And when the seven days were nearly completed, the Jews from Asia, having seen him in the temple, set all the crowd in a tumult, and laid hands upon him,
The seven days of purification were nearly over when the trouble broke out. The men who spotted Paul in the temple were Jews from Asia, where he had preached for years. Two questions follow: why was Paul there at all, and what did God do with the disaster?
The countdown matters. One writer shows what would have happened if the days had run their full course.
And now Paul was in a thoroughly false position. Everyone would soon see it if the time came for him to stand at the bronze altar with the prescribed offerings. If the vow of these men was a Nazirite vow, as many suppose, then each man needed sacrifices: a male lamb for a burnt offering, a female lamb for a sin offering, and a ram for peace offerings (Num. 6:14). Paul had taken all that on himself... The appointed seven days were running out, and Paul, at their close, would have appeared at the altar with his sin offering. What a triumph that would have been to the party that pressed the law! What a blow to the truth Paul had contended for so firmly and boldly! For "where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin" (Heb. 10:18) is Christian teaching, and it was now seriously endangered. But as with David, so with Paul — the Lord came in.
He was there on advice. The elders in Jerusalem told him to do it, and he agreed.
Notice again the power of old habits. For us it is as clear as daylight that the Jewish sacrifices are cancelled. The precious sacrifice of Christ has abolished them entirely. But here is a crowd of Christians at Jerusalem, zealous for the law, offering sacrifices, and their elders advising Paul to do the same. Let us remember that his submission to these customs put an end to the public testimony of the apostle... In this submission to Jewish ceremonies, he was not guided by the Spirit; he followed the advice of the elders.
These accusers came from Asia, where Paul's preaching had already caused a riot. Their charge rested on a guess.
The action recommended to Paul, and which he took, was an act of expediency, done to avoid trouble. As so often happens, it completely failed to do what it was meant to do. It took Paul into the temple where his opponents were most likely to be found. He ran into trouble instead of avoiding it. Jews of Asia stirred up the riot against him, men who had doubtless taken part in the riot at Ephesus. They supposed that Paul had defiled the temple by bringing an Ephesian Gentile into it. The supposition was clearly mistaken.
The strategy was designed to disarm suspicion. It produced the opposite, and one writer draws a sharp line between two motives for adapting to others.
Such is the result of the attempt to conform to the superstitions of others, made not with a view to winning souls by avoiding needless offence, but in order to convince these superstitious Jews that he walked as they did — so only confirming them in their darkness!
One writer draws the practical lesson for anyone who serves Christ.
So the servant of Christ does well when he is humble in mind. He counts others better than himself, takes their counsel, and weighs their spiritual judgment with care. He even listens to their criticisms and weighs them. Yet in the end the Word of God must guide him, not their opinions. The passage, Acts 21:18-30, gives us a warning about this.
The seizure in the temple ended Paul's freedom, and opened a different kind of service.
Still, God's hand was over everything that happened. Paul lost his freedom... Now began the time when he would bear powerful witness to the crowd in Jerusalem. Witness before governors and kings would follow, and even before Nero himself. God knows how to make the wrath of man praise Him, and to restrain the rest of it. He also knows how to overrule any mistakes His servants may make. He closes certain lines of service before them, and opens other lines that may in the end prove even more important. Paul's imprisonment led him to write those inspired letters. They have built up the church for nineteen centuries.
- Timing — The mob struck as the seven days closed, before Paul reached the altar. Where sins are forgiven, no offering for sin remains.
- Cause — He went to the temple on the elders' advice, not the Spirit's leading. That step ended his public testimony.
- Failure — The plan to avoid trouble walked him straight into it. The crowd's real grievance was his refusal to compromise the gospel that makes Gentiles fellow heirs.
- Limit — Weigh the counsel of others humbly, but let the Word of God govern in the end.
- Overruling — God's hand was over it all. The arrest closed one door and opened another: witness before governors, kings and Nero, and letters that still feed the church.
crying, Israelites, help! this is the man who teaches all everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place, and has brought Greeks too into the temple, and profaned this holy place.
Paul had joined four men in a vow at the temple, following the advice of the leaders in Jerusalem. Jews from Asia spotted him there and shouted that he attacked the people, the law and the temple — but was a word of it true?
They seized Paul while he was doing the very thing meant to prove the charge false. One writer draws attention to how strange the picture is:
It was a singular sight: Paul purifying himself to show that he walked orderly and kept the law. Clearly, he was walking by the thoughts of other people. That neither glorifies God nor satisfies man.
