This chapter picks up with Paul and company tearing themselves away from the Ephesian elders at Miletus and continuing their journey toward Jerusalem. After several prayerful stops along the way, Paul arrived in Jerusalem with his delegation, staying with Mnason. We are told of Paul’s meeting with James and the rest of the Jerusalem church leadership, and we see Paul take a beating at the hands of the Jews at the Temple in Jerusalem. Finally, the Romans rescue Paul and give him the opportunity to speak to the crowd of Jews. Let’s take a look.
1) V1-16 – 1After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. 4Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. 6After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home. 7We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. 8Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. 10After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “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.’” 12When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13Then 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.” 14When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” 15After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.
Before arriving at Caesarea, the party stopped several times, staying at Tyre for seven days, where Paul was urged not to continue on to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, after fellowshipping and praying on the beach with the Christians there, though no specific mention of their congregation is made (Acts 11:19), the party continued toward Jerusalem. In Caesarea, Paul and his friends stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist for several more days (v1-8). Perhaps he visited Peter’s Gentile friend, Cornelius, who lived there, as well. Then Paul and his colleagues made for Jerusalem, guided by Mnason, a Hellenist Christian from Cyprus who would host them while in Jerusalem. Paul had been warned twice (by the Ephesian elders and by the prophet Agabus) about going to the city (v4,10-15), but everyone proclaimed in the end, “the Lord’s will be done” (v14). Given the numerous warnings and pleadings along the way, is Paul working against the will of God in his efforts to go to Jerusalem? Is God just going to react to Paul’s decisions to make sure it all works out in the end? Or is this journey according to God’s will? If so, why would people plead “through the Spirit” for him not to go?
2) V17-25 –17When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. 18The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20When 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. 21They 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. 22What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24Take 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. 25As 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.”
The delegation met James and the elders – perhaps the Sanhedrin of the true Jewish remnant (believers) – and they greeted the party “warmly” and “praised God” (v17-20). But they were also quick to point out the Jews who believed the gospel and kept the law; they apparently did not accept Paul’s gift, which signified a break between Paul and Jerusalem that would never be healed. The Jewish leadership was sure to exert authority over Paul, demanding that he follow a series of steps in ritual purification, on account of his contact with Gentiles. The believing Jews needed to see that Paul, since he was still a Jewish Christian, was also still a law keeping Christian, even though his Gentile converts were exempt, so thought the Jerusalem leaders.
3) V26-32 – 26The 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. 27When 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, 28shouting, “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.” 29(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.) 30The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32He 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.
Peter and the other apostles had likely left Jerusalem to minister in the lands of the Jewish dispersion. But at Pentecost, many Jews had returned to Jerusalem, and the Ephesian (or Asian) Jews recognized Paul and one of his Gentile converts named Trophimus at the Temple. They accused Paul of being a teacher of false doctrine – which he was not – and of sacrilege, bringing Gentiles into the temple area – which he did not. They dragged him out and beat him. Compare the Jews’ response here regarding Paul and the Gentiles accompanying him to Deuteronomy 13:6-11; Leviticus 24:13-16, and Acts 7:54-58. Their rage was tempered by the Roman commander, but not by the proximity of the presence of God (they closed the door to the temple!). What does that tell you about their fury? Was it zeal for the Lord (read Acts 22:3 and Romans 10:2)? Or barbaric rage (read Ephesians 4:26)? Where is the balance between their reaction and that of Jesus in John 2:13-17? Paul was simply trying to do the right thing, and he ended up in trouble. What do you learn from times when you experience hardship as a result of obedience?
4) V33-40 – 33The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34Some in the crowd 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. 35When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!” 37As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied. 38“Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?” 39Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.” 40Having received the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic…
The Roman military rescued Paul, and the commander was surprised by his educated Greek words. When Paul convinced the Roman commander that he wasn’t a renegade Egyptian, he won an opportunity to speak to the crowd. Paul was given the opportunity to speak, and he addressed the crowd in Aramaic (Acts 22:3-21).
Footnotes
- 21:40 Or possibly Hebrew; also in 22:2
Bible text from Gospelcom.net. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.