AP

Studies in Acts

Jews and Gentiles in Christ (Acts 21:17-26)

About twenty-five years before this time, the Lord called Paul to be an apostle. At the cost of much affliction and suffering, he had proclaimed the gospel from Syria to Greece. Meanwhile, a 25 year-long interim of grace had also passed that God had granted to Jerusalem after the crucifixion of his Son. As we now know, they would have another 15 years yet to repent. Because they regrettably had refused to do so, in the year AD 70 God had the city and temple destroyed by the Romans. But as gracious and patient as God is, before this happened, he allowed Paul to proclaim once more the facts about Jesus Christ, in the hope that they would yet repent. We have already seen how the Spirit of Jesus had prepared Paul, saying that chains and persecution awaited him in Jerusalem. Nine days after his arrival, this prophecy began to be fulfilled, with an imprisonment that would last at least four years.

Visit to James and the elders (Acts 21:17-20a)

Luke devotes almost seven chapters—one-fourth of his book—to the testimony that Paul the prisoner was to give before “Gentiles, kings, and Israelites” (Acts 9:15). Evidently, he considered this very important in terms of the purpose of his book.  

Jews embrace Gentiles

When it became known that Paul had arrived in Jerusalem and was lodging with Mnason, many church members stopped by to greet him. This show of Christian love, so shortly before his arrest, surely did him good. A week later a raging mob would be crying out, “Away with him!” (Acts 21:36). The next day he and his travel companions went to James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, who occupied a prominent place in the church in Jerusalem. All the elders of this large church were also present during this visit. This must have been a touching meeting! James and the elders saw Paul once again after years had passed, accompanied by eight fellow workers and representatives of Gentile Christian churches that he was used to establish.

The gathering began with mutual greetings, according to Eastern custom. The Jewish Christians embraced Luke, Timothy, Trophimus, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, and Tychicus. Except for Timothy, they were all uncircumcised Gentile believers. With their kiss of peace, they were acknowledging these converted Gentiles as full “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). And the non-Jewish believers brought to the representatives of the “mother church” in Jerusalem the greetings of their Gentile Christians churches. They knew that the gospel had come to them from this “Zion,” as Isaiah had prophesied (Isaiah 2:3).

The deputation of the Greek and Macedonian churches handed over the collection for the needy brothers and sisters in Judea. Corinthian dock workers had parted with hard-earned copper coins, and wealthy slave owners like Philemon had given gold coins. With this they were demonstrating in a remarkable way that the churches were connected by a tight bond of faith and love. To strengthen this Spirit-given bond, Paul had worked especially hard for this collection. He had pointed the donors to the fact that as former pagans they were indebted to the Jewish recipients (Romans 15:27). He had even postponed his visit to Rome for this and had arranged the long trip from Corinth to Jerusalem to bring it.

The Jews praise God for the salvation of the Gentiles

Paul told them in detail what God, not he, had accomplished through his ministry among the Gentiles in Galatia, Phrygia, Asia, Macedonia, and Greece, which Luke summarizes for us in 18:23-21:16. When they heard all of this, the Jewish brothers praised and worshipped God. They themselves continued to observe the Law of Moses, but they rejoiced in the conversion of so many Gentiles. They had no difficulty accepting these uncircumcised believers with their non-Jewish lifestyle as brothers and sisters in Christ. They would certainly have praised God on account of the enormous contribution that the converted Gentiles had gathered for the poor. Some awkwardness may well have remained on the part of some Jewish believers. Therefore, before his journey to Jerusalem, in his letter to the Romans, he had asked: “Strive together with me in your prayers on my behalf, . . . that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints” (Romans 15:30-31). Fortunately, this fear was put to shame!

For the sake of peace and unity, Paul is a Jew to the Jews (Acts 21:21b-26)

Paul’s third apostolic journey had demanded the utmost of his strength. A well-deserved period of rest was not in store for him, however. Immediately upon his arrival, he was once again caught up in ecclesiastical difficulties. These would become the occasion for his arrest.