The men who claimed to defend the law broke it in the act of defending it:
In the wisdom of the Lord, a man not under the law obeys it. That very act becomes the occasion for high-handed law-breaking by those who seemed to be the law's upholders... making five distinct charges against him, all of which are untrue. So those who oppose the truth boast in their law-keeping and their good deeds. They boast in appearance, not in heart. In the end they prove to be lawbreakers, liars and murderers.
The final accusation rested on nothing more than something they had seen in the street:
They added that he had brought a Greek into the temple. This was only an assumption. They had seen him in the city with Trophimus, an Ephesian.
Paul answered the charge later. One writer points out who was missing:
'But certain Jews from Asia' — they were the true culprits in the matter. It was they whose guilty rashness brought the false charge. The four men under the vow were not Greeks. They were Jews. These were the only men Paul joined in the temple, and he did so because James asked him to. Why were these Asiatic Jews not here face to face, as Roman law required?
Israel's worship worked by degrees of nearness to God, and the outer limit was absolute:
The high priest was nearest. The priests came next — these worshipped inside. Then the Levites... and then the people, who worshipped outside... But even there, even in the outer court, no Gentile could approach.
One writer describes that barrier, and what has taken its place:
It is said that a dividing wall stood in the temple court, with gates in it. A Jew could pass through. For a Gentile who dared to pass through, it meant death. How sweet that all restraint is gone! Jew and Gentile are lifted to heights above every feeling of racial hatred and pride. So we read, "Through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father" (Eph. 2:18).
Accusers had thrown the same words — against the holy place and the law — at Stephen. What one writer says there applies here too:
If the words had been said, the witnesses were none the less false. To say he spoke disrespectfully of God or Moses, of the law or the temple, was a wicked lie. But wicked men hear with wicked feeling. The Spirit calls them false witnesses, even if Stephen's words sounded the way they reported them.
Commentators see Paul in the temple as the result of advice he took from others. One writer states the principle and names this passage as a warning:
The servant of Christ does well to think of others as better than himself. He does well to ask their advice, to weigh their spiritual judgment, and even to listen to their criticism. Yet even so he must not in the last resort be guided by their opinions but by the Word of God. The passage, Acts 21:18-30, gives us a warning as to this.
And what the mob did next carried its own meaning:
It seems that from the moment the Jews closed the temple doors to Paul, God closed the door to the Jews.
- Charge — The crowd shouted five accusations, and writers judge every one untrue. The men shouting them broke the law while claiming to guard it.
- Guess — The temple charge rested on a guess. They had seen Trophimus with Paul in the city, not in the temple. Paul's companions there were four Jews under a vow.
- Wall — The charge of defiling the holy place enraged them because no Gentile could cross the barrier and live. That wall is gone: Jew and Gentile now share one access to the Father.
- Echo — Stephen faced the same charge: against the holy place and the law. Scripture calls his accusers false witnesses. Wicked men hear with wicked feeling.
- Door — Advice from others is worth weighing, but never final. Here it ended with Paul dragged out and the temple doors shut behind him.
For they had before seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.
Luke stops the riot scene to explain the charge that set the crowd off. The verse turns on two words: what they saw, and what they supposed.
The crowd shouted as if Paul had defiled the temple. All they had was a sighting in the street.
This was of no avail, for Jews from Asia, recognizing him, caught him and cried out to inform the people that this was the man who was teaching against Israel, the law and the temple. They added that he had brought a Greek into the temple, which was only an assumption, since they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, an Ephesian.
The accusers were men who prided themselves on keeping the law. Their handling of Paul exposed what that pride was worth.
The Jews from Asia stir up the whole crowd and throw the city into uproar. The people run together, seize Paul, drag him out of the temple and try to kill him. They make five distinct charges against him, and every one of them is untrue. So the opposers of the truth boast in their law-keeping and righteous deeds — in appearance, not in heart. Yet they are proved to be breakers of the law, liars and murderers.
Trophimus was no stranger to Paul. He had travelled with him, and that journey ended in Jerusalem.
When Paul passed through Miletus on his way to Jerusalem, as told in Acts 20, Trophimus was not left behind. He went on with Paul to Jerusalem. He was indeed the occasion of the uproar at Jerusalem, and because of it Paul was arrested.
A wall inside the temple courts marked how far a Gentile could go.
People say there was a dividing wall in the court of the temple, with gates in it. A Jew could pass through those gates. For a Gentile who dared to pass through, it meant death.
That wall was not God's last word about His house. He had already said who it was for.
"For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (Isa. 56:7). How evil, then, were the zealots who attacked Paul in Jerusalem! They supposed he had taken Trophimus, an Ephesian, into the temple area.
Watch how the crowd fills the gap between what they saw outside and what they claimed happened inside.
