Guest Post - Paul and His Visit to Jerusalem

There are different opinions on whether Apostle Paul should have made the visit to Jerusalem that eventually landed him in jail and truncated his missionary journey. 

Some assert that Paul was right in following his conviction to go to Jerusalem, some others argue that his zeal to preach to or convert the Jews in Jerusalem made him go there. Yet others argue that he disobeyed the Holy Spirit’s instruction. I do not believe Paul was right in going to Jerusalem, neither do I believe that his going to Jerusalem was to preach to the Jews there, although I agree that he had unusual love and passion for the Jews that got him into trouble a lot of times.

I have laid down my thoughts on this below. 

Please note that all Scripture references are from the New Living Translation (NLT). 

First, Some Background

Paul was no stranger to Jerusalem. After his conversion in Damascus and some preaching there, Jerusalem was the next place he went. It was there that he received an instruction from the Lord about being called to the Gentiles. The Lord outrightly told him that the people of Jerusalem will not accept his message. So off he went to his mission field – the Gentiles.

“After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the Temple and fell into a trance. 18 I saw a vision of Jesus[c] saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’ – Acts 22:17

““But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’” – Acts 17:21

“I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this” – Romans 11:13

Throughout his missionary journey, Paul visited Jerusalem (the Church) a number of times – on the instruction of the Holy Spirit and at other times to deliver donations/offerings to the Church there.

“This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem” – Acts 11:30

“When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, taking John Mark with them” - Acts 12:25

“When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch” - Acts 18:22 

“After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people, and to offer sacrifices to God” – Acts 24:17

He also mentioned this in his letter to the Galatians that the Lord asked him to go there.

“Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. 2 I went there because God revealed to me that I should go…” Galatians 2:1-2

As stated earlier, Paul’s visits to Jerusalem were not unusual. He however never visited Jerusalem to preach as he did in other Gentile cities (even though in those Gentile cities, he always targeted Jews there by visiting the synagogues first). His visits were usually to the Church. During such visits to Jerusalem, there were no reports of a backlash or him being attacked. He had also once been appointed to go to Jerusalem with Barnabas to the Jerusalem Council to table the matters the church at Antioch were facing regarding the Jewish believers’ insistence on converting the Gentile believers to Judaism (Acts 15). His later visit to Jerusalem that landed him in trouble was not to proselytise or convert the Jews as we usually assume.

Now the Story Begins

In Acts 19:21 - Paul said he felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to go to Macedonia and Achaia before Jerusalem, then eventually Rome.

“Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem. “And after that,” he said, “I must go on to Rome!”” – Acts 19:21

In his letter to the Romans (which he sent ahead of his journey), he stated his intention to also go to Spain, but will first visit Rome. His intention to visit Jerusalem was as before – drop off offering for the Church; he had made a habit of organising collections/donations for the Church there.

“I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.” – Romans 15:24

“But before I come, I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the believers there. 26 For you see, the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem” – Romans 15:25

“After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people, and to offer sacrifices to God” – Acts 24:17

Seems like the final destination would be Spain, but through Rome, and would probably be the last of his missionary journeys in that part of the world where he was. We see this in his letter to the Romans and how he made sure to visit the cities where he had preached to encourage the believers there. This also includes his farewell message to the Ephesian Elders, telling them that they would not see him again.

“But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you” – Romans 15:23

“When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them. 37 They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good-bye. 38 They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship” – Acts 20:38

Note that the Holy Spirit did not stop him from going to any of Macedonia, Achaia, Rome, or even Spain as he had planned; it was to Jerusalem alone that the Holy Spirit stopped him from going.

In Acts 20:21-24, again we see Paul reiterating his need to go to Jerusalem. I mean this is Paul, with an abundance of revelations and direct communication with the Holy Spirit; there is no way he could have heard wrongly. If he said the Holy Spirit compelled him, then we would believe that the Holy Spirit did say so.

“And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God” – Acts 20:21-24

This is where it starts getting interesting

Up until Acts 21:4 Paul had visited most or all of the other places he felt compelled to visit. When he got to Tyre however, the believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit (interesting that Luke mentions that the prophecy was through the Holy Spirit) that Paul should not go to Jerusalem. The believers didn't give further information about what was going to happen to him there if he went, probably because the Holy Spirit had not revealed that to them, but they were sure the Holy Spirit had instructed that Paul should not go to Jerusalem. 

“We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo. We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem” – Acts 21:3-4

Now in verse 10-11 of same Acts 21, over a week later in an entirely different city (Caesarea), and with believers who were unrelated to the ones at Tyre, Agabus gave a prophecy. Agabus had come to Caesarea from another city – Judea (just to emphasise that it was different from the believers in Tyre). 

“Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea” - Acts 21:10

It was the same Agabus who predicted the famine in the Roman provinces, so he had a history of getting right prophecies (if it means anything).

“During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)” – Acts 11:27-28

Agabus prophesied what would happen to Paul if he went to Jerusalem, without a prior knowledge of an existing instruction for him not to go to Jerusalem. 

“He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem” – Acts 21:11

Agabus did not instruct him whether to go to Jerusalem or not, he only showed him what would happen to him if he did go. So earlier in Tyre, the believers had already given the instruction, Agabus just threw more light; two prophecies addressing one issue, each explaining the other.

