Acts
21:1-14
I have been studying the life of
Paul for ten months. I have read and taught a Sunday School lesson on this
passage of Scripture. Until this week, I never realized the number of people
involved in Paul’s return to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey. Let us
walk through this passage together and discover an interesting truth.
First, a refresher is necessary on
what is occurring in Paul’s life at this time. Before, Paul along with
Barnabas, Luke, Silas, Timothy, John Mark, and others traveled to many cities
in the Roman Empire telling people of the salvation Jesus Christ provided for
sinners by His death and resurrection. By the time we intercept Paul in this
passage, he finished his third missionary journey, met major resistance from
Jews as he traveled, and heard the Holy Spirit tell him to return to Jerusalem.
In Acts 19:21, after Paul stayed many days in Ephesus and performed many
miracles, Luke recorded for the readers, “Now after these things were finished,
Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through
Macedonia and Achaia, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’” This passage marks the point of Paul’s return to Jerusalem for the
final time. What does it mean that Paul “purposed in the Spirit?” The Greek
definition of the word used here, tithemi,
is putting in place or setting forth. By the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Paul
ran toward the next goal God placed before him - return to Jerusalem.
In Acts 20:22-23, Paul explained more of
God’s plan for him in Jerusalem when he stated, “And now, behold, bound by the
Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,
except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that
bonds and afflictions await me.” Paul confirmed this return to Jerusalem was in
obedience to the Spirit of God, not his own idea. He stated he felt “bound by
the Spirit.” The word "bound" in Greek means put under obligation. Paul
many times told people he was a bondservant of Christ. Paul’s new venture to
return to Jerusalem continues his confession of being a bondservant. He obeyed
God even to returning to a place where “affliction awaits” him.
With this history in place, let us embark on
our study of Acts 21:1-14. Paul went to Jerusalem because of the Holy Spirit’s
prompting and his obedience to God’s will. In these fourteen verses, I find it
interesting that Luke, the writer or Acts, records so many different people
interacting with Paul about his return to Jerusalem. First, in verse 4, we find
the disciples in Tyre heard from the Holy Spirit about what Paul would
encounter in Jerusalem. Luke said, “Through the Holy Spirit” they heard and
told Paul what they heard. They, who loved Paul and did not want him to
experience persecution, asked him not to go to Jerusalem. These people were
disciples. The word "disciples" in Greek is mathemetes, which means to be a learner or pupil. These people
became Christians under Paul or another Christian preacher and did not want to
see him hurt. The verse further states, “they all kept telling Paul.” The
disciples and the people in their households listened to what God said through
His Spirit about what Paul would find when he arrived in Jerusalem.
As we go further in these verses, we see Paul
arrived in Tyre, stopped in Ptolemais for a night, and then went to Caesarea.
When Paul came to Caesarea (verse 8), he went to the home of Philip, the
evangelist. Philip was one of the seven set aside and consecrated by the other
apostles to aid the widows and orphans of Jerusalem church (Acts 6:1-3). An
evangelist is euaggelistes in Greek
and means the bringer or good tidings of salvation through Christ to people who
are not disciples. Philip’s four daughters were prophetesses. Prophetesses were
women who spoke by divine inspiration things only known by divine revelation. Paul
encountered disciples, evangelists, and prophetesses in verses 8 and 9. These
people came from every level of Christian knowledge and understanding. They listened
to the Holy Spirit when He said what awaited Paul’s return to Jerusalem.
In verse 10, a prophet named Agabus came from
Judea and entered the scene of Paul’s return to Jerusalem. Prophets are people,
moved by the Spirit of God, to declare to humankind what he received from
divine inspiration, especially about future events and particularly those
things relating to the cause and kingdom of God. Agabus listened to what the
Holy Spirit declared awaited Paul and acted it out using Paul’s belt. The
people, even the ones who did not hear from the Holy Spirit themselves,
experienced for themselves, through God’s prophet, Agabus, Paul’s future
persecution (vs. 10-11). After this powerful demonstration, the people begged
Paul not to go to Jerusalem.
In these eleven verses, people from many
levels of Christian development received word from the Holy Spirit of Paul’s
immediate future in Jerusalem. This is the main point I learned. The disciples
or evangelists were not the only ones who listened to God. The apostles and
prophets were not the only ones who heeded what God said. The regular people,
ordinary disciples of Christ, listened to and heeded God in their own time with
Him either during their day or through the prophets and evangelists. God speaks
to anyone who cares to listen to Him. He seeks a relationship with everyone.
Paul is the main person in this passage. What I found upon reading this passage
this time is that God made each of these different Jesus followers aware of
Paul’s immediate future of return to Jerusalem, imprisonment, and persecution. God
wants a close relationship with everyone for two reasons: 1) He wants to be
acquainted with people and for people to be acquainted with Him in such a way
that they receive eternal salvation, and 2) He wants people to understand how
to pray for His obedient servants as they walk in obedience to His call. Each
person has an active call to be in a relationship with God and be in
ministry/walk with Him by doing and by praying.
The second lesson of this passage comes in
the final two verses. Verses 13-14 tell us:
Paul
answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready
not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord
Jesus.’ And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent remarking, ‘The
will of the Lord be done.’ [NASB]
Even
though the Holy Spirit revealed to the people what awaited Paul, Paul’s
conviction to continue his journey came from the Holy Spirit’s compelling him
to go to Jerusalem, which we saw in Acts 19:21. The weeping and pleading by
these people, who loved Paul and whom Paul loved, did not dissuade him from
being an obedient servant for the purpose of God. Each of these people understood
from the Holy Spirit, in one way or another, the truth about the future of Paul
in Jerusalem. Each asked him not to go there. Paul probably sweated tears as he
remembered Jesus Christ also dealt with this in the garden before His arrest. They
both could have turned away from God’s path. If Jesus had turned away, humankind
would not have salvation from their sins. If Paul turned away from God’s path,
the Roman guards, commanders, governors, and emperor would not have known about
God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. The people who looked up to both
Jesus and Paul would have lost a role model in the faith. Each of these two men
had a purpose to go to Jerusalem for the good of God’s kingdom. Each of them
chose to follow God’s calling on their life.
God’s calling on each of our lives
may not be so dramatic. That does not make it less important. Whatever that
call is, it becomes our Jerusalem, the point where we decide to be obedient or
turn away. God has a purpose for each thing He calls His disciples to do. If
God calls one person to be a corporate manager and another as a sewer digger,
both have the opportunity to influence people by the testimony of their actions
and words. They can influence for good or evil. Each of us must choose if we
will follow God’s call for our lives. If we choose not, then it will influence
others negatively. If we choose to follow God’s calling and commands, it
influences people around for us for the good. Whether we heed God to go or to
pray, when we hear from Him, that is the time to take a stand for Him. Pray for
His workers as He brings them to mind. You do not know what they are soon to encounter.
Work at the task God has placed before you. You do not realize how your work
will influence the next person or the person watching. This is your Jerusalem.
This is where you decide to follow God’s will or not. Jerusalem can be
life-threatening like it was for Jesus and Paul or it can be a place of renewal, growth
and guidance.
God calls each one of us to follow
Him. This means having a relationship with Him. It also means praying, studying
His Word, and enacting in life what God calls us to do. You have to make the
decision. God will not force it. He gave you free will as a gift when He
created humankind.
Will you choose to be
acquainted intimately with God
and walk according to
His purpose even if it means going to your Jerusalem, a place of suffering and
persecution?
Or, will you listen
to people begging you not to follow God’s call
and walk without Him.
God calls everyone to come
to Him and receive His love, redemption, salvation, and
life with Him forever.
You
must choose.
