TRUE LOVE OF THE LAW
Acts 21:17-36
Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. (19)
chapter 21
17. When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us warmly.
18. The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.
19. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20. When 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.
21. They 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.
22. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come,
23. so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.
24. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.
25. As 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."
26. The 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.
27. When 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,
28. shouting, "Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple 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.)
30. The 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.
31. While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.
32. He 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.
33. The 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.
34. Some 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.
35. When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers.
36. The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Get rid of him!"
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1. As the Holy Spirit had warned, once in Jerusalem, persecution came to Paul from the Jews. They seized him and shouted, “This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place” (28). This was spiritual ignorance on the part of the Jews. No one loved the law of God more than Paul. He wrote, “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good” (Rom. 7:13). True, there were differences between Paul and the Jews. That difference was how they loved the law.
2. Paul was a free man, whose freedom was found in Christ (Gal. 5:1,13). But for the purpose of winning souls for Christ, he became like a Jew to the Jews, who were under the law, and a Gentile to the Gentiles (cf. 1Cor 9:20-21). For the sake of the Jews, Paul even had Timothy circumcised so that his work among them might be more effective. Paul did not have to offend the Jews unnecessarily as long as he did not violate Christian principles.
3. Despite all the efforts on Paul’s part, the Jews were not willing to listen to him or learn the truth about Christ, who was the fulfilment of the law of God. Paul, however, did not shy away from being misunderstood and persecuted for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Prayer: Father, give me willingness to be persecuted for the sake of the gospel. Amen.
One Word: Courage that comes through faith