Paul's Courage and Divine Intervention in Crisis

And then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification at which time an offering should be made for each one of them. Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him. [00:00:15]

Now, our Father, as we turn our attention once again to the sacred history, this inspired narrative of events that transpired in the early church, we pray we may be instructed by them in our own day with those things that apply to our redemption. For we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen. [00:03:20]

And so you would think that this literary template was invented by Luke when he wrote the history of Paul’s missionary journeys, because we see in town after town, place after place, Paul facing one crisis after another. Here he’s beaten with rods. There he’s stoned. Here he’s cast into prison. [00:05:40]

And like Jesus before him, he set his face as a flint going to Jerusalem. Well, Agabus was right. Paul comes to Jerusalem and what happens indicates something that typically takes place in the lives of great heroes. We look back at 21:15 we read that Paul “…went up to Jerusalem. [00:06:39]

And what was the response? The Jewish Christians, who now numbered in the thousands, who were present in Jerusalem at this time, were beside themselves with joy. And they began to celebrate and glorify for the work God had accomplished through the missionary enterprise of Paul and his comrades. [00:07:41]

But at the same time as they started to be jubilant with the successes of Paul, Luke tells us that a rumor begins to circulate among the Christians from the Jewish community, now. This is not from the pagans or the unbelievers. The rumor begins to be spread that Paul, in his missionary enterprise, had taught Jewish converts to Christianity to forget about the law of God. [00:08:42]

Paul was flexible as could be. But there was a heartbeat among those in the church of jealousy, of envy, and of a desire to bring Paul down, so that they could sing once more Oh, how the mighty have fallen. And so they say to him, well, you know, we like what we heard about what God did through your ministry. [00:09:38]

And so all these thousands of Jews from all over the empire had flocked into Jerusalem, just as the original day of Pentecost as recorded early in the Book of Acts, now these Jews are back there again to celebrate the festival of Pentecost and to go through all of the sacrifices and the rites of purification. [00:10:52]

And so what happens? As we read in the text, “And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia…” Now these are not the converted Jews. These are not Christian Jews. These were the Jews from Asia Minor who had rejected Paul during his missionary journeys. [00:11:49]

And so we read “The whole city was disturbed. The people ran together. They seized Paul and they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him…” And you get the breathtaking pace that Luke’s writing with here, and you get the idea that if this mob scene is not interrupted Paul’s life is not going to last for more than another five minutes. [00:15:30]

And “…as Paul was about to be led into the barracks he said to the commander, ‘May I have a word with you?’” Can we talk? The commander comes to attention. He looks at this man who obviously has a black eye, his hair is matted from the blood, he’s got gashes on his face, he’s all bruised and beaten, lips are probably thick, puffed up, and he mumbles to the commander, “Can I speak with you?” [00:19:35]

And Luke tells us that Paul just used a gesture of his hand to get their attention, and the crowd became silent. I wonder if Paul remembered the words of Jesus “Think not what your going to say in that moment, for it will be given to you”? The power of the Holy Ghost came upon this apostle, and with a mere gesture of his hand the screaming mob was silenced. [00:21:18]