SCRIPTURE: ACTS 21
ON TO JERUSALEM (vs. 1-16)
Paul and his companions sailed from Cos to Rhodes to Patara and crossed over to Phoenicia then to Syria. They landed at Tyre and stayed with the disciples for seven days. Before continuing on their way, all the disciples and their wives and children accompanied them out of the city and knelt to pray on the beach. After saying goodbye to each other, they went aboard the ship.
The continued their voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais and greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. They left the next day and reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
A prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He took Paul’s belt tied his own hands and feet with it and sad, “The Holy Spirit says, “In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'” (v. 11) When they heard this, the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (v. 13) When he would not be dissuaded, they gave up and said “The Lord’s will be done.” (v. 14) Then they got ready and went up to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied them and brought them to stay at the home of Mnason. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.
PAUL’S ARRIVAL AT JERUSALEM (vs. 17-26)
Upon arrival at Jerusalem, the brothers received them warmly. The next day, they went to see James and all the elders. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard this, they praised God.
Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.” (vs. 20-25)
Theo next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
PAUL ARRESTED (vs. 27-36)
When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)
The whole city was aroused and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple and shut the gates. While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
The commander came up and arrested Paul and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. Some in the crowds shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!” (v. 36)
As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, Paul asked the commander to let him say something. The commander said, “Do you speak Greek? Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?” (v. 37-38). Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people. ” (v. 39)
THOUGHTS:
Paul knew that he would be imprisoned in Jerusalem. His friends pleaded with him not to go there. But he decided to go because God wanted him to. Sometimes, when we want to please God, we have to overshadow our desire to avoid hardship and suffering. When we really want to do God’s will, we must accept anything that comes with it. Let us learn to say “The will of the Lord be done.”
Paul submitted to the Jewish custom of purification rites to show that he was not working against the council’s decision and that he was still Jewish in his life-style. Although Paul was a man of strong conviction, he was willing to compromise on non-essential points in order to have peace in the Jerusalem church. Sometimes, we must go the second mile to avoid offending others, and so as not to hinder God’s work. Like Paul, we should remain firm on Christian essentials but flexible on non-essentials. Sometimes, we need to honor Christ by mutual submission for the sake of the Good News.
Paul rejected the idea that the Old Testament laws bring salvation to those who keep them. His view is: our salvation is freely given by God’s gracious act and salvation is through faith in Christ. However, he accepted the view that the Old Testament laws teaches us and prepares us about the coming of Jesus Christ. Christ fulfilled the law and released us from its burden of guilt. But the law still teaches us many valuable principles and gives us guidelines for holy living. Paul was not observing the laws in order to be saved. He was keeping the laws as custom to avoid offending those he wished to reach with the Good News.
People who knew how to speak Greek showed that he was a cultured, educated man. So when Paul spoke Greek to the Roman commander, the language grabbed the commander’s attention and gave Paul protection and the opportunity to give his defense.
Paul spoke Aramaic to the Jews show that he was a devout Jew and had respect for the Jewish laws and customs. To minister to people most effectively, use their language.
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