When someone’s call of duty involves risk and peril, often it will be close friends and family who try to talk him out of it. In Acts 21, Paul is on his way to Jerusalem, responding to God’s call. But since he is clearly putting himself in harm’s way, those who love him are struggling to offer their support. It’s not always easy to know the will of God. Even the apostle seemed to be getting mixed signals. By the Spirit he was being led to Jerusalem (19:21; 20:22). Yet by the Spirit, others were saying, “Don’t go!” (21:4). People wept when the prophet Agabus bound himself with Paul’s belt to symbolize how he would be bound by Jews in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles. But this prophetic word was not a prohibition. Paul already knew what awaited him in Jerusalem (20:22-23), and he would not be persuaded to cancel his plans. His example illustrates how we must bravely follow the Lord Jesus wherever He leads, whatever the cost. Finally, Paul’s friends give up their resistance, saying, “Let the will of the Lord be done” (v 1-16). Why was Paul so committed to go to Jerusalem? He was eager to deliver an offering from some of the Gentile churches he had planted, given to help relieve the poverty of Jewish Christians in the Jerusalem church. He saw this as a great way to build unity and improve relations between the two groups. But when Paul comes to Jerusalem, he’s greeted by the discouraging news that suspicions about his ministry have even infiltrated the church. Rumors are spreading that he was anti-Moses, anti-circumcision, anti-Jewish. Church leaders are concerned that Paul’s presence will be divisive. So they advise him to publicly demonstrate his reverence for Jewish laws and customs by accompanying four Jewish men on their way to the temple, and to pay the fees for their sacrifices in fulfillment of a Nazirite vow. For better or worse, Paul agrees to do it. For the sake of the gospel and the church, he participates in the week-long rituals of this purification ceremony (v 17-26). The trouble starts when certain “Jews from Asia” see him in the temple. Perhaps they had been part of the earlier riot in Ephesus. False accusations are made, and soon Paul is assaulted by a Jewish mob. Paul had said that he was ready to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. As he lay there, kicked and beaten, he must have wondered if he was about to do what he said he was ready to do. But God intervenes through the providential arrival of Roman police officers who save his life by arresting him. Then at his request, Paul is given an opportunity to address the hostile crowd (v 27-40). For further meditation: