Acts 21


On to Jerusalem

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.

Acts 21:1-16

Explanation:

To Jerusalem--By Sea to Palestine (21:1-16)

Patrick Henry's rallying cry in the American Revolution, "Give me liberty or give me death!" captures the essence of the determination needed to pursue a goal no matter the cost. This Paul displays on his way to Jerusalem. Following in the steps of the Lord Jesus, Paul by his life sets the seal of authenticity on the gospel (Lk 9:22, 44, 51/Acts 20:22-24; 21:4, 10-11; compare Lk 18:31-34; Mt 16:23/Acts 21:4, 12; compare Lk 9:45). So far the only reason Luke has given us for Paul's willingness to embrace danger is his determination to complete "the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace" (Acts 20:24).

Miletus to Tyre (21:1-6)

Paul completes the Aegean/Asia Minor leg of his journey to Jerusalem by sailing south and east on successive days to the islands of Cos and Rhodes, probably stopping at the ports of the same name, then on to Patara. Patara was a major port of Lycia and a favorite haven for large vessels traveling from the eastern Mediterranean to the Aegean. Headquarters of the Roman governor of Lycia, it was celebrated for its oracle of Apollo. Romans would have been familiar with Cos as a health resort with a salubrious climate, hot ferrous and sulfurous springs, medical school, and sanctuary of Asclepius. Emperor Claudius, influenced by his own physician, Xenophon of Cos, had recently made the port a free city and conferred immunity from taxation (A.D. 53). Its own Cassius had plundered Rhodes (43 B.C.), which was now "little more than a beautiful city with a glorious past" (Couch 1988:183).

Paul and his party change ships at this point because (1) their sailors know only the Aegean, (2) the ship is a small coastal vessel unsuited for the four-hundred-mile trans-Mediterranean route to Phoenicia or (3) it is committed to taking the slower coastal route east (Lake and Cadbury 1979:265). Two-thirds of the way into their journey, Cyprus, the site of Paul's first missionary campaign (13:4-12), comes into view. They pass it and leave it behind, literally "on the port side." After a journey of five days (so Chrysostom Homilies 45) they arrive at Phoenicia, the seacoast of central Syria between Mount Carmel on the south and the Eleutherus River on the north. They put in at Tyre, a city built on an island with its port on the south side. An earthen mole constructed by Alexander the Great connected the city to the mainland, and subsequent action of the harbor waters had left a sandy beach.

Paul's party uncovers (compare Lk 2:16) the whereabouts of a church, probably founded by Hellenistic Jewish Christians scattered in the aftermath of Stephen's martyrdom (Acts 11:19; see the positive disposition of Tyrians to Jesus' ministry, Lk 6:17; 10:13-14). Paul may have previously visited this church at least twice (12:25; 15:3). Here the party stays a week, either during the unloading and loading of their vessel (Bruce 1990:440) or until they can find another ship (Haenchen 1971:600).

The fellowship Paul enjoys at many stops on his journey illustrates Barclay's maxim "The man who is in the family of the Church has friends all over the world" (1976:154). For Paul "the church has become a countercultural, global network of communities caring for their own subversive missionaries who are now traveling to and fro throughout the Empire" (Willimon 1988:159).

As Paul said happened in every city, the Holy Spirit predicts his coming suffering. This time the disciples conclude that the prediction is not just a warning but actually a prohibition. So Luke expresses it: through the Spirit they urged (literally, "were repeatedly saying") Paul not to go on to Jerusalem (compare 20:23). Since the same Spirit has compelled Paul to go to Jerusalem (19:21; 20:22), we would be confronted with a contradiction if the prediction were actually a prohibition, but such need not be the case (see note). Paul, then, is not disobedient to the Spirit by disregarding the prohibition. As with all the Spirit's predictive warnings, it is intended simply to stiffen his determination as he once again realistically counts the cost (20:22-24).

Sometimes the counsel of friends, filtered through the grid of their fears and concerns for our safety, can be misguidance. Like Paul, we must determine to "do the right thing" even when outward circumstances and projected outcome do not appear to be stamped with the blessing of God.

As the whole church, including women and children, escorts the party to the port via the beach, they kneel in a solemn prayer of committal reminiscent of the leave-taking at Miletus (20:36-38). The bonds of Christian fellowship forged in this short week are strong, and they cannot but help give strength to the apostle as he continues down the road to certain suffering. We too should never miss an opportunity, by fellowship and prayer, to strengthen the determination of fellow Christians as they face hard tests.

Tyre to Caesarea (21:7-14)

The party makes a voyage of twenty-seven miles to Ptolemais, situated on a small promontory on the north side of a broad bay between it and the modern city of Haifa. The site of ancient Acco (Judg 1:31) and modern Acre, Ptolemais, a prosperous metropolis and Roman colony, had the best anchorage on that part of the central Syrian coast. Here during a one-day stopover Paul and his party greeted the brothers in a church probably planted at the same time as Tyre's (Acts 11:19).

Though they could proceed by road to Caesarea, skirting Mount Carmel (forty miles), probably they go the thirty-two miles by sea. Caesarea, with its magnificent harbor and city built by Herod the Great to serve as the port of Jerusalem, was also the Roman provincial capital of Judea. This is the third time Paul has passed through Caesarea (9:30; 18:22). Philip the evangelist and his four unmarried (literally, virgin) daughters host his group. Philip is identified according to function, if not office, not only to distinguish him from the apostle of the same name but probably also to bring to mind his chief work, the early evangelization of Samaria to the coast (8:4-40). This is one of the three occurrences in the New Testament of the title evangelist (Eph 4:11; 2 Tim 4:5). Our modern appropriation of the term may be too specialized, applied only to those gifted to proclaim the gospel to the unconverted. Pastors who like Timothy preach the Word must remember that they too do the work of an evangelist (2 Tim 4:2, 5). And evangelists must aim for pioneer cross-cultural church planting, the missionary work of apostles. Philip's daughters with the gift of prophecy are a reminder that in fulfillment of Joel 2:28/Acts 2:17, without regard to gender, God is pouring out his Spirit in each spiritual generation of the time period called "the last days."

It is not Philip's daughters but Agabus (compare 11:27-28), come down from Judea--that is, Jewish territory--who in an acted prophecy offers another opportunity for Paul to renew his determination to go to Jerusalem. The action and word together communicate the effective and self-fulfilling word of God (Is 55:11; Bruce 1988:401; see Old Testament examples: 1 Kings 11:29-40; Jer 13:1-11). Agabus takes Paul's belt, probably a long strip of cloth which he would wrap around himself several times and in which he would fold money (Mt 10:9; m. Sabbat 10:3; m. Berakot 9:5). He binds himself hand and foot and says, 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."

Though neither of these actions is recorded, both are assumed in what Luke tells us of the Jews' treatment and the Romans' handling of Paul (21:30-33; 24:1-9; compare 28:17). We do not need to conclude, as many do, that based on Luke's report of the arrest, Agabus is mistaken. The prophecy's wording, especially hand him over to the Gentiles, parallels Jesus' predictions of his suffering (Lk 9:44; 18:32; 24:7). The theological significance is similar. It is neither the desire nor the just deserts of a righteous person to be given over to the power of enemies (Ps 26[27]:12; 40[41]:3; 73[74]:19; 117[118]:18; 139[140]:9). That is what God has determined as the fate for Israel in punishment for its sins (3 Kingdoms 8:46; 14:16; 2 Chron 25:20). So for this to be prophesied of Paul points to his innocence. As Peter will point out later, Christians are called upon to suffer for the right reason (1 Pet 4:15-16).

If anything divides Christians today, it is this question: Is the miraculous--signs and wonders, the gift of healing or prophecy--intended to continue beyond the apostolic age or the closing of the canon of Scripture? Some who answer in the affirmative with regard to prophecy use this passage to argue that New Testament prophecy is qualitatively different from the prophetic revelation reported in the Old Testament. They define it as simply "telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind" and claim for it an authority less than Scripture's and even less than recognized Bible teaching (Grudem 1988:29-30). They reason that Paul disobeyed the prophecy of Acts 21:4; Agabus was wrong when his prophecy is compared with Acts 21:30-33; and the daughters of Philip may have prophesied, but as women they would not have been permitted to teach authoritatively (1 Tim 2:12).

We have already seen that these assessments of Acts 21:4 and Agabus's prophecy are not the preferred ones. The distinction between prophecy and teaching and the implications for 1 Timothy 2:12 for Philip's daughters' ministry activity are well taken. Still, for Luke a New Testament prophet

is the Lord's instrument, one among several means by which Jesus leads his church. As one who makes known (gnostos) the meaning of Scripture, exhorts and strengthens the congregation, and instructs the community by revelations of the future, the Christian prophet manifests in the power of the Spirit the character of his Lord, who is the Prophet of the end-time. (Ellis 1970:67)

This is the standard for defining and testing all alleged prophetic utterances in our day.

The prophecy triggers an interaction between Paul and his fellow believers, including members of his traveling band. With tender affection the believers pleaded (better, "were pleading," imperfect) with Paul not to go up (better as a present prohibition, "cease going up"; Bruce 1990:442) to Jerusalem (compare 20:37-38; 21:4). They want to preserve the beloved apostle from physical harm, possibly death, and so keep him for themselves and the church's mission.

Paul responds with unwavering determination as he seeks to help them sort out the will of God in this matter. In such a process he recognizes the effects of their emotions on him. They are weeping for him as the women did for Jesus on the way to the cross (Lk 23:28). They are breaking [his] heart, his resolve, as stone is pulverized. He reaches back for the rationale that guides his whole life: for the name of the Lord Jesus. The One under whom he serves (Acts 20:19, 24) and in whose name he preaches, heals and baptizes (9:27-28; 16:18; 18:15; 19:5) is the One for whose name he is willing to suffer, even die (9:16; compare Lk 21:12; Acts 5:41). He reaffirms his resolve: he is ready . . . to be bound (21:33) and, like the prophets and Jesus before him, to die in Jerusalem (Lk 13:33-34).

In devout resignation, unable to persuade him otherwise, they gave up (literally, "became quiet"; Lk 14:4; Acts 11:18), saying the only thing a Christian can say in such perplexing circumstances: The Lord's will be done (Lk 22:42).

