Acts 21: Paul Faced Persecution in Jerusalem

OUR LESSON BEGINS WITH THE ASSURANCE THAT RIDICULE AND PERSECUTION ARE BEFORE US WHEN WE FAITHFULLY SERVE THE LORD.

AT THE END OF PAUL’S THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY, HE HAD MADE HIS DECISION TO RETURN TO JERUSALEM, HOPING TO ARRIVE BEFORE PENTECOST.

HE HAD ALREADY TESTIFIED THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD REVEALED THAT CHAINS AND TRIBULATIONS WERE WAITING FOR HIM THERE.

THE PROPHET AGABUS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE CLEAR WHEN HE TOLD PAUL THAT HE WOULD BE BOUND AND TURNED OVER TO THE GENTILES.

LUKE AND OTHERS PLEADED WITH PAUL NOT TO IGNORE THE WARNINGS AND TO RECONSIDER HIS PLANS.

PAUL’S MIND WAS MADE UP AND HE SEEMED READY TO BECOME A MARTYR TO FURTHER SERVE THE LORD IF NECESSARY. THIS THOUGHT WAS ABSTRACT IN THESE HOURS BUT LATER BECAME REALITY FOR THIS CHOSEN VESSEL IN ROME.

AS PAUL MADE HIS JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM, HE WENT BY SEA, STOPPING TO VISIT THE CHURCH AT PTOLEMAIS FOR ONE DAY.

HIS LAST STOP BEFORE HE CONTINUED INLAND WAS IN CAESAREA IN NORTHERN ISRAEL WHICH HAD BEEN CONSTRUCTED BY HEROD THE GREAT AND NAMED AFTER THE ROMAN LEADER, CAESAR AUGUSTUS, AND WAS THEN THE CAPITAL OF ROMAN JUDEA.

IN THAT VISIT PAUL WAS SURELY UNAWARE THAT HE WOULD LATER SPEND TWO YEARS THERE IN PRISON AS LUKE WILL REVEAL IN ACTS 24-26.

THEY VISITED WITH PHILIP THE EVANGELIST AND STAYED THERE TEMPORARILY, WITH PHILIP BEING ONE OF THE ORIGINAL SEVEN DEACONS ORDAINED 25 YEARS BEFORE.

PHILIP IS THE ONLY MAN IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE MENTIONED BY THIS TITLE OF EVANGELIST.

PAUL WILL LATER INSTRUCT TIMOTHY IN 2ND TIMOTHY 4:5 TO DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST BUT HE WAS NOT CALLED BY THIS TITLE.

PHILIP HAD A POWERFUL MINISTRY IN SAMARIA AND HIS CURRENT HOME IN CAESAREA WAS WHERE PETER HAD VISITED CORNELIUS AFTER BEING DIRECTED BY GOD TO GO THERE AND PETER HAD SEEN THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN TO GENTILES IN THAT CITY AS THEY WERE SAVED AND SPOKE IN TONGUES.

PHILIP WAS BLESSED WITH FOUR DAUGHTERS, ALL OF WHOM WERE MENTIONED AS “VIRGINS” AND WERE LATER SPOKEN BY PAUL IN 1ST COR 7 FOR THEIR WORK IN SPREADING THE GOSPEL.

VERSE 9 STATES THESE DAUGHTERS DID PROPHESY EXACTLY AS JOEL 2:28 FORETOLD.

PETER QUOTED THE SAME VERSE IN ACTS 2:17 IN HIS POWERFUL SERMON.

WHILE PAUL WAS VISITING THE PROPHET AGABUS ARRIVED FROM JUDEA AND HAD MUCH TO SAY TO PAUL CONCERNING HIS NEXT STOP IN JERUSALEM.

AGABUS TOOK PAUL’S PERSON CLOTHING AND BOUND HIMSELF WITH IT REPRESENTING THE LATER BINDING OF PAUL IF HE DID TRAVEL ONWARD TO JERUSALEM.

AGABUS PLEADED AND BEGGED PAUL TO RECONSIDER HIS PLANS AND SEEMED TO HAVE INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIFFICULTY PAUL WOULD FIND IN JESUSALEM.

THIS PROPHET WAS FIRST SEEN BY US IN ACTS 11:28 WHEN HE WAS AT ANTIOCH AND GAVE THE PROPHECY OF DIFFICULT TIMES AHEAD DURING THE TIME OF CLAUDIUS CESAR. THERE HE IS NAMED IN THE ONLY OTHER TIME WE MEET HIM.

