It is possible that the Holy Spirit had impressed on Paul
the necessity to go to Jerusalem for some reason in spite of the trouble that
awaited him. It is the Apostle Paul and I think it is best to take him at his
word for that aspect of his actions.
Acts
20:22-23 … And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit,
not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies
to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
There was at least a difference of opinion with regard to
God’s will for Paul. Eventually, as Paul persisted, the Church trusted in God’s
sovereignty and left Paul in God’s hands. Paul makes a very bold statement but
we don’t see Paul moving in that direction and, more importantly, the Holy
Spirit doesn’t move Paul in that direction.
Acts
21:10-14 … While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came
down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet
and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at
Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands
of the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him
not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and
breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in
Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded,
we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”
In spite of Paul’s statement here he seems to have an
“Apostle Peter” moment that starts when he meets with the Jerusalem Church
leadership. Keep in mind that Paul was finally home after years on the mission
field and when he is told by the leadership that he has a public relations
problem then Paul buckles and this spiritual giant makes a huge mistake by
agreeing to participate in animal sacrifice.
Acts
21:26 … Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along
with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification
would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.
So it is disturbing enough that the Christians in
Jerusalem were still worshiping this way after the Cross and in the light of
the Cross but God would not let the author of our epistles to the Romans,
Galatians, and Ephesians do such a thing. When Paul tries then a riot occurs.
Acts
21:27-28 … When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia,
seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him,
crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone
everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even
brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”
Paul does find himself in prison but not for the name of
the Lord Jesus except indirectly because of his preaching in Asia and not in
Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Christians in particular were having a difficult time
with the finished work of Christ. They were people just like we are and
tradition was a hard thing for them to separate from. Often, tradition is
neutral or adiaphorous without any moral implications but the sacrificial
system of the Old Testament was in place to point to Christ and it had no place
in worship after the Cross. In fact, in AD 70 just 30 years or so from this
point the temple would be cast down and every stone removed because as Christ said,
destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19). The real
temple had come and now the shadow was finished. God graciously delivered Paul
from performing the animal sacrifice in spite of his intention to do so.
Paul gave part of his testimony this time in Jerusalem to
unsaved Jews and a few Gentiles and he was able to once again share with the
Jerusalem Church leadership what God was doing in the Gentile world. However,
he was able to share more extensively at the first Church Council in Jerusalem
(Acts 15). This had to be a fairly discouraging time for Paul and the Lord
reassured him that things were still in control.
Acts
23:11 … The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for
as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify
also in Rome.”
Over all, Paul had it right; first go to Jerusalem and
then go to Rome. Paul didn’t have the details figured out but being a martyr in
Jerusalem was not the plan. Felix in Acts 24 was not making decisions. In fact
he was hoping for a nice bribe (Acts 24:26). After a couple of years then Felix
was replaced by Porcius Festus and Festus didn’t want to put off this decision.
Both Felix and Festus wanted to please the Jews because, as reasonable
administrators, it is easier to rule a people who think you are on their side.
Festus probably knew that a conspiracy existed to kill Paul. Festus may have
even looked at it as a way to get rid of the “Paul” problem early in his
administration. Paul knew that it was the Jewish intention that he would not
survive a change of venue to Jerusalem. Even more importantly, he had the
Lord’s words to him that he would testify in Rome. So Paul gives Festus a
different way out of his political problem.
Acts
25:9-12 … But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you
wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” But
Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried.
To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. If then I am
a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not
seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no
one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.” Then Festus, when he had
conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar
you shall go.”
Festus had the problem out of his hair either dead or
alive so sending Paul away was an acceptable option to him. As Boice points out
in his commentary, three things were key for Paul in standing up to this attack.
First, he knew that God was sovereign over all the
details of his life. Even after a mistake, God was sovereign and had told him
so in His revelation that he would be going to Rome.