Some Jews from Asia find him in the temple. They had seen him earlier in the city with an Ephesian Greek — one of his Gentile "foster children," as they might taunt him, playing on the man's name. Outside, it seems, they had put up with him, or at least had held back from attacking. But now this man with his disreputable tastes had dared to invade the sanctuary itself. He was surely the same man inside as he had been outside. He had brought his Greek in there, no doubt. At once the anger of that proud, hot-tempered people flashes out.
Paul went into the temple to avoid trouble. Two suppositions failed that day, not just the crowd's.
It was a step taken for convenience, to avoid trouble, and, as so often happens, it failed to do what it was meant to do. It took Paul into the temple where his adversaries were most likely to be found. He ran into trouble instead of avoiding it… They acted on the supposition that Paul had desecrated the temple by taking an Ephesian Gentile into it. That supposition was clearly mistaken. He had not done this. But he had gone in himself. He thought this would disarm their prejudice. That supposition also proved mistaken.
The charge was false. God still used what it led to.
He was the prisoner, not of Rome, but of Jesus Christ. Men sought to confine him and his ministry, but the Lord Jesus used even his imprisonment for good. So he was a prisoner "for you Gentiles," for it was Jewish hostility to his going to the Gentiles that led to his imprisonment.
- Seen — The mob saw one thing: Paul walking through the city with Trophimus, a Greek from Ephesus.
- Supposed — From that they concluded he had taken a Gentile past the barrier. Commentators call that conclusion mistaken.
- Shouted — Guesswork became five public charges. The men who boasted in the law broke it by trying to kill an innocent man.
- Seized — Paul had entered the temple hoping to disarm suspicion. The plan failed and handed him to his enemies.
- Shackled — The charge put him in chains, but he was Christ's prisoner, and the Lord used the imprisonment for good.
And the whole city was moved, and there was a concourse of the people; and having laid hold on Paul they drew him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.
Paul had entered the temple at Jerusalem to show he still respected the law, and a mob has now seized him for defiling the holy place. Two questions follow: why did a step meant to calm suspicion end in violence, and what do the shut temple doors mean?
The crowd's charge rested on a mistake about a Gentile companion of Paul.
The man who taught everyone everywhere against the people, the law, and that place was in fact in the very courts of the sanctuary. And, as they supposed, he had polluted the holy place by bringing Trophimus, an Ephesian, into the part that no Gentile could enter. In this supposition they were quite mistaken.
The mob did not kill him where they found him. Their fear of shedding blood on holy ground decided where they dragged him.
The whole city was now in an uproar, and the crowd rushed to the point of attack. The mob was worked up to madness. Only their careful concern not to shed blood in the holy place kept them from tearing Paul to pieces on the spot. Their aim now was to hurry him outside the sacred enclosure.
There is a sharp irony here. The men who boasted in the law broke it in the very act of defending it, and every charge they shouted was false.
In the wisdom of the Lord, a man not under the law obeyed it. That very act became the occasion for a high-handed breach of the law by those who seemed to be its upholders... they lay hold of Paul, drag him out of the temple and seek to kill him. They make five distinct charges against him, and all of them are untrue. So those who oppose the truth boast in their law-keeping and righteous deeds, in appearance and not in heart. Yet this proves them lawbreakers, liars and murderers.
Commentators agree that the plan urged on Paul by James and the elders failed on its own terms. Writers differ in how sharply they judge Paul's part in it, but they describe the same outcome.
This is what comes of trying to fit in with the superstitions of others. He did not do it to win souls by avoiding needless offence. He did it to convince these superstitious Jews that he walked as they did — and so he only confirmed them in their darkness!
Another writer notes how completely the strategy collapsed:
The plan which appeared so reasonable has ended only in disaster: Paul need take no more trouble to appease the Christian Jews, and is in the very worst possible position to reach the unbelieving ones!
The verse notes the shutting of the gates almost in passing. One writer sees a far larger turning point in it.
It seems that from the moment the Jews closed the temple doors to Paul, God closed the door to the Jews.
The same moment carries a practical lesson for anyone who serves God today.
The people dragged him out of the Temple, "and at once the gates were shut." It was as though God was showing that His people should be completely outside everything connected with man's own natural religion. No doubt it was his great love for his own people that had brought Paul into these circumstances. But the letter to the Hebrews makes plain where the Christian stands toward Judaism and every earthly religion: "Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured" (Hebrews 13:13).
The charges the crowd shouted were a cover. One writer asks why Paul alone was marked out for death.
Because he had boldly and persistently refused to compromise the gospel of the grace of God. Those who were once Gentiles were fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Ephesians 3:6). This he had maintained. And this was the real cause of his persecution, and of the outcry for his death.
The loss of liberty was not the loss of usefulness.
