Acts 21:27-40

(Acts 21:27-40)

 

And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,  Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.  (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)  And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut.  And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.  Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.  And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle.  And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.  And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?  Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?  But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.  And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

 

In order to resolve the Jews' misunderstanding and prejudice against himself, Paul, who had a cleansing ceremony, faced a great deal again with Jews from Asia. Asia referred to here means the central city of Ephesus. In Ephesus, because Paul taught that idols are not gods, there was a great turmoil due to the incitement of silver processor Demedrio, who had made and sold the statues of Ademis to gain wealth, and the way to accumulate the wealth he had been doing was blocked. There, Paul went to the brink of death and came alive.

 

The Jews from Ephesus, where this had happened, immediately recognized Paul. Paul had been in Ephesus for three years, and he was already well known because he brought many people to the Lord. When the Ephesians saw Paul in the outer courtyard of the temple, the Jews in Ephesus urged all the crowds there to arrest him. They slander Paul and agitate him with provocative words. The first is that Paul is disseminating the teachings against the Jews, the law, and the temple, and the second is that Paul brought a sinner, Gentile, into the holy place and defiled the temple.

 

However, it was revealed that Paul performed a cleansing ceremony that all of that was misunderstanding and distorted, and that he did not take the Gentile Trophimus into the temple. Nevertheless, Jews from Asia planned to arrest him again, assault him, and kill him just as he did to Paul at Ephesus.

The crowds screamed and rioted, and the commander of Thousands couldn't understand the inner walls, so they removed Paul from them and brought him into the city. Having escaped from the crisis of death, Paul got a chance to speak to the commander of Thousands and spread the Gospel to people. 『But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.40 And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,』