Acts: The Expansion of the Church
Session 13
Estimated reading time: 25 minutes
Trouble in Jerusalem
This chapter, which I have entitled, “Trouble In Jerusalem” takes place at the end of Paul’s third missionary journey. We find him traveling to Jerusalem to bring the donations he had collected through various cities he had visited while on this journey. He had some motivation for why he wanted to bring it there and what he wanted to accomplish by going to Jerusalem.
However, we will see in this section, he may or may not have been doing God’s will in traveling to Jerusalem at this particular time. This is the topic we will explore in this chapter.
The people who are with Paul are Trophimus who is from Ephesus, Luke whom we have met before, and Aristarchus, who is from Thessalonica. These three are his companions on his journey to Jerusalem. We will begin in Acts 21 and verse 17.
Acts 21:17–19 APNT
And when we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.
And the next day we went in with Paul to James, as all of the elders were with him.
And we greeted them and Paul was narrating to them in order all that God had done among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Notice the “we.” “When we arrived at Jerusalem.” Remember, the “we” sections indicates that Luke is with Paul. “And we greeted them.” Then Paul relayed to them what had been happening with the Gentiles and all the wonderful things God had done and has been doing.
Acts 21:20 APNT
And after they heard, they praised God and said to him, “Our brother, you see how many thousands there are in Judea who have believed and all of these are zealots of the law. Now it was said to them about you, that you are teaching that all of the Judeans who are with the Gentiles should break away from Moses, saying that they should not circumcise their children and they should not walk in the customs of the law.
This is James and the elders who are speaking to Paul and Luke. Probably Aristarchus is there also. They were saying there are many believers in Jerusalem who were zealous of the law. The Aramaic says, “zealots of the law.” A zealot is “someone who admires or imitates or has a great zeal or enthusiasm for.” These believers had enthusiasm for the law. Many of the believers in Jerusalem were Judeans who were very zealous for the law from the very beginning. They had converted and become Christians, but they continued practicing the law: celebrating the feasts, bringing offerings, and many of the other customs. Because so many people continued to practice the law, they did not think it was anything unusual. Now, they were hearing stories about the Gentiles coming to believe and Paul was not requiring them to be circumcised. Which, if you recall, from the chapter concerning the council in Jerusalem from Acts 15; they met and decided, the Gentiles did not need to be circumcised. They did not need to follow anything except not eat things strangled or mixed with blood: the four things they had told them they should do. The entire council of Jerusalem had not been about whether or not the Jews should continue to be circumcised or what the Jewish Christians should do. That was not an issue to them. It was assumed they were to continue practicing the law. When Paul came in, he brought a different view; rumors of which they had been hearing, for five or six years. As a result, the people had many questions, including James who also had many questions. We will continue and see what happens.
Acts 21:22–24 APNT
Therefore, because they have heard that you have come here,
do what we tell you. We have four men who have made a vow to be purified.
Lead them and go, be purified with them and pay the expenses with them, as they will shave their heads. And it will be known to everyone that what is said about you is false and [that] you fulfill and keep the law.
Verse 22 in the King James reads, “What is it therefore?” In other words, “What is it?” or “What should we do about this?” In answer to this dilemma, James devises a plan for Paul to pay the expenses with four other men and do a vow that lasts for seven days. At the end of the seven days, they would shave their heads to show they had completed the vow. In a sense, this would not have been unusual for a Jewish Christian who would be comfortable doing a vow such as this. It was not an unusual thing. It was, however, somewhat unusual for Paul. He had been circulating and spending most of his time for approximately 20 years with Gentile Christians who were not celebrating the feasts or performing vows, or other Jewish traditions.
He had also spent quite a bit of time with Jewish Christians who had gotten born again, for example, in Antioch of Pisidia and many other places along his travels. There were Jewish Christians who were born again as well; but this was an extremely unusual thing for him to do a vow. Nevertheless, he agreed to do this. We will explore later why he agreed to James; plan. This is simply some background.
Acts 21:25–27 APNT
Now about those who believed of the Gentiles, we have written that they should be keeping themselves away from that which is sacrificed and from fornication and from [that which] is strangled and from blood.” (Here are the four things. “We are not worried about the Gentiles. We are concerned about the Jewish Christians and how they are going to perceive you coming into our town.”)
Then Paul took these men the next day and was purified with them.”
(Apparently, he did not have a problem going along with this idea and must have agreed it was probably a good idea to help mitigate the conflict that would arise when the people heard he was in Jerusalem.) And he entered [and] went into the temple, informing them [of] the completion of the days of purification, until the offering of each one of them was offered.
