19  Paul’s Arrival  at Jerusalem  (Acts 21:17–26)

And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And now the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. And after he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses in order that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.” Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple, giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them. (21:17–26)

The book of Acts reveals many aspects of the apostle Paul’s character. He was a powerful, clear preacher and a man of great learning and wisdom. He was bold and fearless in the face of the fiercest opposition. Possessing remarkable self-discipline and holding strong, unwavering commitments, Paul was persistent in carrying out the tasks the Lord assigned him. The apostle was also a leader who inspired others to imitate his godly life (1 Cor. 11:1). His love for the lost drove him across the Roman world, restlessly seeking new regions to evangelize (cf. Rom. 15:20). And he himself testified that his loving concern for the churches was the greatest burden he bore (2 Cor. 11:28).

Yet that description of Paul is incomplete; it lacks one essential element of his character: humility.

Paul certainly had much to boast of. He had impeccable Jewish credentials as a member of the elite Pharisees and a student of the greatest rabbi of the day Gamaliel. Further, he was “advancing in Judaism beyond many of [his] contemporaries among [his] countrymen, being more extremely zealous for [his] ancestral traditions” (Gal. 1:14; cf. Phil. 3:5–6). No wonder that Paul characterized himself to the Philippians as a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Phil. 3:5). His credentials following his dramatic conversion are no less impressive. As the “apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13; 1 Tim. 2:7), Paul spearheaded the spread of the gospel and the establishment of churches throughout the Roman world. Besides his vision on the Damascus road, he was personally visited by the resurrected, glorified Christ several other times. Paul also had the unique privilege of being “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2). And his sufferings for the cause of Christ were unmatched by anyone else (2 Cor. 11:22ff.; Gal. 6:17). He had performed all the signs of an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12) and was in no sense “inferior to the most eminent apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5).

All of the revelations he received, along with his knowledge and accomplishments, could have made Paul proud, boastful, egotistical, and arrogant. Instead, like the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 11:29), he was a gentle, gracious, humble man (2 Cor. 10:1; 1 Tim. 1:12–17). His humility can be seen clearly in this section.

The collection of the offering, which had consumed Paul for many months and endless miles of travel, was about to culminate in his long-anticipated arrival at Jerusalem. There he would present to the Jerusalem church that offering, which he had painstakingly received from the Gentile congregations of Asia Minor and Greece. Their substantial gift of love and gesture of unity would help meet the needs of the poor believers at Jerusalem and conciliate the Jewish and Gentile churches.

Paul’s last stop before Jerusalem was the port city of Caesarea. From there he and his companions “started on [their] way up to Jerusalem” (Acts 21:15), about sixty-five miles to the southeast. Travelers always went “up” to Jerusalem, since it is located on a plateau. As was customary (cf. Acts 20:38; 21:5), some of the Caesarean Christians accompanied Paul’s party to Jerusalem (21:16). Luke notes that their destination was the house of “Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom [they] were to lodge” (21:16). Mnason’s Greek name suggests that he was a Hellenistic Jew. His familiarity with Gentiles and with Greek culture was no doubt why Paul and his Gentile companions stayed with him. Mnason would have been more comfortable housing them than the more strict Palestinian Jews. Luke’s description of him as a “disciple of long standing” may mean that he was one of those converted on the Day of Pentecost. If so, he may have been one of Luke’s sources on the early days of the church.

Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem marked the end of his missionary journeys. He would soon be arrested and remain an “ambassador in chains” (Eph. 6:20) for the remainder of the period covered by Acts. This transitional passage depicts the apostle’s fellowship with the Jerusalem church and the events leading to his arrest. To capture the features of this monumental meeting, we may divide the text into three sections: communion, concern, and compromise.

COMMUNION

And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And now the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. And after he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; (21:17–20a)

Paul no doubt arrived in Jerusalem by the Day of Pentecost as he had planned (20:16). The brethren there received the apostle and his party gladly. Certainly they were pleased at the generous (2 Cor. 8:20) expression of love from the Gentile churches in the much-needed offering Paul and the others brought. But more significantly, they were overjoyed at the Gentile converts who accompanied Paul. They provided firsthand evidence of God’s gracious saving work throughout the Roman world. There was no doubt a time of warm communion.

