Acts 21:37-22:16

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul in Jerusalem, speaking to the riotous crowd: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death…” Paul is relating to his audience. They had dragged him out of the temple, and … were intent on killing him… (Acts 20:30b-31a). He knows how they felt. He had been there when they stoned Stephen (Acts 7). He had been one of them! But now he is a changed man.

Today’s reading is one of at least four accounts that we have of Paul’s conversion. The first account takes up most of Acts chapter 9. Later we will see him relating his conversion in Acts 26:9-18. Finally Paul also recounts his conversion in Galatians 1:13-17. The same exact details are not mentioned in all four accounts, so it is difficult to work completely through his conversion, but it seems that he spent some time in Damascus after his conversion preaching in the synagogues until he escaped from the city after the Jews sought to kill him. Then he spent three years in Arabia before returning to Damascus and finally then coming to Jerusalem, as noted in verse 17. Reading that one verse ahead, in Paul telling the story there is a major gap between verses 16 and 17 (Paul quoting Ananias in v. 16): And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. (Then Paul continuing with his story in v. 17) When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance… I wonder why Paul left out that 3+ year gap. My sense is that Paul felt that his Damascus/Arabia activities were not relevant to this Jerusalem audience. Again, Paul relating to his audience!

Blessings!

Fred

Acts 21:17-36

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul in Jerusalem. If you are reading Acts for the first time, I daresay that you have read beyond verse 36, to see how this incident ends. That’s how good a storyteller Luke, our historian is!

On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. (v. 18) Who is James? My Study Bible noted three things about him, that he was Jesus’ brother, that he wrote the book of James, and that he was the acknowledged leader of the Jerusalem Christians, all of this in spite of the fact that he was not one of the original twelve apostles. We also have Paul’s own testimony, “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.” (Galatians 1:18-19) That’s James!

…how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. (v. 20b) We typically think of the last half of the book of Acts with a focus on Paul and his missionary activities among the Gentiles. But those apostles who stayed behind in Jerusalem were having their own ministry. Thousands of those who believed and were baptized on Pentecost Day were probably visitors from Judea, Galilee, and parts beyond. But many were probably from Jerusalem, especially those who were not among the ruling elite, and now some 20-30 years after Jesus’ Ascension we have many thousands among the Jews in and around Jerusalem who are now counted as believers. So the Lord was working throughout the entire known world!!

But not all Jews were happy: …the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him… (v. 27b). Here we have the Jews from Asia again. Paul had cited them in the last chapter (Paul speaking): “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, … with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews…” (Acts 20:18-19) Paul is remembering the Jews from Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe from his first missionary journey. (Acts 13:45, ff.) Recall further that Paul was also hassled by the Jews in Philippi (Acts 16:22, ff.) and in Thessalonica (Acts 17:5, ff.) and in Corinth (Acts 18:12, ff.) and in Ephesus (Acts 19:23,ff.). Seemingly, wherever he went he was hassled by the Jews! Yet he kept on. That’s perseverance!!

We’ll continue this incident tomorrow – if you haven’t already read ahead!

Blessings!

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!

Acts 20:17-38

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul’s farewell to the Ephesians. The timing of this particular farewell meeting is strange. Paul had been with the Ephesians for more than two years (Acts 19:10). Then he had gone north to revisit churches in Macedonia, south for the same ministry in Achaia, then back north and a final sea trip on his way to Jerusalem. Now Ephesus is a stop along the way, a stop where he did not want to go all the way to the city, but rather called the elders to himself. (Acts 20:16-17) So it’s not the whole church sending him off, but only a few.

Time and again I’ve asked us to put ourselves into the story. Carol and I can clearly do that for this incident. When we moved here from Maryland we said our goodbyes to our Maryland church on our last Sunday, but then during the week our closest friends held a much smaller gathering, only a few of those who were closest to us. And there was weeping as we were saying goodbye. So yes, I can sit there with the Ephesian elders and hear Paul speak and know the depth of his words and the emotion of the moment. I daresay, there’s something different about church goodbyes compared to other departures. Thank you, Holy Spirit.

Blessings!

Acts 20:1-16

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul’s third missionary journey continued, today with a lot of travel. First, a bit of geography reminder – Macedonia is part of Greece today, but back then, with reference to Paul’s travels it referred to Philippi and Thessalonica. Achaia is a synonym for Greece, which (again, with reference to Paul’s travels) included Corinth and Athens.

There is a lot going on in these travels which we don’t see. In our Chronological Study Bible the first three verses in chapter 20 fall between I and II Corinthians. That is, Paul was on the move from Ephesus to Macedonia, where he presumably wrote II Corinthians, then on to Corinth, from where he wrote Romans. We now have him leaving Corinth and going back through Macedonia, then by way of Ephesus traveling to Jerusalem.