And when the seventh day arrived, (Here comes the trouble.) the Judeans who were from Asia saw him in the temple and incited all of the people against him and they laid hands on him,
It is very important to notice this was not the Jewish Christians who incited the people against Paul. It was not James nor the elders either. There was not anybody from Jerusalem who incited the people. It was the Jews who were from Asia. Remember, Ephesus is located in Asia. Paul had recently stirred up that massive riot in Ephesus because of the conflict with the silversmiths and their loss of income from the amulets to the goddess Artemis (Diana). Because of this, he was forced to leave Ephesus. Trophimus, who was with him, was from Ephesus. We will see this is why they became so agitated.
Acts 21:28–29 APNT
(The, Jews who were from Asia, were…) crying out and saying, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is against our own people, teaching in every location against the law and against this place. And he has also brought Arameans(or Grecians) into the temple and defiled this holy place.”
For previously they had seen Trophimus, an Ephesian, with him in the city, and were supposing that he had entered the temple with Paul.
For clarity, it was against Jewish law for Gentiles to enter the court that only belonged to Israel. In the synagogue, there was a court of the Gentiles which was outside in the temple and then the court of Israel. In fact, there was a short wall about five feet tall with signs posted periodically stating that no Gentile could go past that point without penalty of death.
In addition, anyone who brought a Gentile into the court of Israel would be immediately put to death. That is how strict it was. Understanding this, Paul would never even have considered bringing Trophimus into the court of Israel. It was simply the fact they had seen them together in the city, even associating together, that was enough to infuriate the Jewish people who came from Asia. As a result, very similar to what happened in Ephesus, they cause a big mob scene. However, this becomes even more serious.
Acts 21:30–31 APNT
And the city was stirred up and all of the people were gathered. And they took hold of Paul and dragged him outside of the temple and immediately the gates were shut. (This was serious!)
And as the crowd was seeking to kill him, it was reported to the chiliarch of the military guard that all of the city was stirred up.
This is a similar situation with what happened with Stephen; when the people took Stephen outside of the city and started stoning him. There was no trial. There was no going before the Senate. Nothing! It happened so suddenly. I truly believe had not the Roman chiliarach rescued Paul, he would have been killed right there. Think about what the consequences would have been if he had died at this particular point. This would have been very severe because we would not have the full revelation of the mystery. We would not have the books of Philippians, Ephesians, Philemon, Colossians, and Hebrews. There are other books we would not have. We would not have First and Second Timothy, or Titus because they had not yet been written. This event was a powerful turning point.
I want pause for a moment to explore some of the background of this event. Many people say Paul should not have gone to Jerusalem. They are very adamant about showing this. Will read some of the warnings he was given concerning what would happen in Jerusalem. Other people declare that he was doing the will of God; and they use a particular verse to explain that. Well, let’s just take a look at the warnings he did receive all along the way before he arrived in Jerusalem. We will look back to chapter 20, verse 23. We read previously about Paul stopping in Miletus as he was traveling to Jerusalem. While visiting the believers there, he told them that they would not see his face anymore. (Acts 20:25)
Acts 20:23–24 APNT
Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit witnesses in every city to me and has said, ‘Bonds and trials are prepared for you.’
But I have not counted my life [as] anything, so that I may complete my course and the ministry that I have received from our Lord Jesus, that I may witness concerning the gospel of the grace of God.
Paul was convinced in his heart that part of his ministry and what he had received from the Lord Jesus was to witness to the Jews, the Jewish Christians, as well as to the Gentiles. He saw it as both. Nonetheless, he was already saying here, before they had barely begun their travels to Jerusalem, that he had been having revelation that there was going to be trouble.
In chapter 21, Paul and his companions had landed in Tyre, which is on the border, north of Israel, on the seaside.
Acts 21:4, 8–12 APNT
And finding disciples there, we remained with them seven days and they were saying every day to Paul spiritually (by the spirit) that he should not go to Jerusalem. (Those believers are warning him.)
(When they leave Tyre) And on the next day we left and came to Caesarea.
(Who was from Caesarea? Do you remember Philip, the evangelist, was from Caesarea? Philip witnessed to the Ethiopian eunuch in Gaza. He was in Caesarea at this time.)
And we entered [and] lodged in the house of Philip the evangelist, who was [one] of the seven. (He had been one of the seven deacons.)
And he had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. (I wonder what they prophesied about. It does say, however verse 10 goes on to say…)
And while we were there many days, a certain prophet came down from Judea, whose name was Agabus.