After the initial, unofficial reception (possibly at Mnason’s house), on the following day Paul and the others went in to James, and all the elders were present. This was the official reception by the leaders of the church. The mention of James and all the elders marks a significant change in that leadership. When the church at Jerusalem began, it was ruled by the apostles (2:42; 4:35–37; 5:2). As the church grew, the apostles recognized the need for assistance with the administrative details, and seven men were chosen to serve under them (6:2–6). Elders are first mentioned in 11:30, and by the time of the Jerusalem Council they had assumed a prominent role (15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4). Now Paul and the others found the church led by the elders alone; the apostles are not mentioned. At least one was already dead—James the brother of John (Acts 12:2). The others had turned over the leadership responsibilities to the elders and left the city to engage in missionary work. Elder rule was thus being established as the New Testament pattern of church government (cf. Acts 14:23; 20:17; 1 Tim. 5:17; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Pet. 5:1, 5).

The number of those elders is not given. Some have speculated that there were seventy, paralleling the Jewish Sanhedrin. Given the enormous size of the Jerusalem church (cf. v. 20), there may have been at least that many and probably more. Just as Peter often functioned as spokesman for the apostles, James filled that role for the elders. Paul described him as having been, with Peter and John, one of the pillars of the Jerusalem church (Gal. 2:9). Significantly, following his own miraculous release from Herod’s prison, Peter had commanded the believers to “report these things to James and the brethren” (Acts 12:17). James held a recognized position of leadership even at that early date.

Strangely, Luke does not mention the presentation of the collection. In fact, except for an allusion to it in 24:17, he does not refer to it at all in Acts. We can assume, however, that it was presented and gratefully accepted.

After he had greeted the assembled elders, Paul began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. He did not couch his report in vague generalities or tedious statistics. Instead, he told them one by one (cf. Acts 11:4) of specific incidents in his missionary journeys. Nor did the apostle boast of what he had accomplished; instead, he recounted the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. As in his previous reports (14:27; 15:4, 12), Paul humbly gave all the credit and glory to God. He saw himself only as an instrument God graciously called to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (cf. Rom. 15:18; Eph. 3:8; 1 Thess. 2:4).

Paul expressed his humility in his rebuke of the hero-worshiping Corinthians. Writing to them in 1 Corinthians 3:5–7 he declared:

Later in that same letter he added, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). To the Romans he wrote, “I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed” (Rom. 15:18). It is the mark of a godly man that he exalts the Lord and not himself. “He who boasts,” wrote Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:17, “let him boast in the Lord.”

Paul’s God-centered report produced a corresponding response by the assembled elders. Instead of praising him, when they heard it, they began glorifying God. As when Peter reported the salvation of Cornelius’s household (11:18), Paul’s report produced rejoicing. (The salvation of sinners has the same effect in heaven, as Luke 15:7, 10, 32 indicate.) By glorifying God, the elders acknowledged that salvation is His work, not man’s.

CONCERN

and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.” (21:20b–22)

The joy of the Jerusalem leaders was mixed with concern. A potentially serious problem had developed, one they needed Paul’s help to resolve. They reminded their beloved brother of something he himself had observed (you see is from theōreō, which means “to perceive, discern, or reflect on”): There were many thousands (muriades, literally “myriads,” “tens of thousands”) … among the Jews … who had believed who were all zealous for the Law. The Greek text uses a noun and actually reads “zealots for the law.” These were Jewish Christians who remained devoted to the ceremonial aspects of the law. While not viewing it as a means of salvation, they still observed its required feasts, Sabbath regulations, ritual vows (v. 23), and dietary restrictions.

