Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem
Acts 21:1–26
Paul now completes his journey to Jerusalem. Along the way he encounters warnings from Christian prophets that suffering awaits him there. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem even though he himself repeatedly foretold that he would encounter suffering and death there. Paul has a similar determination to fulfill his mission by going to Jerusalem, despite the trials that await him.
When Paul and his party arrive, James, the chief elder of the Jerusalem church, warns Paul of rumors that he discourages Jewish disciples in the †Diaspora from practicing their Jewish faith and circumcising their children. To counter this gossip, James encourages Paul to demonstrate his loyalty to Jewish devotional practices. Paul acts on James’s suggestion, but while his gesture may be sufficient to allay the concerns of Jewish Christians, it does not prevent the attack of Jewish opponents from Asia who have also come to Jerusalem for the feast.
Arrival in Tyre (21:1–6)
1When we had taken leave of them we set sail, made a straight run for Cos, and on the next day for Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2Finding a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went on board and put out to sea. 3We caught sight of Cyprus but passed by it on our left and sailed on toward Syria and put in at Tyre where the ship was to unload cargo. 4There we sought out the disciples and stayed for a week. They kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to embark for Jerusalem. 5At the end of our stay we left and resumed our journey. All of them, women and children included, escorted us out of the city, and after kneeling on the beach to pray, 6we bade farewell to one another. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.
OT: Ps 95:6
NT: Luke 22:41; Acts 20:36; Eph 3:14
Catechism: Holy Spirit and prophecy, 243
[21:1–3]
As Paul boards ship at Miletus, Luke resumes narrating in the first-person “we” as one of Paul’s companions. The ship arrives at Patara, a port on the coast of present-day Turkey. There they find what is probably a large merchant ship capable of crossing the four-hundred-mile expanse of the Mediterranean Sea to Phoenicia, present-day Lebanon, rather than following the coastline and making many stops, as smaller ships would do. A direct voyage assures Paul the possibility of reaching Jerusalem by Pentecost (Acts 20:16). They pass by the island of Cyprus and sail on to Syria, of which the Phoenician coast was a part, finally arriving at the port city of Tyre.
[21:4]
While the ship’s cargo is being unloaded, and perhaps fresh cargo loaded, Paul and his companions find some disciples at Tyre and stay with them for a week. Paul’s warm reception by Christians in Tyre and other cities may indicate that he already knew those communities from previous trips between Antioch and Jerusalem. Or it may simply reflect the Christian custom of hospitality to missionaries. Through prophecies, these disciples keep telling Paul through the Spirit not to embark for Jerusalem. In their affection for Paul, they try to persuade him to avoid imminent suffering. He rejects their urging because he is more concerned to fulfill his mission than to ensure his own safety. His determination to continue is not disobedience to the Spirit, since his decision to go to Jerusalem was itself motivated by the Spirit (Acts 19:21; 20:22).
[21:5–6]
After the week’s stay the band of missionaries resume their journey southward by boat. All the local disciples, women and children included (indicating the entire community’s love that Paul enjoyed), make the same reverent and affectionate gestures as the Ephesians at Miletus. They escort the team out of the city and, kneeling on the beach to pray, bid farewell. The community in Tyre remains an inspiring example of Christian hospitality and love.
Arrival at Caesarea (21:7–14)
7We continued the voyage and came from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed a day with them. 8On the next day we resumed the trip and came to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him. 9He had four virgin daughters gifted with prophecy. 10We had been there several days when a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11He came up to us, took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the holy Spirit: This is the way the Jews will bind the owner of this belt in Jerusalem, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.” 12When we heard this, we and the local residents begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? I am prepared not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14Since he would not be dissuaded we let the matter rest, saying, “The Lord’s will be done.”
OT: Isa 20:2–4; Jer 13:1–9; 16:1–4; 19:1–13; Ezek 4:1–17
NT: Luke 22:42; Eph 4:11; 2 Tim 4:5
Catechism: Holy Spirit and prophecy, 243; prophecy as special grace, 2004; role of prophets in Israel, 2595; “Thy will be done,” 2824–25
[21:7–8]
Paul and his team, including Luke, continue southward along the Mediterranean coast, visiting the local Christian community at each port. Finally they arrive in the Holy Land at Caesarea, the endpoint of their sea voyage. Caesarea Maritima was a port city built by Herod the Great (today located halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa).