And he came in to us and took the girdle of the loins of Paul and bound his own feet and his hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, so the Judeans in Jerusalem will bind the man [who is] the owner of this girdle and will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.”
And when we heard these words, we and the residents begged him that he would not go to Jerusalem.
It seemed very clear to the believers whom he saw as he was traveling toward Jerusalem, one by one; they were saying in various ways he should not go to Jerusalem. He was being told, first, by his own revelation. Then he was told by way of people simply warning him. Then he was told by God sending a prophet to prophesy very specifically, that he should not go to Jerusalem and why he should not go.
We will examine that prophecy for a minute, because it appears that he was going to be bound. The prophet Agabus told him the Judeans in Jerusalem would “bind the man who is the owner of this girdle and deliver him to the Gentiles.” That is very specific. He is going to be bound and he will be delivered to the Gentiles. That is different than being delivered to the Sanhedrin or to the Jews. We need to remember that.
Acts 21:13–14 APNT
Then Paul answered and said, “What are you doing, that you are weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of our Lord Jesus.”
And when he was not persuaded by us, we ceased and we said that the will of our Lord will happen.
This is the verse people use to say, by putting a comma after “ceased”, implying that it is saying, “the will of the Lord be done,” as though it was the will of the Lord for him to go to Jerusalem. It seems to be very clear. Although he was passionate about the idea of continuing to Jerusalem, despite all these warnings, once he arrived there, God would take care of him. I believe that was in his heart. It was a passionate response that he was ready to do whatever God wanted him to do. He had been so convinced in his heart that part of his responsibility was to remember the poor and bring the donation he had spent so many months collecting. He also desired to see certain things fulfilled he felt were still part of his calling and ministry to the Jews. Now we see this because Romans was written from Corinth right at the end of the third missionary journey. It had only been several months before when he wrote Romans. In Romans, we get some clues as to what his heart is about the Jews and why he feels so compelled to go to Jerusalem. So let’s look at chapter nine, verse one.
Romans 9:1–5 APNT
I am speaking [with] truthfulness in Christ and I am not lying and my mind bears witness concerning me by the Holy Spirit
that I have great sorrow and the grief that is from my heart does not cease.
For I have prayed that I myself would be cursed from Christ, instead of my brothers and my kinsmen who are in the flesh,
who are the sons of Israel, to whom belong the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the law and the service that is in it and the promises
and the fathers and from whom Christ was seen in the flesh.
He who is God who is over all, to him [be] our praises and our blessings forever and ever. Amen.
He is passionate here and saying, “I am willing to be cursed away from Christ if I do not see that my brothers and sisters who are from Israel could be saved.You can see the passion and intense desire in his heart to witness to Israel, who he feels are his family and to whom he belongs. We can look at Romans 10, verse 1.
Romans 10:1–4 APNT
My brothers, the desire of my heart and my request to God for them [is] that they would be saved.
For I testify about them that they have the zeal of God, but not with knowledge.
For they do not know the uprightness of God, but they seek to establish an uprightness of their own, and because of this, they are not subject to the uprightness of God.
For Christ is the consummation of the law for uprightness to all who believe.
At this point in his ministry, Paul had already understood that Christ was the culmination of the completion of the law. That is what he was really passionate about wanting to communicate. To do that, where would be the best place to do that? Naturally, it would have been to Jerusalem for one of the feasts. This is why he was adamantly working his way to Jerusalem to be there by Pentecost to have an opportunity to share with his fellow Israelites. There is another point. I believe another item on his agenda was to see the Gentile believers more unified with the Jewish believers so there would not be such great division between them. “Oh, we belong to Jerusalem and James and everybody else belongs to Paul.
There had been almost five to six years since the last time he had been in Jerusalem. At that time, he had fellowshipped with the believers there, but he must have seen that here was a misunderstanding on their part of what was really going on. You can see that from the questions James and the elders asked him and the things about which they had concerns. about. Because of this, I think that was another motivation for going to Jerusalem. What we area about to read is what I think he wanted to preach.
Romans 10:11–12 APNT
For the scripture said: ALL WHO BELIEVE IN HIM WILL NOT BE ASHAMED.
(All, all, both Jews and Gentiles.)
And in this it does not discriminate either against Judeans or against the heathens, for the LORD of all of them is one who is abundant with all who call on him.
For ALL WHO WILL CALL [ON] THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL HAVE LIFE.
(Be saved.)
