Acts 21:27-36
When we left Paul last week he was in Jerusalem, and meeting with the leaders of the church. It is likely at this meeting that the offering Paul brought was given to the church, and this is when James and the other elders lay out their plan to prevent a riot. Paul submits to the authority of the church, and follows through with the plan.
Our text this week picks up as Paul enters the Temple on the last day of his purification. Since he had been traveling in Gentile lands, it would have taken seven days and at least two trips to the Temple to become clean under the Law. This was his final trip, at the completion of this visit he would be ceremonially clean, and have demonstrated to all that he is not attempting to destroy the Law.
In Acts 21:27 we can see that the plan hatched by the church failed miserably. When the Jews from Asia (likely from Ephesus) saw Paul, they saw there chance to make good on the plot to kill him that we saw mentioned back in Acts 20:3. It is likely that these men are responsible for spreading the rumors about Paul that were mentioned back in Acts 21:21.
Warren Wiersbe describes the situation that was developing well when he remarked that they acted “with their emotions running at full speed, and their brains in neutral.” [1] As we will see through out the rest of this chapter, these Jews whip the crowd in to a massive up roar and they are screaming for Paul’s blood.
They address the crowd by calling out “Men of Israel” which shows us they are sending the call out to all Jews, and they are not turning to the temple guards, or any authorities. Had the charges against Paul been true, they could have turned to the temple guards, and the priests to handle this, instead they went for a lynch mob. This at least implies that they knew the charges against Paul were purely emotional and hearsay, without any proof.
There are two charges leveled against Paul by his accusers in this attack. The first is that Paul teaches everyone everywhere to turn against the Law and their way of life. This was a big deal to the Jew’s. The Law was one of their most scared possessions; it was what set them apart from the Gentiles. It was the mark of God on their race and culture. The sad thing about this charge was Paul was in the middle of completing a very legalistic ritual to ceremonially clean himself in the eyes of the Law when they accused him of attacking the Law. Paul was in fact doing the very opposite of what they accused him off.
The second charge they accuse him of was that of bringing a Greek in to the temple. This was about the worst crime one could commit. There was an area of the temple that Gentiles were allowed in and between that and the rest of the temple there was a wall. On that wall was a sign in many languages that promised death to any non-Jew that entered. This would be death without any trial, or legal defense. If Paul really had brought a non-Jew in, all his accusers would have had to do was point out the non-Jew and Paul would have been killed without trial.
Either of these charges could have brought the death penalty on Paul’s head. It was for a similar charge that Paul presided over the death of the first Christian Martyr, Stephen, back in Acts 7:54-60. These charges are not only extremely serious, but they also hit a sympathetic bone right at the heart of the Jewish world. The combination created an explosive situation, and drew the attention of the Roman military.
After the lynch mob drags Paul from the temple, and the temple is sealed up, the Roman troops arrive. The text does not clearly state this, but based on the words chosen we can guess that at least two hundred troops were called in, maybe more. This was a massive riot, and the Roman leaders were not taking any chances.
They succeed in pulling Paul from the riot and put him in chains. Later we will learn that the Romans mistook Paul for a rebel, but for now they are perfectly fulfilling Agabus’s prophecy from Acts 20:10-11. The commander of the Roman forces tried to get the crowd to explain what was going on, but they were beyond reason at this point. Many of them likely did not even know why, but they all knew they wanted Paul dead. The roman guards have to carry Paul out of the crowd and in to the fortress for his own safety.
What the Jewish people do not realize is that the world changed a few decades earlier when Jesus was crucified. In that world-shattering event, Jesus changed the way man and God relate to each other drastically and temporally removed the nation of Israel from its privileged position.
When Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn in half, from top to bottom. This signified the end of the temple age, and shortly after that at Pentecost, the church age began. Jesus foretold this back in John 4:21-24, and in less then two decades from the time our out text the Jewish temple would be destroyed as foretold in Matthew 24:1-2.
You can even see this truth in this passage here. In Acts 21:30 the temple doors are closed, and it is the Roman guards that have to act, we never read of the priests or temple guards acting at all during this riot.
Today, Christians everywhere, from every variety of human kind, and all levels of social status can go to God the Father directly through their advocate in Jesus. The wall of separation between Jew and Gentile, and man and God has come down. Paul details this out nicely for us in Ephesians 2:11-22. The sad thing is, that it seems many of us Christians are trying to rebuild the wall, but not between nation and nation, but rather denomination and denomination, and many times even with in denominations and churches.
A prime example of this is the so called “worship wars.” We have returned to the ridged unforgiving yoke of the Law when we tell some one that because they have a guitar and a drum set instead of an organ that they are a disgrace before the Lord. It is beyond me to even guess why anyone would desire a return to the harsh taskmaster of the Law, when we have freedom in Christ. Paul said it best when he said the Law existed to bring a curse (Gal 3:10), and that the Law can save no man. (Gal 3:11)
I for one am glad to claim Christ as my righteousness, and accept his payment to free me from that harsh taskmaster. How about you?
Print This Post
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996), Ac 21:27.
I just signed up to your blogs rss feed. Will you post more on this subject?
I post a new lesson every Sunday around mid-day EST, and usually at least once a week post to the “Got Questions”, check out the “About” page for more details, Thanks!