Why were they still clinging to the customs and rituals of the Old Covenant? First, because those customs and rituals had been established by God. Coming to faith in Jesus Christ enhanced these Jewish believers’ love for God and desire to obey Him and thus may have motivated a greater zeal for the old ceremonies.

Second, the apostles and other leaders in the Jerusalem church did not oppose the continuation of these practices. Nowhere in the New Testament are Jewish believers condemned for observing them. In fact, Paul commands tolerance for such “weaker brothers” (Rom. 14:1ff.; 1 Cor. 8–10) until they grow to understand their freedom and can use it with clear consciences. The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), while forbidding the imposition of Old Covenant rituals on Gentiles, did not prohibit Jewish believers from continuing to observe them.

God Himself was tolerant during this period of transition, knowing how difficult it was for the Jewish Christians to break with their past (see the discussion of this point in chapter 12 of this volume). He also knew that in a few years this would no longer be a dominant issue in the church. After the Jewish revolt against Rome (A.D. 66–70), which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem, the influence of the Jerusalem church waned. Christianity gradually became a predominantly Gentile faith, and other churches (such as Antioch and Alexandria) ascended to the forefront.

James and the elders then set forth the specific problem that was troubling them. They warned Paul, “The zealots for the law have been told about you that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.” This large group of zealous Jewish believers provided fertile soil for false teachers—Paul’s old nemeses the Judaizers. These bitter enemies of the gospel of grace had dogged Paul’s footsteps throughout his missionary journeys. In fact, he wrote Galatians largely to counter their dangerous false teachings. They denied that salvation is by grace through faith alone, insisting that keeping the Mosaic law was required for salvation (cf. Acts 15:1). The Jerusalem Council explicitly rejected their heretical teachings.

The phrase they have been told indicates that these troubling reports were far more than mere rumors from the Diaspora Jews (those living outside Palestine). The underlying Greek verb is katēcheō, from which the English word “catechism,” implying learning by repetition, derives. The Judaizers had literally drilled their lies about Paul into the heads of the Jewish Christians. By claiming that Paul was teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs, the Judaizers sought to destroy his credibility with the Hebrew Christian community, which still revered the Mosaic law.

The charges against Paul were unsettling for the Jerusalem church, since they dealt with issues that went to the heart of what set the Jews apart as God’s people. Further, this was

Thus, the allegations against Paul posed a serious threat to the Jerusalem church’s efforts to evangelize unbelieving Jews.

The Judaizer’s accusations were, of course, completely false. Paul nowhere taught Jewish Christians to abandon their Jewish heritage. In keeping with the decision of the Jerusalem Council he did, however, insist that Gentiles not be pressured to observe the ceremonies of the law. All this discussion brings up the question: If Paul really opposed circumcision, why did he circumcise Timothy (Acts 16:1–3)? And if he taught others not to observe the Jewish customs, why did he take a Nazirite vow (Acts 18:18)? Further, the Judaizers’ lies about Paul were contradictory. In Galatia, they falsely accused him of advocating circumcision (Gal. 5:11); here in Jerusalem they falsely accused him of abrogating it. Like all inveterate liars, they said whatever was expedient at the moment.

It is hardly surprising that the children of the father of lies resort to lies (John 8:44). Lies are one of the main ways Satan attacks the work of God. Believers should be slow to accept accusations against other Christians (particularly leaders, 1 Tim. 5:19), especially when such charges originate with opponents of the Christian faith.

False or not, the accusations posed a serious threat that had to be dealt with. As a way of introducing their proposed solution, the elders asked Paul “What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.” Something had to be decided, for the news of Paul’s presence in Jerusalem could hardly be kept secret.