Here they visit Philip the evangelist, last mentioned in chapter 8. This is the only time Luke uses the title “evangelist,” though it is quite appropriate for Philip’s ministry to the Samaritans and the Ethiopian eunuch. In Paul’s Letters, evangelists are included in a list of church ministries (Eph 4:11), and Timothy is told to “perform the work of an evangelist” as part of his responsibility as pastor (2 Tim 4:5). Philip is also one of the Seven ordained to ministry in Acts 6:1–6, whom later tradition identifies as deacons.
[21:9]
Luke goes out of his way to mention that Philip had four virgin daughters gifted with prophecy, perhaps to illustrate the literal fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy quoted by Peter at Pentecost: “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (Acts 2:17). Paul strongly promotes this gift in 1 Corinthians: “Strive eagerly for the spiritual gifts, above all that you may prophesy” (1 Cor 14:1; see also vv. 2–5).
[21:10]
The prophet named Agabus was introduced in Acts 11:27–28 as one of the prophets who foretold a severe famine that later took place. A distinction seems to exist between individuals like Agabus, who exercised a ministry or office of prophet (11:27; 1 Cor 12:28–29; Eph 3:5; 4:11), and a wider number of Christians who exercised the charism of prophecy on an occasional basis (1 Cor 14:1–4, 31).
[21:11]
Like many of the Old Testament prophets, Agabus delivers his prophecy not only in words but also with a symbolic gesture that drives home the message: he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands with it. According to Agabus, the holy Spirit has revealed that Paul will likewise be bound in Jerusalem. There the Jews will hand him over to the Gentiles, echoing Jesus’ prediction of his own passion (Mark 10:33; Luke 18:32).[1] This prophecy confirms the messages Paul himself has been hearing on his way (Acts 20:23).
[21:12–13]
Understandably, in view of this warning, Paul’s travel companions and the Christians of Caesarea beg him not to go up to Jerusalem. However, their human affection for Paul interferes with obedience to God’s will for him. Paul gently turns aside their emotional entreaties: “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?” Despite his love for them, his resolve remains unmoved. He is prepared not only to become a prisoner but also, if need be, to die a martyr’s death in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
[21:14]
Seeing that Paul could not be dissuaded, they “remained silent” (NRSV, a literal rendering). Their response, “The Lord’s will be done,” echoes Jesus’ response to the Father in Gethsemane (Luke 22:42). As much as they love Paul, they recognize Christ’s claim on his life.
Paul and James in Jerusalem (21:15–26)
15After these days we made preparations for our journey, then went up to Jerusalem. 16Some of the disciples from Caesarea came along to lead us to the house of Mnason, a Cypriot, a disciple of long standing, with whom we were to stay. 17When we reached Jerusalem the brothers welcomed us warmly. 18The next day, Paul accompanied us on a visit to James, and all the presbyters were present. 19He greeted them, then proceeded to tell them in detail what God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20They praised God when they heard it but said to him, “Brother, you see how many thousands of believers there are from among the Jews, and they are all zealous observers of the law. 21They have been informed that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to abandon Moses and that you are telling them not to circumcise their children or to observe their customary practices. 22What is to be done? They will surely hear that you have arrived. 23So do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow. 24Take these men and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses that they may have their heads shaved. In this way everyone will know that there is nothing to the reports they have been given about you but that you yourself live in observance of the law. 25As for the Gentiles who have come to believe, we sent them our decision that they abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage.” 26So Paul took the men, and on the next day after purifying himself together with them entered the temple to give notice of the day when the purification would be completed and the offering made for each of them.
OT: Num 6:1–21
NT: Acts 6:11–14; 7:58; 11:20; 15:1–41; 18:18; 24:17–18
Catechism: vows, 2102; purification of heart, 2517–19
[21:15]
Paul’s group, now traveling by land, makes the final leg of the sixty-five-mile journey up to Jerusalem, three or four days’ journey on foot. People traveling from any direction are said to go “up” to Jerusalem, the holy city in which God’s temple was located.
[21:16]
Paul’s group arrives at the house of Mnason, a Cypriot, a disciple of long standing (“an early disciple,” RSV), where arrangements have been made for them to stay. The inclusion of Mnason’s name suggests he was well known in the Church, though he is mentioned only here in the New Testament. He has both financial means and the willingness to host Paul and his mostly Gentile Christian companions (20:4), overcoming the cultural barriers that had previously divided Jews and Gentiles (see Acts 10:28).
