaker 3: and praised God. But then they shared a concern with Paul.
[2:32] Speaker 3: They said to him, Paul listened, and the next day
[2:34] Speaker 3: resolved the issue. Also, he took four men and purified
[2:49] Speaker 3: all of them along with himself. One day, Paul was
[2:53] Speaker 3: in the temple. Some Jews saw him and became angry.
[2:56] Speaker 3: The Jews agitated the crowd and captured Paul. They shouted, Israelites,
[3:01] Speaker 3: this is the man who teaches others to go against us,
[3:04] Speaker 3: our law and the temple. Plus, he has defiled this
[3:08] Speaker 3: place by bringing in outsiders. The Jews wrongly believed Paul
[3:13] Speaker 3: did this because they had seen him in the temple
[3:17] Speaker 3: with an Ephesian. From all directions, people came to persecute Paul.
[3:22] Speaker 3: They dragged him from the temple and tried to murder him.
[3:25] Speaker 3: The commander of the Roman troops heard what was happening
[3:28] Speaker 3: and ran down to the crowd with some other Roman authorities.
[3:32] Speaker 3: The crowd got frightened for a moment and stopped beating
[3:34] Speaker 3: Paul when they saw the Romans. The crowd watched as
[3:37] Speaker 3: the Romans arrested Paul. The Romans asked Paul to tell
[3:40] Speaker 3: the truth. But the crowd began to roar. The Romans
[3:44] Speaker 3: took Paul into a building to get answers. The crowd
[3:47] Speaker 3: was furious, and the violence was life-threatening. They continued to
[3:52] Speaker 3: threaten Paul even while the Romans carried him away. Before
[3:55] Speaker 3: Paul was taken into the building, he began to talk
[3:58] Speaker 3: to the commander. Paul asked the commander, I am a
[4:02] Speaker 3: Jew from Tarsus. Allow me to say something to the
[4:05] Speaker 3: Jewish crowd. Their commander accepted Paul's request. Paul spoke to
[4:10] Speaker 3: the Jews in their language and proclaimed, I am a
[4:13] Speaker 3: Jew from Tarsus. I grew up in Jerusalem. I was
[4:17] Speaker 3: trained in the Jewish law and had much love, energy,
[4:20] Speaker 3: and enthusiasm for God, just like you all. I even
[4:24] Speaker 3: killed Christians and put plenty in prison. One day I
[4:28] Speaker 3: was going to Damascus to punish more Christians when a
[4:31] Speaker 3: brilliant light from heaven emblazed my surroundings. From the light,
[4:35] Speaker 3: a voice asked, why do you persecute me? I asked
[4:39] Speaker 3: who the voice was. The voice replied, I am Jesus
[4:42] Speaker 3: of Nazareth. The people traveling with me saw the light
[4:46] Speaker 3: but did not hear the voice. Afterwards, I realized I
[4:50] Speaker 3: was blind. Fortunately, Jesus had informed me to travel to
[4:54] Speaker 3: Damascus like I originally planned. My fellow travelers led me
[4:58] Speaker 3: to Damascus. Jesus instructed me to see a Christian man
[5:02] Speaker 3: who would heal me. This man restored my sight. Paul continued,
[5:07] Speaker 3: The Christian man told me that God had chosen me
[5:10] Speaker 3: to preach to all men about Jesus Christ. Then the
[5:14] Speaker 3: man told me to call on the name of Jesus
[5:17] Speaker 3: Christ and to be baptized. I obeyed. Then Paul said
[5:21] Speaker 3: something that infuriated the crowd. Paul said, to the non-Jews,
[5:36] Speaker 3: also known as the Gentiles. The crowd stopped listening and
[5:40] Speaker 3: began to shout. The commander of the Romans noticed the
[5:43] Speaker 3: danger and took Paul into the building. The Romans were
[5:46] Speaker 3: going to beat Paul with a whip. Before they could,
[5:49] Speaker 3: Paul told them that he was a Roman citizen. They
[5:53] Speaker 3: realized they could not beat him unless he was found
[5:55] Speaker 3: guilty in a Roman trial. Instead, the commander released Paul
[5:59] Speaker 3: that next day. Then, the Romans took Paul to the
[6:03] Speaker 3: highest Jewish authorities to find out why the Jews wanted
[6:08] Speaker 3: to kill Paul. Whew!
[6:16] Speaker 1: Another close call for Paul. I guess God is not
[6:20] Speaker 1: quite finished with him yet. As today's story opens, Paul
[6:24] Speaker 1: arrives in Jerusalem and is greeted by friends. who are
[6:28] Speaker 1: really excited to hear all that God was doing through
[6:32] Speaker 1: his ministry. But they needed to warn Paul. There are Jews,
[6:38] Speaker 1: even Christian Jews, who were super angry. And the rumor
[6:43] Speaker 1: was that Paul was telling people that Jews no longer
[6:47] Speaker 1: have to follow the law of Moses. And then that
[6:52] Speaker 1: was making them really angry. Shortly after, Paul is dragged
[6:57] Speaker 1: out of the temple among a very angry crowd who
[7:01] Speaker 1: wanted him dead. The truth is that Paul was fine
[7:06] Speaker 1: with Jews who still wanted to follow the law of Moses.
