Acts 21:1-16
Dear RTB’ers,
Paul finally arrives in Jerusalem, after stops in Tyre, Ptolemais, and Caesarea. On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. (v. 8) You may remember Philip from Acts 8, his ministry in Samaria and then with the Ethiopian eunuch. That incident ends at Acts 8:39-40: And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. So Philip ends up in Caesarea and we don’t hear of him again until today’s reading. Presumably he has made a home in Caesarea these 20 to 30 years and has become known as “Philip, the evangelist”. Nice title…!
…and they kept telling Paul, through the Spirit, not to set foot in Jerusalem. (v. 4b) And …we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. (v. 12b) One has to admire Paul’s determination. In spite of these two pleadings and Agabus’ prophecy, Paul continues to Jerusalem. We might infer that they all knew of Jesus’ own prophecy, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” (Matthew 23:37a) Paul must have been Spirit-led to continue on this journey!
Blessings!