3rd Missionary Trip - Lorin

διαμαρτυρόμενος Ἰουδαίοις τε καὶ Ἕλλησιν τὴν εἰς θεὸν μετάνοιαν καὶ πίστιν εἰς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν,
as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus. Here the essence
of Paul’s Gospel message comes to the surface. He presented this message as a witness. That is, as one who
had personally experienced what he was talking about. His message was not developed out of intellect, nor was
it a ‘canned’ message memorized and repeated over and over again. Rather this message came out of his encounter
with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus years before (cf. Acts 9).
And its emphasis centered on two demands imposed by God on those listening to the Gospel: repentance
and faith. These are two sides of the same commitment: turning away from sin in order to turn toward
God in faith surrender to His absolute authority. Paul had but one message for both Jews and Greeks, not two
separate messages. Only one path to salvation exists and all humanity must travel the same path in order to find
God’s salvation. Luke has illustrated this repeatedly in his Acts narrative: 14:1, 15; 16:31; 18:4, 28; 19:10, 17. It
is the same emphasis made in Paul’s writings: 1 Thess. 1:9-10; 4:6; 1 Cor. 1:23; 10:32, and Rom. 2:9-10.
Speech: Reflection on the Future, vv. 22-24.
22 And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,
23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. 24
But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from
the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.
22 Καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ δεδεμένος ἐγὼ τῷ πνεύματι πορεύομαι εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ συναντήσοντά μοι μὴ εἰδώς,
23 πλὴν ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον κατὰ πόλιν διαμαρτύρεταί μοι λέγον ὅτι δεσμὰ καὶ θλίψεις με μένουσιν. 24 ἀλλʼ
οὐδενὸς λόγου ποιοῦμαι τὴν ψυχὴν τιμίαν ἐμαυτῷ ὡς τελειῶσαι τὸν δρόμον μου καὶ τὴν διακονίαν ἣν ἔλαβον παρὰ
τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, διαμαρτύρασθαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ.
After reflecting back to the earlier Ephesian ministry, Paul now looks forward to what he feared lay ahead
for him in this trip to Jerusalem. The core expression is simply πορεύομαι εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ, I am going to Jerusalem.
Everything else builds off of this foundational expression (main clause). His trip goal was Jerusalem. It
must have held mixed emotions for him. With the massive Jewish temple there and all the impressive rituals
connected to worshiping God in that place, for every Jew there would be no other place comparable to it. He
had spent a good portion of his early life in the city; a sister and her son lived there whom he had not seen in a
long time. There were lots of happy memories connected to that place. But there was a dark side as well. Clear
memories existed of how intensely people, friends even, had bitterly opposed him after he became a Christian.
Every trip back there since conversion had been enveloped in controversy and hostility from others. For most
people with such memories, the tug would have been simply to walk away from the city, focusing on the happy
memories, and vowing never to set foot in the city again. But not the apostle Paul. His passionate commitment
to doing God’s will over rode any human feelings and inclinations.
How was that commitment to return to the city framed? First, Paul said it was νῦν ἰδοὺ δεδεμένος ἐγὼ τῷ
πνεύματι, now indeed bound to the Spirit. Although he could have been referring to his own spirit, the context of Acts
for such expressions favor the divine Spirit. 238 He was making the trip to Jerusalem under God’s leadership, not
because he had arbitrarily chosen to do so. The Greek perfect tense participle δεδεμένος, bound, literally means
the Holy Spirit had locked him up so that this was his only option. It was Paul’s very graphic way of indicating a
deep, compelling conviction from God that this was something God wanted him to do. And that he had no other
choice but to do it.
Second, he was going to Jerusalem τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ συναντήσοντά μοι μὴ εἰδώς, not knowing the things that
would happen to me there. Before he left Corinth even several weeks earlier, he had written almost the same thing
to the church at Rome in Rom. 15:30-31. 239 In a manner so often the way that God works, He planted a conviction
238 “compelled by the Spirit. Lit., ‘bound in the spirit,’ which could mean ‘constrained in (my own) spirit,’ but more likely means
‘influenced by the (Holy) Spirit,’ because elsewhere Luke has described Paul’s missionary activity as guided by God’s Spirit (13:2, 4,
9; 16:6–7; 19:21). Now Paul views his journey toward his city of destiny, Jerusalem, as imposed by God’s Spirit.” [Joseph A. Fitzmyer,
vol. 31, The Acts of the Apostles: A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale
University Press, 2008), 677.]
239Romans 15:30-31. 30 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me
in earnest prayer to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my ministry to Jerusalem may
be acceptable to the saints,
30 Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς [, ἀδελφοί,] διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ πνεύματος συναγωνίσασθαί
μοι ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, 31 ἵνα ῥυσθῶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀπειθούντων ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ καὶ ἡ διακονία μου ἡ εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ
εὐπρόσδεκτος τοῖς ἁγίοις γένηται,
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