Introduction

This week marks a stark change in the flow of Acts. Paul is done being a traveling missionary. The tree has spread its branches across the world and established new, Gentile root centers in Corinth and Ephesus. Now it is time for the circle to be completed as Paul returns to Jerusalem.

This week we turn to a new chapter in the story as we focus on Paul as a prisoner. After leaving the Aegean Sea, Paul, under the compulsion of the Holy Spirit, sailed to Syria, and then moved on to Jerusalem. Despite the passionate pleas of his friends, Paul was determined to face whatever harm may come to him in Jerusalem.

Agabus the prophet, through a prophetic pantomime, warned Paul that he would be bound in Jerusalem. James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, warned Paul that the Jewish Christians were hostile toward him, and encouraged him to cleanse himself in a temple ritual. Despite his attempts to reenter the Jerusalem culture, Paul was misunderstood, and, like Jesus so many years before, was falsely accused and wrongfully arrested. It was only by the “grace” and protection of Rome that Paul was quite literally snatched from the hands of an angry and murderous mob. The fact that Paul was a citizen of Rome saved his life and set him up for the next journey in his life.

Outline

Monday: A Family in Every Port

Tuesday: Coming Home

Wednesday: The Power of Prejudice

Thursday: Paul’s Testimony

Friday: A Life-Saving ID

top

Acts 21:1-16

Use your map and plot Paul's course as it is laid out in this passage.

Compare v. 4 with Acts 20:22-23.  Do you see a difficulty?  If so, how would you reconcile these two passages?

What do we know about Philip from the earlier part of Acts?  How long has it been since those events?

Paraphrase the discussion between Paul and the rest of the group found in vv. 10-14.  How would you describe the emotions in this scene?  Why?

A Family in Every Port

One observation that we can make from this passage is that, once Paul landed in Syria, he found Christian Fellowship in every city. Think about that for a minute. That’s a miracle in itself. That is the kind of connectedness that most people deeply crave in their life. Wouldn’t you like to be able to walk into any city and find friendly faces that would welcome you in, feed you, and treat you like family? In our sin-sick world, most people feel the isolating effects of the separation from God and others that the Fall brought on humanity. The majority of people in the world feel lonely and isolated in the world and when they think about the entire globe they feel small and insignificant; alone in a vast cosmos. But not the child of God. As a follower of Jesus, we have been adopted into his great family and we have brothers and sisters all over the planet. The truth is that you can walk into most cities and find a group of Jesus followers and, simply through the name of Jesus, find an instant connection. You may have a different language, different social customs, and different theological nuances, but the bottom line is that you share the headship of Jesus and the Fatherhood of God. Through the bond of the Holy Spirit you can have true fellowship. That is a miracle. Let’s never forget the global connection that we are privileged to share with people all over the world.

Conflicting messages?

Today we run into an apparent contradiction within the leadership of the Holy Spirit. In 20:22-23, Paul said that the Holy Spirit told him to go to Jerusalem and warned him that it would be difficult for him there. Now, in both Tyre and in Caesarea we find prophets who are “in the Spirit” that are urging Paul not to go to Jerusalem. So which is it? Is the Spirit telling Paul to go to Jerusalem, or is he telling him not to go? Is Paul a brave man who sticks to his guns regardless of what people say, or is he a stubborn mule who won’t listen to the Holy Spirit and the advice of his friends?

The following commentaries deal with this well.

I think we should begin by affirming that Luke believed Paul to be right in going to Jerusalem. Probably he attributes to the Holy Spirit both the decision of 19:21 and the compulsion of 20:22, since both of them were (en0to pneumati, “in the Spirit’. In addition, we have already suggested that Luke sees Paul’s journey to Jerusalem as the disciple following in his Master’s footsteps. What then are we to make of 21:4 and 11? Some have argued that the references to the Spirit here simply mean that the speakers were claiming inspiration, without necessarily being inspired. But then we would have to interpret other references to the Spirit in the same ambiguous way. The better solution is to draw a distinction between a prediction and a prohibition. Certainly Agabus only predicted that Paul would be bound and handed over to the Gentiles ( 21:11); the pleadings with Paul which followed are not attributed to the Spirit and may have been the fallible (indeed mistaken) human deduction from the Spirit’s prophecy. For if Paul had heeded his friends’ pleas, then Agabus’ prophecy would not have been fulfilled! It is more difficult to understand 21:4 in this way, since the ‘urging’ itself is said to be ‘through the Spirit’. But perhaps Luke’s’ statement is a condensed way of saying that the warning was divine while the urging was human. After all, the Spirit’s word to Paul combined the compulsion to go with a warning of the consequences. (20:22-23).