We have another set of “we” pronouns here in today’s reading, presumably Luke reflecting himself. In verses 5-6 it is Luke traveling with Paul. Later in verses 13 and 14 the “we” is Luke without Paul. Then we pick up Luke and Paul together again in verse 15. So in summary, the “we/us” pronouns are Luke and Paul, except in verses 13 and 14. Incidentally, the last “we” verses were back in Acts 16:16-17, also in Philippi. So I wonder if Luke spent all this time (3-5 years?) in Philippi while Paul continued on his second and third missionary journeys.

More geography… This ship travel between islands is confusing if you don’t have a Study Bible that has maps. In verse 6, Philippi is at the northeastern tip of Macedonia while Troas is at the northwestern tip of Asia Minor. Assos is about 20 miles south of Troas by land, but 40 miles by sea. From Assos the disciples hugged the coast of Asia Minor, moving between and around the islands (Chios and Samos, v. 15). Finally, Miletus (v. 15) is about 30 miles south of Ephesus. Presumably Paul did not want to go directly to Ephesus – too many friends there who would have taken up too much time with him visiting them all (v. 16).

Finally, Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. (v. 4) For our purposes the individual names are not so important; however, what we need to know is that Paul now has traveling companions from Achaia, Macedonia, Galatia and Asia as he is carrying funds for the relief of the believers in Jerusalem.

Blessings!

Acts 19:21-41

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul’s third missionary journey, at Ephesus. Here we see more people challenging Paul, but this time it’s not the Jews, instead it’s the local Ephesians, led by a silversmith named Demetrius. Surprisingly, even the Jews are considered “enemies” to the locals who worship Artemis/Diana. Paul wants to venture into this riotous crowd, but his disciples and some leading Gentile authorities convince him not to do so. Then a Jew named Alexander wants to speak to the crowd, but he is shouted down. So, one asks, why would this Jew want to speak to the crowd? Was he going to defend the Christians against this pagan crowd? Or was he wanting to further incite the crowd against these Christians? We’ll never know! But the Jews were also not followers of Artemis, so Alexander himself is fully rejected by the crowd. What a strange incident! Finally, reason wins out in the voice of the town clerk and order is restored. This is the second time that a civil authority has “rescued” Paul. Back at Corinth it was Gallio, a proconsul who reasoned against the Jews: “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” (Acts 18:14b-15) Paul will have more rescues as we read further.

Blessings!

Acts 19:1-20

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul’s third missionary journey. We had the beginning yesterday in just one verse (Acts 18:23), but only that he had begun traveling. The Apollos-Priscilla-Aquila-Paul-Holy Spirit connection is a bit confusing in chapter 18’s ending and chapter 19’s beginning. When he came to Ephesus Apollos knew only about the baptism of John (Acts 18:25). Paul had left Priscilla and Aquila behind when he left Ephesus (Acts 18:19) and they instructed Apollos more accurately (Acts 18:26). So Paul comes to Ephesus some many months later. But when he arrives in Ephesus after these many months, with Priscilla and Aquila having been there the entire time that he had been traveling, these Ephesians did not know about the Holy Spirit. Paul had been with Priscilla and Aquila some 18 months in Corinth; I would have thought that he would have instructed them more completely in the Holy Spirit and His work in believers’ lives. But these Ephesian disciples knew only of the baptism of John – what they might have learned from Apollos. So there is some confusion therein that I cannot resolve, as to Priscilla and Aquila’s ministry in Ephesus, or even the reality of Paul’s having visited there many months prior (Acts 18:19-21) – and no Holy Spirit knowledge!

Ephesus was a bustling port city during Paul’s three years there. (Their harbor has now silted over and it is some three miles from the Aegean Sea.) As a major commercial center, Paul’s ministry there was easily extended out into the rest of Asia (Acts 19:10) – actually Turkey/Asia Minor as we know it today. Later we will read the Epistle to the Colossians. The Colossians were very likely one of the beneficiaries of Paul Ephesian ministry, with Colossae being some 120 miles east of Ephesus.

I’m sure that we all have special verses from Scripture, verses that we have memorized or that have touched us in some special way. Today we have one of those for me, when the evil spirit answered the seven sons of Sceva: “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” (19:15b) Yes, it’s a bit silly that this verse should always jump out at me – surely due to its silliness and not to it’s spiritual meaning. But there is something worthy of consideration: “Who are you?” Do evil spirits (or common, everyday people) recognize Jesus in me? In you? Who are you?

Blessings!

Acts 18:18-28

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul’s second missionary journey continued and ended, from Corinth to Ephesus to Caesarea to Jerusalem (likely) to Antioch and on to his third missionary journey – to Galatia and Phrygia.