[7:09] Speaker 1: He even followed these laws when he returned to Jerusalem
[7:13] Speaker 1: in hopes that the Jews would accept his message. He
[7:17] Speaker 1: just didn't want anyone to think that obeying those laws
[7:21] Speaker 1: was what made you right with God. Jesus' death and
[7:26] Speaker 1: resurrection are what makes us right with God when we
[7:30] Speaker 1: accept them for ourselves. Nothing more and nothing less. Well,
[7:36] Speaker 1: things were getting so awful that the Romans swooped in
[7:39] Speaker 1: to take over. They didn't get it. What had Paul
[7:43] Speaker 1: done to make these Jews so furious? They arrested Paul,
[7:48] Speaker 1: hoping that would calm everyone down. You would think by now,
[7:52] Speaker 1: with a crowd this angry threatening to murder him, Paul
[7:56] Speaker 1: might back off a little. Surely he was tired, afraid
[8:00] Speaker 1: for his life, and sick of all the drama. Well,
[8:04] Speaker 1: think again. We know Paul better than that by now,
[8:08] Speaker 1: don't we? Instead of being taken away quietly, Paul asked
[8:13] Speaker 1: the Roman officer if he could talk to this angry
[8:16] Speaker 1: crowd of Jews. Um, I guess so, the Romans might
[8:20] Speaker 1: have thought. So here stands Paul. He's just been beaten
[8:25] Speaker 1: and both of his arms are chained to Roman soldiers.
[8:29] Speaker 1: And what's the only thing on his mind? Preaching the gospel.
[8:35] Speaker 1: Paul spoke to these Jews in their own language. This
[8:39] Speaker 1: was smart of him because it showed the people that
[8:41] Speaker 1: he was one of them. He grew up in the
[8:45] Speaker 1: same streets, went to the same temple, learned to follow
[8:49] Speaker 1: all the laws of Moses from childhood, just as they had.
[8:54] Speaker 1: Not to mention, he reminded them that he was the
[8:58] Speaker 1: one who once arrested and killed Christians on the daily.
[9:05] Speaker 1: Although it didn't seem to make much difference, they were
[9:08] Speaker 1: just too mad. Paul, once again, as he had done
[9:13] Speaker 1: so faithfully many, many times before, shared his story. He
[9:19] Speaker 1: told them what happened on that road to Damascus that
[9:23] Speaker 1: changed his life forever. He told them about God opening
[9:28] Speaker 1: his arms to the Gentiles. But no matter what he said,
[9:32] Speaker 1: the shouting just got louder. Let's stop here for a minute.
[9:37] Speaker 1: Does Paul's life in this moment remind you of anyone else's?
[9:42] Speaker 1: Jesus was traveling around, sharing his message of love and
[9:46] Speaker 1: hope with others, healing and preaching the truth, just like Paul.
[9:52] Speaker 1: Jesus came back to Jerusalem knowing that the Jews there
[9:56] Speaker 1: wanted to arrest and kill him, just like Paul. Jesus
[10:01] Speaker 1: faced trials, beatings, and a very angry crowd who wanted
[10:05] Speaker 1: him dead, just like Paul. And most importantly, Jesus kept
[10:10] Speaker 1: his eyes focused on one thing and one thing only,
[10:14] Speaker 1: being obedient to his Father. even if it meant he
[10:19] Speaker 1: had to suffer and die, just like Paul. It was
[10:23] Speaker 1: like Paul wanted to follow in the footsteps of Jesus,
[10:28] Speaker 1: and that's just what he did. You see, Paul knew
[10:32] Speaker 1: something every Christian needs to know, that we are called
[10:36] Speaker 1: to live a life just like Jesus. We may not
[10:40] Speaker 1: be killed for being a Christian, but we might suffer
[10:44] Speaker 1: in other ways. When we can in any way understand
[10:49] Speaker 1: the life of Jesus from something we are going through,
[10:53] Speaker 1: the Bible says that we are blessed. We are with
[10:56] Speaker 1: him in that suffering. And it's so special to him. Alright,
[11:02] Speaker 1: so Paul finds a way to escape another beating from
[11:06] Speaker 1: the Romans due to the fact that he was a
[11:09] Speaker 1: Roman citizen and would have to go to trial first.
[11:13] Speaker 1: It was very unusual back then. for a Jew to
[11:17] Speaker 1: also be a Roman citizen. Perhaps that's why God chose
[11:21] Speaker 1: to use Paul for his purposes. Paul's background helped him
[11:26] Speaker 1: to do the assignment God gave him. Just like your
[11:30] Speaker 1: background gives you everything you need to follow God too.
[11:35] Speaker 1: Paul would now be in Roman custody. He would face
[11:39] Speaker 1: lots of scary moments and frustrating situations. But in every step,
[11:44] Speaker 1: he would keep sharing his story. And Jesus would be
[11:48] Speaker 1: right beside him. More about that next time. Thanks for
[11:53] Speaker 1: joining me today. Let's remember, the Bible is the best
[11:58] Speaker 1: story ever told. It's God's story to you. And it's
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[12:19] Speaker 1: and wisdom to last a lifetime, download the Pray.com app
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