[21:17]
Luke continues to point out the esteem that the Jewish-Christian church of Jerusalem, including James, had for Paul. The church offers the same reception that Paul’s earlier delegation from Antioch had received on arriving for the †Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:4): they welcomed us warmly.
[21:18]
The group’s first step is a visit to James, who is now clearly the leading †presbyter or elder in the church of Jerusalem. Although Luke does not call James a bishop, the fourth-century church historian Eusebius refers to him as the “first elected to the episcopal throne of the church in Jerusalem.”[2] Peter had implicitly recognized James’s authority over the Jerusalem church when he left to bring the gospel to other places (Acts 12:17). Luke stresses that Paul was meeting with all the presbyters, the full council of elders who led the church at Jerusalem.
[21:19–22]
As at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:4), Paul recounts what God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry, that is, he proclaims the wondrous deeds of the Lord (see Pss 71:17; 40:10–11; Isa 12:4; 1 Pet 2:9). Their response is similar to the joy of those who heard his earlier testimony about the conversion of Gentiles (Acts 15:3). In both cases, Paul’s testimony to God’s action encourages and builds up the church, so that Christians praised God.
They also complement Paul’s news of Gentile conversions with news of many thousands of believers . . . from among the Jews. These new Jewish converts remain zealous observers of the law. James takes this opportunity to inform Paul of a false rumor that has been spread among them, namely, that Paul is teaching †Diaspora Jews to abandon Moses, and not to circumcise their children or to observe their customary practices. These charges are similar to those that Jews—ironically, including Paul himself (Acts 7:58)—had raised against Stephen in Acts 6:11–14.
[21:23–24]
James warns Paul that these Jewish disciples will be suspicious of him. James, as leader of the mother church, therefore advises Paul to counteract the false report by means of a public act of Jewish piety. Paul is to take four men who have taken a vow, probably as †Nazirites (Num 6:1–21; see sidebar, p. 286), and purify yourself with them. What precisely Paul was expected to do is not quite clear. While Paul himself had previously taken a Nazirite vow (Acts 18:18), this temple purification was probably with water (Num 19:12) and may have been related to his returning to the holy city of Jerusalem after time spent in Gentile lands.[3]
James also advises Paul to pay the expenses that would enable these men to fulfill their vow. The costs associated with a Nazirite vow were considerable,[4] and it was considered an act of Jewish piety to associate oneself with the vow of Nazirites by paying their expenses. James assumes that Paul has financial resources at his disposal from his own earnings (see 20:34–35) or from the churches he established.
James’s reason for asking Paul to do this is to demonstrate publicly that he himself continues to live in observance of the law, even though he does not require Gentile followers of Jesus to become Jews through circumcision and observance of the Mosaic law. Concerning this passage, St. Augustine explains that by performing ceremonies that he was rumored to condemn, Paul would affirm two things: “that the Jews were not to be prevented from observing these obligations as if they were wrong and that the Gentiles were not to be forced to observe them as if they were necessary.”[5]
Fig. 20. A first-century mikvah (ritual bath) located just south of the Temple Mount. Paul may have used this or one like it for purification rites (Acts 21:24).
[21:25]
James reiterates the decision of the Jerusalem Council regarding Gentile believers (see Acts 15:19–20, 28–29). Luke restates this to reinforce this decision for readers of Acts, rather than from any need to inform Paul, who was himself part of the original decision and the delegation to promulgate it in Acts 15. The decision was that Gentile Christians should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. The three dietary regulations enable Gentile and Jewish Christians to share meals, including the Eucharist, by eliminating food forbidden by the law both to Israelites and to Gentile resident aliens living among them (see comment on Acts 15:20). The fourth item, which can be translated “fornication” or “unchastity” (NRSV, RSV), requires Gentile Christians to abide by standards of morality and marriage prescribed for both Israel and foreigners living among them, again facilitating harmony among Jewish and Gentile Christians.
[21:26]
Paul heeds James’s advice. After purifying himself by the customary Jewish bathing rituals, he enters the temple. He notifies the authorities of the day when the purification of the four men will be completed and the offering made for each of them. Unfortunately, his action will be seriously misunderstood.