Acts 21:15-25 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Acts 21:15-25. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Acts 21:15-25 (NIV)
15 After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.
16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.
17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly.
18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.
19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.
21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.
22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come,
23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.
24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.
25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”
On verses 15-20: Paul and his team finally reach Jerusalem. The Jerusalem church elders, including James, praise God after hearing Paul’s reports about what God did among the Gentiles through Paul’s ministry. However, while Paul was away from Jerusalem, a new concern had arisen for the Jerusalem church. According to the ancient historian Josephus, the mid 50s were a time of intense nationalism and anti-Roman sentiment among the Jewish people in Jerusalem, as evidenced by numerous revolts that the Jews launched against the Roman empire. Thus many Jews in Jerusalem did not like the idea that Paul was reaching non-Jewish people throughout the Roman empire. Even more, they thought that Paul was teaching Jewish Christians living outside of Jerusalem to completely disregard the law of Moses. (To be clear Paul was not teaching Christians to completely disregard the law of Moses, but Paul did teach that circumcision was not necessary in order to be saved and that one couldn’t be saved by trying to obey the Law of Moses since we can never obey it perfectly.) Paul’s ministry outside of Jerusalem had become a very controversial issue for people in Jerusalem.
To show that Paul was not teaching people to completely disregard the law of Moses, James and the leaders of the Christian church in Jerusalem recommend that Paul join four other Jewish Christians in taking a vow under the law of Moses (probably the Nazirite vow found in Numbers 6:13-17). They also recommend that Paul undergo a Jewish purification rite whereby they would shave their heads. James and the Jerusalem church leaders thought that this would help the Jewish Christians to see that Paul was not turning his back on his Jewish heritage or the law of Moses (v24).
We will see in the verses that follow that Paul submitted to his leaders’ recommendation and went through the purification rite (v26). However, this still did not please everyone. Despite going through the purification rite, some Jews (probably Jewish non-Christians) stirred up the crowd in Jerusalem to try to kill Paul (v27-36).
What lesson can we learn from all this? The two lessons I learn from this may seem contradictory, but there is value in doing both. First, for the sake of maintaining peace, as much as you reasonably can, do what is right in the eyes of everybody, but second, know that you can never please everybody. In fact, sometimes, no matter what you do or how hard you try, there will be people who will still misunderstand or misconstrue what you do and still be unhappy with you.
It is wise to live in peace with others as much as you reasonably can. And it is also wise to realize that sometimes you just can’t please everybody. That’s why when Paul writes that we should “be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody” (Romans 12:17), he follows it up by saying “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18) In other words, sometimes peace with everyone is not possible. So what should we do? Do what you reasonably can do to live at peace with all people, but if after doing your part there still isn’t peace, don’t worry about it, move on and trust that God will make all things beautiful in His time.
Father, please help me to do my best to live at peace with everyone, while at the same time realizing that sometimes you just can’t please everybody. May the driving ambition of my life not be to win the approval of people, but to please You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