Secondly, Paul had tremendous portions of Scripture in
memory and he could stand on the word of God in these times. Situations are
rarely black and white. I’m not saying we grab one verse and hang on for a
white knuckle ride. We need all of Scripture as Scripture interprets Scripture
and God will reveal and lead as we seek Him with all of it. Once again it is
the light to my path and lamp to my feet analogy. We need to see the long range
and the immediate but the intermediate is often obscure in this fallen world.
Thirdly, we need to be ready to pay any price necessary.
This one is a particularly hard topic. Martyrdom is a real possibility for many
in the world today. For us, it seems fairly alien or we think of it as an early
Church thing. Daniel’s three friends had a, “bow down or die” option. They are
a children’s Sunday School story that we love. Lots of people have died and
Hebrews 11 makes it clear this was not a lack of faith on their part.
In writing The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
reflected on this topic. This was not an academic question for him. He said
that in prison system of Russia some prisoners survived the interrogations and
maintain their integrity and others collapsed under it and lost their identity
entirely. He says that it had to do with whether or not one was willing to pay
the price for one’s integrity. The price was to lay down your life.
Solzhenitsyn said:
At the very threshold, you
must say to yourself: “My life is over, a little early to be sure, but there’s
nothing to be done about it. I shall never return to freedom. I am condemned to
die—now or a little later. But later on, in truth, it will be even harder, and
so the sooner the better. I no longer have any property whatsoever. For me
those I love have died, and for them I have died. From today on, my body is
useless and alien to me. Only my spirit and my conscience remain precious to
me.”
Confronted by such a
prisoner, the interrogation will tremble.
Only the man who has
renounced everything can gain that victory.
Jesus gave up everything for us, and said, “If anyone
would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and
follow me” (Luke 9:23). Jesus teaches that that we must be willing to die to self
to be his followers. That is the victory of faith that overcomes the world. I’m
not there and I stagger at the faith revealed in the lives of these early
Christians. I have such a blessed life that it is hard for me to imagine the
hardships they faced. On the other hand it is inspiring and makes me want to
seek God’s direction on making the cross a part of my daily walk with God so
that I’ll see how that makes abundant life possible. Now I see it through a
dark mirror but someday I’ll see it clearly.
Next in Paul’s life he is able to give his testimony
before Festus, Herod Agrippa, and Bernice. This is a bit long but here is the
explanation that Festus gives Agrippa on Paul looking for some expert advice.
Acts
25:13-21 … Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice
arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. And as they stayed there many days,
Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man left prisoner
by Felix, and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the
Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation
against him. I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give
up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity
to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. So when they came
together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the
tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. When the accusers stood up, they
brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed. Rather they had
certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain
Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. Being at a loss how to
investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and
be tried there regarding them. But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody
for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send
him to Caesar.”
Agrippa was the son of Herod Agrippa I and grandson of
Herod the Great. His father was the one who had arrested Peter and killed
James. He had some pretty bad ancestors but he was not as violent or as prone
to atrocities as his father and grandfather. He was just living with his
sister, Bernice, as his wife. His value to Festus was that he understood Paul and
why the Jews were upset. That is why he got involved in his trial.
Acts
25:22-27 … Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.”
“Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.” So on the next day Agrippa and
Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the
military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of
Festus, Paul was brought in. And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are
present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned
me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.
But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself
appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. But I have nothing
definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you
all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined
him, I may have something to write. For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending
a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”
What a civil servant Festus is! He didn’t want to send
Paul up to Rome without being able to fill out the entire form with the blank
describing the charges. This was a major scene for Festus with Agrippa
visiting. The word that Luke used for “pomp” is φαντασία (phantasia). The
superficial appearance of importance was found in Festus, Agrippa, Bernice, and
all the officials. The real importance was found in what Paul was going to
share.
It can be hard to remember what is important and what is
not because of the “phantasia” effect that we get so impressed with. Ideally,
we use the “pomp” to indicate an underlying reality.
I like to wear a tie when I teach and I’ve generally worn
a tuxedo for weddings. The form of dress at the wedding didn’t make the wedding
significant. The formal dress is a result of the significance of the wedding.
Of course at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb then we’ll
be clothed in His righteousness (Matthew 22:11-14).
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