New Life Bible Chapel – Friday Bible Study – The book of Acts

by Ritchin Sen

In Acts 20 we saw Paul making his way from Ephesus after the riot towards Jerusalem and how he was fellowshipping with Christians in Troas and how he brought back to life a youth named Eutychus, who fell asleep during Paul’s teaching. From there, Paul journeyed Miletus where he gave his farewell speech to the Ephesian elders, making known his plan for the areas of his ministry and warning the elders to be vigilant shepherds taking care of their flock. After that he set sail from Miletus towards Jerusalem.

Acts 21-22

I Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem (Acts 21:1-26)

a.21:1-3 When Paul and his friends, including Luke, set sail from Miletus, they came to Cos and the next day came to Rhodes. From there they went eastward to Patara in Lycia where they boarded a sturdier vessel to make the 644 km voyage eastward towards Tyre, Syria in the open sea. On the way they passed Cyprus. They had to get off at Tyre because that was the end destination and where it would unload its cargo.

APPLICATION QUESTION 1: Though Paul was resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem (Acts 19:21, 20:22) and the disciples at Tyre were also speaking in the Spirit, why do you think both of them had an opposing outlook on Paul’s journey to Jerusalem?

b.v.4 We see once at Tyre, Paul and his group sought out the disciples in that city and they stayed with them for a week. Through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, some of them had the gift of prophecy and what they foresaw caused them to dissuade Paul from going to Jerusalem. They might have seen that Paul going to be in grave danger in Jerusalem but inspite of their warnings, Paul already made up his mind as he did not count his life of value when compared to the ministry that the Lord Jesus had called him too (Acts 20:22-24).

c.v.5-9 After staying at Tyre, all the disciples along with their families escorted Paul to the harbour where they all knelt down and prayed before Paul and his friends boarded the ship and set sail. From Tyre, they arrived at Ptolemais and met up with the disciples there and departed the next day to go to Caesarea where they came to Philip the evangelist house. He was one of the seven Hellenistic officers appointed in the early days of the Jerusalem church (around A.D. 35) to supervise the distribution of funds to those who were in need (Acts 6:3-6). Soon after, he travelled to Samaria where he started his missionary work. Last we saw of Philip was in Acts 8:40 where he had arrived at Caesarea. After 20 years we find him in the same place with a family of four daughters who all prophesied. (*1) Some time later, Philip along with his daughters moved to Asia and spent their remaining time there, where the tombs of Philip and at least two of his daughters are found and they were prominent Christians at that time[1].

d.v.10-14 While Paul and his team were staying there for a few days, we see Agabus, the prophet (Acts 11:27-28), return on the scene. He comes to Philip’s house in Caesarea and foretells of Paul’s imprisonment that awaits him in Jerusalem, through the power of the Holy Spirit. On hearing this, the people in the house (including Luke and Philip) persuaded Paul to not go to Jerusalem because of the danger that awaited him there. But Paul did not waiver on his decision to proceed on his journey. He could not turn aside from the path of obedience and sacrifice that he was prepared for. He was even ready to lay down his life and face imprisonment for his Master’s sake. And all the house members saw Paul was stern in his decision, they stopped their opposition and instead prayed that the Lord’s will be done.

e.v.15-17 From Caesarea, Paul, his travelling party and a few disciples from Caesarea, began their 102 km journey to Jerusalem. The text says they stayed at Mnason’s home, who was an early disciple, and was from Cyprus. We are not sure whether Mnason was in Jerusalem or stayed in a village that was on the way to Jerusalem. In v.17 At Jerusalem, Paul and his other companions were received gladly by the brothers, of whom one of them could be Mnason himself which could support the idea that he was based in Jerusalem. A point to support the fact that he could have stayed somewhere along the way to Jerusalem was that some historians say that he was one of Peter’s converts, who was converted when Peter was travelling from Caesarea to Jerusalem (Acts 10-11). At this instant is where Paul’s third missionary journey ends.

f.v.18 The next day Paul and his group went to see James and all the elders. The presence of elders show apparently that the leadership of the Jerusalem church rested primarily on them and James was seen as an apostle[2] and was a leader over the church[3].

APPLICATION QUESTION 2: What happened to Paul when he got to Jerusalem and went to the temple to undergo ritual purification (21:17-26)? Why did Paul feel the need to submit to this Jewish rite?

g.v.19-21 Paul began to narrate all the good things that God had enabled him to do in Europe and Asia and this brought great joy to the hearers. All the representatives of the Gentile churches (Acts 20:4) who were present with him were witness to what God had done amoungst the Gentiles in the areas of Paul’s ministry. Hearing all this, James and the elders glorified God.

