Why Did Paul Go?
Acts 21:1-19

If you have been paying close attention to our study in Acts you are expecting us to be in the bottom half of the 20th chapter this morning.  If you are also an Acts’ scholar you may also know this is the section where Paul invites the elders from Ephesus to meet him in Miletus and he gives them this fantastic pep talk. This morning, however, we are going to skip this section.  Here is why.  We want to have a special service or series on the relationship between the elders and our congregation and we want to base it in these verses.  We were going to begin it today, but Gerry and Linda are on a boat somewhere in the Atlantic headed to England for three weeks.  I know you are disappointed.  I know you were expecting this exciting sermon on elders this morning; but it is going to have to wait.  We will come back to this section; I promise.

Instead, we are going on to Acts 21 and one of the more baffling chapters in all of Acts.  It seems Paul is going against the Holy Spirit.  It seems Paul has suddenly become stubborn and is refusing to listen to anyone!  As we read this story I am going to throw in a little geography, because Luke did.  The story actually starts in the last couple of verses of chapter 20.

Acts 20:36-38   When he (Paul) had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him.  What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

Paul leaves the Ephesian elders there in Miletus and there is hugging and kissing and crying all over the place, because Paul had said he would never see them again.  Hmmm… (Map with Miletus)

Acts 21:1-3  After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.  We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail.  After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.

Watch where Paul travels. (Map with Cos, Rhodes, Patara, Cyprus, Tyre)  Here comes the baffling part. 

Acts 21:4-6  Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.  But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.  After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

Here is the dilemma; Paul was going to Jerusalem.  He had told the elders in Miletus that was where he was going and he would never see them again.  Now, in Tyre, the disciples “through the Spirit” urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  But Paul has made his mind up and is going.  He is dead set on going regardless of their warning.  What is going on?  Is he supposed to go or not?  It gets worse. 

Acts 21:7-9  We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.  Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.  He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

(Map Ptolemais, Caesarea)  Watch; Paul is getting closer and closer to Jerusalem.  We have this geographic climax to the story building up. 

Acts 21:10-12  After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.   Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'"   When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 

Agabus, just like the prophets of the Old Testament, does this theatrical demonstration of tying himself with Paul’s belt and says, I’m sure in a dramatic voice, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘The owner of this belt is in deep yogurt, if he goes to Jerusalem.’”  Then all the people start pleading with Paul, including Luke himself, notice the we, “Please don’t go!  The Holy Spirit doesn’t want you to go.” 

Surely, Paul will change his mind and not go! Listen.

Acts 21:13-15  Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."  When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."  After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

What is fascinating, at least to me, is the Greek word for “breaking my heart” is literally the verb that means washing clothes.  Why are you washing the clothes of my heart?  No, they washed clothes by beating the rocks.  Why are you beating my heart on the rocks?  Paul feels the pain, but he would not be dissuaded!   Paul was going to Jerusalem (Map). 

Why did he feel so strong about this? Let’s back up a bit and look at it from Paul’s perspective. 

In Ephesus at the end of the seven sons of Sceva movie and the burning of the books Paul said…

Acts 19:21  After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. "After I have been there," he said, "I must visit Rome also."

Jerusalem and Rome were the two major power centers for Paul.  The early church began in Jerusalem and went to Rome.  Paul wanted to go back to the beginning and then go to the end?  

Acts 20:16   Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

Pentecost; that is when it all began.  Listen also to Acts 20 back in the part we skipped.  

Acts 20:22-25   "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.  I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.  However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.  Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.”

That is why this chapter is so baffling.  Paul says the Holy Spirit compelled him to go back to the beginning and to be there on the day of Pentecost and then he expects to go to Rome.  And the Holy Spirit warned Paul, from the get go, that it wasn’t going to be any fun.  But we have also read the Holy Spirit has told the people of Tyre to warn Paul and Agabus has done this OT thing to show him he was going to be handed over to the Gentiles. 

If you have read Acts before, you know when Paul did get to Jerusalem he would be arrested and through the rest of the book of Acts he was never a free man again.  He goes from one prison to another and from jurisdiction to another, from one confinement to another. The book of Acts ends with him still under house arrest.   So, we have to ask the question, “Why did Paul go?” Was the Spirit telling him to go or not?  Was the Spirit just testing Paul?  Was the Spirit preparing him for what was to come?  Was the Spirit giving Paul a choice? 

