10.21.2015

Acts 21

Summary
Paul travels with his group to Jerusalem.  From Ephesus they sail to Tyre and stay with Christians for a week while the ship unloaded cargo.  They tell Paul by the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem, but he goes on anyway!  Agabus says he'll be arrested.  In Jerusalem they meet with James and the elders.  They rejoice without objection at Paul's report of his work among the Gentiles.  They then ask Paul to pay expenses for some men to fulfill a Nazirite vow, to show the concerned Jewish Christians that Paul isn't teaching Jews to forsake the temple.  He does it.

It's a week long process and near the end when Paul is in the temple, Jews from Asia that agitated against him there stir up the crowd with the accusation that he took Gentiles into the temple.  They drag Paul out and start beating him, but the Romans get wind of it and come arrest Paul.  Paul speaks Greek to the arresting officer, then Hebrew to the Jews gathered.


How this is about Jesus / Application
Sometimes the Lord leads us into hard situations, even telling us it's going to be hard.  We then get pressure from friends not to do it, but we know we must to be faithful.
Paul is entertaining Gentile friends in Jerusalem, but is careful NOT to take them into the temple.  He wants to bring Jew and Gentile together; he still respects the ritual separation that is still standing, but preaches more strongly that it is torn down at the cross.

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