But apart from all this, there was something else that was troubling James. There was a rumour in Jerusalem that Paul not only refused to impose the requirements of the Jewish law on his Gentile converts but he actually discouraged Jewish believers from continuing in practise their Jewish ancestral customs that were handed down from Moses. The rumor also included Paul encouraging Jews to not circumcise their sons.

h.v.22-24 Though this was a problem that could not be resolved with just a verbal assurance to the people who believed this lie that it was misinformation, James suggested a way for Paul to counter the lies. He suggested that Paul take part in a Jewish custom which would show Paul to be an observant and practicing Jew. James said there were four men who were under a vow. Anyone under a vow would abstain from wine, strong drink, grape juice, grapes, or raisins; would avoid any contact that would defile them (such as contact with a dead body); and would not cut their hair (cf. Num. 6:1-21). When the time of the vow was over (often 30 days), they would cut their hair and present an offering in the temple (cf. Mishnah, Nazir6.3). If Paul went with them and personally paid for the cost of their offering, it would show that he did not object to Jewish converts following OT customs voluntarily, so long as those same customs were not required of Gentile believers (Acts 18:18).

i.v.25 The Jerusalem elders reminded Paul of the requirements for Gentile Christians agreed upon in the Jerusalem council (Acts 15:28-29). This was to assure Paul that they wanted to avoid giving unnecessary offense to either believers or unbelievers among the Jews. They were not asking Paul’s Gentile converts to embrace the Jewish laws beyond those minimal requirements, nor were they requiring Jewish believers to observe OT ceremonial laws[4].

j.v.26 Although Paul was convinced through the Holy Spirit, he might have known it was a bad idea to follow what the Jerusalem elders recommended but he was willing to put aside his safety to relieve their embarrassment that the rumors might have caused. This ties in well with what Paul had written to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 9:19-20, “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.” Paul went ahead with the purification process and went into the temple to give the notice of fulfillment of purification (as it takes seven days) as well as the offerings that was needed for each person.

II Paul’s Arrest in the Temple (Acts 21:27-36)

k.v.27-29 After the seven days were almost complete, Asian Jews saw Paul at the temple and stirred up the crowd and they all caught hold of him and started beating him. These Jews from Asia might have been there at Jerusalem as it was Pentecost and they could have been from Ephesus and knew Paul from his three-year ministry there. The charge against Paul was that he brought a Gentile (Trophimus, Ephesian believer) into the Court of Israel, the area closer to the temple where only Jewish men, who were not priests or Levites, were admitted. They thought Paul had taken Trophimus into this place because they saw them together in the city earlier. Gentiles can enter the outer area, sometimes called the Court of Gentiles but their entry to the Court of Israel was forbidden and was a capital punishment, punishable by death.

l.v.30-36 News about this spread like wildfire and soon the whole city was stirred up because of this atrocious act that people thought Paul did. They dragged Paul outside the temple and the gates were closed. The crowd might have been still beating Paul as they seeked to kill him but news of what the Jews were doing reached the ears of the tribune of the cohort. A cohort consisted of 1,000 soldiers and the tribune was that group’s commander. Under a tribune you would have several centurions, under whom were the 1,000 soldiers. And the tribune gathered his men and went to the place where the commotion was happening and when the people saw the soldiers approaching they stopped beating Paul. These soldiers could have been garrisoned at the Antonia Fortress which was located at the north-west corner of the temple. The tribune then came and placed Paul under arrest and in chains. He inquired his identity and what wrong he had done but the crowd were shouting different charges and since the tribune couldn’t get a clear answer, he ordered the men to get Paul into the barracks. And as the soldiers came to the steps of the barracks Paul had to be carried away by the soldiers into the building in fear that the crowd might pull him back. And while they pushed against the soldiers and were violent, they were yelling out, “Away with him”, reminiscent of when the people demanded Jesus’ crucifixion, around 27 years earlier[5].

III Paul’s Speech to the People (Acts 21:37-22:21)

APPLICATION QUESTION 3: What were some of Paul’s qualities and credentials that enhanced and aided his interactions with the Jews and Gentiles?

m.21:37-40 As they entered the barracks, Paul wanted to ask the tribune something. But the tribune had a counter question. Three years earlier, an Egyptian adventurer appeared in Jerusalem, claiming to be a prophet, and led a large band of followers out to the Mount of Olives[6]. There he told them to wait until, at his word of command, the walls of the city would fall flat; then they would march in, overthrow the Roman garrison, and take possession of the place. But Felix, the procurator of Judea, sent a body of troops against them; they killed several and took others prisoner. The Egyptian himself discreetly disappeared. Those whom he had duped would cherish no friendly feelings toward him. Now, thought the tribune, the imposter had reappeared and the people were venting their rage on him. That’s why the tribune was therefore surprised when Paul, having been carried to the top of the steps, addressed him in an educated Greek voice and asked permission to speak to the crowd [7]. Paul in turn informed the tribune that he was from the Cilician city of Tarsus and that he was born a Jew. He asked again to speak to the people and then he was given permission after which he stood on the steps and motioned with his hands and the all the crowd fell quiet. Luke was trying to point to the power of Paul’s personality by indicating that the people fell silent at his gesture. Then he addressed them in Hebrew.