We learn from Paul that suffering for the right reason, for the Lord's sake, is the key to a determination that correctly sorts out God's will. From the Christians we are instructed positively and negatively. Negatively, we must ask ourselves, "Has our own fear of radical obedience ever prompted us to crush someone else's determination to do the Lord's will? Has tender affection ever been substituted for courageous love in wanting God's best for someone else?" (Ogilvie 1983:298). Positively, do we know when to cease striving with one another and in humility, recognizing our lack of definitive knowledge of God's plan for the other, start asking God to carry out his desire for their lives?

Caesarea to Jerusalem (21:15-16)

Having prepared for the sixty-four-mile journey overland, and comforted by the presence of some from the Caesarean church, Paul went up to Jerusalem (compare Lk 18:31; 19:28). He is received by Mnason (an authentic Greek name, but possibly a Hellenization of Manasseh). Luke identifies him as a Cypriot Christian and one of the early disciples. He may have been among the original 120 or, at least, part of the converted Pentecost throng (Acts 1:15; 11:19-20). His Hellenistic Jewish Christian background makes him the ideal host for Paul's party of Jewish and Gentile Christians.

Acts 21


Paul's Arrival at Jerusalem

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."
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.

Acts 21:17-26

Explanation:

THE CHURCH IN ALL NATIONS: PAUL'S PALESTINIAN MINISTRY (21:17--26:32)

From the moment the military tribune handcuffs Paul in the court of the Gentiles, the apostle conducts his ministry as a prisoner awaiting final trial and verdict. This last quarter of Acts, parallel to the passion narrative of Luke's Gospel, provides a realistic and necessary balance to Luke's report, to this point, of the church's triumphant advance (Lk 24:26; Acts 14:22).

In this section Jewish opposition contrasts with Roman protection as Paul continues to witness with urgency and integrity. As a Roman tribune, two governors and a friendly local monarch inquire into Paul's case, Luke draws us in to ask the same questions and face the same answers about the truth of the gospel.



Paul at Jerusalem (21:17--23:35)
In the midst of some Jews' death-dealing intentions counterbalanced by Roman protective justice stands the Christian witness Paul. He shows that rare combination of loyalty to his ethnic traditions (that's what gets him into trouble in the first place) and boldness to seize every opportunity to proclaim the universal gospel.



Promoting Harmony (21:17-26)

When a person becomes a Christian, what becomes of his or her religious past? Must all previous pious practice be left behind? Or may some be made fit patterns for the new life in Christ? A patient thinking through of Luke's teaching on the Christian, the Old Testament law and religious tradition, as modeled in Paul's conduct, will give us guidelines by which we can make judgments about our own religious past.

Joy over the Successful Gentile Mission (21:17-20)

At the home of Mnason, Paul receives a "warm welcome" from fellow Christians. Since Luke does not specify that only like-minded Hellenistic Jewish Christians so greet Paul and his party, we should probably think of a delegation representative of the whole Jerusalem church. From them news of his coming would filter back to all segments of the church (v. 22). The next day there is a respectful reunion, an official reception by the chief elder, James, half-brother of Jesus, and the church's ruling elder board (see note at 15:13). James receives a solemn greeting from Paul, perhaps an embrace, a kiss and a verbal greeting such as "Hail!" "Peace be with you!" or "Grace and peace to you!" (Windisch 1964:500).

Then Paul offers a praiseworthy report. As at the Jerusalem Council, he reported in detail (idiomatically, "one item after another") what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry (Acts 15:12, 14; also see 14:27; 20:24). Luke's phrasing reminds us that anything accomplished through a ministry from the Lord, for the Lord and in his name is, in the final analysis, accomplished by the Lord alone. This is a necessary reminder, for often we are so busy doing our demographics, planning our outreach strategies, preparing our people and materials for our next big advance for God that we forget that he must do the work. True ministry for him will always be ministry by him.

When the elders heard this, they praised God (edoxazon, "were glorifying"). Not unlike Jesus' "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem (Lk 19:37-38), Paul's arrival is surrounded by praise. Interestingly, after reporting the glorifying of God at Jesus' birth, for his teaching and especially his healing ministry, and at the way he died, Luke makes the salvation of the Gentiles his crowning reason for praise (Acts 11:18; 13:48).

Indeed, if we bear the mark of grace we will respond in praise when we hear of saving grace coming to others. That grace will be especially evident when they are persons against whom we were formerly prejudiced because of race, class or culture. Praise for their salvation is the only proper starting point for building a framework of harmony within which all can deal properly with their religious past.

False Reports About Paul's Teaching (21:20-22)

In full spiritual unity, the elders point out to Paul that massive numbers of Jews, . . . all of them . . . zealous for the law, have become believers. These may be the converted Pharisees of Acts 15:5. Literally "zealots for the law," they lived out their loyalty to God by combining ardent nationalism with strict observance of the whole Mosaic code. Phinehas, Elijah and the Maccabees were their worthy predecessors (Num 25:10-13; 1 Kings 19:10, 14; Josephus Jewish Antiquities 12.271).

