Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 21-22.

I have never paid close attention to what the elders of the Jerusalem Church said to Paul when he arrived in Jerusalem.  First, they tell Paul that the thousands of Jews who have become followers of Jesus in Jerusalem zealously follow the Law of Moses.  Second, they tell Paul that those Jewish converts had been told that Paul tells the Jews living among the Gentiles to not follow the Law of Moses.  What I had never noticed before was that the controversy was not over whether or not the Gentile followers of Jesus needed to follow the Law of Moses.  The controversy was over whether or not Jewish followers of Jesus should follow the Law of Moses.  The implication of this exchange is that Paul did not teach Jewish followers of Jesus to abandon the Law of Moses.  In fact Paul appears to have generally followed the Law of Moses in his personal life.  Luke tells us in Acts 18 that Paul took Nazirite vows.  Further, a few verses later, Luke reports that some Jews from Asia had seen Paul in the city with an Ephesian Gentile and assumed that he had brought him into the temple (in violation of Jewish Law).  Until today, it never occurred to me that the Jews who started the riot which led to Paul’s arrest may have believed the same thing which the Jewish Believers in Jerusalem believed.  They did not really know what he taught, but they thought that they did.  Let us not be like them, prepared to hate someone for what someone else tells us they believe.  Paul refused to compromise his message just because people distorted what he said.  If we are not called to imitate Paul, let us at least encourage others to actually listen to what he, and those like him, has to say.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 21-22.

Whenever I read yesterday’s and today’s passage I wonder about whether or not it was God’s plan for Paul to be arrested and sent to Rome as a prisoner.   As I read it, there are three possibilities.  One, God was warning Paul about what would happen if he went to Jerusalem in order to dissuade him from going there.  Two, God was warning Paul what would happen if he went to Jerusalem in order to offer him the choice of avoiding it.  Three, God warned Paul about what would happen when he got to Jerusalem in order to test his willingness to suffer for Christ, and to prepare the Church for it.  Which of these you believe to be the correct interpretation changes how you interpret what the Jerusalem Church elders asked Paul to do.  If you believe interpretation two or three, then Paul acting to show that he still followed the Law of Moses was the right thing to do, even though it led to his arrest.  If you believe interpretation one, then Paul was foolish to worry about what other believers thought of him.  Now that I have spelled it out that way I am less inclined to think that option one is the correct way to read this.  If one looks at it in that light, then Paul joining with a few others to go through the purification rites is completely in line with what he writes in Romans 14. “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.”

In summation, I believe that God gave Paul the choice of suffering by being imprisoned and eventually killed, or continuing in this world, and Paul chose to suffer and die for Christ.  I do not believe that Paul would have been wrong to choose to not go to Jerusalem, but also that he was blessed because he did.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 21-22.

In yesterday’s passage, when Paul addressed the elders of the Ephesian Church, he told that that he was compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, but  also that the Holy Spirit warned him in every city that hardship and prison waited for him in Jerusalem.  In today’s passage, Luke recounts how disciples in Tyre urged Paul through the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem.  Then, how the prophet Agabus came down to Caesarea to warn Paul that he would be bound by the Jewish leaders and handed over to the Gentiles.  Paul refused to listen to any of the attempts to dissuade him from going to Jerusalem.  As I read this again and again, I become more and more convinced that Paul chose to go to Jerusalem in part because he sought the opportunity to suffer for Christ.  Each year I go through a debate within myself as to whether the repeated warnings which the Spirit gave Paul were intended to discourage him, or to make sure that he knew what he would face in Jerusalem.  The only evidence we have that the Spirit was guiding Paul to Jerusalem is his statement to the Ephesian Elders.  I am torn as to whether or not Luke agreed that Paul was interpreting the leading of the Holy Spirit correctly.  In either case, we should strive to emulate Paul’s willingness to face suffering and persecution in order to remain faithful to God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 21-22.

I find it interesting that when Paul arrived in Jerusalem he gave a detailed report of his ministry among the Gentiles to James and the elders of the Church.  I realized the Paul did the same thing every time he went to Jerusalem.  Peter did something similar after visiting Cornelius’ house.  In this case, Paul further accepted their plan to reassure Jewish Christians that he was not teaching Jews to abandon the Law of Moses when they accepted Christ.  As I read this I get the impression that Paul accepted the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem as having authority over the entire Church; he appears to have held himself accountable to them.  One could interpret this as lending credence to the Catholic Church’s claim that the Pope has authority over the Church in a line which reaches back to Peter, except for one thing, James the brother of Jesus led these councils to whom Paul, and earlier, Peter, reported.  So, to whatever degree the Apostolic Church had an individual who was THE leader of the Church, that leader was James the brother of Christ, not Peter.

I am not sure what exactly this means for us, but it does show us that even Paul acknowledged a need to be answerable to other Believers about what he believed and taught.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Acts 21-22.

As Paul was traveling towards Jerusalem, God revealed to him through various prophets that he would be arrested and imprisoned if he went to Jerusalem.  As I have read the passages concerning these warnings over the years I have wondered if God was telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  I have come to the conclusion that God was giving Paul a choice.  He could continue to Jerusalem, be arrested, and eventually face martyrdom.  Or, he could choose not to go to Jerusalem, continue to travel around, preaching the Gospel, and, perhaps, avoid martyrdom.  Paul chose the road to suffering on behalf of his faith.  Not all Believers have that choice, some of us will have to choose either faithfulness and suffering, or denying our faith (I have not, so far, been faced with that choice).  If you are one of those given that harder choice, I pray that you find inspiration and comfort from Paul’s example.  I want to note that while it appears that God gave Paul the choice to avoid the suffering awaiting him in Jerusalem, there had been previous occasions where the only choice Paul was given to avoid suffering was to deny his faith.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 21-22

Today’s passage continues with Luke recounting how the Holy Spirit inspired someone at almost every stop on Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem to prophecy that he would be arrested if he returned there.  Some years ago I became convinced that the Holy Spirit was warning Paul to not go to Jerusalem, that God gave Paul the choice to avoid the persecution he suffered after arriving there.  I, also, believe that Paul knew he had that choice.  Nevertheless, he chose to go to Jerusalem.  Paul did not go to Jerusalem, knowing he would face suffering if he did so, because God directed him to go there.  He went to Jerusalem because he embraced suffering for serving Jesus.  Paul could have remained faithful to Christ and avoided the suffering he experienced, but his faith was such that he embraced the suffering in service to Christ.  We may be given similar choices.  The greatest joy will come to those who, like Paul, embrace the suffering.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 21-22

As Paul was traveling to Jerusalem, several prophets warned that he would be imprisoned if he went there.  Paul expressed a willingness to be imprisoned, and even to die, in service to Christ.  We should emulate Paul in this.  However, at no point in his account does Luke explain to us why Paul felt that he had to go to Jerusalem.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit was directing Paul to Jerusalem. or perhaps Paul was going to Jerusalem for his own reasons.  We should be willing to do God’s will even if it means persecution and suffering, but we need not seek out persecution and suffering.  Having said that, sometimes the fact that persecution and suffering will result from certain actions is evidence that God desires us to take those actions.  Which is complicated by the fact that sometimes the reverse is true.  We should not seek out persecution and suffering for their own sake, but we should embrace them when they result from doing God’s will.  In summary, I am not convinced that it was God’s will for Paul to go to Jerusalem to be arrested, but Paul was not acting counter to God’s will by going to Jerusalem.