THE SEND: Luke & ActsSample

Sometimes I read Acts and I think I’d love to be like Paul. But as the book comes to an end, I’m less sure. Acts 21-28 tells the story of Paul’s five trials in Jerusalem. And although it’s very clear that Paul found the best life ever in Jesus, his decision came with a heavy cost. Living all-in for Jesus will often be confusing and offensive to the people around us.

Paul arrives in Jerusalem in Acts 21:17 and goes to the Temple to fulfill a vow he had made. This was likely a Nazirite vow (see Numbers 6:1-21 and Acts 18:18)—a way to freely express your devotion to God. Ironically, it’s during this deeply Jewish moment of worship and commitment that Paul is attacked by an angry crowd. They think he has come to make the Temple unclean when, in fact, Paul is there for a purification ritual.

He is saved from being murdered by the intervention of the Roman guards. He is almost inside their fortress when the commander (who first thought he was an Egyptian assassin-leader!) allows him to speak to the angry crowd. Calling them ‘brothers and fathers’, and speaking to them in their language (Aramaic), he shows his Jewish roots and zeal (Acts 22:3-5) and retells the story of how Jesus revealed himself personally to Paul (Acts 22:6-13) and had given him a new calling (Acts 22:14-21).

In these chapters, Paul is misunderstood and nearly killed twice (Acts 21:28-29; 22:22-23), whipped by Roman officials (Acts 22:24-25), and even strongly warned by his friends about the suffering he will face in Jerusalem (Acts 21:4, 10-12). So why does Paul go? Why stop the commander from taking him to safety just to address a dangerous crowd?

Practically, he has come to Jerusalem with a gift from various churches to support the poor (see Romans 15:25-27; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; Acts 24:17). Once a persecutor of believers in Jerusalem, he is now serving them. But, on a deeper level, Paul came to Jerusalem because God had called him to be like Jesus. Paul’s commitment to the way of Jesus meant that he was willing to suffer and be misunderstood like Jesus, even if that meant death (Acts 21:13).

Most of us reading this won’t be risking our lives when we choose to be witnesses for Jesus. But we do risk being misunderstood, rejected, or hated. It might be from friends. It might be from strangers. It might be from family members.

So why would anyone live this way? For Paul, the answer was simple: He had seen and heard from the Righteous One (Acts 22:14). No matter what anyone thought about him, no matter what anyone did, he had found one worth living for and worth dying for.

Have you?