These converts have been particularly troubled by reports that Paul has been teaching Diaspora Jews to turn away from Moses. This phrase translates apostasia, which refers to either political or spiritual rebellion (2 Chron 29:19; 1 Macc 2:15; Acts 5:31, 39; 2 Thess 2:3). Specifically, Paul is alleged to have instructed these Jewish believers to stop having their children circumcised and "to stop walking according to the customs" (so the prohibitions should be understood).

While it is easy to see how such implications might be drawn from Paul's teaching of a law-free gospel, there is no evidence that Paul ever instructed Jewish Christians this way (Rom 2:25-30; Gal 5:6; 6:15). In fact, Paul was most scrupulous not to offend the conscience of the "weaker brother," the Jewish Christian who maintained ancestral customs, and even went so far as to have Timothy circumcised (Acts 16:3; Rom 14:1--15:13).

Our religious past can make distortions of the truth attractive to us, especially those that reinforce our pride in loyalty to our traditions. What can be done to overcome such falsehood, which always threatens to bring disunity to the church?

Conciliatory Respect of Ritual Observance (21:23-26)

The church leaders counsel Paul to combat words with action. Four pious but indigent men in the congregation have taken on themselves a Nazirite vow of limited duration (Num 6). By abstaining from products of the vine, not cutting their hair and avoiding ritual impurity, they have been showing thankfulness for past blessings, earnestness in petition or strong devotion to God. The multi-animal sacrifice and cleansing ceremony at the end of the vow period, when the hair is cut and offered to God, is financially prohibitive (6:13-20). Paul is asked to bear the expenses of the four. This was a commonly recognized act of piety (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 19.294). To do so he must go through a seven-day ritual cleansing himself, because he has recently returned from Gentile lands (m. Oholot 2:3; 17:5; 18:6; Num 19:12). The intended result is that the rumors about Paul will be shown to be baseless and he will be seen living in obedience to the law. Lest Paul's action be misunderstood in another direction, as making Jewish custom normative for Gentile Christians, the elders hasten to add that the Jerusalem Council decree is still in place (see discussion above at Acts 15:20, 29). It is repeated here in essential detail.

The next day Paul begins his own ritual purification and declares to temple authorities the date that the Nazirite vow, here called the days of purification (Num 6:5 LXX), would be completed through a sacrificial ceremony (m. Nazir 6:7).

What does the elders' counsel to Paul say about Luke's view of Christians and their religious past? Before we can draw general principles, we must deal with unique and theologically significant factors concerning the Jewish law. At its core was divine revelation in three aspects: moral, civil and ceremonial. Surrounding that were oral tradition and rabbinic exposition. Luke's use of terminology often prevents us from easily distinguishing which aspects of the law he is referring to. Still, Luke's use of the term customs does seem to show he is aware of the difference between divine revelation and human tradition (15:1; 21:21; 26:3; 28:17). And there may be a distinction in Luke's thinking between the moral, ceremonial and civil aspects which will enable us to make decisions about normativeness based on content (Lk 10:25-28).

If we focus on the divine revelation component of a Jewish Christian's religious past, the Old Testament law, we can see Luke says it has no relevance for salvation (Acts 13:38-39; 15:10-11). While the moral aspect is universally normative (Lk 10:25-28; 18:18-23), Luke also sees a positive use for the ceremonial laws, to aid Jewish Christians in the expression of their piety. He does not make these laws binding on Gentiles, however. Only when Gentiles are in the company of Jewish Christians with scruples should they keep ceremonial ritual purity, and then not beyond what God mandated in the Old Testament for aliens living in Israel.

What guidelines does this incident yield for today? There is a large measure of freedom, but that freedom is to be used to promote (1) the advance of the gospel and (2) the unity of an ethnically diverse church. So long as our conscience is not bound by non-Christian traditions and practices and the Christian gospel is not syncretized with the thought behind non-Christian practice, our pre-Christian religious past, properly cleansed, may move into a transformed spiritual future.

Acts 21


Paul Arrested

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.
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!"

Acts 21:27-36

Explanation:

Arrested in the Temple (21:27-36)

"Will we survive?" is the pressing question for Jews in every generation. Twentieth-century Jews in the shadow of Hitler's holocaust vow "Never again!" First-century Jews saw Paul's Gentile mission as equally a threat to their survival, for it effectively erased the line between Jew and Gentile within the people of God. The eternally decisive issue, however, is, Which "people of God" does God intend to survive?

Accusations That Stir Up a Crowd (21:27-29)

Toward the end of the seven-day purification process (Num 19:12)--probably the seventh day, when he will receive the "water of atonement"--Paul is in the temple. Jews from Asia see him there--to them this is an unusual sight (theaomai; compare Acts 1:11; 22:9). From the time of his witness in the Ephesian synagogue, Paul has faced constant opposition from Asian Jews, and now, under cover of a Pentecost pilgrimage, they have dogged his steps to Jerusalem (19:9; 20:19; compare 6:9; 20:29). They stirred up the whole crowd, so that a mob scene ensues (19:32). Paul is seized by his persecutors as they broadcast the charges against him (compare Lk 21:12; Acts 4:3; 5:18; 12:1).

