He departs therefore to Jerusalem; and when there, he goes to the house of
James, and all the elders assemble. Paul relates to them the work of God
among the Gentiles. They turn to their Judaism, of which the multitude were
full, and, while rejoicing in the good that was wrought of God by the
Spirit, they wish Paul to shew himself obedient to the law. The believers
in Jerusalem must needs come together on the arrival of Paul, and their
prejudices with regard to the law must be satisfied. Paul has brought
himself into the presence of man's exigencies: to refuse compliance with
them would be to say that their thoughts about him were true; to act
according to their desire was to make a rule, not of the guidance of the
Spirit in all liberty of love, but of the ignorant and prejudiced condition
of these Jewish believers. It is that Paul was there, not according to the
Spirit as an apostle, but according to his attachment to these former
things. One must be above the prejudices of others, and free from their
influence, to be able to condescend to them in love.
Being there, Paul can hardly do other than satisfy their demands. But the
hand of God is in it. This act throws him into the power of his enemies.
Seeking to please the believing Jews, he finds himself in the lion's mouth,
in the hands of the Jews who were adversaries to the gospel. It may be
added that we hear nothing more of the Christians of Jerusalem. They had
done their work. I have no doubt that they accepted the alms of the
Gentiles.
The whole city being moved and the temple shut, the commander of the band
comes to rescue Paul from the Jews who wished to kill him, taking him
however into custody himself, for the Romans were used to these tumults,
and heartily despised this nation beloved of God, but proud and degraded in
their own condition. Nevertheless Paul commands the respect of the captain
of the band by his manner of addressing him, and he permits him to speak to
the people. To the chief captain Paul had spoken in Greek; but, always
ready to win by the attentions of love, and especially when the loved
though rebellious people were in question, he speaks to them in Hebrew;
that is, in their ordinary language called Hebrew. He does not enlarge upon
what the Lord said revealing Himself to him, but he gives them a particular
account of his subsequent interview with Ananias, a faithful Jew and
esteemed of all. He then enters on the point which necessarily
characterised his position and his defence. Christ had appeared to him,
saying, "They will not receive thy testimony at Jerusalem. I will send thee
far hence unto the Gentiles." Blessed be God! it is the truth; but why tell
it to those very persons who, according to his own words, would not receive
his testimony? The only thing which gave authority to such a mission was
the Person of Jesus, and they did not believe in it.
In his testimony to the people the apostle laid stress in vain upon the
Jewish piety of Ananias: genuine as it might be, it was but a broken reed.
Nevertheless it was all, except his own. His discourse had but one
effect-to bring out the violent and incorrigible hatred of this unhappy
nation to every thought of grace in God, and the unbounded pride which
indeed went before the fall that crushed them. The chief captain, seeing
the violence of the people, and not at all understanding what was going on,
with the haughty contempt of a Roman, orders Paul to be bound and scourged
to make him confess what it meant. Now Paul was himself a Roman citizen,
and born such, while the chief captain had purchased that freedom. Paul
quietly makes this fact known, and they who were about to scourge him
withdraw. The chief captain was afraid because he had bound him; but, as
his authority was concerned in it, he leaves him bound. The next day he
looses him and brings him before the council, or Sanhedrim, of the Jews.
The people, not merely their rulers, had rejected grace.