Now I wonder why the Holy Spirit had to do this (via prophecy rather than directly telling Paul). Was it probably because He could not get through to Paul to tell him, as his heart was made up and set on the path to go through Jerusalem, considering how really passionate he was about the Jewish believers there and just supporting them with the offering? Paul had always been eager to support the church there.

“In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. 10 Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do” – Galatians 2:9-10

Or was it because he had already collected the offering for the Church and so felt inclined to give it to them? It appears the believers in Corinth had earlier accused him of being a Gospel peddler and he probably did not want that sort of reputation. He could have sent it through someone else, maybe? 

“You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us” – 2 Corinthians 

“We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this” – 2 Corinthians 4:2

I’ll pause here to emphasise Paul’s passion for the Jews. He did like them – even wishing to be cut-off from Christ if it would save them

“2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them” – Romans 9:2

I mean he had made several trips to Jerusalem during his entire missionary journey and the Holy Spirit did not stop him at any of those times. The Holy Spirit did not stop him from going to the other cities he felt compelled to go either.

Paul's "disobedience" or insistence on going to Jerusalem was based on his conviction that the Holy Spirit compelled him to go, which is good, but was it necessary? Was it really conviction or his desire or zeal? How would it affect his assignment subsequently? 

Reading through Acts 22 and his speech to the Jews following his arrest, we are able to glean some additional insights about his conversion story – like the role Ananias played which is key to his acceptance into the community of believers in Damascus and subsequently in Jerusalem (that’s a different story entirely). But then again, this speech could have been written in another letter or told somewhere else.

Now back to Paul’s journey. Things appeared to have gone downhill after he got to Jerusalem, not because he had tried to preach to the Jews there (he did not) nor because he tried to keep a Jewish law of head shaving to fulfil a vow. He shaved his hair earlier at Cenchrea to fulfil a Jewish vow and nothing happened

“Paul stayed in Corinth for some time after that, then said good-bye to the brothers and sisters and went to nearby Cenchrea. There he shaved his head according to Jewish custom, marking the end of a vow. Then he set sail for Syria, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him” - Acts 18:18 

It was obvious that Paul was not very popular among the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Not only had he been a strong persecutor of the Church there before his conversion, the Jewish believers were also angry that he was teaching believers to turn their backs against the laws of Moses. One of this instances can be seen in the event that happened in Antioch as written in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Here, Paul confronted Peter about his hypocrisy, and the other Jewish believers (including Barnabas). Peter’s action at Antioch was against the agreement reached at the Jerusalem Council to not force the Gentile believers to get circumcised or follow the laws of Moses. Some of the Jewish believers then took sides with Peter, who alongside James and John were seen as pillars of the church.

“But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. 12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. 13 As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy” – Galatians 2:11-13 

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he had also indicated that the Jewish believers were not pleased with him as he was concerned that they may not accept his offering. He asked the Roman believers to pray that his donation/offering to the church in Jerusalem would be accepted. 

“Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donation I am taking to Jerusalem” – Romans 15:31

Paul was trying to gain back favour with the Jewish believers there and so was advised to go to the Temple to partake in a Jewish rite including paying for people to complete their rites.

Unfortunately, this backfired, as he was arrested, and then began his series of imprisonments and standing trials before Roman officials, greatly hampering his spread of the Gospel subsequently in Rome and Spain.

As we can see, all Paul did after his arrest was stand before governors and officials to defend himself and the Gospel. He tried to proselytise to these officials a few times but was never successful.  I wonder if he was also successful in converting anyone at all. Even if he was, it was not at the same magnitude as he did before his arrest. The time we can point out that there was a conversion was after their shipwreck and stopover at the Island of Malta, which was when he was now back on the route to Rome as he should have been from the get-go. 

Could Paul have gone directly to Rome bypassing all the trouble and time wasted through his trials in Jerusalem and the Roman provinces? I believe so. His passage through Jerusalem unnecessarily delayed his mission. From the accounts here, it doesn’t seem like he eventually made it to Spain either.

Even when he got to Rome, he preached under guard, greatly limiting his ministry and the usual signs and wonders that would typically accompany this. We may argue that it gave him time to write his letters to the churches which we now enjoy as epistles, but I think that the bulk of his letters were not written in prison, so he could have done it outside of prison as well.

Anyway, I still admire the fact that Paul was a man of conviction (right or wrong) and followed his personal conviction even despite the warning to do the contrary and the suffering that he was told would await him. He boldly faced the consequences of his decision which is a great thing, but at an avoidable expense.  

I think Paul also acted like a ‘Superman’, ignoring the warnings/prophecies from the people he had also taught and helped to build. They were a church, and it is a sign of strength of a leader to listen to his followers. He should probably have considered and prayed about the prophecies given by the believers at Tyre and Agabus at Caesarea rather than his mantra that suffering awaited him at every city he entered. 

I pray that in making decisions, even as we get our personal convictions. That we understand the place of personal conviction in light of our broader assignment or purpose. We should also understand that we belong to a church which may be instrumental to keeping us on the right path in our journey. No need being obstinate when you have a family that is led by the Holy Spirit and would support you.

Live loved!

Jess