Daily Bread Acts 21
Daily Bread Acts 21
Paul's Arrival at Jerusalem
17When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. 18The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."
26The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
Observation:
As Paul makes his way back to Jerusalem to the home church, he has been warned that trouble will await him there. Part of that trouble was with his own people, the Jews. There were non-believers who really wanted to cause trouble for him. But even the believers were questioning Paul’s authority, because the rumor was that he was teaching the Gentiles to turn away from the Law and not worry about circumcision. So Paul heeds the leader’s advice is to join four others, who were going through a strict observation of a vow they had made as an example that he is still loyal to the Jewish traditions.
So Paul agrees to join four other men who have made purification vows and obey the letter of the law. Now if you know Paul at all, there would be other times where he would staunchly refuse to do this. Paul’s big idea is that we are no longer slaves to the law, but have been freed from it through the gospel of grace. And yet, Paul submits to James and the elders at Jerusalem, out of respect for them and also to possible build a bridge with Jewish believers.
Application:
We see in this passage a couple of key things. One, as I mentioned, Paul at times is furious with the Judaizers when the try to circumcise a new Gentile believer (as they tried to do in the book of Galatians). And yet, in this instance he agrees to take a purification vow at the bequest of the local leadership. He realizes the context he is in and what he must do to earn the respect for those people so he can win a hearing for the gospel he brings.
In another passage he says, “I become all things to all people so that I might win some.” Maybe this is the meaning behind the word having a “winsome” personality. Now I don’t think this means you bend the rules when you want, or the kind of moral relativism or situational ethics we see in our world today. I do think it means being careful of a legalism that creates new rules, or hoops, for people to jump through to become a Christian.
Even for the Gentile believers they reasoned that they should avoid a few practices like, eating food offered to idols, or meat from animals that had been strangled, and sexual immorality. They reasoned that these practices would create such a barrier between the Gentiles and Jews that would not be helpful in the spread of the Gospel. This reminds us of concept Paul also introduces of sometimes giving up our rights to do something in the freedom of the gospel to serve another believer. As Paul says, “In our freedom we become slaves to each other.” Meaning we use our freedom to serve others not flaunt it.
Prayer:
God help us to use our freedom that you have purchased for us to lead others to you. May we not be a stumbling block for others to experience your grace through the inappropriate use of our freedom in Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Paul's Arrival at Jerusalem
17When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. 18The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."
26The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
Observation:
As Paul makes his way back to Jerusalem to the home church, he has been warned that trouble will await him there. Part of that trouble was with his own people, the Jews. There were non-believers who really wanted to cause trouble for him. But even the believers were questioning Paul’s authority, because the rumor was that he was teaching the Gentiles to turn away from the Law and not worry about circumcision. So Paul heeds the leader’s advice is to join four others, who were going through a strict observation of a vow they had made as an example that he is still loyal to the Jewish traditions.
So Paul agrees to join four other men who have made purification vows and obey the letter of the law. Now if you know Paul at all, there would be other times where he would staunchly refuse to do this. Paul’s big idea is that we are no longer slaves to the law, but have been freed from it through the gospel of grace. And yet, Paul submits to James and the elders at Jerusalem, out of respect for them and also to possible build a bridge with Jewish believers.
Application:
We see in this passage a couple of key things. One, as I mentioned, Paul at times is furious with the Judaizers when the try to circumcise a new Gentile believer (as they tried to do in the book of Galatians). And yet, in this instance he agrees to take a purification vow at the bequest of the local leadership. He realizes the context he is in and what he must do to earn the respect for those people so he can win a hearing for the gospel he brings.
In another passage he says, “I become all things to all people so that I might win some.” Maybe this is the meaning behind the word having a “winsome” personality. Now I don’t think this means you bend the rules when you want, or the kind of moral relativism or situational ethics we see in our world today. I do think it means being careful of a legalism that creates new rules, or hoops, for people to jump through to become a Christian.
Even for the Gentile believers they reasoned that they should avoid a few practices like, eating food offered to idols, or meat from animals that had been strangled, and sexual immorality. They reasoned that these practices would create such a barrier between the Gentiles and Jews that would not be helpful in the spread of the Gospel. This reminds us of concept Paul also introduces of sometimes giving up our rights to do something in the freedom of the gospel to serve another believer. As Paul says, “In our freedom we become slaves to each other.” Meaning we use our freedom to serve others not flaunt it.
Prayer:
God help us to use our freedom that you have purchased for us to lead others to you. May we not be a stumbling block for others to experience your grace through the inappropriate use of our freedom in Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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