n.22:1-5 Speaking in Hebrew, Paul asked the crowd to listen to what he had to say. He began his speech with the same words Stephen used back in Acts 7. When the crowd realized that the man they were beating was speaking their own language, their silence increased all the more. He went to explain that he was a Jew from Tarsus, Cilicia and was brought up as an orthodox Jew in Jerusalem and at the feet of Gamaliel, who was one of the greatest teachers of the Law. Paul confesses that he persecuted Christians, who were also called the Way, and it was the supreme manifestation of his zeal for God[8]. He goes on to explain that while he was doing so he got letters, from the council of Jewish elders and the high priest, to go to Damascus and extradite Christians who had escaped from Jerusalem and gone there so that he could bring them back and punish them.

o.v.6-11 On his way there, Paul explains a blinding light surrounded him and his companions about noon time, just outside Damascus. As he was on the ground, a voice came to him saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Paul’s response was that of reverential inquiry as to who the voice was, the reply to which was, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” While Jesus and Paul were talking, the companions of Saul saw the light but could not understand the voice of Jesus. Paul inquired Jesus as to what he was to do and He tells Paul that he needs to go to Damascus and await further instructions. In blindness he was led into the city.

p.v.12-16 As Paul had emphasized in his orthodox upbringing, he now points to the part played in his conversion experience by a devout Jew by the name of Ananias, who was from Damascus, and enjoyed the respect of all his fellow Jews in the city. Paul explains that Ananias came to Paul and said, “Brother Saul, receive your sight”, and at that instant his sight was restored. What Paul wanted to emphasize here is that the Lord commissioned His will for Paul through the devout Jew, Ananias. Ananias reminded Paul that he saw the risen Lord and even heard Him and now Paul was to be a witness for Christ to all regarding all that he saw and heard. But before he could do that, Ananias advised Paul to be baptized as an outward and visible sign of his inward spiritual cleansing from sin.

q.v.17-21 This vision in the Jerusalem temple might have happened during his visit recorded in Acts 9:26-30. The point Paul was trying to make was that many people would have remembered him persecuting the Christians from synagogue to another and the role he had to play in Stephen’s death that when they saw his changed attitude they might understand that his change was based on compelling grounds, that is his, change was caused by something divine in nature and they would accept him as a fellow brother. But the opposite happened. Because of their prior knowledge of Paul, they were unwilling to listen to him at all. The Lord therefore commanded him to leave Jerusalem as his mission field was to be in the Gentile world.

IV Paul Before the Sanhedrin (Acts 22:22-30)

r.v.22-25 Up to this point the crowd heard what he had to say but on hearing about his mission to the Gentiles, the riot resumed again and they began to yell and scream. While they were throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust and mud into the air, the tribune ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. The tribune might have not understood what Paul said (as he spoke in Aramaic) but he understood that all the people were after his life and so wanted to interrogate him by flogging to find out what Paul did to instigate the crowd to such an extent. But as they stretched him out to be flogged, Paul asked the centurion whether it was lawful to flog a Roman citizen who was uncondemned as a Roman citizen was legally exempt from this torture.

s.v.26-29 Since it wasn’t legal, the centurion went and reported what Paul had said to the tribune. The tribune came to Paul and asked him whether he was a Roman citizen to which Paul replied, “Yes”. In response, the tribune told him that he had paid a large amount of money for his citizenship, which implied that it was through a bribe he got it. But Paul replied saying he was born a Roman citizen which showed he had a more prestigious standing than the tribune. His father or grandfather might have acquired this citizenship but we have no way of knowing the circumstances surrounding how they had received it. Although it has been suggested that it was for services rendered to a Roman general or administrator in the south-eastern area of Asia Minor[9]. Once the tribune knew that Paul was a Roman, the whole scene changed. All the soldiers there, including the tribune, were afraid on how close they came to performing an illegal act.

t.22:30 The next day, since the tribune could not get any information from the crowd regarding Paul’s “crime”, he wanted to find out what exactly was the charge and so he unbound Paul and took him to the Sanhedrin in case the problem was some offense against Jewish religious custom, in which case they would be the appropriate body to deal with. As the Roman administration of Judea was a military administration and there was no procurator in that region, the tribune was the one who represented Roman authority in Jerusalem and so when he demanded the Sanhedrin to meet, they met. And when the court was in session, the tribune brought Paul in.

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[1]Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

[2]Acts 15:13–21; 1 Cor. 15:7–9; Gal. 1:19; 2:9

[3]Acts 15 Notes (v.13-14) [http://www.newlifebiblechapel.com/2012/03/acts-chapter-15/]

[4]v.22-25 – E.S.V. Study Bible Notes

[5]Luke 23:18; John 19:15

[6]Josephus, BJ 2.261-63; Ant. 20.169-72

[7]Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

[8]Acts 8:3, 9:1, 26:9-11; Gal. 1:13; Phil: 3:6

[9]Bruce, F. F. (1988). The Book of Acts, NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI :Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.