ARRIVAL IN JERUSALEM
Acts 21:17-26
Sunday Morning, April 21, 2024
We know the Bible “is living and active and is sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12), and that “all Scripture is inspired by God” (Second Timothy 3:16), but that does not mean that it is always easy to understand why God included certain sections in His Word. The passage we are studying in the book of Acts today is an example of one whose significance may easily be overlooked. It seems like a straightforward historic account of an apostle meeting with church officials. Just beneath the surface is a problem of a magnitude that could not be easily dismissed. And the controversy centers on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we have studied the book of Acts, we have learned something about the Apostle Paul–he was a man driven internally by the Holy Spirit to be completely committed to God’s will for his life. Earlier in the book, as Paul came to faith in Jesus Christ, God uniquely commissioned Paul to be a witness for Jesus Christ. In Acts 9:15 we read that God set Paul apart to be “a chosen instrument of His, to bear His name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.” At the time of that prophecy, it was unclear how this would happen. Now we will see God’s will unfold in Paul’s life.
Paul has now arrived in Jerusalem at the end of a long-anticipated journey. His purpose was to bring needed financial relief to the believers of Jerusalem. His hopes are that this expression of compassion from Gentile Christians will help deepen unity between them and the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem. But that will not be as easy as we might think. The year was A. D. 57 and tension in the city of Jerusalem was growing by the day. There was rising Jewish nationalism, political unrest, as well as intense hatred for the occupying Roman army and government. The Romans represented the Gentiles to the Jews and in their mind, Gentiles were there to exploit and mistreat them.
Paul, who had once been a zealous Pharisee, was now a believer and had been used by the Lord to establish Gentile churches and the Jews of Jerusalem viewed that mission with suspicion. This placed the church in Jerusalem in a difficult dilemma–they wanted to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews while also supporting outreach to the Gentiles. Paul attempted to prove that he was a loyal Jew and that outreach to Gentiles with the gospel is not anti-Jewish. Paul knew that Christ died on Calvary’s cross to create something new–that by the grace of God saves both Jews and Gentiles through His death, burial, and resurrection, and places them together into one new body called the church. The Lord “Himself is our peace who made both groups [the Jews and the Gentiles] into one and broke down the dividing wall…so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man thus establishing peace and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross” (Ephesians 3:14-15).
The Jewish Christians of Jerusalem still practiced living under the Old Testament even though they had been freed from the practices by the cross of Christ. They were obeying commandments they had followed their entire lives. One of the inducements to their Jewish lifestyle was the temple in Jerusalem. Nearly a thousand years earlier, King Solomon had constructed the magnificent temple in Jerusalem. Its beauty was beyond description. Centuries later it was destroyed by the Babylonians but was rebuilt. Herod the Great had refurbished and beautified this rebuilt temple and to the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem, it was a source of great pride and they were deeply attached to it. They failed to spiritually understand that the One greater than the temple had come and they no longer needed it nor its ceremonies.
Paul taught “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20). Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, yet the Jerusalem Christians struggled to detach themselves from those practices that were so deeply engrained in their thinking. Now Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles would be forced to face these Jewish Christians in Jerusalem and try to show them that, like themselves, the Gentiles were also saved by God’s grace and they were brothers and sisters in Christ. This was the dangerous and difficult dilemma of the church leaders in Jerusalem. Would they be able to solve this problem and avert a crisis? If asked, how would you suggest they bring these two groups together? One group completely zealous for the Law of Moses and the other utterly free in Jesus Christ–how could they be reconciled?
Today we will examine three aspects of this difficulty–an encouraging report, a discouraging problem, and finally, a positive proposal. We begin with an encouraging report.
