Opinion: Paul's Visit to Jerusalem

Paul and His Visit to Jerusalem
There are different opinions on whether 
Apostle Paul should have made the visit 
to Jerusalem that eventually landed him 
jail and truncated his missionary journey.
Some assert that Paul was right in 
following his conviction to go to Jerusalem, 
while some others argue that his zeal to 
preach to or convert the Jews in Jerusalem 
made him go there. Yet others argue that 
he disobeyed the Holy Spirit’s instruction. 
I do not believe Paul was right in going 
to Jerusalem, neither do I believe that 
his going to Jerusalem was to preach to 
the Jews there, although I agree that he 
had usual love and passion for the Jews 
that got him into trouble a lot of times.
I have laid down my thoughts on this below.
Please note that all Scripture references 
are from the New Living Translation (NLT).
 
Paul was no stranger to Jerusalem. 
After his conversion in Damascus and some 
preaching there, Jerusalem was the next 
place he went. It was there that he received 
an instruction from the Lord about being 
called to the Gentiles. 
The Lord outrightly told him that the people 
of Jerusalem will not accept his message. 
So off he was to his missionary field – 
the Gentiles.
“After I returned to Jerusalem, I was 
praying in the Temple and fell into a 
trance. 
18 I saw a vision of Jesus[c] saying to me, 
‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people 
here won’t accept your testimony about 
me.’ – Acts 22:17
““But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will 
send you far away to the Gentiles!’” 
– Acts 17:21
“I am saying all this especially for you 
Gentiles. 
God has appointed me as the apostle to the 
Gentiles. I stress this” – Romans 11:13
Throughout his missionary Paul visited 
Jerusalem (the Church) a number of times 
– on the instruction of the Holy Spirit 
and at other times to deliver donations/
offerings to the Church there.
“This they did, entrusting their gifts to 
Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders 
of the church in Jerusalem” – Acts 11:30
“When Barnabas and Saul had finished 
their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, 
taking John Mark with them” - Acts 12:25
“When he landed at Caesarea, he went up 
to Jerusalem and greeted the church and 
then went down to Antioch” - Acts 18:22
“After several years away, I returned 
to Jerusalem with money to aid my people, 
and to offer sacrifices to God” 
– Acts 24:17
He also mentioned this in his letter to 
the Galatians that the Lord asked him 
to go there.
“Then fourteen years later I went back 
to Jerusalem again, this time with 
Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. 
2 I went there because God revealed to 
me that I should go…” Galatians 2:1-2
As stated earlier, Paul’s visits to 
Jerusalem were not unusual. 
He however never visited Jerusalem to 
preach as he did in other Gentile cities 
(even though in those Gentile cities, 
he always targeted Jews there by visiting 
the synagogues first). 
His visits were usually to the church. 
During such visits to Jerusalem, there
 were no reports of a backlash or him 
being attacked. 
He had also once been appointed to go 
to Jerusalem with Barnabas to the 
Jerusalem Council to table the matters 
the church at Antioch were facing regarding 
the Jewish believers’ insistence on 
converting the Gentile believers to Judaism 
(Acts 15). 
His later visit to Jerusalem that landed 
him in trouble was not to proselytise or 
convert the Jews as we usually assume.
 
Now the Story Begins
In Acts 19:21 - Paul said he felt compelled 
by the Holy Spirit to go to Macedonia and 
Achaia before Jerusalem, then eventually Rome.
“Afterward Paul felt compelled by the 
Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia 
before going to Jerusalem. 
“And after that,” he said, “I must go on 
to Rome!”” – Acts 19:21
In his letter to the Romans (which he 
sent ahead of his journey), he stated his 
intention to also go to Spain, but will 
first visit Rome. 
His intention to visit Jerusalem was as 
before – drop off offering for the Church; 
he had made a habit of organising 
collections/donations for the Church there.
“I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, 
I will stop off in Rome. And after I have 
enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, 
you can provide for my journey.” – Romans 15:24
“But before I come, I must go to Jerusalem 
to take a gift to the believers there. 
26 For you see, the believers in Macedonia and 
Achaia have eagerly taken up an offering for 
the poor among the believers in Jerusalem” 
– Romans 15:25
“After several years away, I returned to 
Jerusalem with money to aid my people, and 
to offer sacrifices to God” – Acts 24:17
Seems like the final destination would be 
Spain, but through Rome and would probably 
be the last of his missionary journeys in 
the part of the world where he was. 
We see this in his letter to the Romans 
and how he made sure to visit the cities 
where he had preached to encourage the 
believers there. This also includes his 
farewell message to the Ephesian Elders, 
telling them that they would not see him 
again.
“But now I have finished my work in these 
regions, and after all these long years 
of waiting, I am eager to visit you” 
– Romans 15:23
“When he had finished speaking, he knelt 
and prayed with them. 
37 They all cried as they embraced and 
kissed him good-bye. 
38 They were sad most of all because he 
had said that they would never see him 
again. Then they escorted him down to 
the ship” – Acts 20:38
Note that the Holy Spirit did not stop 
him from going to any of Macedonia, 
Achaia, Rome, or even Spain as he had 
planned; it was to Jerusalem alone that 
the Holy Spirit stopped him from going.
In Acts 20:21-24, again we see Paul 
reiterating his need to go to Jerusalem. 
I mean this is Paul, with an abundance 
of revelations and direct communication 
with the Holy Spirit; there is no way 
he could have heard wrongly. 
If he said the Holy Spirit compelled him, 
then we would believe that the Holy Spirit 
did say so.
“And now I am bound by the Spirit to go 
to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 
23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in 
city after city that jail and suffering 
lie ahead. 
24 But my life is worth nothing to me 
unless I use it for finishing the work 
assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of 
telling others the Good News about the 
wonderful grace of God” – Acts 20:21-24
 
