What an Innocent Christian "Admits" in Court: Acts 24:1-23

    Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: "We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.

 

    "We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him."

 

    The Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true.

 

    When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: "I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

 

    "After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance. But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me. Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin-- unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: `It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.' "

 

    Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. "When Lysias the commander comes," he said, "I will decide your case." He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.

 

Before Felix, the Jews accused Paul of 1) being a troublemaker, 2) stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world, 3) being a ringleader of the Nazarene sect, and 4) trying to desecrate the temple.

 

As Paul rose to defend himself, he refuted some of the charges while admiting others. What did he refute? What did he admit?

 

Paul denied arguing or stirring up a crowd. He claimed that he was ceremonially clean and not involved in a disturbance while he was at the temple. Essentially, three of their four accusations were false. Paul was not a troublemaker, he was not stirring up riots all over the world, and he was not trying to desecrate the temple.

 

But Paul admitted one thing: “I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man” (Acts 23:14-16). Paul admitted that he was part of what these Jews were calling a sect. But he made it clear that he was worshiping the God of the Jewish fathers. He testified again to the resurrection – the key hope of the gospel.

 

Although Paul did not mention Jesus Christ in these words, he made it so that anyone wanting to know more would hear Jesus’ name in the answers. “What do you mean, Paul, that you’re a follower of the Way?” Paul: “Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” // “What agrees with the Law and the Prophets, Paul?” Paul: “Jesus Christ fulfills the Law and the Prophets.” // “What is your hope in the resurrection about, Paul?” Paul: “Jesus Christ rose from the dead and promises that those who repent of their sins and confess Him as Lord will rise to eternal life, too.” Paul’s answers were all about Jesus – and this was what he was glad to admit, even while on trial!

 

Father, even when it seems dangerous, even when following Jesus is part of the prosecutor’s accusation in a criminal trial, may I be happy to admit my allegiance to Your Son. Jesus is the King! You have exalted Him! He is the Way—to You, to righteousness, to glory, to eternal life! He is the fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures, the One You promised all along! He is the basis for the certainty of our hope that we will one day rise to life and live with You forever! Thank You for Jesus Christ! He is worth more than everything.

 

Sometimes People Make Stupid Promises: Acts 23:12-35

    The next morning the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty men were involved in this plot. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here."

 

    But when the son of Paul's sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.

 

    Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him." So he took him to the commander.

    The centurion said, "Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you."

 

    The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, "What is it you want to tell me?"

 

    He said: "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. Don't give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request."

 

    The commander dismissed the young man and cautioned him, "Don't tell anyone that you have reported this to me."

 

    Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, "Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. Provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix."

 

    He wrote a letter as follows:

 

Claudius Lysias,

 

To His Excellency, Governor Felix:

 

Greetings.

 

    This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.

 

    So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, he said, "I will hear your case when your accusers get here." Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod's palace.

 

Sometimes people make stupid promises.

 

Stupid promises happen when people think they have more power, influence, and control than they do. Stupid promises are often the result of faulty passions and desires. Most of all, stupid promises are made when people aren’t listening to God.

 

That’s what happened to these men who promised to kill Paul. Actually, they promised not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. There were forty of them, and they had a plan. It seemed like a good plan for killing Paul. There was just one problem: They couldn’t overpower or outwit God.

 

God used simple, ordinary methods to keep Paul safe. Paul’s nephew overheard the plan. He told Paul. Then he told the commander of the Roman soldiers. And the commander sent Paul, heavily guarded, out of harm’s way with a letter commending him as a “Roman citizen” who had not done anything that “deserved death or imprisonment.”

 

Paul was safe. His accusers now had to go inconveniently out of their way to bring their case against Paul. And Paul would have the opportunity to present the gospel to the Roman governor. All because God worked to overcome a stupid promise.

 

We aren’t told how many of those men kept their vow. Personally, I hope they saw God’s mighty power working against them and repented before their Lord and Christ.

 

Father, I know what it is like to get really worked up and angry over the things other people say and do. But this is a great reminder that my anger can easily lead to foolishness, stupidity, and unrighteousness. Please guard my heart against anger. May I bring the things that trouble me to You and to Your Word. Guide me through Your Word and through Your Spirit to know how to respond. May I never find myself in the position of fighting against You. When I make promises, may I gladly subject them to Your will, and seek to make only promises I think You will carry out through me. And when I’m wrong, may I repent. You are so forgiving! Thank You that You protect Your servants.