Jerusalem: a large, still law-observant church

Paul’s arrival presented the leadership of Jerusalem with a serious problem. “You see, brother,” they said, “how many thousands of Jews have come to faith in Messiah Jesus. Except, all of them are zealous about the Law. According to them, Jewish Christians should strictly observe the Mosaic prescriptions about circumcision, Sabbaths, the temple ministry, kosher food, and everything related to these things, such as interaction with Gentiles. Years ago, Stephen had proclaimed in Jerusalem that Messiah Jesus had fulfilled the Law and the temple, but they had not yet understood. They were as yet unable to enjoy the freedom they possessed in Christ.”

By holding firmly to the ancient customs, they were in fact storing new wine in old wineskins (Luke 5:37). Their faith was still “weak” (Romans 14:1), it was not yet what it could and should be. This need not surprise us. They were still living entirely in the transition phase from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The Law of Moses had directed Israel’s life for twelve hundred years or more. It was impossible to teach thousands of church members, including newly converted Jews, to make a complete about face now that they were free. Also, the temple activities were still in operation.

As long as “the abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15) was not yet visible, the early Jewish Christians did not break abruptly with what Jesus had called “my Father’s house.” The apostles had not condemned the Jewish believers who were still unable to let go of the ceremonies of the Law. They themselves went to the temple and observed the Jewish times of prayer (Acts 2:46; 3:1). Even the apostle Peter dared to enter the home of a Gentile only after he had received a heavenly vision. Church members could hardly be blamed for their slowness to understand (Acts 10:1; 11:3). Transition periods are always difficult. The Lord was patient toward believers who did not immediately stop observing the Jewish laws. Therefore, Paul used his apostolic authority to warn people to exercise patience toward those who were “weak in the faith” (Romans 14:1-23), and he accepted the interim situation in Jerusalem. People must especially avoid forcing the situation and must not impose on fellow believers. Everything that was permissible was not thereby mandatory. In a few years, the destruction of the temple would automatically bring an end to all these difficulties.

Fear of unrest due to Paul’s visit

How would those thousands of law-observant church members in Jerusalem react to Paul’s stay in their midst? They were told, after all that Paul led the Jews living abroad among Gentiles to depart from the Law, that he supposedly taught that whoever believes in Messiah Jesus is no longer bound to its prescriptions. According to Paul, they did not need any longer to have their newborn sons circumcised, and they should break from the ancient Jewish customs.

This last item was pure slander: Paul had proclaimed only that observing the Law was no longer necessary to be saved. Converted Gentiles therefore should not be required to observe the Law. But he had never forbidden Jewish believers from continuing with that observance. This had been their manner of life ever since the days of Moses. On Moses’ authority, Israel had not eaten the meat of pigs or rabbits. Now they were permitted to eat it, but they were not thereby obligated to eat it. Now on the Sabbath they were permitted to work but were not obligated to work. Messiah-believing Jews were allowed to continue holding their services on the Sabbath. According to Paul, all such Mosaic customs were not suddenly forbidden. Nor according to the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1-29). As long as people did not claim that God was still requiring this! In Christ Jesus, circumcision makes no difference (1 Corinthians 7:18-19; Galatians 5:6; 6:15). As long as Messiah-believing Jews did not turn this into a condition for salvation, they may continue having their newborn sons circumcised. Paul himself used that Christian liberty to have Timothy circumcised (Acts 16:3) but defended that same liberty by not having Titus circumcised (Galatians 2:3).

Many Jews in the diaspora had probably not broken with some of their ancient Jewish customs after their conversion. For no matter how evangelical God’s good Law was, it had often been an oppressive yoke as well (Acts 15:10). But now that these Jews were standing in the liberty of Christ, they had put off this yoke with relief (Galatians 5:1). In this way, living, working, doing business in a Gentile environment had become so much easier for them. Law-observant Jews or even Jews inclined to Judaizing, who had contact with such “liberated” Jews, could have spread the evil rumour that Paul had incited them to break with the Mosaic ordinances.

