NOTES for Act 21:1-16
Paul’s journey to Jerusalem is described by someone who took part in it. The word “we” appears ever more often in the text, making this direct testimony to the repeated prophecies addressed to Paul all the more significant: they continually confirmed that new persecutions awaited him. Paul accepts the prophetic warnings without changing his course; his actions reveal a deliberate choice.
It may seem that Paul has resigned himself to circumstances and refuses to resist the inevitable, but his resolve reveals the steadfastness of a fighter advancing toward an unavoidable battle. This is not fatalism or submission to inexorable fate, but trust in God, who does not abandon us in trials and enables us, even in difficult circumstances, to remain in accord with His will and fulfill it. Imitating Christ, Paul is ready, like Him, to undergo suffering and death. At this point the word “imitation” itself begins to sound inadequate...