 

Our Hope, a Pharisee's Hope - Acts 22:30-23:11

    The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.

 

    Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"

 

    Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?"

 

    Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: `Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.' "

 

    Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead." When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)

 

    There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.

 

    The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."

 

Paul was still trying to convince the Jews that his own cause was Jewish and that he had nothing but the highest reverence and respect for the Jewish God. Given the opportunity by the Roman commander to speak before the Sanhedrin, the first words out of his mouth were, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”

 

Despite the fact that he had persecuted Christians, this was true. Paul had lived his whole life doing what he believed would please God – when he was persecuting Christians, he was just wrong about what made God happy. But Paul had lived by his conscience before God all his life… as a Jew.

 

When he was struck, he appealed to God. When others corrected him for speaking against the high priest, he agreed that he would not have done so knowingly, appealing to Scripture. Through and through, Paul was a Jew.

 

But even Jews did not all believe the same things. Paul had a particular type of Jewish hope and faith: he was a Pharisee. He believed in the resurrection of the dead, as well as in angels and spirits. Even after becoming a Christian, Paul was a Jewish Pharisee in his beliefs – because their beliefs were right!

 

Can you imagine being a Christian without believing in the resurrection? That is a belief that has come down to us from the Pharisees. Our hope, of course, is more certain than theirs was because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead already. But we have this Pharisaical belief in the resurrection of the dead. And Paul said that it was this belief that got him into trouble and put him on trial (Acts 23:6). It was this hope that would take him all the way to Rome!

 

This belief the Pharisees have passed down to us, this belief that the dead will one day be raised to life again, is worth dying for. Even if we die, we will rise! What hope we have because Jesus Christ not only died, but rose to lead us into eternal life! I can’t wait to see my King return and to meet Him in the air! I can’t wait to enjoy a perfect new world in a perfect new body with perfect thoughts and words in perfect harmony with others! I’ll suffer anything in this life—anything—because Jesus has promised us a resurrection.

 

Father, thank You for this belief in the resurrection. Thank You that You have revealed it to us, and that we can trust You. Thank You that Your Son Jesus Christ has risen from the grave. Thank You that we who die in Him will also rise with Him – that He is only the firstfruits of Your resurrection harvest, and that I can be included, too. Everything is worth enduring for that bright promise!

 

Earthly Perks: Acts 22:23-29

    As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the commander ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and questioned in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?"

 

    When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "This man is a Roman citizen."

 

    The commander went to Paul and asked, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?"

    "Yes, I am," he answered.

 

    Then the commander said, "I had to pay a big price for my citizenship."

    "But I was born a citizen," Paul replied.

 

    Those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

 

In some ways, we’re supposed to count our earthly lives as worthless compared to the surpassing greatness of the heavenly lives we’ve been given (Philippians 3:8). Actually, that pretty much goes for everything about our earthly lives. Everything is fading, it is passing away, it is worthless, and in the end it means nothing.

 

But the things we have on earth are still blessings from God. We can still enjoy them and their benefits.

 

Paul was known for getting beat up. Left for dead. Thrown in prison. Sometimes it seems as though every time he opened his mouth, people imagined him saying, “Hit me hard.”

 

And he endured it. He even said that he delighted in these painful trials, because they made Christ’s power more evident (2 Cor. 12:10).

 

But that did not mean that Paul’s aim was to get flogged. He didn’t have some sort of twisted need to be beaten and stoned. It wasn’t as if he woke up every day saying, Let’s see how I can get people to hurt me today. Even though his pains and persecutions proved Christ’s strength, Paul didn’t think that Christ would be less glorious if he managed to avoid a beating. He accepted earthly goods from God as blessings, and he took advantage of them at times.

 

Like here. Paul happened to be a Roman citizen. Did he value his Roman citizenship as much as his heavenly citizenship? No way! He would gladly have given up his Roman citizenship to be a citizen of heaven. But God had blessed Paul with a Roman citizenship from birth. And in this situation, it came in handy. It helped Paul avoid an unnecessary beating.