God knows how to make the wrath of man praise Him, and to hold back the rest of that wrath. He also knows how to overrule any mistakes His servants may make. He closes certain lines of service before them, and opens other lines that may in the end prove even more important. Paul's imprisonment led to his writing those inspired letters. They have built up the church for nineteen centuries.
- Doors shut — the mistake. Trying to fit in with religious custom did not win these Jews. It only confirmed them in their darkness.
- Doors shut — the charge. The charge about Trophimus was untrue. The law's own defenders turned into liars and would-be murderers.
- Doors shut — the real offence. They could not forgive one thing: he would not compromise the gospel that made Gentiles fellow heirs with Jews.
- Doors shut — the sign. Jerusalem shut its temple against Paul. God was showing His people that their place is outside man's religion, with Christ "outside the camp."
- Doors shut — the open way. God closed one line of service and opened another. Out of that arrest came letters that have built up the church ever since.
And as they were seeking to kill him, a representation came to the chiliarch of the band that the whole of Jerusalem was in a tumult;
Paul's week in the temple ends in a riot: the crowd drags him outside, shuts the doors behind him, and sets about killing him. Word of the chaos reaches the Roman commander — but the verse raises a larger question about who was acting behind that message.
The report did not have far to travel. The writers below call the tribune of this verse the chief captain, following an older translation.
The Roman garrison was stationed opposite the temple. The sentries at the gates no doubt reported the riot in the court to them at once. Claudius Lysias, the chief captain, ran to the spot himself at once, taking soldiers and centurions with him.
The crowd wanted Paul dead. Their own method is what stopped them.
The uproar they caused, however, defeated their own purpose. They might have killed him more easily in a more secret way. But the noise drew the attention of the Roman captain of the band. He stepped in at once, taking centurions and soldiers with him, and rescued Paul from being beaten to death.
One writer explains what the end of those days in the temple would have required of Paul, and what the riot prevented.
If the vow of these men was that of a Nazarite, as is commonly supposed, sacrifices had to be offered for each of them, including a sin-offering (Num. 6:14). Paul had taken that cost on himself, following a practice among the Jews where richer people paid for the sacrifices of poorer ones. The appointed seven days were running out, and Paul, at their close, would have appeared at the altar with his sin-offering. What a triumph that would have been to the Judaising party! What a blow to the truth that Paul had defended so firmly and so boldly! Christian teaching says, "Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin" (Heb. 10:18). That truth was now seriously endangered. But as with David, so with Paul — the Lord came in.
The same writer asks why. Other leaders who believed lived in Jerusalem untouched; the mob went after Paul alone.
No outcry was raised against James and the elders… Why was he pursued like this? Because he had boldly and persistently refused to compromise the gospel of the grace of God. Those who were once Gentiles were fellow-heirs, members of the same Body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph. 3:6). This he had maintained. And this was the real cause of his persecution, and of the outcry for his death.
One writer traces the riot back to Paul's effort to look like the Jews around him.
This is what comes of trying to conform to the superstitions of others. It was not done to win souls by avoiding needless offence, but to convince these superstitious Jews that he walked as they did — which only confirmed them in their darkness!
Commentators differ in how sharply they judge this. Another writer speaks only of mistakes a servant may make.
Paul's rescue left him a prisoner. That was not the end of his service.
Nevertheless the hand of God was over all that happened… Paul lost his liberty. Yet by the action of the Roman chief captain he was rescued from the violence of the people. God knows how to make the wrath of man praise Him, and to restrain the rest of wrath. He knows also how to overrule any mistakes His servants may make. He closes certain lines of service before them, and opens other lines which may in the end prove even more important. Paul's imprisonment led him to write those inspired letters, which have built up the church for nineteen centuries.
Another writer names who heard the gospel because of it.
God makes a prisoner His servant, so that the gospel might reach governors and kings.
- Cause — Paul refused to compromise the gospel of the grace of God. Other leaders lived in Jerusalem in peace; the mob wanted him alone.
- Rescue — the Lord came in. Days later Paul would have stood at the altar with a sin-offering, though Christian teaching says there is no more offering for sin.
- Instrument — the mob's own noise reached the Roman garrison opposite the temple. Its commander ran down and saved Paul's life.
- Cost — Paul lost his freedom. One line of service closed for him.
- Result — God overrules a servant's mistakes. He closes one line of service and opens a greater one: a prisoner became His messenger to governors and kings, and wrote letters that have built up the church ever since.
who, taking with him immediately soldiers and centurions, ran down upon them. But they, seeing the chiliarch and the soldiers, ceased beating Paul.
Paul is being beaten to death in the temple courts when a Roman officer and his men come running, and the blows stop. The rescue raises two questions. Why did God use Roman soldiers to save His apostle? And what was Paul saved from?
