Captured
Notes
Transcript
When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 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.
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.” For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”
We’ve heard Paul had two destinations he wanted to get to after his third missionary journey: Jerusalem, which he arrived at here, and Rome, which he’ll begin traveling toward soon. Over the last decade, the only recordings in Acts of Paul being in Jerusalem came after his first missionary journey when there was the council or synod in Jerusalem. That was back in Acts 15, from which the Gentiles were given expectations for living out their faith—that has bearing on our reading today. Then at the end of his second journey, chapter 18 verse 22, seems to imply he visited again. That’s it; so, Paul likely wasn’t often here during his faith or ministry years, but remember Jerusalem would have been the hub for his life back when he was a Pharisee.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I imagine Paul really didn’t need anyone telling him, “I told you so” when this all happened, but I imagine he knew it before and after this all went down. Based on the series of the phrase “the next day” and then “the seven days [being] nearly over,” it seems like he had about nine days, give or take a day, from when he entered Jerusalem until he was captured. He knew that was coming—he probably didn’t know to what extent the people would come after him and how exactly the Romans would figure into this, but the demise of his freedom wasn’t a surprise. I’ve said this again and again, he was ready and willing to suffer, even to die for the cause of Christ. According to verse 31, that was this crowd’s intent—“While they were trying to kill him…” Yet we’re not told if he woke up each morning wondering if this would be that day, or if he tried to keep it out of his mind so that he could take in the blessings and challenges of each day. As long as he had breath, he’d continue to keep himself committed to the Lord, committed to the spread of the gospel, committed to the encouragement of believers.
So, let’s begin with the days when Paul was free in Jerusalem. Our first point, Paul, the multicultural servant of God. We’ve seen and heard that Paul’s mission field was primarily Gentiles. For a time, he went to Jews, and if Jews were around where he ministered, he wasn’t turning them away. He broke new ground in terms of the mission field, he could have been proud of that, and yet Luke tells us in verse 19, “Paul…reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.” All the evangelism, conversions, miracles, discipleship—all those things among the people of other nations and regions, who were not brought up in Judaism nor expected to live according to Jewish traditions, all this work Paul faithfully engaged in—it was not about him, it was about God. He was pointing people to the Triune God.
Yet some of the Jerusalem Jews—assumedly we’re talking about but maybe not exclusively Jewish Christians, twisted Paul’s work. They made it out to be how he was turning Jews away from the faith that included the practices God had given the Jews; how dare he? But they just wanted everyone to have the right idea about Paul, and so they told him, “Hey, you have to get to the temple and participate in these explicitly Jewish vows. That’ll convince everyone.”
There’s a lot of questions: did Paul do what he was accused of—had he tossed out the Old Testament for the Jewish people? Was he leading them away from God’s covenantal practices going back to Moses and Abraham? We don’t have a denial recorded. Is his going to the temple for these vows an admission of guilt and that he should do what they wanted? Was he turning his back on what he often wrote against? Galatians 3 begins, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?” Wasn’t Paul a pretty strong proponent of not just following the law for law sake?
I won’t say I completely understand Paul other than perhaps wanting to please rather than enter conflict. But the main way we might make sense of this is with what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9. This is verse 13 and then jumping to verses 20 through 23: “…We put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ…To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
When Paul was free, his primary goal, his primary mission in ministry was to bring people to the good news of Jesus Christ, the Savior, sent by God, to rescue people from sin and death. In serving that mission, he made clear what was sin and what was righteous living. Yet when it came to certain cultural differences that ultimately didn’t matter, didn’t interfere with or conflict with the gospel, with God’s work, Paul was willing to adapt to the culture around him.
Part of what this means for us is the understanding that God’s church is multicultural. There are people from all tribes, tongues, and nations who believe in God and who God loves and has saved. There are people of all different races and ethnicities, cultural preferences and styles. To be multicultural can be difficult in peoples’ minds because we have fears about what’s acceptable and being accepted. There are things that really shouldn’t be a big deal when it comes to how different people groups act, but because we’re not used to them or we weren’t raised that way or we’re just unique, rather than tolerate and admire, we fight. Yet this is our calling, and I think it’s one that we, Baldwin CRC, as a body live more and more into. Let’s be blunt, we’re predominantly white, but we’re not all native to this community, we’re don’t all share the same heritage, we don’t hold every practice, idea, political or social idea in complete agreement—yet we love one another, or we ought to, and to love anyone we go out to or who walks in our doors desiring to know Jesus.
We continue in our passage to this section which the NIV titled, “Paul Arrested,” and our point is Paul, the lonely Christian. Picking up at verse 27, “…Some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, ‘Men of Israel, help us!”…The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple…While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city…was in an uproar. He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw [them], they stopped beating Paul. The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done…The violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed shouted, ‘Away with him!’”
