"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."I italicized 'spirit' in the first sentence because most translations capitalize it as if it's the Holy Spirit. However the word is 'pneuma' which can also refer to the human spirit. And it's different in the next sentence when the word 'holy' is added a descriptor of that spirit (Spirit).
I believe a good reading of this passage is that Paul is passionate and self-compelled to go to Jerusalem. Otherwise we'd have a contradiction in chapter 21 (see below). Either way, Paul is traveling...and trying to listen to the Holy Spirit.
Paul writes a lot about the importance of submitting to the Lordship of Christ, being led by the Holy Spirit, listening to the Holy Spirit. He seems to be a good role model of this as we understand his missionary career. Can you imagine being a first century career counselor to Paul? "Paul," you might say, "you've been beaten, stoned, jailed, shipwrecked, kicked out of cities, criticized by peers...Have you thought about just sticking with the tent-making business?" And in this instance of feeling the need to go to Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit may not leading him there. This becomes clear later on as we learn:
- in Tyre, fellow believers 'through the spirit or Spirit' urged him not to go
- in Caesarea, fellow believers told Paul that 'the Holy Spirit' (note the distinction) says Paul will be captured and turned over to Roman authorities (something Paul already guessed as shown in the quoted passage above)
Not only does it seem that the Holy Spirit may not be leading him there but it doesn't seem to be mission-successful. The elders in Jerusalem greet him warmly and are enthusiastic about what's happening through Paul's church-planting activities...but there's this criticism that Paul has been telling the Jews they don't need to follow the ceremonial laws of the Hebrew Scriptures, like circumcision. This is similar to the issue of Gentiles needing to be circumcised before becoming a follower of Christ (i.e. becoming a Jew before becoming a Christian) confronted five chapters ago in an earlier visit to Jerusalem, in which Paul defended the position that they don't need to be circumcised. On this last visit to Jerusalem, Paul seems to capitulate that the Jews should continue to be circumcised, among other things, and remain faithful to the ceremonial laws even while following the Christian 'way'...and is ordered or asked to accompany four men participating in purification rites and ordered or asked to pay their head-shaving expenses. So, Paul, you may argue that followers of Christ don't need to pay attention to those things in the Hebrew Scriptures, but you must publicly show that you think they do and you should pay some money too. A week later, Paul is accused of violating the Temple by allowing a Gentile to enter, arrested by the Romans and bound with double-chains (just as the Holy Spirit warned) and mis-identified perhaps as an Egyptian terrorist leader. "Boy oh boy," Paul must be thinking, "the whole city knows who I am as a leader of this Christ-following movement but this guy thinks I'm a terrorist..."
Here the story starts to turn around somewhat as Paul gets back to his mission of testifying. He gets to preach to the crowd, to the Jewish leaders (Sanhedrin council). Even though he remains in jail for over two years, he gets to preach to multiple Roman governors and a Jewish king and is sent to Rome to appear in Caesar's court. In preparation for or presentation in Caesar's court, it is speculated that Luke wrote the two accounts (his eponymous gospel and the Acts of the Apostles) for Theophilus. Therefore, all of church has benefited for several millennia from these accounts recorded because Paul ignored the Holy Spirit or perhaps just the spirit of the believers in Tyre.
We can all take heart that even if we fail to listen to the Holy Spirit, though trying to be led by the Spirit, God makes things work out well for those who believe in Him and creates ways for us to get back on the right path, as many scriptures passage say. In particular, it says, "...He will show you a way out so you can endure." (1 Corinthians 10.13)
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