Agitation, confusion and physical violence are the hallmarks of persecution. For the disciple of Christ they are neither a surprise nor beyond God's providential control and saving purposes (Lk 21:15, 18).

Whereas the Gentiles of Macedonia asked for help in hearing the message of salvation, the Jews of Jerusalem request help for destroying the messenger (Acts 16:9). The Asian Jews raise a general charge against Paul's teaching: it opposes our people [laos] and our law and this place, that is, the temple (compare 6:11, 13-14; 24:5-6; contrast Paul's understanding of his stance toward Judaism, 24:14-16). Acts does not record Paul's views on the temple (but compare 7:48-50 and 17:24). He does say the law is unable to free from sin or bring forgiveness (13:39). Paul does not teach against the people. Rather, the Jews who oppose Paul and his gospel--the good news of the fulfillment of the promises made to their forebears--reveal by their opposition that they are not part of the true people of God. So it is with any opposition to the gospel. It is a revelation of the persecutor's error, not a valid judgment against the message.

The specific charge is that Paul has brought Greeks into the temple and thus defiled it. The Asian Jews have seen the Asian Trophimus in Paul's company (Trophimus is part of the delegation bringing the collection--20:4; 2 Tim 4:20). They assumed, wrongly (compare 14:19; 17:29), that this apostle whose preaching so effectively has torn down barriers between Jews and Gentiles would not hesitate to take a Gentile beyond the court of the Gentiles into the court of women, even the court of Israel.

Though Gentiles were welcome to worship in the outermost court, they were forbidden on penalty of death to enter beyond the balustrade into the two inner courts (m. Kelim 1:8). Josephus informs us, and archaeological evidence confirms, that at intervals there were signs posted in Greek and Latin saying "No foreigner is to enter within the forecourt and the balustrade around the Sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death" (Segal 1989:79; Polhill [1992:452] has information on the present location of such an inscription; Josephus Jewish Wars 5.193). This prohibition enforced Numbers 3:38.

It is ironic indeed that Paul is arrested while doing the very opposite of what he is accused of. In the process of seeking to show his respect for Jewish ethnic identity within the church by practicing ritual purification, he is arrested for allegedly defiling the temple. All this occurs because Paul is committed at one and the same time to the unity of all through their identity in Christ, no matter racial and ethnic background, and to the respect of cultural diversity in the body of Christ. Any Christian who insists on standing in such a tension will probably be similarly misunderstood as both too free in associations and too strict in ethnic loyalties.

Apprehension That Shakes a City (21:30)

Luke graphically takes us from the panoramic view of a whole city aroused (kineo; literally, "moved, shaken"), to the people (laos) becoming a mob (syndrome tou laou; compare v. 36), to the man at the vortex: Paul seized (18:17) and dragged (16:19) out of the temple's sacred courts to the court of the Gentiles. And immediately the gates were shut.

In these few brief details of the Jerusalem Jews' final rejection of the Christian gospel, we see the last major spiritual and geographical turning point in Acts. Never again will Paul return to Jerusalem for worship or witness. By shutting out the messenger and the message of salvation, Paul's opponents have sealed the city's doom (Lk 13:34-35; 21:6, 20). Israel's ethnic pride, which constantly fueled its determination to survive, prevented it from fulfilling its divinely intended mission as "a light for the Gentiles" (Is 49:6). It robbed the temple of the universal glory God planned for it as "a house of prayer for all nations" (Is 56:7; compare Lk 19:46). May every "people of God" (church) in every nation and culture heed Jerusalem's negative example, lest it too find itself under God's judgment for failing to reach out with the gospel to those beyond its own kind.

When we understand the Jewish view of Paul's alleged crime, we will know the mortal danger he was in as the temple police proceeded to beat him. As implied by the wording of the last phrase of the inscription--"whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death"--the penalty for defiling the temple sanctuary was summary execution, "death at the hands of heaven." This applied as much to a Jew who brought a defiling person into the sanctuary as to the unclean person himself (b. Erubin 104b). No trial was required. The charge alone was sufficient to warrant being delivered into the hands of the temple police, dragged into the outer court, the court of the Gentiles, and beaten to death (for example, having one's brain split open with clubs--m. Sanhedrin 9:6; Philo Legatio ad Gaium 212). The Romans normally did not interfere with such executions (Josephus Jewish Wars 6.124-26). Such summary justice was demanded not only by the nature of the crime but by its consequences. The Jews believed the temple remained profaned until the trespasser had been executed by the priestly authorities on behalf of God. This background not only explains the bloodthirsty reaction of the crowd now and as they interrupt Paul's speech but also supplies an understandable motive for the curse vow of those who subsequently conspire to murder him (21:36; 22:22-23; 23:12). If the commander of the Roman garrison had not arrived, Paul would have been beaten to death.