Paul takes Priscilla and Aquila with him to Ephesus and leaves them there, which turned out to be a good move, since Apollos came to Ephesus and had to be instructed correctly by Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:24-26). One wonders why Paul did not leave Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth – why take them along at all? Clearly Paul was hearing from the Lord in all this!

There’s a lot of travel in verse 22: When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. It’s very likely that the church he greeted was the Jerusalem church. Jerusalem is about 2500 feet above sea level – we’ve talked earlier about travelers going “up” to Jerusalem even when it was a journey to the south. In addition, Caesarea is much closer to Jerusalem (about 75 miles) than to Antioch (250 miles), and the verse continues with Paul going “down” to Antioch (to the north and at sea level again). Luke leaves out a lot of intermediate information in today’s reading!

Verse 23 begins Paul’s third missionary journey. Then the chapter ends with a focus on Apollos. Remember this name. We’ll read about him again when we get to I Corinthians (I Cor 1:12, 3:4-11).

Blessings!

Acts 18:1-17

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul’s second missionary journey continued, in Corinth. Two leaders/rulers of the synagogue are mentioned, Crispus in verse 8 and Sosthenes in verse 17. More on each of them below.

Paul rejects the Jews and says that he’s going to the Gentiles (Acts 18:6). Then we see Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, turning to faith (Acts 18:8) and Paul moving in with Titius Justus, whose house was next to the synagogue. So even if Paul rejected the Jews, he was still readily available to them. And very possibly, many of the Corinthians who believed (Acts 18:8) could have been Jews.

We see the Jews hassling Paul again: …the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal… (v. 12) Why are they so persistent??!! The Roman proconsul would have none of it and dismissed them all. But then the Jews …seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. (v. 17) That sounds really strange. Did they beat Sosthenes because he also became a believer? Or maybe he was just sympathetic toward Paul? Later Sosthenes is mentioned in Paul’s introduction when he writes back to the Corinthians in his first letter: Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother… (I Corinthians 1:1) Is this Sosthenes in Paul’s Corinthian introduction the same man who was beaten in front of the proconsul? And if so, when did he become a “brother”? So this later mention could be the same Sosthenes as in verse 17 – or not.

Paul spent 18 months in Corinth (Acts 18:11), at times working as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3). Many smaller churches in Protestant denominations have pastors who have full-time or part-time jobs that are not related to their ministry. We refer to these pastors as “bi-vocational”. When we have U.S. missionaries in foreign lands also working full-time or part-time in other jobs, we refer to these missionaries as “tentmakers”. Paul’s “other job” in Corinth is where we get that phrase. Fundamentally, we should all be tentmakers, sharing the Lord with others in whatever we’re doing!

Blessings!

Acts 17:16-34

Dear RTB’ers,

Paul’s second missionary journey continued, Athens.

OK, the critical me coming out…, with repentance! In the past I have criticized Paul’s preaching in Athens (today’s reading). Yes, who am I to criticize Paul??!!! Moving on…

Paul’s sermons to date (and Peter’s and Phillip’s) have been “kerygmatic”: […the preaching of the gospel of Christ, especially in the manner of the early church. (www.dictionary.com/browse/kerygmatic)] Today’s sermon has very little of that. All that we see of “the Gospel” in today’s sermon is a call to repentance, a couple of pronouns, a Man reference, and the resurrection of that Man: The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead. (vv. 30-31) Except for his mention of idols, much of Paul’s sermon has to do with the physical world – creation and nationalities and philosophies. So in the past I have observed that Paul wrote letters to the Galatians, the Philippians, the Thessalonians, the Corinthians, and the Ephesians – places where he had preached and had converts, but no letters to Athens. That is, I had surmised, his preaching fell on deaf ears in Athens because it was not kerygmatic.

But I was wrong!! As was his custom, Paul first preached in the synagogue and in the marketplace. At the end of today’s reading we see the converts: But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. (v. 34) That is, his preaching in the synagogue and the marketplace and the Areopagus (Dionysius was an Areopagite) had its impact – to draw some men and women to belief and to draw the philosopher crowd to want to hear more. All along I have focused on his “Mars Hill” (Areopagus) speech and not his prior preaching. So, in fact, Paul had been preaching the Gospel, probably daily in the synagogue and marketplace, and when he preached about creation to the Mars Hill crowd, he was speaking to them with reference to where they were – he connected to their surroundings so as to get their attention. And after his speaking, they wanted to hear more! (v. 32b) I’m sure that Paul had more to say about Jesus that is not recorded by Luke, but the point is made – we need to reach people “where they are”. Start by relating to them in where they are or in what they’re doing and move the conversation along. The Holy Spirit will take care of the rest. As I have said many times before, “Walk the walk and talk the talk.” We can do this!!

Blessings!