What does Acts 21:21 mean?
Paul has been traveling around modern-day Turkey, Macedonia, and Greece, bringing Jesus' offer of salvation to the Gentiles. Meanwhile, the church in Jerusalem has been drawing more and more Jews. The Jews understand that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah who forgives their sins and promises a physical resurrection. They are being taught, correctly, that to follow Christ is no contradiction to their Jewish faith. God's commands as found in the Law of Moses are still in effect for the nation of Israel, which is not to say they are mandatory for salvation. Nor is participating in them meaningful to non-Jews.Somehow, the Pharisaical Christians hear that as Paul spreads the message of salvation to the Gentiles, he is telling Jews they should stop following Mosaic law. This is not just a denominational issue; it's a crime punishable by death (Deuteronomy 13:1–5).
This raises a point which often needs clarification: did the Jews of the early church need to continue practicing Judaism? The answer is that they did not need to do so for salvation. Salvation is by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9); Jews today are part of the church, not the theocracy of Israel. However, their identity as God's chosen people selected to provide the Messiah to save the world is still expressed through the Law. Paul knows this. It's why although he firmly teaches Gentile Christians do not have be circumcised, he circumcised Timothy, a young Jewish Christian, to avoid undue offense (Acts 16:1–3).
The whole issue must be incredibly frustrating to Paul. His Jewish bona fides are impeccable (Philippians 3:2–6). He's out in the dangerous world, rescuing people from demons, and the Jews in Jerusalem are worried he's telling people their diet is too restrictive. But he has already resolved to be what he needs to be so others can be focused on the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19–23). When the elders of the Jerusalem church ask him to fulfill a Jewish ritual, he does so. But in the course of the week, before being fully able to complete the ritual, Paul is accused of something else he didn't do. A riot ensues and Paul is arrested by the Romans (Acts 21:22–36).
Acts 21:17–26 is an account of Paul reporting to the "upper management" of the early church. He has spent the last several years along the coastline of the Aegean Sea, establishing the church in Ephesus and building up the congregations in Troas, Macedonia, and Corinth. Now he returns to Jerusalem to give an account of his ministry. James and the elders of the Jerusalem church also have news: a rumor is going around claiming Paul teaches that Jews who worship with Gentiles should entirely forsake the Mosaic law. Ironically, when he cooperates with the elders' recommendation to prove his respect for Old Testament truth, Paul is again falsely accused and arrested.
In Acts 21, Paul returns to Judea from his third missionary journey and promptly gets arrested. He begins by visiting Philip in Caesarea Maritima. Church elders in Jerusalem ask Paul to help men fulfill a Nazirite vow, to dispel rumors he has apostatized his Jewishness. While doing so, Ephesian Jews accuse Paul of bringing one of his Gentile Ephesian companions into the temple. The Roman military tribune keeps the enraged crowd from tearing Paul limb from limb by arresting him.