In this verse the ESV calls the officer the tribune. Older translations call him the chief captain. One account names him, and traces how word reached him:
The sentries at the gates no doubt reported the riot in the court at once. The Roman garrison was stationed opposite the temple. The chief captain, Claudius Lysias, himself ran to the spot right away, taking soldiers and centurions with him. When the Jews saw the chief captain and the Roman soldiers coming, they stopped beating Paul.
Had the crowd been quieter, Paul would have died.
The uproar they caused, however, defeated their own purpose. They might have killed him more easily in a more secret way. But the noise drew the attention of the Roman captain of the band. He stepped in fast, taking centurions and soldiers with him, and rescued Paul from being beaten to death.
Most onlookers counted one rescue: Paul's life. One writer argues there was a second, and that it served the whole church.
But was deliverance from death the only deliverance he experienced at that time? Many, perhaps most, of the Christians in Jerusalem thought only of the preservation of his life. We, however, see that there was another deliverance brought about by the chief captain's intervention. Nothing but God's intervention by the Roman power prevented the Jews from carrying out their murderous purpose, or Paul from compromising the truth. His presence at the altar of burnt offering, with the sacrifices required by law, must have brought that compromise about. It was a mercy to the whole Church that the Romans took Paul prisoner.
In custody, he could address the crowd again — and he does, from the stairs.
The false position Paul had put himself in was over. What he could not have done before, he could now do with a free spirit: speak boldly to the Jews. Not in the temple court, but from a more commanding position — the stairs.
The crowd singled out one man. Other Christian leaders in the city were left alone.
No one raised an outcry against James and the elders... Why was he pursued like this? Because he had boldly and persistently refused to compromise the gospel of the grace of God. Those who were once Gentiles were fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph. 3:6). This he had maintained. And this was the real cause of his persecution, and of the clamour for his death.
From here Paul goes from one court to the next as a prisoner. Writers see God steering it — the hands that seized him carried him where God intended.
We now find the apostle in the hands of the Gentiles. There may have been no free action of the Spirit in Paul himself. Yet the providence of God cares for him, ordering everything for the testimony he was to bear... They wanted to get hold of him, but he was to stay in their power no longer. He is brought to Lysias, to Felix, to Festus, to Agrippa, and at last to Caesar. Such was the intention of God... God makes a prisoner His servant, so that the gospel might reach governors and kings.
Another writer puts it in one line. Paul would reach the Gentiles either way:
The Lord was determined to send him to the Gentiles. If he would not go as a free man, he must go as "an ambassador in bonds."
Commentators differ in tone here. Some stress only God's care. One adds that the Spirit had warned Paul first, and that his refusal to turn back brought discipline he needed.
The Spirit warns him, and sets the consequences before him. He does not turn back. So he undergoes the discipline he needs, which brings his soul into its place, and into a full place of blessing before God... At the same time, as to result and testimony, God ordered everything for His own glory, and with perfect wisdom for the future welfare of the assembly.
- Rescued in time. The garrison stood next to the temple. The mob's own noise brought the soldiers, and their fury defeated their purpose.
- Rescued from death. The beating stopped the moment the soldiers appeared. The crowd wanted nothing less than his life.
- Rescued from compromise. The same arrest took Paul from the temple altar. One writer calls it a mercy to the whole church.
- Why him. No one attacked James or the elders. The crowd wanted Paul dead for holding that former Gentiles are fellow heirs in Christ.
- Rescued for service. The arrest redirected his work. God made a prisoner His servant, and the gospel reached governors, kings, and Caesar.
Then the chiliarch came up and laid hold upon him, and commanded [him] to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he might be, and what he had done.
The crowd in the temple is beating Paul to death when the Roman commander reaches him. He pulls Paul out and chains him. Two questions follow: why did God let soldiers chain His busiest servant, and what would those chains come to mean?
The tribune of the ESV is the officer older translations call the chief captain. He chains Paul first and asks who he is afterwards. One writer fills in how he reached the spot.
The Roman garrison stood opposite the temple. The sentries at the gates no doubt reported the riot in the court at once. The chief captain, Claudius Lysias, ran to the spot himself with soldiers and centurions. When the Jews saw the chief captain and the Roman soldiers coming, they stopped beating Paul. The governor saw that Paul was the cause of all this excitement. He quickly seized him and bound him with two chains — that is, chained him by each hand to a soldier.
The chains did not take God by surprise. One writer ties them to a prophecy already spoken about Paul.
They would have killed him if the chief captain had not rescued him. He was then bound with two chains. Agabus' prophecy is fulfilled.
So why was Paul in Jerusalem at all? One writer traces it back to a warning he did not take.
