Acts 21:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

NIV: Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

NASB: After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

CSB: After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

NLT: After greeting them, Paul gave a detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry.

KJV: And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.

NKJV: When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

Representatives from modern-day Turkey, Macedonia, and probably Greece have come to the church in Jerusalem to offer the donations their churches have collected (Acts 20:4). Paul has come along, and he shares with James and the Jerusalem elders what he has been doing the last few years (Acts 21:18; Romans 15:26).

Paul has spent most of the previous four years in Ephesus, a large port city on the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea. He first met twelve men who followed John the Baptist's teaching of repentance of sins. After explaining that the Messiah John had prophesied about was Jesus of Nazareth, the men accepted Christ and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1–7).

Next, Paul spent three months in the synagogue explaining how Jesus brought the kingdom of God. When the pushback grew too great, he moved to a hall in town. The Holy Spirit validated his words by giving him the ability to heal and expel demons. He was so effective that people abandoned their witchcraft and other demonic practices and burned their spells. Within two years, everyone from the large district had heard of Jesus (Acts 19:8–20).

After Ephesus, Paul wanted to travel to Corinth but issues in the church made him delay his trip. He went north to Troas, sailed to Philippi, visited Thessalonica and Berea, and then stayed in Corinth for three months (2 Corinthians 1:15–16, 23; 1 Corinthians 16:5; Acts 20:3). After he reconciled with the Corinthians, he'd planned on sailing straight to Judea, but the Jews plotted against him, so he had to retrace his steps all the way up to Philippi and Troas and all the way back down to a port south of Ephesus (Acts 20:3, 6, 16).

Most significantly, Paul brought the gospel to an important port city in western Turkey and greatly reduced the witchcraft, demonic oppression, and idol worship there. In addition, he chastened the church in Corinth and reminded them how to live out of their new identities in Christ. This correction likely reassured the elders. They'd heard a rumor Paul was traipsing around the Empire, telling Jews they shouldn't follow any part of the Mosaic law anymore (Acts 21:20–21).

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.

Acts 21 fulfills the fears of many of Paul's friends. Throughout the last part of his third missionary journey the Holy Spirit has been telling him he will be arrested in Jerusalem (Acts 20:23–25). When Paul reacts to dire personal prophecy, the Jesus-followers in Caesarea Maritima try to stop him from going on (Acts 21:8–14). Through a complicated trail of rumors, lies, and wrong assumptions, things go according to the Holy Spirit's foreknowledge and Roman soldiers arrest Paul. He will face the next 5 years in custody in Caesarea and Rome, but he will spread Jesus' story the entire time (Acts 22—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.