The prophecy triggers an interaction between Paul and his fellow believers, including members of his traveling band. With tender affection the believers pleaded (better, “were pleading,” imperfect) with Paul not to go up (better as a present prohibition, “cease going up”; Bruce 1990:442) to Jerusalem (compare 20:37–38; 21:4). They want to preserve the beloved apostle from physical harm, possibly death, and so keep him for themselves and the church’s mission.

Paul responds with unwavering determination as he seeks to help them sort out the will of God in this matter. In such a process he recognizes the effects of their emotions on him. They are weeping for him as the women did for Jesus on the way to the cross (Lk 23:28). They are breaking [his] heart, his resolve, as stone is pulverized. He reaches back for the rationale that guides his whole life: for the name of the Lord Jesus. The One under whom he serves (Acts 20:19, 24) and in whose name he preaches, heals and baptizes (9:27–28; 16:18; 18:15; 19:5) is the One for whose name he is willing to suffer, even die (9:16; compare Lk 21:12; Acts 5:41). He reaffirms his resolve: he is ready … to be bound ( 21:33) and, like the prophets and Jesus before him, to die in Jerusalem (Lk 13:33–34).

In devout resignation, unable to persuade him otherwise, they gave up (literally, “became quiet”; Lk 14:4; Acts 11:18), saying the only thing a Christian can say in such perplexing circumstances: The Lord’s will be done (Lk 22:42).

We learn from Paul that suffering for the right reason, for the Lord’s sake, is the key to a determination that correctly sorts out God’s will. From the Christians we are instructed positively and negatively. Negatively, we must ask ourselves, “Has our own fear of radical obedience ever prompted us to crush someone else’s determination to do the Lord’s will? Has tender affection ever been substituted for courageous love in wanting God’s best for someone else?” (Ogilvie 1983:298). Positively, do we know when to cease striving with one another and in humility, recognizing our lack of definitive knowledge of God’s plan for the other, start asking God to carry out his desire for their lives?

Just for Kids

First, let’s get out our maps again. Draw arrows that show Paul’s movements in this passage. Label the places mentioned in the text on your map.

Let’s act out the scene.

Find a rope or a belt from a bathrobe. Have one person pretend to be Agabus. Another person needs to tie Agabus’ hands together at the wrists.

Agabus says,

“In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.”

In the Old Testament, prophets often acted out their message in this way to get the point across.

Ahijah tore Jeroboam’s cloak into 12 pieces (1 Kings 11:29ff)

Isaiah went stripped and barefoot for three years (Isaiah 20:3ff)

Ezekiel laid siege to a drawing of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1ff)

Why do you think prophets taught like this?

What helps you to best remember a lesson that your teacher is trying to tell you? In other words, what is your learning style?

God uses all kinds of methods to get us to learn the things that are very important for us to remember. That’s because he loves us so much and doesn’t want us to miss out on anything.

Stott, John. The Message of Acts. The Bible Speaks Today Commentary. Intervarsity Press. 1990. (p. 333)

Larkin, W. J., Briscoe, D. S., & Robinson, H. W. (1995). Vol. 5: Acts. The IVP New Testament commentary series (Ac 21:7). Downers, Ill., USA: InterVarsity Press.

top

Tuesday

Acts 21:17-25

In light of the intense discussion from yesterday's reading, what kind of reception do you think Paul and his companions were expecting when they arrived in Jerusalem?  What did they receive? (v. 17)

Read Acts 12:17 and   15:13 .  From these verses, what do we know about James? What was his role in the church in Jerusalem ?

How did James respond to the news concerning the number of Gentiles that had come to follow Jesus?