EARLY CHURCH WRITERS WHO PENNED DOWN COMMENTARIES NAMED HIM AS ONE OF THE 70 SENT OUTWARD BY JESUS IN LUKE 10, WHERE NONE ARE NAMED BUT ALL WERE SEEM TO POSSESS GREAT POWERS.

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A MAN OF GOD USED BY HIM TO IMPLEMENT HIS WILL WHILE ONLY HAVING A SMALL MENTION IN HOLY SCRIPTURE BY NAME, MUCH LIKE THE MAN, ANANIAS, USED BY GOD TO BRING THE HOLY GHOST TO PAUL WHILE HE HAD BEEN BLINDED BY THE DIVINE LIGHT OF JESUS.

PAUL WAS STRONGLY DETERMINED AND HE EXPRESSED IN VERSE 13 HIS UNWILLINGNESS TO CHANGE HIS MIND, SAYING HE WAS READY TO DIE IN JERUSALEM IF GOD SO WILLED IT.

PAUL THOUGHT MORE OF GOD’S GLORY THAN HIS OWN SAFETY.

VERSE 14 EXPLAINS ALL THERE SAW HOW FIRM WAS PAUL’S MIND AND THEREFORE THEY STOPPED THEIR PLEADING.

HIS TRIP TO JERUSALEM WAS 68 MILES AND THIS VISIT WAS TO BE THE FIFTH TIME PAUL WAS IN THE CITY SINCE HIS DAMASCUS ROAD CONVERSION.

CERTAIN DISCIPLES WENT WITH PAUL, ONE BEING AN OLDER MAN FROM CYPRUS NAMED MNASON, WITH WHOM PAUL INTENDED TO LODGE IN JERUSALEM.

WHEN HE ARRIVED, HE SPENT SOME TIME WITH THE JERUSALEM CHURCH IN FELLOWSHIP AND REPORTING ON THE THINGS GOD HAD DONE IN HIS MINISTRY.

LUKE REPORTS THAT THE BRETHREN IN JERUSALEM RECEIVED PAUL AND HIS GROUP GLADLY. (V17)

PAUL GIVES A LENGTHY REPORT ON HIS MINISTRY AND A PERSONAL ACCOUNT, SAYING IN VERSE 26 THAT HE WAS FREE OF THE BLOOD OF ALL MEN.

STARTING IN VERSE 20 THERE APPEARS A PROBLEM IN THAT THERE WAS REJOICING OVER JEWS WHO HAD BEEN SAVED BUT NO REJOICING OVER THE MANY GENTILES SAVED EXACTLY LIKE THE JEWS.

HERE BEGAN THE TIMES OF SLANDER AGAINST PAUL SAYING HE HAD TAUGHT THE JEWS TO FORSAKE MOSES, NOT TO CIRCUMCISE THEIR CHILDREN, AND NOT TO KEEP JEWISH CUSTOMS.

WE RECALL THAT PAUL WAS CONSISTENTLY TEACHING THAT THE LAW HAD BEEN FULFILLED BY THE MESSIAH, JESUS CHRIST, AND HIS NEW COVENANT HAD REPLACED THE LAW.

PAUL WANTED TO REPAIR ANY BROKEN BRIDGES, WHETHER THEY WERE REAL OR IMAGINED WITH THE JEWS EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE TWISTING THE WORDS OF HIS MINISTRY.

PAUL NEVER TAUGHT JEWS TO FORSAKE MOSES BUT ONLY THAT THEY SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT THE LAW WAS FULFILLED BY THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH AND THAT GENTILES NEEDED NOT TO BECOME JEWS TO BECOME CHRISTIANS.

HE AGREES TO UNDERGO SOME PURIFICATION AT THE TEMPLE AS HE HAD SPENT MUCH TIME WITH GENTILES WHO WERE CONSIDERED BY THE JEWS TO BE UNCLEAN.

PAUL HAD INDEED TAUGHT THAT CERTAIN CUSTOMS UNDER WHICH ONE WHO WAS SAVED HAD BEEN OBSERVED MIGHT BE CONTINUED, SUCH AS EATING MEAT OFFERED TO IDOLS. JEWS STRONGLY OPPOSED THE PRACTICE, WHILE GENTILES SAID THAT IF THE IDOL DID NOT EXIST, WHO CARES IF SUCH MEAT IS CONSUMED?