Through these unnamed men the Spirit gave a message to Paul that he should not go on to Jerusalem. To the Ephesians he had spoken of being bound in his own spirit to go up. Clearly his own inward conviction was so strong that he did not accept the word that came through the humble men of Tyre. It seems to be a case of his allowing powerful convictions to override the voice of the Spirit reaching him from outside. There we must leave it. We only note this: if that is so, the story that follows lets us see how God overruled the mistake for good in the end, though it meant much trouble for Paul.
The crowd left James and the other leaders in Jerusalem alone. They wanted Paul dead, and one writer gives the reason.
No one cried out against James and the elders, who were known leaders of the same group as Paul. Why, then, was he hunted down like this? Because he had boldly and persistently refused to compromise the gospel of the grace of God. Those who were once Gentiles were fellow-heirs, members of the same Body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph. 3:6). This he had maintained. And this was the real cause of his persecution, and of the shouting for his death.
The arrest saved more than Paul's life. The same writer counts a second rescue inside the first.
The chief captain stepped in, and that kept Paul from compromising the truth... The Spirit had clearly forbidden him, through the disciples at Tyre, to go to Jerusalem. He went anyway. Nothing but God's intervention through Roman power stopped two things: the Jews from carrying out their murderous plan, and Paul from compromising the truth. His presence at the altar of burnt offering, with the sacrifices the law required, must have brought that compromise about. It was a mercy to the whole church that the Romans took Paul prisoner. Suppose the great champion of the full Christian faith had given way here to what was convenient, and so in practice surrendered that faith. Could the teaching of Hebrews have been set out later?
Paul would not go to the Gentiles as a free man. One writer sees the Lord sending him anyway.
The very thing that James dreaded and tried to avoid came upon them: an uproar was raised, and Paul was handed over into the hands of the Gentiles. The Lord was determined to send him to the Gentiles. If he would not go as a free man, he must go as "an ambassador in chains." Still, he could say that it was for "the hope of Israel" that he wore this chain. If his heart had not longed so much after Israel, he might have escaped the chains.
The chains went on to do their own work. One writer describes what came of them.
The devil had hoped to lose the apostle in the ordinary crowd of criminals. But God, always watchful for good, made it plain that His servant was in prison for no moral offence. He was there because of Christ. So the enemy's clever plan ended in a testimony for the Saviour. The gospel reached where it had been completely unknown.
- Chains, literally. Two chains meant one soldier on each arm — and with them Agabus' prophecy came true.
- Chains he walked into. The Spirit warned him not to go. His longing for Israel overrode the warning, and God overruled the mistake for good.
- Chains that saved him twice. They saved his life from the mob, and saved his testimony from the temple ritual he had been drawn into.
- Chains for the gospel. The crowd singled him out for no crime. He would not give up the truth that Gentile believers are fellow-heirs with Jewish ones.
- Chains that travelled. He would not go to the Gentiles free, so he went as an ambassador in chains. The chains themselves became the testimony.
And different persons cried some different thing in the crowd. But he, not being able to know the certainty on account of the uproar, commanded him to be brought into the fortress.
A mob has dragged Paul out of the temple and beaten him, and Roman soldiers have pulled him free and chained him. Their commander asks who this man is and what he has done, and the crowd answers with noise instead of facts.
The mob's own shouting worked against them.
The uproar they caused, however, defeated their own purpose. They might have killed him more easily in a more secret way. But the noise drew the attention of the Roman commander of the troops. He quickly stepped in, taking centurions and soldiers with him, and rescued Paul from being beaten to death.
after_note: DELETE
He could not run an inquiry in the middle of a riot.
Shouting, some one thing and some another, it was impossible for the chief captain to understand the cause of their hostility, so he commanded Paul to be brought into the castle, where, away from the sound of the uproar, he might learn what it was all about.
The barracks was no distant prison. C. E. Stuart points to the description left by the historian Josephus.
Either the barracks belonging to the castle or tower of Antonia, or perhaps the castle itself. The word Luke uses may mean either. Josephus describes the fortress: "The tower of Antonia stood at the corner of two covered walkways of the court of the Temple. Where it joined those walkways, it had passages down to them both. A Roman legion always lay in this tower. Through those passages the guard went out armed among the walkways on the Jewish festivals. They watched the people, to stop them starting anything there. For the Temple was a fortress that guarded the city, as the tower of Antonia was a guard to the Temple."
Paul had gone into the temple on advice from others in Jerusalem.
The action recommended to Paul, and which he took, was hardly likely to lead them on to perfection. It was an act of expediency, done to avoid trouble, and as is so often the case it entirely failed of its object. It took Paul into the temple where his opponents were most likely to be found. He ran into trouble instead of avoiding it. The riot against him was stirred up by Jews from Asia, men who had no doubt taken part in the riot at Ephesus. They acted on the assumption that Paul had desecrated the temple by taking an Ephesian Gentile into it. That assumption was clearly mistaken.