How did James describe the Christian Jews?

What problem did the Christian Jews have with Paul?

What did James propose would be a good method to dissuade the Christian Jews from their ill feelings toward Paul?  Why?

In v. 24-25 how does James describe the people's expectations for Paul? How does he describe their expectations for the Gentile believers?

Review Acts 15:19-29 to gain a better understanding for v. 25.  What was the nature of the relationship between Jewish believers in Jerusalem and the Gentile believers in the rest of the world?  In what ways can you see this type of relationship at play within the church in our own time, if any?

Coming Home

There is an old expression that states, “You can never go home.” Here’s a typical scenario of why that is true. A high school graduate has lived in a small town his whole life. He’s gone to school and to church with the same group of people. It was a good life and his church and friends were good people. Then one day he goes off to college in the big city. His experiences there rock his world. He is exposed to new cultures and new ideas. His faith is challenged at the genetic level and God opens his eyes up to whole new vistas of opportunity for what it means to be a global Christian. He is filled with exuberance and has a perspective for ministry that is beyond what he thought it could ever be.

And then he returns home. As he drives into the city limits he feels like he has entered a time warp. There’s the old drug store with the same man sitting in the same rocking chair. There’s the church with the same cars parked in the same spots. As he enters church on Sunday morning it seems that everyone is moving in slow motion and the air is filled with a dusty staleness. The people look at his wild hair style and his clothes and begin to murmur to each other. Old friends reach out a hand to shake his, and behind their pasted smile, their eyes say, “Wow, you have gone off the deep end, haven’t you?”

There is an awkwardness that gives him pause to question what has happened. This is my home, but why do I feel like I don’t belong?

At that point the young man has a choice to make. Does he exercise the new found freedoms that he has discovered in his travels, or does he conform to the patterns of his home in order to keep the peace? If he conforms, will he be betraying himself and become hypocritical by caving into the pressure of these backward religious systems. Or, will he be demonstrating love for his hometown people by not needlessly ruffling their feathers and causing a ruckus, thus distracting them from the worship that they came to give God.

This may have been some of the feelings that Paul experienced as he came back into Jerusalem. He was warmly greeted by James, which was a nice surprise, given the harsh warnings he had been hearing leading up to this arrival. Yet, quickly James warned him that the people of Jerusalem, the believers even, were uneasy about some of Paul’s teachings. They were confused about his interaction with Gentiles. It was so far outside their paradigm that they did not know how to deal with it, or him. The believers knew about the decision of the Jerusalem council regarding the fact that Gentiles need not be circumcised to be saved, but they still didn’t know how to handle it.

James encouraged Paul to enter into a Jewish rite of cleansing in order to demonstrate to the Jews that he was not a lawbreaker and was in line with the teachings of Moses. What!?! How could James ask such a thing? Wouldn’t that be hypocritical of Paul to do such a thing? After all, Paul does not believe that the Law does us any good other than to expose our sin and need for grace, right?

Notice what Paul does. He doesn’t even bat an eye at James’ request. He very willingly enters into the purification rite. Why does he do this? Paul does it for one reason…unity. That is the main theme in this whole story. Paul’s mission was to bridge the prejudicial gap that stood between the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul wasn’t out to stand up for Paul. He wasn’t about saving his own dignity or being “right.” Paul was demonstrating true love; God’s Absolute Love for his people. God’s love transcends denominational and doctrinal differences and unifies the body of Christ under the Father, in the name of Jesus, through the bond of the Spirit. For Paul it always came down to one thing; the name of Jesus. Nothing more. If he was in Ephesus he could base his operation out of a Greek lecture hall. If he was in Jerusalem he could shave his head in the purification rite of the Nazirites and pay for four others to do the same. As long as he could preach Jesus, he was good with whatever culture he was in.

We can never go home. That is true. Yet, we must also remember that the only home we have is the Kingdom of God. The great thing about the Kingdom is that you can be there wherever you are. So, we can never go home, because we are always there.

