Bible Study - Acts 21
S - Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.”
Acts 21:39 ESV
O - Commentary:
Romans and Greeks in this period often looked down on Egyptians (21:38), but Tarsus was a respected city. Citizenship in a Greek city gave one higher status than the many who were merely “residents” of the city (who were in turn considered above transients and rural people). One became a citizen only by birth in a citizen family or as a grant from the city authorities. City pride and rivalry were fierce in antiquity, especially in Asia Minor, and Tarsus was a prominent city. It was one of antiquity’s chief educational centers. Rome had made Tarsus a “free” city, the highest honor a city in the empire could receive next to being a Roman *colony. Tarsus’s citizens were not automatically Roman citizens (it was not a Roman colony), but dual citizenship was allowed in this period. Paul saves his disclosure of Roman citizenship as a trump card in case he needs it later. Although most Jews were not citizens of Gentile cities, some of their most prominent members were. Paul’s Roman citizenship was more important than his Tarsian citizenship, but perhaps based on what he had learned in 16:37–40, he saves that privilege for later use in case he needs it.
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014), 395.
A – Paul knew who he was. He knew whose he was. That's why he could stand calm in the middle of a riot.
Do you know your identity? Not the résumé version — the God-given one.
Every gift, every ability, every open door you have isn't random. It's given. It's purposed. Paul leveraged his citizenship for the sake of the gospel. What are you leveraging yours for?
And here's the deeper win: you're not just useful to God. You belong to Him. Redeemed. Adopted. Known.
Identity and relationship. Two wins in one. Walk in both today.
R – Father, You are Creator and Master of all things.
Thank You that I'm Yours — not by accident, but by redemption.
Thank You for the identity You've given me, and the gifts that come with it.
Help me walk in both today: humble in who I am, confident in whose I am.
In Jesus' name, amen.
