seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 21:17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us warmly. 18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”
26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
Oh brother. We're back to the dick cutting again, as well as the sacrificing of animals. There's a lot going on here. Most of the controversy is over Paul's separate sets of rules. The Jews were still being circumcised to show their bond with God. But the Gentiles were never required to be circumcised. That upset the Jews [understandably].
I think the commentary might help.
They have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses: The Christian community of Jerusalem heard bad, false rumors about Paul. They heard that he had become essentially anti-Jewish, and told Jewish Christians that it was wrong for them to continue in Jewish laws and customs.
i. Based on Romans 14:4-6, it seems that Paul didn’t have a problem with Jewish Christians who wanted to continue to observe old customs and laws. It seems that he himself did so sometimes, such as when he took and fulfilled a vow of consecration in Acts 18:18-21 (probably a Nazirite vow). Paul seemed fine with this, as long as they didn’t think it made them more right before God.
That all may know: The Jerusalem elders believed this would convince everyone that Paul did not preach against Jewish laws and customs for those Christians who wanted to observe them.
i. Paul agreed to do this, to demonstrate that he never taught Christian Jews to forsake Moses and not to circumcise their children and that they were required to ignore Jewish customs, as he had been false accused by some among the Jerusalem Christians.
Please remember, the Jewish traditions went back to when they left slavery in Egypt. The circumcision of a Jewish Boy was a big deal.... they had huge celebrations, not just for the circumcision, but for the birth of another heir... a boy. It was a huge deal.
The people in Jerusalem heard that Paul was calling circumcision unnecessary.
Paul said it would be impossible to bring the Gentiles into the Christian Faith if they had to be circumcised first.
Paul wanted to grow the church.... and that little flap of skin was causing a lot of trouble.
So it was agreed.... to help the people understand that Paul was still Jewish at heart.... he had to "sponsor" the four men who had just taken "the vow". He had to pay for the bull they would sacrifice after shaving their heads.
Jesus never asked us to be circumcised, or take a vow, or kill a bull, or shave our heads.
Jesus only asked us to "Believe".
The Jews were "zealous" over a flap of skin.