Other well-known followers of Jesus in Jerusalem were left alone.
Why, then, was he singled out as alone worthy of death at that time? No one cried out against James and the elders, though they were counted ringleaders of the sect of the Nazarenes just as much as Paul. Why was he hunted like this? Because he had boldly and persistently refused to compromise the gospel of the grace of God. Those who had once been Gentiles were fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph. 3:6). This he had maintained. And this was the real cause of his persecution, and of the clamour for his death.
Arrest and a Roman barracks look like pure loss. One writer sees a second rescue inside the first.
Many, and perhaps most, of the Christians in Jerusalem thought only of saving his life. We, however, see that another deliverance came about when the chief captain stepped in. It kept Paul from compromising the truth... Suppose the great champion of the full Christian faith had at this time given up that faith in practice by yielding to expediency. Could the teaching of the letter to the Hebrews have been set out afterwards? The chief captain's prompt appearance was a deliverance indeed.
The arrest that ends one kind of service opens another.
God knows how to make the wrath of man praise Him, and to restrain the rest of that wrath. He also knows how to overrule any mistakes His servants may make. He closes certain lines of service before them, and opens up other lines, which may in the end prove to be of even greater importance. It was Paul's imprisonment which led to his writing those inspired letters which have built up the church for nineteen centuries.
- Cause — Paul went into the temple on a plan meant to avoid trouble, and walked straight into trouble.
- Charge — The accusation was mistaken. His real offence was refusing to compromise the gospel of the grace of God, which made Gentiles fellow heirs.
- Confusion — The crowd shouted against itself. The commander could learn nothing, so he moved Paul out of earshot.
- Custody — The barracks was the fortress beside the temple courts. A Roman legion watched festival crowds from it, which is why help came in time.
- Consequence — The arrest saved Paul twice: from death, and from compromise. The imprisonment that followed produced letters that have fed the church ever since.
But when he got upon the stairs it was so that he was borne by the soldiers on account of the violence of the crowd.
The uproar in Jerusalem grew so fierce that the soldiers could no longer walk Paul through it. They lifted him off his feet and carried him, which raises two questions: what made this crowd so violent, and who was directing the scene?
The mob would not let its victim go. One account describes the pressure from below:
The disappointed mob now made a tremendous rush after their victim. They saw him taken out of their hands. They pressed on the soldiers so hard that the soldiers carried Paul in their arms up the stairs of the castle. Meanwhile the enraged crowd below raised deafening shouts, as they had nearly thirty years before: "Away with him, away with him."
One writer asks why the crowd wanted Paul dead and left James and the elders alone:
Often his life had been threatened, and often he had been in immediate danger of losing it. But each time the Lord had delivered him. Now again his life was in danger, and again he was rescued from death... Yet he had done them no wrong. Why, then, was he singled out as the only one worthy of death at that time? No outcry was raised against James and the elders... Why was he hunted like this? Because he had boldly and persistently refused to compromise the gospel of the grace of God. Those who were once Gentiles were fellow-heirs, of the same Body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph. 3:6). This he had held to. And this was the real cause of his persecution, and of the outcry for his death.
Most of Paul's friends saw one rescue that day. One writer sees two:
Many of the Christians in Jerusalem, perhaps most, thought only of saving his life. We, however, see another deliverance in the chief captain stepping in. It kept Paul from compromising the truth... Only God's intervention by the Roman power stopped the Jews from carrying out their murderous purpose. And only that stopped Paul from compromising the truth. His presence at the altar of burnt offering, with the sacrifices required by law, must have brought that compromise about. It was a mercy to the whole Church that Paul was taken prisoner by the Romans.
Roman force did more than lift one man out of a crowd:
It is significant that Lysias, the chief captain's name, means "one who looses, or delivers." And nothing but the Roman arms in fact set the believing Jews free from the legal system in which they were bound up.
This was the end of Paul's freedom, not the end of his work:
We now find the apostle in the hands of the Gentiles. There may have been no free action of the Spirit in Paul himself. Yet the providence of God cares for him, ordering everything for the testimony he was to bear... The unyielding hatred of the Jews only brings about the fulfilment of the purposes of God... God makes a prisoner His servant, so that the gospel might be carried to the knowledge of governors and kings.
Out of the crowd's reach, Paul turned and spoke to them from the stairs:
What a scene it was! On the stairs, midway between the temple court and the fortress, stood the apostle in chains. His body showed the effects of the beating he had received. Around him were the well-armed Roman soldiers. Below him was the crowd, with upturned faces, still gesturing wildly. They grew quieter only when they heard the first words from Paul's lips in the Hebrew language.