Everyone! That was his message. I think he wanted to communicate this to all these various groups. He wanted to communicate it to the Gentiles. Absolutely, but he also wanted to communicate this to his fellow Jews because everywhere he went, he went into the synagogues and it was very difficult. There were some who believed, but not many. I think this perhaps gives us a little bit of a glimpse of his heart.
To pick up from Acts 21, when the people were beating Paul, the centurion rescued him.
You can read more of the whole story in Acts 23. The Jews, once again, were attempting to kill Paul. However, they were not able to because the centurion removed him under the protection of 200 soldiers and guards and takes him to Caesarea. At that point, he comes under the charge of Felix, who had been the procurator in Caesarea for many years. His wife was Jewish, and her name was Drusilla. There is a side note here, which I did not know. Felix and Drusilla were killed in the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in Pompeii. It was documented that she and her unborn baby were killed when the volcano erupted. I thought this was an interesting side note.
Felix decided to keep Paul bound for two years, but he is allowed to have his own hired house and the believers can come freely to talk with him. Nevertheless, he is bound with a chain and delivered to the Gentiles; then he appears before Festus and Herod Agrippa. In addition, at that time, he appealed to have his case heard by Caesar. Eventually, he does travel to Rome and appear before Caesar. However, we have his two years here. If you look over in Acts 24, you can see that he did have a lot of freedom during this time. In many ways, if you look at it, yes, he was bound, but he was also protected; because up until this time, repeatedly, the Jews wanted to kill him by any means. It goes back to when he was a Pharisee, the up and coming rising star of the Sanhedrin. For him to convert and become a Christian, they simply could not tolerate it; and the fact that he was also preaching to Gentiles was absolutely the last straw. He had been chased, so to speak, almost through every city he had visited and in which he preached. We will read on so you can get the idea of what his life was like during this time.
Acts 24:23–24 APNT
And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul at ease and that none of his associates would be forbidden to minister to him.
And after a few days, Felix and Drusilla his wife, who was a Judean, sent and called for Paul and heard from him about the faith of Christ.
Paul even had opportunities to witness to the kings and people in authority, exactly like the prophecies which had been given to him at the very beginning when he was first born again, that he would witness to Jews, Gentiles and kings. This is the fulfillment of that specific prophecy.
Acts 24:25 APNT
And while he was speaking with them about justification and about sanctification and about the judgment of the future, Felix was filled with fear. And he said, “Now go, and when I have time, I will send for you.”
Felix is a very strange character. He sent for Paul periodically for two years and listened to him but never believed. He was another one of those “hear you again about this matter people.”
Now I want to discuss Paul’s decision to travel to Jerusalem a little bit more. We can look at 2 Corinthians 12 to get greater insight into Paul’s decision to go there, in spite of being given specific and repeated revelations to the contrary. We will be looking at this section, because
2 Corinthians was also a book which Paul had written very recently. He wrote it from Macedonia at the end of the third journey. In addition, he probably wrote 2 Corinthians before he wrote Romans, because he wrote 2 Corinthians from Macedonia, and Romans was written from Corinth, but still very recent. Some of the details, if you read 2 Corinthians again, you get a completely fresh light; because you begin to realize exactly where Paul was and the place he had come to in his heart about the mystery; because the very tail end of Romans gives a little glimpse into how God had kept the mystery a secret from the foundation of the world. He began to explain it, but it was not really fully illuminated yet. We will now take a look at 2 Corinthians; I think this is the answer to whether Paul was right or wrong.
2 Corinthians 12:7–9 APNT
And so that I should not be elevated by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn to my flesh was delivered to me, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, so that I should not be elevated.
And concerning this, three times I requested from my Lord that it would go away from me.
And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ will rest on me.
Now you can go on and read a little bit more, but this is the key section that I think helps to explain what Paul was thinking. He calls something a “thorn in the flesh.” Many people have tried explaining it in various ways. Some have said it must have meant Paul was sick and had some kind of sickness or, he had poor eyesight or was battling some kind of physical malady. However, the key to understanding “thorn in the flesh” is discover how it is used in the Old Testament. In Numbers 33:55, the Canaanites were referred to in the time of Joshua as “thorns and pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides.” If the children of Israel allowed the Canaanites to remain in the land, (Which they did not kill all the Canaanites during the time of Joshua.): they became “pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides.”