This is where it starts getting interesting
Up until Acts 21:4 Paul had visited most or 
all of the other places he felt compelled 
to visit. 
When he got to Tyre however, the believers 
prophesied through the Holy Spirit 
(interesting that Luke mentions that the 
prophecy was through the Holy Spirit) that 
Paul should not go to Jerusalem. 
The believers didn't give further information 
about what was going to happen to him there 
if he went, probably because the Holy Spirit 
had not reveal that to them, but they were 
sure the Holy Spirit had instructed that 
Paul should not go to Jerusalem.
“We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it 
on our left, and landed at the harbor of 
Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload 
its cargo. 
We went ashore, found the local believers, and 
stayed with them a week. 
These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit 
that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem” 
– Acts 21:3-4
Now in verse 10-11 of same Acts 21, over a week 
later in an entirely different city (Caesarea), 
and with believers who were unrelated to the ones 
at Tyre, Agabus gave a prophecy. 
Agabus had come to Caesarea from another city – 
Judea (just to emphasise that it was different 
from the believers in Tyre).
“Several days later a man named Agabus, who also 
had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea” 
- Acts 21:10
It was the same Agabus who predicted the famine 
in the Roman provinces, so he had a history of 
getting right prophecies (if it means anything).
“During this time some prophets traveled from 
Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus 
stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by 
the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon 
the entire Roman world. 
(This was fulfilled during the reign of 
Claudius.)” – Acts 11:27-28
Agabus prophesied what would happen to Paul if 
he went to Jerusalem, without a prior knowledge 
of an existing instruction for him not to go 
to Jerusalem.
“He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound 
his own feet and hands with it. 
Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, 
‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound 
by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and 
turned over to the Gentiles.’” 
12 When we heard this, we and the local 
believers all begged Paul not to go on to 
Jerusalem” – Acts 21:11
Agabus did not instruct him whether to go 
to Jerusalem or not, he only showed him what 
would happen to him if he did go. 
So earlier in Tyre, the believers had 
already given the instruction, Agabus just 
threw more light; two prophecies addressing 
one issue, each explaining the other.
 
Now I wonder why the Holy Spirit had to do 
this (via prophecy rather than directly 
telling Paul). 
Was it probably because He could not get 
through to Paul to tell him, as his heart 
was made up and set on the path to go 
through Jerusalem, considering how really 
passionate he was about the Jewish believers 
there and just supporting them with the 
offering? 
Paul had always been eager to support the 
church there.
“In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were 
known as pillars of the church, recognized 
the gift God had given me, and they accepted 
Barnabas and me as their co-workers. 
They encouraged us to keep preaching to the
 Gentiles, while they continued their work 
with the Jews. 
10 Their only suggestion was that we keep 
on helping the poor, which I have always 
been eager to do” – Galatians 2:9-10
Or was it because he had already collected 
the offering for the Church and so felt 
inclined to give it to them? 
It appears the believers in Corinth had 
earlier accused him of being a Gospel peddler 
and he probably did not want that sort of 
reputation. 
He could have sent it through someone else, 
maybe?
“You see, we are not like the many hucksters 
who preach for personal profit. 
We preach the word of God with sincerity and 
with Christ’s authority, knowing that God 
is watching us” – 2 Corinthians
“We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded 
methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or 
distort the word of God. We tell the truth 
before God, and all who are honest know this” 
– 2 Corinthians 4:2
I’ll pause here to emphasise Paul’s passion 
for the Jews. He did like them – even wishing 
to be cut-off from Christ if it would save them
“2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and 
unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish 
brothers and sisters. 
I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut 
off from Christ!—if that would save them” 
– Romans 9:2
 