An Arrest That Saves the Apostle (21:31-36)

Adjacent to the temple area, at the juncture of the western and northern porticoes that formed the outer boundary of the court of the Gentiles, was the Antonia fortress. It was headquarters of the Roman garrison stationed at Jerusalem. Herod the Great reinforced it for the safety and protection of the temple and named it for Antony. This spacious sixty-foot-high building had the general appearance of a tower; turrets stood at its four corners, the one on the southeast being 105 feet high. From it Roman soldiers commanded a view of the whole temple area. Stairways into the northern and western porticoes gave direct access to the court of the Gentiles (see Josephus Jewish Wars 5.192, 238-247; Jewish Antiquities 15.409). A cohort stationed in Jerusalem had, at least on paper, 760 infantry with 240 cavalry (Lake and Cadbury 1979:275). During festival times they would be on guard at the porticoes of the outer court, alert to any signs of insurrection (Josephus Jewish Wars 5.244). The decade and a half before the outbreak of the Jewish war against Rome was marked by constant disturbances against the Roman political order (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 20.160-72; Jewish Wars 2.254-65).

It is not surprising, then, that when the commander of the garrison heard that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar, he himself, with some centurions and soldiers, ran down the steps of the fortress into the court of the Gentiles to restore order. The commander's arrest (which was a rescue), his interrogation of the crowd (though unsuccessful) and his removal of Paul to the barracks, away from the crowd's murderous intent, all model what Luke sees as the state's proper role toward the Christian. The state's order must protect Christians against anarchic persecution. State justice must be exercised based on getting at the truth based on the facts (22:24, 30). By affirming these values through his positive portrayal of Roman military officials, Luke certainly gained a hearing among his Roman audience, whom he would encourage to follow the same example by getting at the facts of the gospel (Lk 1:4).

By contrast, the Jews are thoroughly discredited, for all they want is to do away with the gospel messenger (Lk 23:18; Acts 21:36; 22:22). When ethnic survival in this life is the highest priority, one is bound to miss salvation for eternity (9:23-26).

Acts 21


Paul Speaks to the Crowd

³⁷As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, "May I say something to you?"
³⁸"Do you speak Greek?" he replied. "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:

Acts 22

¹"Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." ²When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
³Then Paul said: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. ⁴I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, ⁵as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
⁶"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'
⁸" 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked.
⁹" 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
¹⁰" 'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked.
¹¹" 'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.' My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
¹²"A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. ¹³He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.
¹⁴"Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
¹⁷"When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁸and saw the Lord speaking. 'Quick!' he said to me. 'Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'
¹⁹" 'Lord,' I replied, 'these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. ²⁰And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.'
²¹"Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.' "

Acts 21:37-22:21

Explanation:

Defense Before the Mob (Acts 21:37--22:21)

What's a Jewish Christian to do? He feels very comfortable in his new faith with its Old Testament roots. At the same time this faith has radically transformed him into a "world Christian." He is now at home in the ethnically diverse body of Christ. Misunderstandings, even opposition, are bound to arise. How do you explain that following a universal gospel does not mean surrendering one's Jewish ness, especially one's piety? In Paul's defense he declares that the risen Christ is the key.

Correcting Wrong Thinking (21:37-40)

At the top of the stairs, just as the Roman soldiers are about to take Paul into the Antonia fortress barracks, away from the tumult of the pursuing mob, the apostle asks permission to speak with the commander. Paul's polite and polished Greek catches the tribune off guard; he replies, Do you speak Greek? He had expected the cause of such a disturbance to be a Jew of rough character and no education. Now he tries to place him among foreigners who were potential troublemakers. Is he that Egyptian false prophet who, some four to five years earlier (A.D. 54), had raised up a large following, four thousand terrorists, taken them into the desert and returned to the Mount of Olives? From there, he had promised his band, he would command the walls of Jerusalem to fall flat. The Roman garrison would then be an easy conquest, and the Egyptian could be installed as ruler (Josephus Jewish Wars 2.261-63; Jewish Antiquities 20.169-72). Governor Felix's troops, however, took preemptive action, slaying four hundred, taking two hundred prisoner and scattering the rest, including the Egyptian. Has he now returned to Jerusalem, and is the populace venting its anger on him for the failed revolt and its aftermath?

Paul answers that he is a Jew, not a foreign false prophet. This also explains why he is in the temple. He is citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, not an Egyptian; a person with civic status, not a disenfranchised revolutionary. Tarsus of Cilicia, southeastern Asia Minor, was ten miles from the Mediterranean Sea on the Cydnus River, population 500,000 at the height of its prominence. It was of strategic importance, for it commanded the Cilician Gates, a pass through the Taurus Mountains which led to the central Asia Minor plateau and trade routes to the west. It was not an idle boast to call it no ordinary city. From the early days of the Empire, the life of Tarsus had been closely intertwined with that of the highest levels of Rome. Julius Caesar visited the city in 47 B.C., and Antony granted it the status of a free city in 42 B.C. Augustus sent Athendorus, his former tutor, a Stoic philosopher, back to his native Tarsus to reestablish just administration. Nestor, tutor to Marcellus, Augustus's intended heir, continued the Rome-decreed line of "philosopher-governors." The people of this university town had a zeal for learning and philosophy beyond that of Athens and Alexandria, though it did not attract as many students as the latter centers. Tarsians were known for finishing their schooling abroad and finally settling in Rome or elsewhere (Hemer 1988).

What Theophilus and we should learn from this interchange is not to confuse the gospel's liberation with political revolution. The Lord Jesus and his kingdom present a more radical challenge than that.