1ST COR 8 TEACHES THAT SUCH DIFFERENCES WERE TOLERABLE AS LONG AS ALL WHO BELIEVE ARE PRIMARY BELIEVERS IN THEIR FAITH IN JESUS AS SAVIOR AND LORD.

GRACE HERE SEEMS TO PERMIT PAUL TO WORK THROUGH EXTENDING HIMSELF TO THE JEWS AND HE TOOK A VOW OF PURIFICATION WITH FOUR OTHER AS SEEN IN VERSES 22-26.

WHAT SHOULD PAUL HAVE DONE?

HE ARRIVED IN JERUSALEM WITH A GOOD RECEPTION BY THE CHURCH THERE.

HE DELIVERED A GIFT FROM GENTILE BELIEVERS TO SUPPORT THE CHURCH.

THE CHURCH LISTENED TO HIS REPORT AND REJOICED IN THE WAY HE HAD EXTENDED THE FAITH TO GENTILES.

NOW A PORTION OF THE CHURCH SEEM TO SAY THAT HE SHOULD BE MORE FORTHCOMING TO EXTEND THE FAITH TO JEWS IN JERUSALEM AND IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF YOU WERE TO TAKE THESE FOUR MEN THROUGH TEMPLE PURIFICATION, TAKE THE VOW WITH THEM AND SHAVE YOUR HEAD WITH THEM TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH THEM.

PAUL DID NOT TAKE THIS VOW BECAUSE HE WAS COMMANDED TO DO SO.

HE TOOK THE VOW BECAUSE HE WANTED TO WIN THESE PEOPLE TO CHRIST.

UNDER GRACE YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO EXTEND YOURSELF TO OTHERS AS LONG AS ALL UNDERSTAND YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY WHAT YOU DO BUT BY WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR YOU AND YOUR UNDERSTANDING IS REFLECTED BY YOUR FAITH.

FURTHER PERSECUTION ARRIVED AS THE DAYS OF THE PURIFICATION ENDED WHEN JEWS SEIZED PAUL AND ACCUSED HIM OF VIOLATING THE PURITY OF THE TEMPLE WHILE TEACHING PEOPLE AGAINST THE LAW.

VERSE 29 REVEALS THEY HAD SEEN PAUL WITH A MAN NAMED TROPHIMUS WHO WAS AN EPHESIAN AND THEY CONCLUDED PAUL HAD BROUGHT HIM INTO THE HOLY TEMPLE, THEREBY POLLUTING IT.

VERSES 30-32 SAY THAT ALL THE CITY WAS MOVED AND PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER AS A MOB AND PULLED HIM OUT OF THE TEMPLE AND SHUT THE TEMPLE DOORS.

THE SITUATION CAME TO THE NOTICE OF A CAPTAIN OF SOLDIERS AND HE TOOK SOLDIERS WITH CENTURIONS AND STOPPED THE MOB FROM THE BEATING OF PAUL.

WE SEE IN THIS MOMENT THE BITTERNESS AND HATRED OF PAUL BECAUSE HE IS TEACHING THAT ONE DOES NOT HAVE TO ENTER INTO THE SYSTEM OF MOSES TO BE SAVED.

IT IS LIKELY THAT PAUL MAY HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THE MOB HAD NOT THE SOLDIERS STEPPED IN AND INTERVENED.

NEXT THIS CHIEF CAPTAIN CAME NEAR AND COMMANDED PAUL TO BE BOUND WITH CHAINS NOT KNOWING WHO PAUL WAS OR WHAT HE WAS DOING. HE SIMPLY WAS ENDING THE MOB SCENE QUICKLY.

TO END THE SCENE, THE CAPTAIN REMOVED PAUL AND STILL THE MOB WAS CRYING OUT FOR THE DEATH OF PAUL SAYING “ AWAY WITH HIM”.

AS PAUL WAS LED AWAY HE ASKED THE CAPTAIN IF HE SPOKE GREEK AND QUICKLY THE OFFICER UNDERSTOOD PAUL WAS NO COMMON CRIMINAL BUT SOMEONE EDUCATED AND FLUENT IN LANGUAGE.

THE CAPTAIN WAS AMAZED AND ASSUMED PAUL MAY HAVE BEEN A RECENT MOB LEADER WHO HAD MADE AN UPROAR BY TAKING THOUSANDS OF MEN INTO THE WILDERNESS WHICH WAS NOT TRUE.