 

The Roman soldiers wanted to find out from Paul why the Jews were upset with him. They thought that beating and interrogating Paul was the way to find out. But the Jews were upset with Paul because he stood for Jesus Christ and the gospel. Paul was more than happy to share Jesus and the gospel with the Romans. They didn’t need to beat him to find out why he drove the Jews crazy. So Paul used the earthly blessing God had given him – Roman citizenship – to avoid an unnecessary earthly pain.

 

Father, thank You that You haven’t reserved all our perks for heaven. Thank You that here on earth You also give Your children good and helpful things. Thank You that You don’t expect us to walk through every day in a living nightmare, constantly suffering and broken. Thank You that You give us earthly perks – food, shelter, family, friends, cars, phones, computers, citizenship in our countries – all kinds of things that make our lives easier. Help us to enjoy these blessings and to take advantage of them when we can. And help us also to see clearly when these things are getting in the way of our relationship with You. Help us to treasure You so much more highly than any of these earthly blessings that we willingly give them up to follow You. You are the greatest blessing among the many You have given us. I love You.

 

Anti-Semitism? Or Anti-Gentilism?

Acts 21:37-22:22

 

    As 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. "Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?"

 

    Paul answered, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people."

 

    Having 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: "Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense."

 

    When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.

    Then 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. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, as 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.

 

    "About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, `Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'

 

    " `Who are you, Lord?' I asked.

    " `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.

 

    " `What shall I do, Lord?' I asked.

    " `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.

 

    "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. He stood beside me and said, `Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.

 

    "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. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'

 

    "When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking. `Quick!' he said to me. `Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'

 

    " `Lord,' I replied, `these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. And 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.'

 

    "Then the Lord said to me, `Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.' "

 

    The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!"

 

I hate it when Christians are accused of anti-Semitism. We believe in a Jew, for goodness sake!

 

Of course, there have been believers with misguided hearts who have been anti-Semitic. But it was not this way from the beginning. Look at Paul!

 

Paul was in Jerusalem, trying to show the Jews how much he loved them. In the midst of this, they drag him from the temple and beat him, intending to kill him. This Jewish believer was rescued from the hands of the Jews only because a Gentile army commander intervened.

 

But as the Roman forces pulled Paul to safety, he still wanted to reconcile with the Jews. Paul loved the Jews enough to seek peace, even in those moments right after they had tried to beat him to death!

 

Everything Paul said to the Jews that day affirmed that he cared for them. “I am a Jew” (22:3), “brought up in this city” (22:3), “I persecuted the followers of this Way” (22:4), “Who are you, Lord?” (22:8), “What shall I do, Lord?” (22:9), “‘Get up,’ the Lord said” (22:9), “he was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there” (22:12), “The God of our fathers” (22:14), “wash your sins away, calling on his name” (22:16), “I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple” (22:17), and “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these men know…’ (Acts 22:19-20). Paul identified with the Jews, and even appealed to God to stay among them.

 

It was God who sent Paul to the Gentiles. Paul didn’t go to them on his own initiative. And God wasn’t anti-Semitic.

 

I find it enlightening that the Jews were willing to listen to Paul as he told them that Jesus was their Christ. They were willing to listen as he told them that their God directed Paul away from Jerusalem because they, the Jews, would not accept Paul’s testimony. They stopped listening when Paul said that their God sent him to the Gentiles.

 

From the beginning of Christianity, it was not the Christians who rejected the Jews; it was the Jews who rejected the Christians. They rejected the Christians largely because Christ opened heaven’s doors to Gentiles (though they had been rejecting their Jewish Christ already). Even today, our thoughts and prayers for the Jews should be inclusive. We should pray that they will follow their own God and join us in His kingdom, and that hatred of the Gentiles will no longer keep them out.

 

Father, please bring the Jews to Your Son Jesus Christ! And please help Christians not to be angry with them for rejecting us so often. Help us to keep hoping for them and loving them. Help us to be thankful for them as a people through whom You have come to us. May there truly be “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). May that peace extend to as many as possible, Gentile and Jew.

 

Despite Good Intentions.

Acts 21:15-36

 

    After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. Some 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.

 

    When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

 

    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. 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. What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. Take 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. 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."

 

    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.

 

    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, shouting, "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." (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)

 

    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. 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. 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.

 

    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. 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. When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Away with him!"