- Carried. The crowd pressed so hard that the soldiers lifted Paul off the steps. The same shout had risen in that city nearly thirty years before: "Away with him."
- Cause. The crowd left James and the elders alone. They wanted Paul, because he refused to compromise the gospel that made Gentiles fellow-heirs.
- Deliverance. The rescue saved two things at once: his life from the mob, and his testimony from the compromise waiting at the altar.
- Providence. There may have been no free action of the Spirit in Paul's journey. Yet God ordered every detail, down to the officer whose name means "deliverer."
- Pulpit. Still in chains, Paul spoke from the castle stairs, and the shouting crowd fell quiet to hear him.
For the multitude of the people followed, crying, Away with him.
The crowd chasing Paul up the barracks stairs wanted his death, not a trial. It shouted words Jerusalem had shouted before. Two questions follow: why did this one preacher draw such hatred, and what was God doing as the soldiers carried His servant away?
The shout was not new to those streets. One writer ties Paul's removal into the fortress to an earlier scene in the same city:
The disappointed mob now made a tremendous rush after their victim. They saw him taken out of their hands. They pushed so hard against the soldiers that the men had to carry Paul in their arms up the stairs of the castle. Meanwhile deafening shouts rose from the angry crowd below, the same shouts heard nearly thirty years before: "Away with him, away with him."
Paul was not the only preacher of Jesus in Jerusalem, and that makes the singling out of him significant. One commentator asks why the crowd wanted him and no one else:
Often his enemies had threatened his life, and each time the Lord had delivered him… Now they were demanding nothing less than his death. Yet he had done them no wrong. Why, then, was he singled out as alone worthy of death at that time? No one raised an outcry against James and the elders. They too were known as ringleaders of the sect of the Nazarenes, along with Paul. Why was he pursued like this? Because he had boldly and persistently refused to compromise the gospel of the grace of God. Those who were once Gentiles were fellow-heirs, of the same Body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph. 3:6). This he had maintained. And this was the real cause of his persecution, and of the clamour for his death.
One writer sees the Roman officer's arrival as a rescue from two dangers, not one:
Many of the Christians in Jerusalem, perhaps most, thought only of saving his life. But we see another deliverance in the chief captain's intervention. It kept Paul from compromising the truth… It was a mercy to the whole Church that the Romans took Paul prisoner. Suppose the great champion of the full Christian faith had here, in practice, surrendered that faith by yielding to what was merely convenient. Could the teaching of Hebrews have been set out later? … He was no longer in the false position he had put himself in. What he could not have done before, he could now do with a free spirit: speak boldly to the Jews.
One writer reads Paul's arrest as the answer to a desire Paul had expressed in Philippians 3:
Jerusalem rejects him. Rome imprisons him and puts him to death, as it had done to Jesus. The blessed apostle had to resemble Him in this too, according to his desire in Philippians 3. For Christ, and conformity to Him, was his only object.
The likeness is not exact. Another writer marks the difference:
His position is like that of his blessed Master, when the hatred of the Jews gave Him up to the Gentiles. Only the Lord was perfect in it all… He came to the Jews — that was His mission. Paul was delivered from the Jews — that was the difference.
The Spirit had warned Paul about going to Jerusalem. One writer holds two things together here — the Lord's tenderness, and the discipline:
He stands by His servant in the trial in which he finds himself, to encourage and strengthen him. At the same time, the Spirit warns him about his desire to go to Jerusalem and sets its consequences before him. He does not turn back, so he goes through the discipline he needs. That discipline brings his soul into its place, and into a full place of blessing before God… There was justice in God's dealings. His servant was too precious for it to be otherwise.
The closing of one door opened another:
God knows how to make the wrath of man praise Him, and to restrain the rest of that wrath. He also knows how to overrule any mistakes His servants may make. He closes certain lines of service before them, and opens other lines that may in the end prove even more important. Paul's imprisonment led him to write those inspired letters, and they have built up the church for nineteen centuries.
- The cry — "Away with him" was Jerusalem's old verdict. The city had shouted it at his Lord nearly thirty years earlier.
- The cause — the crowd wanted him dead for one reason: he would not soften the gospel of grace that made former Gentiles fellow-heirs.
- The rescue — Roman hands lifted him out of a murderous crowd and out of a false position. One deliverance was from death, the other from compromise.
- The likeness — Jerusalem rejected him and Rome imprisoned him, and Paul received the conformity to Christ he had asked for. One difference remains: Jesus came to the Jews, while Paul was delivered from them.
- The result — the arrest that ended his free preaching disciplined the servant and gave the church the letters he wrote as a prisoner.