Just for Kids

Does your family have certain rules about how to behave in your house? For example: do you have to take off your shoes before you walk on the carpet? Do you have to all sit together at the dinner table and no one can leave until they ask to be excused? Do you have a specific bedtime? Do you have special family nights and traditions that are really important to your family?

Would you expect every family to share your exact rules? Why or why not?

Let’s pretend that your family was going to a different country and you were going to have dinner in the home of a village chief. When you were there, would expect the chief to follow your house rules or would you be expected to follow his house rules? Why?

What do you think would happen if the village chief expected you to take off your shoes, bow in honor to him, and eat the hord’ouvers, but, instead, you tromped across his floor with dirty shoes, slapped him on the back, and exclaimed, “I wouldn’t touch that slop with a ten foot pole!”? Would the rest of your evening go well? Why?

In the story today, Paul came back to Jerusalem, where everyone followed a lot of specific rules. While Paul was in Asia and Greece, witnessing about Jesus to the Greeks, these rules didn’t seem that important. Paul knew the rules weren’t necessary in order to know Jesus and be a part of the Kingdom of God. Yet, Paul also knew that it was proper to respect the “house rules” of Jerusalem and make sure that he didn’t offend anybody. That’s because the most important thing in the body of Christ is that we live in peace and unity with each other, under the leadership of Jesus.

The lesson for us is to make sure that we don’t offend someone for no good reason, especially if it would give Jesus a bad name in that house.

top

Wednesday

Acts 21:26-39

Read the following commentary to gain context for this scene.

The church leaders counsel Paul to combat words with action. Four pious but indigent men in the congregation have taken on themselves a Nazirite vow of limited duration (Num 6). By abstaining from products of the vine, not cutting their hair and avoiding ritual impurity, they have been showing thankfulness for past blessings, earnestness in petition or strong devotion to God. The multianimal sacrifice and cleansing ceremony at the end of the vow period, when the hair is cut and offered to God, is financially prohibitive ( 6:13 –20). Paul is asked to bear the expenses of the four. This was a commonly recognized act of piety (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 19.294). To do so he must go through a seven-day ritual cleansing himself, because he has recently returned from Gentile lands ( m. Oholot 2:3; 17:5; 18:6; Num 19:12). The intended result is that the rumors about Paul will be shown to be baseless and he will be seen living in obedience to the law. Lest Paul’s action be misunderstood in another direction, as making Jewish custom normative for Gentile Christians, the elders hasten to add that the Jerusalem Council decree is still in place (see discussion above at Acts 15:20, 29). It is repeated here in essential detail.

What two accusations were brought against Paul? One was regarding his teaching; the other was regarding his current action.

Read the following commentary to gain context on the second accusation

Though Gentiles were welcome to worship in the outermost court, they were forbidden on penalty of death to enter beyond the balustrade into the two inner courts (m. Kelim 1:8). Josephus informs us, and archaeological evidence confirms, that at intervals there were signs posted in Greek and Latin saying “No foreigner is to enter within the forecourt and the balustrade around the Sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death” (Segal 1989:79; Polhill [1992:452] has information on the present location of such an inscription; Josephus Jewish Wars 5.193). This prohibition enforced Numbers 3:38.

Why did the mob attack and beat Paul?

What stopped the mob? Why?

What preconception did the commander have regarding Paul? How might this have affected his treatment of Paul?

Read Luke 23:13-25. Do you see any parallels to this story?

The Power of Prejudice

There is great irony in this passage. Yesterday we discussed how Paul had transcended the Jewish religious system as he was called to the Gentiles. Yet, truly, Paul had never left his Jewish roots. He was a Pharisee at the core. That was his natural love language for God. He probably cherished that day when he was able to reenter the temple to be cleansed before God. This was good and natural for him. As he went through these rituals he was not only truly connecting to his roots, he was also authentically demonstrating his humility and his love for the Jewish people.

That is where the irony comes into play. The Jewish people were not seeking the truth. They had a preconceived idea about what they assumed Paul was all about. Let’s look at it through their eyes for a minute. Here is a man that was once one of them. Then, one day, he just ups and leaves and starts hanging out with Gentiles. There is no way that a man that was once a staunch Pharisee could possibly still love the ways of the temple and the Law after having spent so much time with Gentiles. For them it was a black and white issue. It was either/or. You were either a Pharisee and hated all Gentiles, or you were a total apostate and deserved to be thrown out to the dogs.

