NOTES for Act 21:1-26
Paul has no doubts about what will cause the persecutions and sufferings awaiting him in Jerusalem. He knows that he will have to endure all this for the name of Jesus, since the Jews had long been indignant at his preaching of freedom in Christ, beside which devotion to the Mosaic law ceased to be the most important matter. In addition, he associated openly with Gentiles, entered their homes, and spoke to them about salvation in Christ without requiring them to live according to the law.
Hatred of Paul in Jerusalem had reached such intensity that even the Jerusalem Christians who continued to observe the law treated him with distrust and suspicion. Yet Paul not only declares his readiness to die for Christ; he also shows us a most important example of evangelical peacemaking. For the sake of peace among Christians and Jews he is ready to submit to the law, complete the required days of purification according to the law, and offer sacrifice in the Temple. Truly, in our age of indifference on the part of some and fanaticism on the part of others, this example of faithfulness to Christ, even unto death, is extremely important for us, and at the same time an example of love for brothers by blood and by spirit, and of consent to the existence of other patterns of life and religion.