I believe he is using this phrase “thorn in the flesh” in a biblical way that is referring to people. Who is the thorn in the flesh for him? The Jews: because they are constantly pursuing him. Every time something really great begins to develop, then Jews get agitated and provoke the authorities against him. He called these attacks “a messenger of Satan.” It was the Jews who are doing it, but it was motivated by demonic influence from Satan. It happened to him repeatedly. As a result he stated; “I asked God if I could be relieved of this. Three times I asked, and He said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’”
I want to examine at these phrases. “My grace is sufficient.” “Grace,” the bottom line meaning of grace is God’s goodness; and His goodness is enough. It is sufficient. That is what he was saying: “If you have my grace, you will never be lacking in anything. It will be enough.” Now, the second phrase, “for my power is perfected in weakness.” Power is the word for strength. It is that kind of strength about which I have taught before, that bores through a wall. It is like a gigantic metal borer that drives and drives right through a really thick wall. It has that kind of power and strength. God is saying my strength is completed in weakness. Paul was weak because all of the terrible things that had happened to him. His weakness was nor in a physical way, but it was that he was frail. He was battered. It is described as, he was buffeted. When you are buffeted, you are constantly beings pushed around and pushed in different directions. When you continue reading, you see all the things Paul endured. We read in the 2 Corinthians 11 about the fact that he was beaten so many times.
2 Corinthians 11:24 APNT
Of the Judeans, five times I was beaten, each time forty [lashes] lacking one.
Three times I was beaten with rods, one time I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a day and a night I was without a ship in the sea,
We do not know of all of those times and they are not all explained. We only know of a few of them. There must have been other times when he was persecuted that were not written in the book of Acts. Paul states in 2 Corinthians, 12:9 APTN: “Therefore, I will gladly boast in my weaknesses so that the power of Christ will rest on me.” I always thought that meant grace will be on him. Until recently I really thought of this passage as, God’s grace will cover no matter what is happening to Paul. If he was persecuted, it is not that you cannot get through it, because God’s grace will cover for it. However, we will examine at it a little bit more.
Those words, “power of Christ will rest on me,” the word rest can mean “to overshadow, cover, dwell, or rest.” It is the same word that was used when the angel came and announced to Mary that the Holy Spirit “will overshadow you, will rest on you,” and you will have a son. It is an Aramaic word that’s called “gen.” This word also has a Hebrew equivalent “ganan.” It means” to defend or put a shield around.” In the Eastern idea, a “gana” or a “gen” is either a garden or a shield, so “to rest on” has the idea of defense built into it.
In fact, the word “magan,” which is the word in Aramaic for “shield,” which is used in Ephesians 6 regarding “the shield of faith.” You would put up the shield, the “magan;” what surrounds and rests on you. You can take in your hand and it will quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. “Fiery darts are a very similar thing as “thorns in the flesh,” they are simply being called “fiery darts” in Ephesians. The fiery darts are coming from the evil one, from the wicked one. What do we do? We put up the shield, and that shield, using the name of Jesus Christ, using his power, resting on us, and having be sufficient for us, will allow the power of Christ comes to pass. Now we can tie this all together. In Acts 23, verse 10, Paul is in the middle of a situation where he did not know if he would live or die, and the centurion had him in custody
Acts 23:10–11 APNT
And as there was a huge uproar among them, the chiliarch was afraid lest they should tear Paul apart. And he sent Romans to go to seize him in the middle of them and bring him to the military camp.
And when it was night, (This is very early in his captivity.) our Lord appeared to Paul and said to him, “Be strengthened, (That same word, same idea: “get strength from me.”) because as you have witnessed about me in Jerusalem, so you are also going to witness in Rome.”
God gave him this vision. He also gave him another vision later that he would go to Rome. Paul needs that to hold on to. His desire to go first to Jerusalem and then to Rome would be fulfilled. He would not be killed, even while being bound with chains, he would be protected. That is actually what happened.
Paul was in custody from this time until around 62 AD, which you can see on the timeline chart. He spent time two years in Caesarea. Then it took almost a year to get to Rome because of the shipwreck which we will study in the next chapter. He then spent several years in a hired house while in Rome. People were free to come and go, and he was protected from the Jews killing him. While he was imprisoned in Rome, he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. In addition, the mystery comes to a fulcrum for him during his time in prison. We would not have those books had Paul been killed.
God did pour out his grace on Paul, and it was sufficient for him. That is how it can be for us as well. There are many, many times we make mistakes and are not doing exactly what God would have us do. Perhaps had Paul not gone to Jerusalem or not stayed in Jerusalem, this would not have happened. However, God did pour out his grace! I know he does the same thing for each one of us every day. We may not always choose the right thing, but God turns it around. The power of Christ rests on us, and we have the shield of faith to wield to quench all, ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one.
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