That’s what happens when we carry around our own perspective as if it were the infallible source of all truth. Prejudice has blinded the eyes of many well meaning people. Of course, in our own country, we have seen the devastating effects of racial prejudice on the lives of people in the 20 th century. It was no different in Jerusalem. The Jews saw Paul the way they wanted to see him and were not willing to take the time to find out the truth about his position.

James, no doubt, stood in the streets that day and watched as the crowd nearly killed Paul. Perhaps that is why he wrote the words,

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” (James 1:19-20)

We can learn from this story. Too many times we tend to jump to conclusions about a person’s behavior and assume the worst. If we have built up a negative belief about someone, then we will have a very difficult time seeing the truth in that person’s life. If you believe someone doesn’t like you, then you will interpret every word they say to you as some sort of attack. Even if it is an honest compliment. If you believe someone is a liar, then you will hear everything they say as a lie. If you believe someone is lazy, then you will interpret even their best efforts as a slack-off.

The path of growth for us in this is to 1) admit that we have built a prejudice against someone. 2) Acknowledge the fact that a prejudice, or negative belief, is a form of judging that person, and that judging a person is to presume the place of God in their life. That is idolatry because you have placed yourself on God’s throne because only God has the right to judge. 3) Confess that sin to God, turn away from it, and receive his forgiveness that he so readily gives to the repentant heart. 4) Ask God to give you the wisdom, patience, and discernment to truly seek first to understand that person for who they really are and discover what the truth is in every situation. 5) Be willing to be wrong in your own perspective and teachable if that person has something to offer.

Don’t let the pride of being right or the fear of being wrong stand in your way of growing closer to God and to each other. If we, in the church, could learn to do that, then we would have much less strife in our lives and the Kingdom of God would be given freedom to flourish more readily in our hearts and the world.

Just for Kids

What does the word prejudice mean? If you’re not sure, look it up in the dictionary.

Let’s do a little experiment. Have one person leave the room so that they don’t hear these instructions. If they hear them, then it won’t be any fun for anybody.

Instructions

We are going to trick the person who has left the room and make them think that we are doing a taste test to see which is a better drink between two products. You can do this one of two ways. You can either do it with soda or with juices.

Soda method.

Put a soda in one cup and lemon juice in the other cup.

Blindfold the person who left the room and set them down in front of the two cups. Tell them,

“Today we are going to do a test to see which is sweeter, Soda A or Soda B.”

Hand them “Soda A” (which is the actual soda) and have them drink it. They should enjoy it.

Then hand them “Soda B” (which is actually the lemon juice) and say, “Now tell us if soda B is as sweet as or sweeter than soda A” Have them drink the lemon juice and see what happens.

Juice method.

Do exactly the same as in the soda method, except have it be a comparison between sweet fruit juices, like apple vs. grape.

Obviously the person will react strongly to the lemon juice.

Follow up questions:

Why did (s)he react so strongly to the lemon juice? What was (s)he expecting?

You see, (s)he had a prejudice about the experiment. He thought that the drink was going to be sweet, but it wasn’t. Had he been expecting lemon juice he may have reacted differently.

In our story today the Jews and the Roman commander had a prejudice against Paul. The Jews thought that he was rebelling against Moses and teaching Jews to stop being Jewish. The Roman commander thought Paul was an Egyptian rebel. In both cases these incorrect assumptions about Paul led the people to treat Paul cruelly, almost to the point of killing him.

In what ways does prejudice impact our society? How can we work against the negative impact of prejudice?

Larkin, W. J., Briscoe, D. S., & Robinson, H. W. (1995). Vol. 5: Acts. The IVP New Testament commentary series (Ac 21:23). Downers, Ill., USA: InterVarsity Press.

Larkin, W. J., Briscoe, D. S., & Robinson, H. W. (1995). Vol. 5: Acts. The IVP New Testament commentary series (Ac 21:30). Downers, Ill., USA: InterVarsity Press.

top

Thursday

Acts 21:40-22:21

Why do you suppose Paul’s Aramaic brought silence to the crowd? (note that the native tongue of Jerusalem was Aramaic)

How does Paul describe himself before his encounter with Jesus?

