The Unintended Success of the Jerusalem Gambit

Paul frequently suffered the assaults of lies during his ministry.  Famously, James and the brothers at Jerusalem counselled him that a lie was spreading through the city that he had been teaching Jews to forsake the law of Moses, to not circumcise their children, and to not walk according to the customs of the Jewish way of life (Acts 21:21). Of course, this was not the truth at all. In fact, Paul had one of his proteges, Timothy, circumcised (Acts 16:1-3). Paul himself had publicly taken a Nazarite vow (Acts 18:18). He unequivocally saw the law as holy and good (Romans 7:12). He just didn’t see it as a force that saves a person.  So, in order to show everyone that Paul lives in observance of the law, James and the brothers told him to go ritually purify himself in the temple, as well as to pay for the ritual purification of four other men who were under a vow (Acts 21:21-24). Paul took their advice, but when it came time to complete the purification process seven days after its initiation, a mob of Judaizers tried to have him dragged out of the temple and killed (Acts 21:27-31).  

Obviously, James’ gambit was unsuccessful – that is, it was unsuccessful in pacifying evil men who had already made up their minds about what Paul’s purposes were. Although it wasn’t the intent of James and the brothers, their tactic did succeed in revealing the hearts of religious people whose religion was a pious mask for the inward works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). James was playing regular chess, but God was playing 4D Chess. After Paul had been dragged out of the temple, the authorities intervened and rescued Paul from the mayhem.  Those authorities gave Paul the opportunity to address the crowd.  Paul did that using either a dialectic of Hebrew, or the Aramaic language.  This use of a Semitic language gave them immediate pause, and they listened.  Paul then laid down his impeccable Jewish credentials. He had studied under the famed and wise rabbi, Gamaliel, where he had learned to live in strict accordance with the law, and where he had also come to be zealous for God – he even compared his own zeal to the zeal of those in the mob. And most importantly, he had persecuted Christians (Acts 22:1-5). 

All of this perked their ears, and they listened as he gave his testimony regarding his conversion experience on the Road to Damascus.  Interestingly, they attended to his message all the way up until the moment he told them that God had sent him to minister the gospel to the Gentiles.  Then they were filled with a murderous hate and once again sought to kill him. The authorities had to whisk him away. 

The flesh opposes the spirit, and the spirit opposes the flesh. These people had not yet crucified their flesh, and it was evidenced by their thoughts and their behaviors. While they claimed a zeal and a passion for God, it was clear that their passion was oriented toward something else – something selfish.  Has your flesh been crucified? What are the passions that motivate you?