“Acts 21: Paul’s Arrest”

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Paul and his companions, after leaving the city of Miletus, sail to Cos, Rhodes, Patara, Cyprus and Syria before landing at Tyre. Finding disciples there, they stay for seven days. (Notice that the church at Tyre had men, women and children.)

Next, they travel to Ptolemais where they spend one day with the brethren and then continue on to Caesarea. At Caesarea, they stay with the godly family of “Philip the evangelist.” Our last discussion of Philip goes all the way back to Acts 8.

A prophet from Judea, named Agabus, comes to Caesarea and predicts that, if Paul goes to Jerusalem, he will be arrested and delivered to the Gentiles (Romans). Paul insists that he is willing not only to be arrested, but to die for the Lord. That is total commitment, a complete surrender of his life to God. The Lord expects and deserves nothing less from every disciple, including you and me. See Mark 12:28-30.

When the group (including Luke; remember the “we”) comes to Jerusalem, Paul meets with the elders of the church and gives them many details about his work among the Gentiles. While they “glorified the Lord” for the good news, they were also concerned about the perception that Paul was teaching Jews “to forsake Moses,” including circumcision and other Jewish customs. Paul helps to pay the expenses of four men who have taken a vow (verses 23-26) as proof that he still respects Moses and Jewish tradition.

Some Jews from Asia stir up the multitude with an accusation that Paul had taken a Gentile, Trophimus the Ephesian, into the temple. The charge is false, but many people believe that Paul is guilty. (We should learn from that to always hear all the facts before we make a decision about a person’s guilt or innocence.)

Paul is about to be beaten to death, when a Roman commander, Claudius Lysias (Acts 23:26), hears the uproar and come in to rescue him. The apostle asks for permission to speak to the assembled multitude and begins to do so, in the Hebrew language, as Chapter 22 begins.

--Roger Hillis

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