Paraphrase Paul’s encounter with Jesus in your own words.

How is Ananias described?

In v. 14, how is God described?

In vv. 14-16, what is Paul commissioned to do?

Where was Paul when he received his vision that is described in v. 17-21?

Why did Paul have to leave Jerusalem?

Where was Paul sent?

Paul’s Testimony

Here are some observations concerning Paul’s testimony.

He spoke Aramaic. As always, he was culturally relevant. When Paul was in Greece, he spoke Greek and quoted Greek poetry. When he was in Jerusalem he spoke Aramaic, which was the language of his people. Paul’s ultimate goal was to communicate the truth of Jesus in the most effective way, that followed the path of least resistance, while maintaining the purity of the message; the risen Jesus.

No one could question his zeal. Paul makes it a point to highlight the fact that, in this very city, he was even more zealous for the Law than this mob was being in that moment. Paul was so zealous that he even hunted down followers of the Way in other cities in order to bring them to justice and eradicate this plague. Paul highlighted this for two reasons. First, he wanted to remind the mob that, deep down, he was actually one of them; he was not a foreigner. Secondly, he wanted to point out that if anybody was the least likely candidate to be turned to the way it would be him. In other words, if Paul followed Jesus, then his experience must have been authentic.

It was a person, not a persuasion. This is a very important point in the study and ministry of Paul. Saul of Tarsus did not fall under the spell of a great teacher, like Peter, and become intellectually persuaded that Jesus from Nazareth was the Messiah. Had that been the case then the power of his message, and more importantly, his resolve to press on in the midst of terrible circumstances would have been easily abated. It is the fact that Saul of Tarsus encountered the Risen Jesus, in all his glory, power, and authority, that stands as the center piece of Paul’s message. This personal encounter transformed Saul in that moment. It changed him from an Old Testament Pharisee, seeking to liberate Israel through the observance of the Law, to a fulfilled child of Abraham, liberated by the victorious King of the Jews. The Kingdom of God that Saul had so desperately longed for, and the end of the world that he believed would bring justice on the world, had become fully realized in the person of the risen Jesus. That is a fact that Paul presented to the mob and could never, ever deny.

The first disciples of Jesus deeply loved the Law. Paul specifically highlights the fact that Ananias, his first contact with the brotherhood of the church, was deeply devoted to the Law. This flew in the face of the prejudices that Saul was carrying with him on his crusade to Damascus. In Saul’s case, he had misunderstood the followers of the Way. So, too, in the case of the mob, was Paul misunderstood.

His mission began in the temple. It was no accident that Paul highlighted the fact that his marching orders to take the Good News of Jesus to the Gentiles came to him while he was in trance while praying in the temple. Even after his conversion to Jesus, Paul did not turn away from the temple. He was simply commanded to go to the ends of the earth by the risen Jesus that had changed his life and taken authority.

He was the bridge. The thing that the Jews hated most about Paul was that his message taught that, in God’s eyes, all people are equal, regardless of their race or gender. This flew in the face of all of their theology. They were an exclusive club of “the circumcision” and God loved them and no one else. Paul’s talk of non-circumcised citizens of God’s Kingdom could not fit into their paradigm. And yet, that is exactly what Paul was sent to proclaim and demonstrate. God had torn the dividing wall and Paul was the human conduit that stood in the gap. Paul was not hated and threatened for the name of Jesus, he was hated because he taught that Gentiles were welcomed by God.

Just for Kids

Let’s draw a picture today. Take a piece of paper and divide it into three columns. At the top of the left column, write the words “Paul before Jesus”. At the top of the middle column write the words, “Paul meets Jesus.” At the top of the third column, write the words, “Paul after Jesus.”

Based on Paul’s testimony in today’s reading, draw a picture that describes him in each of these three places in his life.

top

Friday

Acts 22:22-29

How did the crowd respond to Paul’s testimony?

What set them off? (v. 21)

What saved Paul from being flogged by the Romans?

