ACTS 21
Read Acts 21:1-36
Paul continued on his trip towards Jerusalem stopping at several places on the way to encourage the fledgling Christian churches there. At one of the stops he was met by a man named Agabus who was a prophet (v10). Agabus gave a very vivid prophecy in which he not only spoke out, but also acted out, the message that he had received from God. He told Paul that when he arrived in Jerusalem he would be bound and handed over to the authorities and, as if to emphasise the point, he tied his hands and feet with Paul’s belt to give a visual representation of what was going to happen. Agabus was insistent that the message came from the Holy Spirit; it was not something that he was making up. Now, this was very disturbing and Paul’s fellow Christians urged him not to go to Jerusalem. But he knew it was God’s will and he would not be dissuaded; in fact, he said he was willing to be bound, and even die, in Jerusalem if it were God’s will for him to do so (v13).
So Paul and his companions journeyed on. When they arrived in Jerusalem the believers there were overjoyed to see him again. Paul reported in detail to the senior members of the church what God had done amongst the Gentiles. It is worth noting that Paul did not say what he had done among the Gentiles. He recognised that it was God’s work and he gave all the glory to God. He was soon back into the routine of regular worship at the Temple and when he was there one day some Jews from Asia (modern day Turkey, where Paul had done a lot of his preaching and church planting) recognised him and started to cause trouble. They made some false accusations against him and incited a mob. We read that ‘the whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions’ (v30). They set about Paul, but thankfully the commander of the Roman troops heard about what was going on and the soldiers saved Paul from being lynched. The Romans weren’t interested in the reason for the riot; they just wanted to keep order in the city. They arrested Paul and put him into protective custody to deal with later.
The irony of the situation is that Paul’s accusers were Jews, members of the Old Testament people of God. His rescuers were pagans; they were the hated occupying force, the Romans. It is sometimes the case that secular authorities and non-believers act with much more grace and care than the church and some of those who call themselves Christians. There is a responsibility upon God’s people to reflect the grace of God in their dealings with others. And this runs through the Old Testament as well, with God having to remind his people to “remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you” (Dt 24:18 for example). They had to be merciful and gracious to others, especially those less fortunate than themselves. We too were slaves to sin and have been redeemed by Jesus on the cross, and we should reflect that in our day to day lives as well.