If we went around and shared what comes to mind, perhaps we’re drawn back to the account of Stephen, when we first met Paul with the name Saul, perhaps we’re drawn again to protests and riots in our present day, to mobs that pull people out of cars and beat them senseless; perhaps we think of police and National Guard being sent in to disperse unruly crowds; perhaps we’re wondering about justice—Paul got arrested; he wasn’t at fault here! Did the Romans just assume because everyone was against him that the masses must be right? Was Paul’s arrest an attempt to actually protect him?
I think we can easily get wound up in all this. As Christians, we want Paul to be safe because he’s Paul; he’s one of us. We want the Jews and anyone else who came to stop abusing him and be held accountable for their actions. Perhaps we’re glad that the authorities rushed in, and yet we have to keep in mind that attitudes were not typically appreciative towards Roman soldiers. We have a man’s life. We have differing views about justice. We have government authority. We have faith. All of this is in a tornado around the man who has seemed so confident, so bold, so willing to go wherever he was needed, but who now seems like he was on his own.
When someone is torn away from their comforts and routines, from their people, their family, things they rely on or have taken for granted, quite naturally we assume there’s loss and loneliness. Paul had his faith; he was strong and had been tried and refined multiple times. He had been left for dead before. But with the circumstances leading up to this and so many different parties ganging up together, the church had to understand and care for people in such distress.
Paul’s colleagues and the broader church didn’t abandon Paul in the days and years to come. We’ll continue to see that. Especially on this point today, I want to connect with our Sunday School At-Home opportunities this week. On Friday, the “Do” practice is to visit the website, icommittopray.com and read a prayer request there of a persecuted individual or family from around the world and pray for them. If you don’t have a computer or access to the internet, but you want to do this, let me know. I’ll make sure to get you a copy of the upcoming requests.
This week’s prayer requests included one for three children in Uganda. The names given were Penny, a 12-year-old girl, Elijah, 10, and Charity, 6. Their parents are Muslim. Their grandmother who they had moved in with because of access to education is Muslim. But when school started, grandmother noticed them talking about Jesus and sneaking off to attend Sunday school. She forced them out of her house and left them on their own. The teacher helped and got them connected with someone from Voice of the Martyrs Ministry, but they ask people to pray thanking God for these children’s great faith and that they will remain strong in the Lord.
Again, it’s easy to get wrapped up in so many parts of persecution throughout history and in the present, especially when we don’t have to endure it ourselves at this time. Yet it’s important that we learn and practice care for those who do. We lift up before God those hurting, especially children who have come to and kept the faith. Our prayers are an exercise of love as we desire for God to make known that his body supports one another.
We come now to our final point, a point that’s intended to keep our perspective in check: Paul’s willingness to suffer like Jesus reminds us of Jesus’ sufferings for us. It's incredibly easy to focus on Paul just as a model. From his dramatic conversion to his perseverance and bravery, perhaps you’re thinking the point of Acts is to show us how Christians should be brave and courageous. We should be ready to die for our faith, not give in. There is benefit to that.
But I want to share a paragraph from priest and theologian John Stott’s commentary that he wrote regarding the last few chapters: “…It is hard to resist the conclusion that Luke sees a parallel between Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, which is prominent in his first volume,” referring to the Gospel of Luke, “and Paul’s journey to Jerusalem, which he describes in his second,” the book of Acts. “Of course the resemblance is far from being exact, and the mission of Jesus was unique; yet the correspondence between the two journeys seems too close to be a coincidence. Like Jesus, Paul travelled to Jerusalem with a group of his disciples. Like Jesus he was opposed by hostile Jews who plotted against his life. Like Jesus he made or received three successive predictions of his ‘passion’ or sufferings including his being handed over to the Gentiles. Like Jesus he declared his readiness to lay down his life. Like Jesus he was determined to complete his ministry and not be deflected from it. Like Jesus he expressed his abandonment to the will of God. Even if some of these details are not to be pressed, Luke surely intends his readers to envisage Paul as following in his Master’s footsteps when he ‘steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.’”
In all of his being “like Jesus,” Paul’s suffering needs to ultimately point us back to Christ’s sufferings and the reason for them. Jesus suffered terrible agony, though innocent and completely undeserved, for us. He did that for Paul, too. You and I, because of our sin, deserve every punishment that God might righteously choose to send on us. Yet Jesus took that upon himself, and in its place, mercifully bestowed grace. That’s something Paul’s pain and turmoil couldn’t do. While Paul gives us a glimpse of what it can look like to walk in very similar footsteps to Jesus, no one can walk the precise steps Jesus did.
It was Jesus, not Paul or any other martyr or great Christian man or woman, that Isaiah 53 verses 4 and 5 point to, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
It’s absolutely true that we are living in an age when a term like “justice” and what someone deserves or is entitled to carries a lot of baggage. People want to define justice by their own standards. Anything less than concurring with our own opinions is rejected or questioned. Yet brothers and sisters, when we consider our sin we start from the place that none of us deserve anything good, none of us deserve hope or grace—it’s the love of God that our sinless Savior suffered everything on our behalf. May we be willing to show undeserved grace in our own lives in forgiving others, but never forget the one whose death on a cross accomplished everything for you and your salvation and the salvation of all who God loves. Amen.