Read the following passages and make observations regarding the relationship between Paul and the Roman Government.

Acts 13:4-12

Acts 16:35-40

Acts 18:12-17

Acts 19:28-41

In each of these encounters, compare and contrast the Jewish leader’s relationship with Paul with that of the Roman officials.

A Life-Saving ID

In today’s reading Paul pulled his ultimate trump card. He was a Roman citizen. Because of that fact he could not be abused by the Roman soldiers without a trial. It was his citizenship in Rome that actually saved his life.

At this point let us step back from the story itself and look at the book of Acts as the document that came from Luke’s hand. Every biblical author wrote their work with an agenda. Luke is no exception. Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles with some very specific theological, political, and sociological agendas in mind. The most obvious of these agendas, of course, was to demonstrate the historical reliability of the life of Jesus and to present Jesus of Nazareth as the legitimate Christ, on the throne of God’s Kingdom, and victor over sin and death.

While the supremacy of Jesus is the most important theme, there are two other themes that should be highlighted at this point. First, Luke was setting out to launch a counter-attack against the opponents of Paul that accused him of being an illegitimate apostle. The circumcision group that followed Paul into nearly every town in which he planted churches claimed that only the Hebraic Jewish apostles that were part of the original twelve were legitimate apostles and that Paul’s message of Gentile equality and liberty was apostate. Luke, a dear friend and disciple of Paul, spent a great deal of energy in Acts carefully dismantling this accusation through the life and circumstances of Paul. That is why Paul is the dominant character of Acts.

The second theme has to do with the relationship between Rome and the church. In the 60’s there was growing unrest between the Roman Empire and the Jewish nation. Eventually, in A.D. 70 Rome would come down on Israel and brutally crush Jerusalem and level the Temple, never to be restored. It was during the decade or so leading up to that event that Luke wrote Luke/Acts. Early in its history the followers of the Way were considered to be simply another sect of Judaism by the Roman government. In its inception this was a very positive thing for the early church since it kept them off the radar of the Empire and under the protection that the Jews experienced at that time. As things grew worse for the Jews it was important that the church separate itself from them in the eyes of Rome. If the Romans were going to persecute Christians for the name of Jesus, that was fine, but they should not be persecuted in the name of the Jewish religious system. Therefore, as you saw in the study questions. Luke took special effort to highlight the fact that Rome had always looked favorably, or at worst neutrally, upon the followers of Jesus. Now, in today’s reading, once again, we see that it was actually Rome that saved Paul’s life. His subsequent imprisonment in Caesarea and house arrest in Rome was, while inconvenient, not a brutal torture chamber or dungeon experience. It actually was a safety nest that kept him physically safe from a murderous mob.

As we come to the end of this week, it could be easy to say, “So what? We’ve learned some neat factoids about Paul and Acts, but what does it have to do with my life today?” Good question. Here’s the take home for the week. When we analyze Paul’s life it becomes obvious that Paul was not concerned about human political systems or socio-economic status. Paul didn’t care if he was in Greece or in Jerusalem. He didn’t care if he was being lauded as a hero or hunted as a criminal. None of that made any difference to him. The only thing that mattered to him was that the name of Jesus, that risen Lord who he met on the road, was being proclaimed to the world and that all people were given opportunity to enter into the Kingdom of God. It is all about Jesus, the risen King, and nothing else. The same should be true about our lives and ministry. As soon as we take our eyes off of Jesus and start worrying about political parties and agendas, or theological distinctives, or the “in” group, it is at that point that we open the back door of the Kingdom and allow the enemy to enter in and start setting up his strongholds of deception, destruction, and divisiveness in the church. Let’s make sure we never forget that Jesus is the head of the church, we serve him, and he leads us all in the way that He desires us to be led.

Just for Kids

A big question that comes up for followers of Jesus has to do with how we should treat the government of our country. Since Jesus is our King and we live in the Kingdom of God, do we have to obey the laws of our country?

Read Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 to see how both Paul and Peter answered this question.

Based on these passages, how should a Follower of Jesus treat their country? When would be the only time it would be right to break the law of your country?

top