When the apostle Paul came back to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey
he met James, Jesus' half-brother, and the elders of Jerusalem. Paul told them what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When they heard of it, they began to glorify God; and said to him: "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, nor to walk according to the customs. So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Therefore, do as we tell you: we have four men who have a vow upon themselves; take them along and purify yourself together with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law. But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is strangled, and from sexual immorality." Then Paul took the men with him, and the next day, having purified himself with them, he departed into the temple giving notice when the days of purification were completed and the sacrifice was offered to each one of them. (Acts 21:17–26).
For information about this letter, see the last part of Paul's First Missionary Journey.
There were many Jews in Jerusalem who were very protective of the Mosaic Laws.
Because of that, they were a threat to Paul, because of what he learned about following the Mosaic Laws, see The Book of Galatians. They therefore proposed a plan to pacify these Jews, especially those who were believers in Christ, but still protective to the Law. These Jews who had become believers hadn't been around long enough to understand the separation between Judaism and Christianity.
Paul had also said:
"To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law." (1 Cor 9:20–21).
The reason for these words was to be able to more easily reach unbelievers with the gospel of Jesus Christ. See also Jesus and the Law.
The vow was probably a Nazirite vow (Num (4 Mos) 6:1–21). A Nazirite was a person who for a time surrendered to God and let his hair grow. After the vow period, they would usually go through a week-long purification process. Paul knew that this wasn't part of salvation. It was part of the Jewish way of doing things but not part of the Christian way of doing things. It was just a matter of personal devotion to God done in a Jewish way. See this further explained at time 4:26–14:02 in
Muslim Claims The Apostle Paul Was a Liar & a Deceiver | Hamza's Den Refuted.
When the seven days of purification were almost over, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, began to stir up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, accusing him of instructing everyone everywhere against the Jews, the Law, and the temple, and falsely that he had brought Greeks into the temple. Then the whole city was provoked, and the people rushed together and seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. While they intended to kill him,
a report came to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. He immediately took with him some soldiers and centurions, and ran down to the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came forward and seized him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; and he began to ask who he was and what he had done. But among the crowd some shouted one thing and some another, and when he couldn't find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks. When Paul came to the stairs, it happened that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; for the multitude continued to follow them. (Acts 21:27–36).
When Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he asked the tribune to speak to the people. When he had given him permission, Paul talked to the people in Hebrew. He then gave his testimony of his conversion to Christianity
(Acts 21:37–22:16), see Paul the Apostle. Giving a testimony of how a person comes to Christ is a powerful way to reach unbelievers.
He also said that God had told him to send him far away to the Gentiles to preach the gospel. These Jews couldn't accept that the gospels were also for the Gentiles and therefore said that Paul shouldn't live. (Acts 22:17–23).
Similarly, a Jewish crowd wanted to kill Jesus when he spoke in a synagogue and said that Elijah wasn't sent to any Jewish widow, only to a Gentile widow, and Elisha wasn't sent to any lepers in Israel, only to Naaman the Syrian. (Luk 4:25–30).
For many Jews it was difficult to understand and accept that the gospel also was
for the Gentiles.
For the next four years (two years in Caesarea (see below) and two years in Rome), Paul had a hard time as a prisoner. But it gave him time to write the following letters which he might not have had time to do if he hadn't gone back
to Jerusalem and was arrested:
- The Book of Ephesians.
- The Book of Philippians.
- The Book of Colossians.
- 2 Timothy, see The Book of Timothy.
- The Book of Philemon.
What happened to him became an advantage for the gospel (Phil 1:12–14).
Paul wrote the following central Christian doctrines during this time:
- "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
(Eph 2:8–10). - "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil 2:5–8).
- "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in Heaven and on Earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Col 1:15–17).
to assemble, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. When a great dissension then occurred, the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, and he ordered the troops to go down and take him from them by force, and brought him into the barracks. But the following night the Lord stood by him and said: "Be courageous! For as you have testified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome also." (Acts 22:24–23:11).
was brought to the governor Felix in Caesarea. Paul was kept there in Herod’s Praetorium. Paul is basically under house arrest. Felix with his Jewish wife Drusilla heard Paul speak about faith in Christ Jesus. But when Paul discussed
righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said that he would summon him when he wanted to hear more.
Felix left Paul imprisoned because he wanted to do the Jews a favor.
(Acts 23:12–24:27).
he appealed to Caesar. Festus ordered Paul to be kept in custody until he could send him to Caesar in Rome. (Acts 25:1–12).
Festus. Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, who wanted to hear the man himself. Paul then gave his testimony of his conversion to Christianity to Agrippa
and Bernice to the governor and to those who sat with them (Acts 26:4–18),
see Paul the Apostle. Afterwards they told each other Paul did nothing to deserve death or imprisonment. Agrippa said to Festus that Paul might have been freed
if he hadn't appealed to Caesar. (Acts 25:13–26:32).
but the ship would be lost. An angel of God had come to Paul and said:
"Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you all those who are sailing with you." (Acts 27:21–26).
Paul prayed for a man there who was bedridden and suffering from recurrent fever and dysentery. He laid hands on him and healed him.
After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases came to him and were cured. (Acts 28:1–10). Paul is now at the center of God's will.
Being at the center of God's will may involve hardship and suffering. God allowed the shipwreck to happen so that Paul could share the gospel in Malta for three months (Acts 28:11a).
(Acts 28:16). There Paul called together those who were the leading men among
the Jews to whom he described what had happened, and they wanted to hear from Paul what he had to say about Jesus (Acts 28:17–22).
