²⁵But when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” ²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” ²⁷The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” ²⁹Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains. ³⁰But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.

First Paul was rescued from the crowd through the instrument of the Roman commander. Now he is rescued from torture, by divine purpose, through the instrument of Paul’s citizenship. Paul knew his rights and did not hesitate to use every right he had as a citizen to call out the centurion for his actions. Flogging a Roman citizen without a fair trial was a crime.

Notice Paul didn’t use his “citizenship card” until he was tied up and ready for the lashing. He had already proclaimed he was born in Tarsus, but since most Jews were not Roman citizens, the centurion naturally assumed Paul was not a citizen. In Philippi, the apostle revealed his citizenship after his beating, but here it is before. It may be that he waited until he was out of earshot from the Jewish mob before bringing up his citizenship, which might have communicated a semblance of disloyalty to the Jews and incited the mob even more. Or the dramatic timing may have been the apostle’s strategy to bring fear to the centurion and the commander, for it was a crime to flog a citizen without a fair trial. Immediately the commander found out, left what normally would have been more important business, and came to question Paul—this indicates how significant the potential infraction was.

The commander admitted that he had purchased his citizenship, but Paul was obviously not wealthy enough to have done the same. Paul countered that his citizenship came by birth, which technically would have put Paul at a higher status than the commander. Of course, the commander was in a predicament: he could only take Paul’s word for it, but if it were true, he would be in trouble, for he had already had Paul assaulted with chains and made him suffer the indignity of being customarily stripped and made ready for the lashing. So out of fear, the commander set Paul free and began to take a more diplomatic approach.

Lord, help me to know when to turn the other cheek and when to use my rights.