Paul asks and receives permission to speak to the crowd. His courage and determination are at once remarkable and readily understandable. What would cause him to want to address a crowd that had slandered him, given him an executioner's beating and, only minutes before, so violently rushed on him and called for his death that Roman soldiers had to physically pick him up so they could make a hasty exit? It is a total commitment to his Lord and his calling (20:23-24; compare Lk 21:13). This perspective gives the gospel its integrity. It's a stance we must all adopt.

With the stairs as his platform and the crowd below as his ready-made congregation, Paul stood . . . and motioned to the crowd with his hand (Acts 12:17; 13:16; 19:33). Miraculously, they become silent. Here is not simply the force of personality or even of a courageous character. Here the power of God is at work to gain a hearing for the battered, arrested, faithful apostle. Paul addresses the people in Aramaic (better, as the NIV margin states, in Hebrew--te Hebradi dialekto, literally, "in the Hebrew language"; see notes).

Exordium and Narratio: Declaring Paul's Jewish Piety (22:1-3)

Paul's address, Brothers and fathers, together with his use of Hebrew, is a proper and effective exordium or opening. He shows respect to the dignitaries, priests and Sanhedrin, the older members in the crowd. He identifies with his audience in the use of their sacred language. They quiet down and listen.

Paul's brief narratio, a statement of the facts adapted to persuade his listeners that the charges are groundless, follows the common ancient pattern for describing one's formative years: birth, rearing, education. He is a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia. Hence he is not against the Jewish people. He was brought up in Jerusalem. One can hardly expect the son of Diaspora Jews, returned to Jerusalem for his formative years, to be against the temple. Under (literally, "at the feet of") Gamaliel Paul was trained "according to the strictness of the law of the fathers." How could one who had allowed himself to "be dusted by the dust" of such an eminent scholar's feet now teach against the law (Pirqe Abot 1:4; see comment at Acts 5:34)? Would one who is as zealous for God (see comment at 21:21) as any in the crowd bring a Gentile into the temple's sacred courts and defile them? Paul prizes his Jewish heritage, and so should every Jewish Christian. Such loyalty will get Theophilus's attention.

Probatio--Proof One (22:4-5)

Paul's probatio (body of proof section) offers four scenes from his conversion and its aftermath. They provide evidence, substantiated by witnesses, that his life of Jewish piety and his calling to preach the universal gospel are compatible.

Scene one portrays Paul as the persecutor of the followers of the way. The extent of his persecution (women as well as men) and the outcome (sometimes death--7:58; 8:1; 26:10) proved Paul's zeal for the Jewish God (Phil 3:6). They were also a silent witness to his sin and rebellion against God. Luke consistently portrays sinful ethnic Israel as the persecutors and murderers of God's true apostles and prophets (Lk 11:49; Acts 7:52; compare Lk 21:12). Paul never recovered from the shame of what had been for him a badge of honor (1 Cor 15:9; 1 Tim 1:13-15).

At this point Paul simply wants his audience to know his zeal, and he appeals to the records or the memory of high priest and Sanhedrin as testimony to the fact. One of the most exasperating things about self-righteous rebellion against God is that it can appear in the guise of zeal for God.

Probatio--Proof Two (Acts 22:6-11)

Scene two, the risen Lord's encounter with Paul on the Damascus Road, places under judgment his life of persecuting believers out of zeal for God. Luke highlights the overpowering nature of the divine encounter by noting that in the brightness of the midday sun a divine light flashed around Paul. Blinding at noontime and being cast to the ground picture the spiritual judgment under which Paul found himself (Is 25:12; 26:5; 29:4). Jesus' haunting question Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me? reveals that Jesus of Nazareth, in his resurrection power, is the key for distinguishing between proper and misguided zeal for God. And it is the same today for Jew and Gentile alike. Jesus is the litmus test. Any zeal for God that turns a person against the followers of Jesus is misguided.

Paul makes sure that this supernatural event can serve as a sign and undeniable proof in his probatio by describing the experience of corroborating witnesses, his companions. Paul's encounter with Christ was objective yet personal. His companions saw the light surrounding Paul but not the risen Lord who appeared to him (Acts 22:9, 14; 9:7). They heard a voice addressing Paul but were not privy to its message (9:7; 22:9).

Paul's enlightenment concerning his guilt led to enlistment in Christ's cause. Neither as a good Jew responding to divine revelation (contra Longenecker 1981:525) nor as one simply stupefied, realizing he must change (contra Marshall 1980:355), but like the Pentecost crowd, realizing it was under judgment, Paul asked, What shall I do, Lord? (2:37). The Lord did not answer directly but called for trust and allegiance as he directed Paul to the city. Paul's blindness was another sign that something supernatural had indeed happened to him on the Damascus Road. Luke's phrasing, brilliance of the light (doxa tou photos, "glory of the light") leaves little doubt in the reader's mind that this is the splendor of the exalted Lord Jesus appearing from heaven (Lk 24:26; 21:27; also see 9:26, 31-32; 2:9; Acts 7:2, 55).

