On to Jerusalem
1 When we had finally taken leave of them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Pa tara.
2 There we found a ship that made for Phoenicia; we went aboard and set sail.
3 We caught sight of Cyprus but passed it by on our left, as we con tinued on towards Syria. We landed at Tyre, where the ship had to unload cargo.
4 There we found the disciples and stayed a week. Warned by the Spirit, they told Paul not to go to Jeru sa lem.
5 But when it was time, we departed and continued on our journey. All of them, wives and children included, came out of the city with us, and on the beach we knelt down and prayed.
6 After that we said good-bye to one another; we boarded the ship and they returned home.
7 We continued our journey, sailing from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and spent a day with them.
8 On the fol lowing day we left and came to Cae sarea. There we entered the house of Philip the evangelist and we stayed with him. He was one of the Seven
9 and had four unmarried daughters who were gifted with prophecy.
10 We were there some days when a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands with it, saying,
11 “Thus speaks the Holy Spirit: This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the foreign power.”
12 When we heard this, we, together with these people of Caesarea, begged Paul not to go up to Jeru sa lem.
13 Then he answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but also to die in Jeru salem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
14 When he would not be persuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
15 After this we got ready and went up to Jeru salem.
16 With us were some of the disciples of Caesarea who brought us to the house of a Cypriot where we were to stay. He was called Mnason and was one of the early disciples.
Paul is received by the Church of Jerusalem
17 When we arrived in Jerusalem the brothers welcomed us warmly.
18 The next day Paul went with us to James’ house where all the el ders had gathered.
19 After greeting them, Paul began telling them in detail everything God had done among the non-Jews through his ministry.
20 After hearing this, they all praised God, but they said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews of Judea have come to believe, and all of them are zealous for the Law.
21 Yet they have heard that you teach the Jews who live in pagan nations to depart from Moses, tell ing them not to have their sons circumcised and to renounce Jewish customs.
22 We shall gather the assembly for, in any case, they will hear that you have arrived.
23 Then do as we tell you.
There are four men among us who have made a vow.
24 Take them and purify yourself along with them and pay the sacrifice for them to shave their heads. In that way everyone will know that there is nothing true in what they have been told about you, but that you go on keeping the Law.
25 As for the non-Jews who have become be lievers, we sent them a letter to tell them that they are only obliged not to eat meat offered to idols, or blood, or flesh of strangled animals; and also to avoid prohibited sexual union.”
26 So the next day Paul took the men; he puri fied himself with them and entered the Temple to give notice of what day the sacrifice would be offered for each of them to end his time of puri fication.
Paul is arrested in the Temple
27 When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from Asia, who saw Paul in the Temple, began to stir up the whole crowd. They seized him
28 shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who is spreading his teaching everywhere against our people, our law and this Sanctuary. And now he has even brought non-Jews into the Temple area, defiling this Holy Place.”
29 For they thought they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Greek man from Ephesus and they supposed that Paul had introduced him into the temple.
30 Then turmoil spread through the whole city. People came running from all sides. They seized Paul and dragged him outside the Temple. At once the gates were shut.
31 They would have killed him, had not a report reached the commander of the Roman troops that all of Jerusalem was rioting.
32 At once the commander took some officers and soldiers and rushed down to the crowd.
On seeing him with the soldiers, the crowd stopped beating Paul.
33 The commander went over to Paul, arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains; then he inquired who he was and what he had done.
34 But some in the crowd shouted one thing and others another. As the commander was unable to find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be brought to the fortress.
35 When Paul reached the steps, he actually had to be carried up by the soldiers be cause of the violence of the mob,
36 for a multitude of people followed shouting, “Kill him!”
37 Just as he was about to be taken inside, Paul said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” He replied, “So you speak Greek!
38 Are you not the Egyptian, then, who caused a riot some time ago and let a band of four thousand terrorists out into the desert?” Paul an swered,
39 “I am a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus, a well-known city in Cilicia. I beg you, let me address these people.”
The commander agreed.
40 So Paul standing on the steps, motioned to the people with his hand and, when they were silent, he began to speak to them in Hebrew.