I mean he had made several trips to Jerusalem 
during his entire missionary journey and the 
Holy Spirit did not stop him at any of those 
times. 
The Holy Spirit did not stop him from going 
to the other cities he felt compelled to go 
either.
Paul's "disobedience" or insistence on going 
to Jerusalem was based on his conviction 
that the Holy Spirit compelled him to go, 
which is good, but was it necessary? 
Was it really conviction or his desire or 
zeal? How would it affect his assignment 
subsequently?
Reading through Acts 22 and his speech to 
the Jews following his arrest, we are able 
to glean some additional insights about 
his conversion story – like the role 
Ananias played which is key to his acceptance 
into the community of believers in Damascus 
and subsequently in Jerusalem (that’s a 
different story entirely). 
But then again, this speech could have been 
written in another letter or told somewhere 
else.
Now back to Paul’s journey. 
Things appeared to have gone downhill after 
he got to Jerusalem, not because he had tried 
to preach to the Jews there (he did not) nor 
because he tried to keep a Jewish law of 
head shaving to fulfil a vow. He shaved his 
hair earlier at Cenchrea to fulfil a Jewish 
vow and nothing happened
“Paul stayed in Corinth for some time after 
that, then said good-bye to the brothers and 
sisters and went to nearby Cenchrea. 
There he shaved his head according to 
Jewish custom, marking the end of a vow. 
Then he set sail for Syria, taking 
Priscilla and Aquila with him” - Acts 18:18
It was obvious that a number of the Jewish 
believers in Jerusalem were not favourably 
disposed to Paul at this time. 
Their anger that he was teaching the Jewish 
believers to turn their backs against the 
laws of Moses may be traced to the event 
that happened in Antioch as written in 
Paul’s letter to the Galatians. 
Here, Paul confronted Peter about his 
hypocrisy, and other Jewish believers 
(including Barnabas). 
Peter’s action at Antioch was against the 
agreement reached at the Jerusalem Council 
to not force the Gentile believers to get 
circumcised. 
Some of the Jewish believers then took 
sides with Peter, who alongside James and 
John were seen as pillars of the church.
“But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to 
oppose him to his face, for what he did 
was very wrong. 
12 When he first arrived, he ate with 
the Gentile believers, who were not 
circumcised. 
But afterward, when some friends of James 
came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles 
anymore. He was afraid of criticism from 
these people who insisted on the necessity 
of circumcision. 
13 As a result, other Jewish believers 
followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even 
Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy” 
– Galatians 2:11-13
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he had also 
indicated that the Jewish believers were not 
pleased with him as he was concerned that 
they may not accept his offering. 
He asked the Roman believers to pray that 
his donation/offering to the church in 
Jerusalem would be accepted.
“Pray that I will be rescued from those in 
Judea who refuse to obey God. 
Pray also that the believers there will be 
willing to accept the donation I am taking 
to Jerusalem” – Romans 15:31
Paul was trying to gain back favour with 
the Jewish believers there and so was 
advised to go to the Temple to partake in 
a Jewish rite including paying for people 
to complete their rites.
Unfortunately, this backfired, as he was 
arrested, and then began his series of 
imprisonments and standing trials before 
Roman officials, greatly hampering his 
spread of the Gospel subsequently in 
Rome and Spain.
As we can see, all Paul did after his 
arrest was stand before governors and 
officials to defend himself and the 
Gospel. 
He tried to proselytise to these officials 
a few times but was never successful. 
I wonder if he was also successful in 
converting anyone at all. 
Even if he was, it was not at the same 
magnitude as he did before. 
The time we can point out that there was 
a conversion was after their shipwreck and 
stopover at the Island of Malta, which was 
when he was now back on the route to 
Rome as he should have been from the 
get-go.
Could Paul have gone directly to Rome bypassing 
all the trouble and time wasted through his 
trials in Jerusalem and the Roman provinces? 
I believe so. 
His passage through Jerusalem unnecessarily 
delayed his mission. 
From the accounts here, it doesn’t seem like 
he eventually made it to Spain either.
Even when he got to Rome, he preached under 
guard, greatly limiting his ministry and the 
usual signs and wonders that would typically 
accompany this. 
We may argue that it gave him time to write his 
letters to the churches which we now enjoy 
as epistles, but I think that the bulk of his 
letters were not written in prison, so he 
could have done it outside of prison as well.
Anyway, I still admire the fact that Paul was 
a man of conviction (right or wrong) and 
followed his personal conviction even despite 
the warning to do the contrary and the 
suffering that he was told would await him. 
He boldly faced the consequences of his 
decision which is a great thing, but at 
an avoidable expense.
I think Paul also acted like a ‘Superman’, 
ignoring the warnings/prophecies from the 
people he had also taught and helped to 
build. They were a church, and it is a 
sign of strength of a leader to listen to 
his followers. He should probably have 
considered and prayed about the prophecies 
given by the believers at Tyre and Agabus 
at Caesarea rather than his mantra that 
suffering awaited him at every city he 
entered.
I pray that in making decisions, even as 
we get our personal convictions. 
That we understand the place of personal 
conviction in light of our broader assignment 
or purpose. 
We should also understand that we belong to a 
church which may be instrumental to keeping 
us on the right path in our journey.
 No need being obstinate when you have a 
family that is led by the Holy Spirit and 
would support you.
Live loved!

- Jessica Essien