Probatio--Proof Three (22:12-16)

Scene three, in Damascus, expounds, possibly by reverse parallelism, the meaning of Paul's conversion in terms of divine and human initiative (vv. 13, 16) and relates his calling to preach the universal gospel (vv. 14-15). Paul's witness to all this was Ananias, whose piety according to the law was attested by all the Jews of Damascus. He embodies the continuity and discontinuity of Jewish Christianity, for the man of such renowned piety was also the Lord's instrument and mouthpiece for equipping Paul in the first steps of his newfound faith and mission.

The acted parable of the Lord's saving work, moving from blindness to sight, was completed as Ananias stood beside Paul and said, "Brother Saul, receive your sight!" (anablepo, "to see again" or "to look up"; when Luke describes the restoration he uses the same verb with Ananias as the object, so that possibly both meanings are meant here--Paul saw again as he looked up at Ananias). The key role Ananias played in Paul's conversion demonstrates to the audience that being a pious Jew and being a Christian convert are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

As Ananias interpreted to Paul his calling on the Damascus Road, the continuity was emphasized. It was the God of our fathers who had appointed him (3:13; 5:30; 7:32; Ex 3:13). God had chosen Paul to know his will. From the Damascus Road encounter Paul had the haunting realization that his persecution had been actually directed at Jesus of Nazareth, the risen and exalted Messiah. From this he knew that God's will must have something to do with his saving purposes and their implementation through the gathering of a body of believers called followers of the Way. But God had chosen Paul for more. He was privileged like the other apostles, though "as one abnormally born" (1 Cor 15:7-8), to see the risen Lord (Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:33).

Ananias used the messianic title the Righteous One (Jer 23:5-6; 33:15; Zech 9:9; Acts 3:14; 7:52). This points to the heart of the gospel: the risen, exalted Jesus of Nazareth, whom Paul sees, is the vindicated victim of an innocent death. And Paul was destined to hear from the voice of his mouth the gospel message, to which he was called to bear lifelong witness. This full-orbed revelation of the gospel would both fulfill and supersede the document of promise, the law.

Paul's responsibility was to be Christ's witness to all men of what [he had] seen and heard (Lk 24:46-48; Acts 1:8; 9:15). The universal scope of the gospel's offer of salvation is stated in general terms here. In the end it will prove to be the stumbling block to those who hear this speech (22:21-22). Note how much of the gospel message (Lk 24:46-48) is stated or implied in Acts 22:7-10, 14. Ananias rightly contended that Paul's gospel was revealed to him from heaven (compare 26:14-18; Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 15:1-4; Gal 1:12, 15-16).

Either as a mild rebuke (so the NIV) or possibly as a simple question (Marshall 1980:357), Ananias completed his mission by encouraging Paul in the next step: fulfilling his responsibility in response to his conversion. He was to "get himself baptized," picturing in that outward purification the inward cleansing from his sins that had resulted from his calling on the name of the Lord for salvation (Acts 2:38, 21; 9:14, 21).

Paul is a model for all those who become disciples in answer to the call of those who are fulfilling their Lord's commission (Mt 28:18-20). For identification with the church through public profession of faith and baptism is not only a matter of obedience, it is a matter of spiritual health, now and in eternity (Lk 12:8). We need the outward sign of our salvation applied to us like a stake in the ground.

Probatio--Proof Four (22:17-21)

In the last scene Paul himself models the tension of continuity and discontinuity in a Jewish Christian's life. He remained loyal to the Lord's holy place, exercising piety in worship in the temple upon his return to Jerusalem. Even after conversion, then, he practiced a piety that gave the lie to the recent charges that he taught against the temple and cavalierly defiled it by bringing Gentiles into its sacred precincts.

During worship, in a trance, Paul saw Jesus, the Lord of the temple (Lk 19:45-48; compare 2:46-49). The Lord directed him, Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me. This heavenly command and rationale declared the scandalous proposition that the risen and exalted Messiah would direct his messengers of salvation tidings away from Israel. Its rationale was an indictment of Israel's unwillingness to receive the gospel.

Paul showed his zeal for the people by remonstrating with the Lord. Surely his life as a persecutor and his service as an accomplice to Stephen's death would be enough evidence of his Jewish loyalty and would gain him a hearing (7:58; 8:1, 3; 9:2; 22:4). The Lord did not argue with Paul. He had already given his rationale: Israel did not oppose the messenger but the message, your testimony about me. All that remained was for the Lord to repeat the command and for Paul to obey. Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles (2:39; 13:46; Eph 2:13, 17). The Gentile mission was the focus of Paul's ministry, yet always within a "to the Jew first" strategy (Acts 9:15; 13:46; 14:27; 15:3, 12; 21:19).

In the divinely commanded mission to the Gentiles and the Jewish people's refusal to accept the gospel we have the explanation of the Jews' opposition to Paul. The charges are false, but the opposition is real. Should our Lord's directive to Paul become a paradigm for church-growth strategy today--for example, "hold resistant fields lightly; concentrate harvesters where the response is greatest"? The Jewish people's unique position in relation to the Gentiles in salvation history (Rom 11:25-26) prevents us from extrapolating principles about responsiveness and concentration of forces. The momentum, however, always seems to be toward the frontiers, toward those who have never heard the gospel.