 

It’s so frustrating when you’re trying to take steps to avoid trouble, and then it finds you anyway.

 

That’s the situation Paul was in when he returned to Jerusalem. He met with James and the Jewish church leaders, who rejoiced with him because of the wonderful things God had done among the Gentiles.

 

But because Paul’s work had been done among the Gentiles, and because he had carried to the Gentiles the liberating message that salvation did not come by following the Law of Moses, James and the elders were concerned. Too many Jews, both believers and unbelievers, thought that Paul had forsaken the Law and had given up hope in his God-honoring Jewish heritage. Paul needed to take steps to show people that He was still living as a Jew. So they came up with a plan to help Paul show his Jewishness.

 

And in the midst of carrying out the plan, people’s misconceptions about Paul got in the way. The Asian Jews recognized Paul and stirred up Jerusalem, falsely accusing Paul of bringing a Gentile into the temple area and actually teaching against Jews, the Law, and the temple. Paul would have been beaten to death if the Roman commander had not come and rescued him from the mob.

 

Father, help me to remember that in this sinful world I cannot make everyone happy. I can’t even make everyone understand me and my intentions. I may be falsely accused and taken to the chopping block without a chance for reconciliation. Because men are so sinful, so prone to misunderstandings and snap judgments, so hostile when feeling threatened, there is no way to guarantee that I can please them. There is no way to make sure that men are happy with me, even when they ought to be. Humanity is fickle. But You are not. You know all things, even the secret things of my heart. And Christ has died on the cross to justify me and other believers in Your eyes, so I never need to fear Your anger. You are constant and righteous and fair. May I always aim to please You, because You have guaranteed through Jesus Christ that You will be pleased with me. Above all others, You are worthy of my best intentions and efforts. Make me faithful to You. And let men’s chips fall where they may.

 

Acts 21:1-14

    After 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. We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. After 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. Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. But 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. After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

 

    We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

 

    After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming 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.' "

 

    When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Then 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." When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."

 

Luke really spends some time setting the stage for Paul’s trouble in Jerusalem. Emotional farewells, a steady march toward Jerusalem, Spirit-given warnings.

 

The Spirit-given warnings are the most confusing part of this whole thing. Paul is sure that the Holy Spirit is leading him to Jerusalem, even though he has misgivings about what will happen there (Acts 20:22). But in Tyre the disciples “through the Spirit… urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem” (21:4). And in Caesarea, Agabus gave Spirit-initiated details of what would happen to Paul in Jerusalem (21:10-11). Again, not only the disciples there, but also his traveling companions begged Paul not to continue to Jerusalem.

 

There were so many Christians against this journey. And Luke affirms that their misgivings and concerns were guided by the Spirit! There’s no attempt to say that they were being unspiritual or deceitful in their efforts to keep Paul from Jerusalem. Was Paul hearing something different from what they were hearing?

 

No. Paul, too, had misgivings and knew he was likely to face trials (20:22-23). But yes, Paul heard something from the Spirit that the other believers could not hear precisely because they were not Paul: Paul heard the Spirit’s clear call on his life (again, Acts 20:22): “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem.” The Spirit had not commanded Paul to go to Jerusalem through other believers; He had given Paul a personal and compelling assurance that He wanted Paul in Jerusalem.

 

How reassuring! With all the believers, including Paul, receiving messages from the Spirit that Paul would face danger in Jerusalem, Paul could have experienced tremendous misgivings. He could have understood all these messages as warnings, intended by God to tell him to avoid Jerusalem at all costs. But because the Spirit had personally compelled Paul to go to Jerusalem, the warnings instead served to prepare Paul. The Holy Spirit was giving Paul a prep talk for battle: “Paul, in Jerusalem you will be bound and handed over to the Gentiles. But I know this, and I am calling you there anyway. Go now, and you will receive further instructions when you need them.”

 

Father, thank You that Paul received His call and instructions from You. He could hear other people’s Spirit-given warnings and still follow the course You gave Him because YOU gave it to him, and Paul didn’t have to wonder about that. Help me and all of us who follow You still. Help us to hear Your instructions for our lives clearly, and help us to be assured they are from You. No matter what frustrations, pains, and trials we hear we will face as we follow Your lead, strengthen our resolve. Give us courage. Because we have heard from You, may we know what to do and do it.