AN ENCOURAGING REPORT. Acts 21:17-20a
A Joyful Reunion. Last week, we left Paul in Caesarea with the Christians there. The distance from Caesarea to Jerusalem is about sixty miles. When they arrived, they lodged in the home of a man named Mnason. He had been a Christian, probably from the Day of Pentecost. Mnason likely took Paul and the rest of his entourage to an informal meeting of Jerusalem believers in Jesus Christ. Paul traveled with several Gentile Christians from the churches in Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia, and the Jewish Christians received them gladly. These Gentiles were now in Jerusalem where many of the events Paul had told them about had taken place. They were likely to see the various places spoken of in the New Testament.
The Meeting with Church Leaders. The following day, Paul and his missionary team met with James and all the elders of the Jerusalem church. This was an official reception by the Jerusalem church leaders. James was the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, who became a believer after the Lord’s resurrection. Now he was the pastor of the very large ministry of the Jerusalem church. It had been several years since Paul had visited Jerusalem.
When the church began on the Day of Pentecost, the twelve apostles were the church leaders. None of the eleven remaining apostles are mentioned here most likely because they were away on missionary enterprises. Now the Jerusalem church took on the more typical form of church government, being ruled by Pastor James and the elders. Luke, who was evidently also present, did not mention any church members, so this was likely a meeting between the Jerusalem church leadership and Paul’s missionary team.
Glorifying God for His Grace Among the Gentiles. Clearly, the leaders of the Jerusalem church, Jewish Christians all, were overjoyed because of the Gentile Christians who had accompanied Paul and who had come to Jesus Christ through his ministry. Paul related to the leaders “one by one” or in detail what God had done through his ministry. He left nothing out and undoubtedly spoke to them of the churches that had been established in Ephesus, Corinth, and Philippi, as well as all the others. The Gentile Christians provided first-hand evidence of God’s saving grace and His work throughout the Roman world.
The response of the church leaders was precisely appropriate–they glorified God. To know that the truth about the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, who is Savior and Lord, had been proclaimed in Asia, Greece, and Macedonia, and that Gentiles and Jews had received Him as their personal Lord and Savior caused them to rejoice. Far from simply reciting statistics or vague generalities, Paul’s detailed report of his three missionary journeys showed it was God’s will for the gospel to spread beyond Israel to the remotest parts of the earth. Paul emphasized that these were things God had done. Paul did “not presume to speak anything except what Christ had accomplished through him, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed” (Romans 15:18). It is the mark of godliness to exalt the Lord and not ourselves. The Bible says “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (Second Corinthians 10:17).
A DISCOURAGING PROBLEM. Acts 21:20b-22
Thousands of Jewish Christians Were Zealous for the Law. As I noted in my introduction, the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem and Judea had remained devoted to the ceremonial aspects of the Law of Moses since becoming Christians. While they did not view keeping the Law as a means of either salvation or sanctification, they still observed its required feasts, Sabbath regulations, ritual vows, and dietary restrictions. Why?
First, they believed that those customs and rituals had been established by God. These were days of transition from the times of Moses’ law to the times of the church–or as Jesus called it–the times of the Gentiles. The New Testament and its doctrine were still being written and it would take more time for these Christians to realize that when Christ fulfilled the Law, that He fulfilled all of it. Second, the apostles and other church leaders in the Jerusalem church did not oppose the continuation of these practices. Jewish believers were not condemned for practicing them. In the book of Romans, Paul encouraged Gentile Christians to show tolerance for Jewish Christians and their practices. Paul put it this way, “Why do you judge your brother or why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all [Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians] stand before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10).
Gentile Christians must not have these Jewish customs imposed on them, but Jewish believers could continue observing them. However, in the space of about a decade, when the Roman army destroyed the temple, the influence of the Jerusalem church waned and the number of Jewish Christians who scrupulously maintained the entire Law declined.
False and Deceptive Information About Paul. There had already developed a group of Jews who insisted that Gentile Christians be forced to follow all of the elements of the Law of Moses or, they argued, the Gentiles could not be saved. These people were known as Judaizers and had created trouble for Paul during his missionary journeys. Now some of them had come to Jerusalem (after all it was the Feast of Pentecost). They were spreading false and deceptive information about Paul and his message. They told their lies so convincingly that many Jewish Christians believed their false report.