COMPROMISE

“Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses in order that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.” Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple, giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them. (21:23–26)

The elders feared a confrontation between the apostle to the Gentiles and the misinformed zealots for the law. To head that off, they suggested a compromise—not a sacrifice of truth for expediency but an act of self-sacrificial humility to promote unity and understanding. “Therefore,” they urged Paul, “do this that we tell you.” They informed him of four men of their number who were under a vow (a Nazirite vow, as the reference to shaving their heads makes clear [cf. Num. 6:18]). The Nazirite vow, expounded at length in Numbers 6, symbolized total separation to God. It involved abstaining from alcoholic beverages and all other products derived from grapes, letting the hair of the head grow long, and avoiding contact with dead bodies. The usual length of the vow was thirty days (cf. Josephus Wars 2.15.1), although Samson (Judg. 16:17), Samuel (1 Sam. 1:11), and John the Baptist (Luke 1:15) were Nazirites for life. It manifested the highest level of spiritual devotion.

What it meant for Paul to purify himself along with the four is not clear. He could not have taken a Nazirite vow himself, since the four men’s vows would expire in seven days (v. 27). Some have suggested that the four had incurred a ritual defilement during their vows. Numbers 6:9–12 describes the purification ritual, lasting seven days, that applied in those circumstances. That does not appear to be the case here, however, since those defiled and purified had to begin the period of their vows all over again (Num. 6:12). It would also not explain the preliminary visit to the temple, recorded in verse 26.

A more likely explanation is that Paul, having returned to Israel from Gentile lands, was considered ceremonially unclean. As their sponsor, Paul would participate in the ceremony marking the culmination of the four men’s vows. But before he could do that, he would have to undergo ritual purification himself. His willingness to do that would show that he had no disdain for Jewish customs and tradition.

A second way the apostle could show his continuing devotion to his Jewish heritage was to pay the four men’s expenses in order that they might shave their heads. The expenses connected with the Nazirite vow (including paying for the hair-cutting ceremony in the temple and several expensive sacrifices [Num. 6:14ff.]) were considerable, and undertaking them for another was considered an act of piety. That would be further proof that the Judaizers’ charges against Paul were false. “All those concerned about the Judaizers’ allegations will then know,” James informed Paul, “that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.”

James then added an important clarifying statement: “But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.” By urging this course of action on Paul’s part, the elders were by no means abrogating the decree of the Jerusalem Council regarding Gentiles. Gentiles were not to be required to observe the ceremonies and rituals of the Mosaic law. To make that absolutely clear, James summarized the decision of the council that Gentiles were only required to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. Since Paul was Jewish, his participation in the ceremony would not violate that decision.

Displaying humility and a desire for unity, Paul agreed to the elders’ proposal. Doing so would not compromise biblical truth since, as Paul himself had written in Romans 14 and 15, such matters were issues of Christian liberty. In fact, Paul’s participation in the ceremony was an illustration of the principle he laid down in 1 Corinthians 9:19–23:

(For further discussion regarding Christian liberty, see 1 Corinthians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1984], 243ff.) Accordingly, Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple, giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them. Thus was set in motion the chain of events that would culminate in the apostle’s arrest.

Some have argued that by heeding the elders’ request, Paul made a tragic mistake. They accuse him of compromising his convictions and violating his conscience, although for the best of motives. Such a view is unlikely, however, for several reasons.

First, Paul had taken a Nazirite vow himself on his second missionary journey (18:18). Why, then, would it be wrong for him to participate in this ceremony?

Second, as noted, Paul’s participation did not compromise any biblical truth. Instead, it was simply a matter of Christian liberty.

Third, if Paul made such a serious error, would not the Holy Spirit have made that clear in the text? Luke, under the Spirit’s inspiration, recorded Paul’s failures (cf. 15:37–39) as well as his strengths.

Fourth, Paul’s motives were pure. That, coupled with the his vast knowledge of biblical truth, makes such a serious mistake unlikely.

Finally, the negative results do not prove he made a mistake. Such a pragmatic approach ignores the fact that Paul’s arrest had been prophesied before he arrived in Jerusalem (21:4, 11; cf. 20:22–23).

Paul’s humility permeates this straightforward historical narrative. He was humble before God, giving Him the glory for all that had been accomplished through his ministry. He showed his humility before other believers by agreeing to do what the elders asked of him. Finally, Paul humbly accepted the persecution he would shortly face.