This one is a tough one.  But here is what I think is going on.  My conclusion leaves us with a scary application.  It is my belief that these believers are right in their understanding that Paul would be imprisoned in Jerusalem.  The Holy Spirit reveal to Paul’s loved ones that he was in fact going to suffer when he got to Jerusalem.  But Paul’s loved ones were wrong in their conclusion that Paul should not go.

I think they were wrong even though they seemed to be unanimous in their conclusion.  Even Luke joined in the attempt to talk him out of it.  Here is the scary application. The majority can be wrong.  I think what Luke later realizes and when he writes Acts he draws an amazing parallel between Paul and Jesus.  I believe Paul was being Jesus.   

Remember Luke 9:51 from last year. I apologize to those not here last year. 

YLT Luke 9:51 And it came to pass, in the completing of the days of his being taken up, that he fixed his face to go on to Jerusalem,

- Jesus set his face on Jerusalem and even though his disciples tried to get him not to go he went.  Paul set his face on Jerusalem, like his Lord.  There is this geographic progress towards Jerusalem. 

-In both the Gospel of Luke and in Acts there are three predictions of the coming suffering.  Luke is an amazing writer. 

-The Speech in Miletus that we are coming back to sounds a lot like the upper room speech by Jesus.  Both talk about sacrifice, both talk about leadership, both talk about failure, perseverance. Miletus was Paul’s last supper.  Remember Paul had spent the most time with the Ephesians.  I’m guessing, three years. 

- Both say, “The Lord’s will be done.”
 Luke 22:42   "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
Acts 21:14  When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."

-When they both get to Jerusalem, they both get in trouble with the Romans because of the Jews. 

Aren’t the parallels amazing?  Paul realized what he was doing; being Jesus. Luke later realized what Paul was doing and wrote it down beautifully.  I don’t think Paul was disobedient to the Holy Spirit. Time and time again Paul was guided by the Holy Spirit.  All through Acts we find examples like when he was prevented from going to Asia Minor, and directed to Greece by the Holy Spirit at Troas. No, Paul was under the direction of the Holy Spirit by determining to go to Jerusalem. God simply revealed Paul’s fate to them, and Paul’s loved ones drew the conclusion that Paul shouldn’t go, not God. Paul was being led by the Spirit to be Jesus.  His loved ones were wrong. 

Perhaps one of the greatest difficulties, we face in our lives, is deciding what is God’s will. Many people are eager to give advice and that’s usually a good thing.  Often God does speak to us through our loved ones.   But the trick is to listen to the Spirit and using what we hear through the Spirit to process; to filter; to listen to our loved ones. 

The application of all this I think is on the other side in the giving of advice. Let me give you some advice on giving advice.  Particularly, this advice is to parents of grown children – which is where I am. 

1. No one wants your advice. 
That is not really true, but I wanted to say it anyway, because it is mostly true.  Be real careful in giving advice. Often our advice is given after 30 seconds of thought and that can be really hurtful.  Anytime you are tempted to say, “If I were you…” don’t.  Be really slow to give advice. 

2. Sometimes our advice is wrong.
Christian’s today are just as inclined to give advice today as they were in Paul’s day. Unfortunately, our advice, which is well-intentioned, can be wrong.  Recognize, in humility, you may be wrong.  

3. Sometimes our advice is really what we want.
We don’t want our loved ones to suffer or struggle or have any pain.  But that may be exactly what God’s will is for them. They may be called to give up everything for their Lord.  We don’t want them to go through that, so we advise against it. 

4. Sometimes our advice rather than encouraging is discouraging.
The pressure on Paul must have been considerable. For Paul acknowledged that they were beating his heart on the rocks.  We don’t want to tear our loved ones apart by encouraging them in anyway to not follow the direction of God.

5. We must learn to listen to the Spirit before we give any serious advice. 

That is my advice on giving advice and I realize I am breaking my first rule by giving it.  But I think Luke realized he was wrong and wrote this chapter to warn us about, too quickly or selfishly giving advice. Let me close by reading Paul’s statement about following the will of God.  Let’s read it together.

Acts 20:24  However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

Los Alamos Church of Christ
September 7, 2008