We do not get the impression that James and the other Jewish brothers lent any credence to the rumours about Paul or condemned his preaching (cf. v. 25). They were somewhat law observant, but by no means bloodthirsty Judaizers. Otherwise, they would not have greeted so warmly the uncircumcised delegates from the Greek Macedonian churches. Their problem, then, involved not Paul’s doctrine, but the Jewish mores and customs. With that in view, they were afraid that Paul’s presence would cause great consternation, both among church members and the many pilgrims who were in the city to observe Pentecost. Their question at this point was: “What now? How do we refute those allegations?”

The proposal of James and the elders

They gave no command to Paul, but made a proposal, whereby he could with a clear conscience promote the unity and peace of the church in Jerusalem. They had four church members who had taken a Nazirite vow. They had promised that for a specific period they would devote themselves to God in a priestly manner. During that period, they were not to cut their hair, not to use anything from the vineyard, and not defile themselves with any corpse (Numbers 6:14-15). Afterward they were allowed to have their long hair cut and thrown into the flames of the sacrificial fire. Thereby, according to the Law, they were released from their vow. Apparently these four men were so poor that they themselves could not pay the required sacrificial offering. In such a case, it would be considered a good and pious deed for someone else to pay their offering amount. If Paul were to do that, he would perform the entire concluding stage of their Nazirite vow! To do that, he would first have to be ceremonially purified by the priest.

All of this would naturally be observed in the forecourt by church members. Which was precisely the intention of the proposal. Many would see how Paul was sprinkled with the water of ceremonial cleansing and participated in the ceremonies with which the Nazirite vow of the four brothers was completed. In this way, the entire church would soon hear that Paul was not the godless despiser of the Law that he had been made out to be, but still cherished deep respect for it. James and the elders testified emphatically that they were not opposing what they had decided at the Jerusalem Council: Gentile Christians did not need to observe the Law of Moses. They were required in their interaction with the Jews only to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from meat that still contained blood, from consuming blood, and from sexual immorality (Acts 15:19-20). The Christian freedom from the Law continued to be acknowledged. Paul could depend upon that. The proposal of the elders served only to keep the peace among the Jewish Christians. They did not yet dare to use that freedom, because their faith was still too weak for that.

Paul’s compliance

At that point, the apostle did not dispute with these law-observing brothers by using an extremely consistent and straightforward appeal to the gospel, so that he would have turned that position into yet another law. On the contrary, he was meek and very accommodating toward them, and willingly accepted their well-intentioned request. As long as the truth of the gospel was not at stake, he could accept a lot for the sake of peace and unity. He had earlier awakened the church in Rome and Corinth to this compliant attitude toward the “weak” (Romans 14:1-15; 1 Corinthians 8; 10:23-11:1). By the same principle he had Timothy circumcised for the sake of the Jews (16:3). He powerfully defended Christian liberty from the Law against its opponents, but without going to the other extreme of becoming a slave to that liberty. In fact, had not the Master himself, who was full of meek wisdom (James 3:13), also displayed this accommodating attitude? Although as the Son of God, he was freed from paying the temple tax, he told his disciples: “Just pay it, in order not to give offense to them” (Matthew 17:24-27).

Paul understood this wisdom: “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

Paul acted according to this maxim in Jerusalem. He promised the four brothers that he would pay the settlement costs of their Nazirite vow. But to be able to function in the temple as their sponsor, he first had to be sprinkled by a priest with purification water, presumably to become ceremonially clean from his contact with the Gentiles. The Law of Moses did not prescribe that; the Law prescribed this sprinkling only after coming into contact with a corpse (Numbers 19:12, 20). He also gave notice when he himself had been sanctified and the vow of the four men was performed, so that for each of them the requisite sacrifice could be brought. Paul would have viewed those sacrifices as “after-the-fact sacrifices,” pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ who had fulfilled them and rendered them superfluous.

Questions:

What are some of the issues that Christians may have to deal with today that could offend fellow-Christians?

What should we do when we are maliciously slandered?

– Alida Sewell