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Comments Acts, Chapter 21
• 21.5 Paul goes up to Jerusalem, and manifestations of the Spirit follow. Paul is warned that he should not go, and this happens when he himself leaves chained by the Spirit (20:22) that means without the possibility of making any other decision. It is the right moment to see how the Spirit of God is one with the spirit of the person he inspires: those who warn Paul know and declare that he will meet with trouble and they would not want it. Paul knows and he wants it. Today, such manifestations are not part of the ordinary experience of Christians, with the exception of certain charismatic groups. Yet on looking into the subject it would seem that many people do receive such warnings but attach little importance to them.
The Spirit passes through our spirit as does light through thick colored glass and takes its color. Many manifestations that certain people seek are current mainly in primitive religions, even the non-Christian: must we take it that they are the most desirable religious experiences? However, if the Spirit of God wills to use our parapsychological senses to let us feel his presence in this firmly closed fortress that we call “our own self” and where we pretend to be the only rulers, “Praise the Lord! Alle luia.” Let him have us speak in tongues, laugh and cry, if such breaks the ice and opens the doors of our reason that has already seemingly known everything.
A good number of Christians make fun of such happenings. They are free to believe or not: there are so many illusions and much char latanism. All they have to do is to ask them selves whether or not they are systematically denying any divine manifestation in a world we believe we know well, through hu man experience. If God no longer has the right to intervene in a world given up to reason and the laws of science, how can there be a true and trustful communion with him?
That is important. Whoever renounces and gives self to God sees the Spirit becoming more and more active in her life, not through visions and marvels, but through silent inspiration. This becomes so habitual that a person cannot live without it and knows through experience that the inner inspiration is right even though reason suggests another way of acting. Such a person mistrusts her own projects and follows this spiritual instinct.
The primitive Church had its pro phets, but al ways wanted community discernment to judge whether it was truly God’s Spirit (1 Cor 14:29; 1 Thes 5:21; 1 Jn 4:1-3). The Bible al ready spoke of prophets who spoke without being sent, or dreamed what they wanted to dream (Jer 29:16). The account of the journey helps us to get an idea of how these first communities welcomed brothers and sisters from other parts at a time when communication was limited. Besides, would there have been a Eucharistic celebration with these foreigners without at least asking about themselves and their Church? It was quite different when apostles or prophets were passing by for then they were granted manifestations of the Spirit, with a more developed knowledge of the Word, as well as news of the universal Church.
• 17. The Christians of Jewish origin praise Paul when he gets to Jerusalem but, at the same time, they humiliate him. There is a rumor among them that Paul, besides not imposing the Judaic Law on Christian converts from paganism, also suggests that the Jews abandon the Law. They asked him to prove his fidelity to the past by becoming godfather to a few believers who had made a fairly costly vow – because if Paul had come from the Greeks, he would have money and could pay well!
Those who insist are the elders working with James “the brother of the Lord”: all are Jews from Palestine who, in spite of their faith, are still attached to the customs of the Old Testament.
They point out the importance of the Jeru salem community: thousands of Jews in order to make their demands respected. They may still have been more numerous than the Chris tians in the pagan world: this was the inheritance of the past. Paul accepts for the sake of peace, but it will be his downfall.
• 27. There are several si mi larities between Paul’s arrest and Ste phen’s a few years before (see 6:9). The Jews from Asia draw up several accusations: the most serious one being that Paul brought an “uncir cum cised” man into the Tem ple; this profanation was pun ishable by death. This is the man who is spreading his teaching everywhere against our people, our law and this Sanctuary. There were simi lar accusations against Christ and Stephen.
This is a false accusation. Nevertheless, the Jews are not totally wrong: through his teach ings, Paul forms Christians who replace the Temple wor ship with faith in Christ; they re place the Law with a life of obedience to the Spirit and Jewish na tion alism with universal Christian community.
The Roman troops occupying Jerusalem and seeking order were stationed in a fort ress adjacent to the Temple and overlooking it. Thanks to this, the soldiers were able to intervene before Paul met the same fate as Ste phen.