Act 21:20-26 | KingComments | STEP | Paul’s account is received enthusiastically by James and the elders of Jerusalem. They glorify God. But then they immediately start talking about what worries them. They speak to him as “brother”, by which they consider him as one of them. Then they point out the large number of Jews who have believed. All these Jews are zealous for the law. All these Messianic Jews are unfamiliar with true Christendom and heavenly blessings because of their adherence to the law. As has already been said, God endures this too, but for anyone who is familiar with true Christendom and heavenly blessings and nevertheless engages in how they experience faith, it is a danger. That is exactly what Paul does. Paul is now in the surrounding where all attention is focused on Judaism where the demands of the law apply. The atmosphere that prevails there does not correspond to the special mission given to him: to preach the glorified Christ. Nor can he do so, for this company is not open to it. Once again: God tolerates this Jewish Christendom. However, this does not mean that believers from the nations should behave in the same way, and certainly not the apostle Paul. But Paul cannot go back. He is confronted with an accusation. In Jerusalem, the Jewish Christians have heard that he is teaching to forsake Moses. They also say what that forsaking consists of. Paul would teach that Jews among the Gentiles should not circumcise their children and that they should not walk according to Jewish customs. This means that he hits these Jewish Christians in the heart. He brings down the pillars of their faith. Now these are evil rumors. Evil rumors have already caused a lot of trouble. They are uttered and passed on without questioning the truth. Many servants of God have already been put in a bad light because of this. Rumors are gladly listened to. Nehemiah, for example, has experienced this ( ).

‏ Acts 21:20-26

Reactions to Paul’s Report

Paul’s account is received enthusiastically by James and the elders of Jerusalem. They glorify God. But then they immediately start talking about what worries them. They speak to him as “brother”, by which they consider him as one of them. Then they point out the large number of Jews who have believed. All these Jews are zealous for the law. All these Messianic Jews are unfamiliar with true Christendom and heavenly blessings because of their adherence to the law.

As has already been said, God endures this too, but for anyone who is familiar with true Christendom and heavenly blessings and nevertheless engages in how they experience faith, it is a danger. That is exactly what Paul does. Paul is now in the surrounding where all attention is focused on Judaism where the demands of the law apply. The atmosphere that prevails there does not correspond to the special mission given to him: to preach the glorified Christ. Nor can he do so, for this company is not open to it. Once again: God tolerates this Jewish Christendom. However, this does not mean that believers from the nations should behave in the same way, and certainly not the apostle Paul. But Paul cannot go back.

He is confronted with an accusation. In Jerusalem, the Jewish Christians have heard that he is teaching to forsake Moses. They also say what that forsaking consists of. Paul would teach that Jews among the Gentiles should not circumcise their children and that they should not walk according to Jewish customs. This means that he hits these Jewish Christians in the heart. He brings down the pillars of their faith.

Now these are evil rumors. Evil rumors have already caused a lot of trouble. They are uttered and passed on without questioning the truth. Many servants of God have already been put in a bad light because of this. Rumors are gladly listened to. Nehemiah, for example, has experienced this (Neh 6:6).

The Proposal to Paul

Nothing of the rumors about Paul is true. For example, we know that as far as circumcision is concerned, he himself circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:3). James and the elders do not ask Paul if these rumors are true. They do know that those rumors are not true, but the “many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed” do not. They need convincing proof that Paul does not preach against the law and circumcision at all.

The many thousands of Jews who believe are eager to circumcise their children and maintain the law. Not that for them salvation still depends on circumcision, but they maintain it as a God-given institution. They are so bound by it in their conscience that they continue to do so. Because Paul does not preach circumcision to the Gentiles, the unbelieving Jews put him in a bad light. From the fact that he does not preach circumcision and the law, they have made out that he preaches against circumcision and the law.

To show the many thousands of Messianic Jews that none of these accusations are true, the brethren in Jerusalem make a proposal to Paul. If he does what they propose, he will show that nothing of those accusations is true. If he refuses to accept their proposal, he will give the crowd the impression that the rumors are true. However, if he accepts their desire, he will not accept the guidance of the Spirit in freedom and love as a rule. This problem arises because Paul did not get there based on a direct command of the Lord, but driven by his affection for his beloved Jewish compatriots. Paul has ended up in a situation that he can do no other than please the believing Jews.

Nevertheless, it will turn out that here too the Lord uses circumstances to achieve His purpose. Because Paul accepts the proposal, the persistent opposition of the unbelieving Jews will become so apparent that it will also make it clear to the Messianic Jews in what kind of system they still find themselves where the evil about the gospel is so persistently spread. The rest of the book of Acts makes clear how depraved the whole leadership of the religious and at the same time God-hostile Jerusalem is. It will help the believing Jews become inwardly detached from Judaism and fully conform to the new.

It will also make them receptive inwardly to the teaching of the letter to the Hebrews. Although the letter does not mention a sender, the contents show that it could not have been written by anyone but Paul, most likely from the prison in Rome (Heb 13:24). This letter is a consequence of this whole development through which Paul finally ends up in Rome.

The proposal of the brothers of Jerusalem, which also contains a certain element of coercion, is that Paul should join four men who made a vow. These four men are Jewish Christians. The vow they made seems to be the Nazarite vow, in which they committed themselves to do or not to do something for a certain period of time. In the time of their vow, something will have happened that has made them unclean and they will have to shave their heads and cleanse themselves (Num 6:8-12).

What is asked of Paul is not something sinful. He acts out of his love for the people. But does Paul, by agreeing to their actions, not give the impression that he is under the law and takes the law as the norm for his life?

Paul Accepts the Proposal

The brothers of Jerusalem make it clear to Paul that they realize that their attitude does not apply to the believers of the Gentiles. They repeat what they have written to the believing Gentiles. That remains valid for them. Nor do they try to impose the law on the Gentiles. The decision that was made about this in Jerusalem (Acts 15:19-20) was passed on to the Gentiles by Paul, among others (Acts 15:22-29). But through his return to Jerusalem, Paul is now forced to submit to the same law, no matter how well-intentioned the motive may have been.

Paul is so much a prisoner of his love for his kinsmen according to the flesh, that he does what they suggest to him without any response. He even takes the initiative. He takes the four men and purifies himself with them. He also announces when the days of their purification will be fulfilled, that is, when the sacrifice has been made for each of them.

Here we have the curious thing that the apostle takes upon himself to offer sacrifices, as if these sacrifices were not all set aside by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. Paul moves into a position that David takes when he joins the Philistines to fight against his own people (1Sam 27:1). Fortunately, the Lord prevents Paul from really offering a sacrifice through the uproar that arises, just as He prevents David from really fighting against his people (1Sam 29:6-10).