The Judaizers accused Paul of telling Jews who lived in Gentile lands to forsake Moses, and by that they meant Paul rejected the Old Testament. Noting the number of Old Testament references in Paul’s writings, this is completely preposterous. In their deception they accused Paul of counseling Jewish Christ parents to not circumcise their children. In Acts 16, Paul had young Timothy circumcised, so this was clearly a lie. They were also accusing Paul of telling Jewish Christians to abandon all Jewish customs. In Acts 18, Paul himself publicly followed those customs and took a vow. All of their accusations were lies.
What Is to be Done? The church leaders knew this false information would lead to trouble and once the trouble started, they would not be able to stop the chaos and confusion. The troublemakers would find out Paul had come to Jerusalem. What then could they do? A very good question that reveals a very difficult problem.
A POSITIVE PROPOSAL. Acts 21:23-26
An Attempt to Disprove the Lies. The leaders suggested that Paul demonstrate publicly his reverence for the Jewish Law. All they asked was that he identify himself with four men under a Nazarite vow, pay for their sacrifices, and be with them in the temple for their time of purification. He agreed to do it. This decision was consistent with Paul’s theology of ministry found in First Corinthians 9:19-23. If this had been a matter involving somebody’s personal salvation, you can be sure that Paul would never have cooperated; for that would have compromised his message of salvation by grace, through faith. But this was a matter of personal conviction on the part of Jewish believers who were given the freedom to accept or reject the Mosaic customs.
A Reaffirmation of Christian Doctrine. The decision of these leaders of the Jerusalem church had nothing to do with Gentile Christians. To emphasize this, they reminded Paul of the decision of the Jerusalem Council that concerned Gentile believers. Pastor James and the elders assured Paul that their proposal did not conflict with the council’s earlier decision. Paul then followed their suggestion and purified him-self with the four men. This did not conflict with Paul’s teaching that Jews and Gentiles cannot be brought under the Law to be saved. This was a matter of Jewish custom, not of salvation or of sanctification.
Paul Put the Leaders’ Plan into Action. Paul was an apostle, called and put into service by the Lord Jesus Christ. He had brought hundreds if not thousands of people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. He had founded dozens of local churches and trained a large and efficient missionary team. Yet in this circumstance, he humbly yielded to the direction of Pastor James and the elders of the Jerusalem church. The next day, he went to the temple and began the Jewish purification process. It would take a week to complete.
Paul reported to the elders of the Jerusalem church about how many Gentiles had come to faith in Jesus Christ. Each of those Gentiles who were saved, were saved in the exact same way as were the Jewish believers. They had heard a presentation of the message of the gospel and there is only one gospel. Paul wrote, “The gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which you are saved: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). This was the message Paul preached wherever he went on his journeys and it was the message men and women, boys and girls believed to be saved.
Paul called this gospel message “the word of the cross.” To the unsaved it was complete foolishness but to those who are saved, it is the power of God. When Paul preached the gospel about a crucified Savior, the thought of their Messiah dying in such humiliation was a stumbling block to the unsaved Jews. To the unsaved Gentiles, the thought of a Savior who died on the cross seemed like complete stupidity. However, rather than being an obstacle or foolishness, the cross reveals God’s great wisdom and His great power.
You see, Jesus did not stay on the cross. They took the Savior who died for our sins and put him in a tomb and then they carefully sealed Him in. Then God did something that shook this universe from one end to the other. The Jesus who died on that cross rose again and walked out of that tomb alive. That same Jesus Christ is still alive. And He has promised to come again. And so He will. Have you asked the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive your sins, redeem your soul, and grant you the gift of everlasting life? By simply trusting in Jesus Christ, He will save you by grace. Trust in Jesus right now.
Updated by Pastor Vernon Welkner, 4/22/2024