PAUL QUICKLY ASSURED THE CAPTAIN HE WAS NOT THAT MAN AND INTRODUCED HIMSELF AS A JEW OF TARSUS AND ASKED FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE.

THE CAPTAIN AGREED WITH THE REQUEST. IN VERSE 40 PAUL STANDS UPON THE STEPS AND BECKONED THE PEOPLE TO COME NEAR AND WHEN THEY WERE QUIET, HE SPOKE TO THEM IN HEBREW.

AS SOON AS THE PEOPLE HEARD PAUL SPEAKING IN HEBREW, THEY BEGAN TO LISTEN TO HIM SPEAK.

IN CHAPTER 22 WE WILL HEAR PAUL’S ADDRESS TO THE MOB.

THE SCENE WAS MUCH LIKE THE ONE IN WHICH A MOB REMOVED STEPHEN AND STONED HIM TO DEATH.

WE KNOW FROM SCRIPTURE THAT THE CAPTAIN AND SOLDIERS WERE NOT A COINCIDENCE AS THE LORD HAD PROVIDED THIS PROTECTION OF HIS CHOSEN VESSEL.

WE SEE THAT FACT PROVEN IN ACTS 23, VERSE 11, WHEN GOD SPEAKS TO PAUL ON THIS MATTER:

“Be of good cheer, Paul: for thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.”

PAUL WOULD BE A PRISONER BOTH IN JERUSALEM AND LATER IN ROME BUT THIS FACTOR NEVER STOPPED HIM FROM WITNESSING.

WHEN PAUL WROTE PHILLIPIANS, HE NOTED IN CHAPTER 1 VERSES 12-14, THAT HIS IMPRISONMENT WORKED TO FURTHER THE GOSPEL NOT TO HINDER IT, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS BOUND IN CHAINS.

HE MAY HAVE BEEN IN CHAINS BUT THE WORD OF GOD WAS NOT BOUND.

HERE WE SEE PROOF THAT NO MATTER WHAT THE DIFFICULTIES OF PERSECUTIONS THAT FACE US, NOTHING BUT OUR OWN WILLINGNESS CAN STOP US FROM WITNESSING.

PAUL TRAVELED THE ROMAN WORLD WITNESSING FOR JESUS, EXACTLY AS CHRIST HAD COMMANDED HIM ON THE DAY OF HIS POWERFUL SALVATION MOMENT.

AS HE WENT, TWO THINGS WERE CONSTANT:

FIRST, PEOPLE WERE SAVED AND SECOND, OTHERS WERE PERSECUTED.

REJECTION NEVER DISCOURAGED PAUL IN HIS MISSION TO SAVE SOULS FOR THE LORD AND HE BOTH KNEW AND WROTE OF THE PERSECUTION THAT FOLLOWED HIS MINISTRY IN  1ST THESS 3:3-4 & 2ND TIMOTHY 3:12.

WE SEE THE SAME WRITING IN 1ST PETER 4:12-13.

SCRIPTURE CLEARLY TEACHES US DANGER ARRIVES ALONG WITH OUR WITNESS BUT WHEN PEOPLE ARE SAVED, ALL THE SUFFERING IS WORTH IT.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED IN THIS LAST PORTION OF CHAPTER 21?

WE SEE CLEARLY THE COURAGE OF PAUL IN HIS REACTION TO CRITICISM.

HE TOOK BOTH THE CRITICISM OF FELLOW CHRISTIANS AND OF THE ASIAN JEWS WITH CALM DETERMINATION.

THERE, ON THE STEPS FACING THE MOB, PAUL, NOT THE ARMY CAPTAIN WAS IN CHARGE.

THE APOSTLE HAD NOTHING TO LOSE.

HE BELONGED TO CHRIST ALONE.

PREACHING THE GOSPEL, EVEN TO HIS ENEMIES, WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIS SAFETY.

HE BELONGED TO CHRIST ALONE FOR ETERNITY AND HE KNEW SO.

JESUS HAD SAID SO TO HIM AND HAD TOLD HIM TO HAVE NO FEAR.

PAUL KNEW HE WAS GOING TO ROME, EVEN IF IT MEANT IN CHAINS AND HIS LIFE.

HIS PROFILE FROM THIS TIME FORWARD WAS COURAGE IN THAT MISSION AND HE WAS DETERMINED THAT NO MAN COULD STOP WHAT GOD HAD WILLED.