ACC ~ Acts 21 v7 - 16

OVERVIEW:

Commentators often choose this passage to point to the resemblance between Paul’s journey to Jerusalem and that of Jesus. Many remark that the RSV description of Philip’s daughters does not adequately represent Luke’s intention in using the Greek word parthenoi (“virgins”) and which in his mind probably indicates a special call that includes prophecy. They also point to the hospitality of the early Christians and their esteem for Paul. Eusebius is fascinated by what historical information he can gather concerning Philip and his daughters. Chrysostom makes a moral application of the fact that Paul, ready for action, is girded with a belt; he also notes the hospitality of the Christians and extends it to the present. Origen, noting the similarity between Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and Paul’s, goes on to show how Paul is an imitator of Jesus. Jerome remarks on the need to go beyond natural affection, and Bede notes the continuity in the action of God the Spirit who inspires prophecy in Israel and now in the church.

21:9 | Four Unmarried Daughters, Who Prophesied

PHILIP. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: In this epistle [to Victor, the bishop of Rome] he [Polycrates] mentions him [John] together with the apostle Philip and his daughters in the following words: “For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the last day, at the coming of the Lord, when he shall come with glory from heaven and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who sleeps in Hierapolis, and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter who lived in the Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus; and moreover John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and being a priest wore the sacerdotal plate. He also sleeps at Ephesus.” So much concerning their death. And in the Dialogue of Caius which we mentioned a little above, Proclus … speaks thus concerning the death of Philip and his daughters: “After him there were four prophetesses, the daughters of Philip, at Hierapolis in Asia. Their tomb is there and the tomb of their father.” Such is his statement. But Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, mentions the daughters of Philip, who were at that time at Caesarea in Judea with their father and were honored with the gift of prophecy. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 3.31.2-5.

MORE ABOUT PHILIP. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: That Philip the apostle dwelt at Hierapolis with his daughters has been already stated. But it must be noted here that Papias, their contemporary, says that he heard a wonderful tale from the daughters of Philip. For he relates that in his time one rose from the dead. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 3.39.9.

21:11 | Binding the Man Who Owns This Girdle

BEING GIRDED FOR ACTION. CHRYSOSTOM: But why did [Agabus] use a belt with his cloak? This was the custom among people of ancient times, before men went on to dress in this soft and loose fashion. For instance, Peter appears to have been so “belted,” and Paul as well, for he says, “the man who owns this belt.” And Elijah too was dressed thus, and every one of the saints, since they were always in action, either traveling or working earnestly for some other necessity. But this was not the only reason: they did this also to trample on all display and observe every austerity. Indeed this is what Christ called the greatest praise of virtue, when he said, “What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 10.4.

THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. BEDE: Agabus is imitating the ancient prophets who were accustomed to say, “The Lord God says this,” because the Holy Spirit is Lord and God in the same way as the Father and the Son are, and it is impossible to separate the operation of those whose nature and will are one. Hence too we read above, “The Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work for which I have called them,’” namely, the office of apostle. And Paul himself writes, “Paul, an apostle, sent not from people or by people but by Jesus Christ and God the Father.” We have said these things so that no one might believe, following Macedonius, that the Holy Spirit is a creature or of less authority than the Father or the Son. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 21.11.

PAUL THE IMITATOR OF CHRIST. ORIGEN: “When he was about to go up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve aside and spoke to them on the road, ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall sentence him to death, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and beaten and crucified, and on the third day he shall rise.” Paul both contemplated Christ, in the face of manifest dangers, proceeding and eagerly going up to Jerusalem with the foreknowledge that he would be handed over to the chief priests and scribes and sentenced to death, and he exhorted us to imitate him as he imitated Christ, as he says, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.” And he did something similar to what Christ did when he took his disciples aside. For Agabus, taking his belt and girding himself about the hands and feet, said, “These things the Holy Spirit says: they will bind in this way the man who owns this belt” when he goes off to Jerusalem. When Paul learned of this, in imitation of his teacher, he went up eagerly to Jerusalem. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 16.1.

21:13 | Weeping and Breaking My Heart

NO ROOM FOR NATURAL AFFECTION. JEROME: The battering ram of natural affection, which so often shatters faith, must recoil powerless from the wall of the gospel. LETTER 14.3.

PAUL’S CONCERN FOR HIS FRIENDS. CHRYSOSTOM: Others were crying, but [Paul] was exhorting them as he grieved for their tears. “What are you doing,” he says, “crying and breaking my heart?” Nothing was dearer to him than these people. Because he saw them crying, he grieved, while he cared nothing for his own trials. “Let the Lord’s will,” he said, “be done.” You wrong me by doing this, so stop making me grieve. They stopped when he said, “You’re breaking my heart.” “I weep for you,” he says, “not for my sufferings, on behalf of which I am even willing to die.” They said, “Don’t go into the theatre,” and he did not. Again and again they drew him away and he obeyed. He fled through the window, but now, though myriads, so to speak, exhort him, and those in Tyre and Caesarea weep and foretell countless trials, he does not allow it. And yet they were foretelling terrible things for him, and, what is more, through the Holy Spirit. They were not holding him back through the Spirit, and they were not simply announcing terrible events to come his way. No, they were afraid for him because he had to go up to Jerusalem. Since they could not convince him not to go, they cried, and then they settled down. You see the love of wisdom, you see the affection. “The Lord,” he says, “will do what is pleasing in his sight.” They realized it was God’s will. Otherwise Paul, who was constantly having to snatch himself from dangers, would not have been so eager. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 21.13-14.

PAUL’S WEAKNESS. CHRYSOSTOM: Tell me, what do you think about that adamant will of Paul? Could weeping break it? “Yes,” he says, “for I can hold out against anything except for love, since it is love that has overcome and rules me.” In this he is like God, whom an abyss of waters would not break but teardrops could. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 21.13-14.

PAUL’S COURAGE. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: To this sort of opposition, respond as follows: “Why are you trying to keep me from the way I have set out on by weeping at the mention of the chains and afflictions that await me when I arrive in Jerusalem? Let it be known that I will follow the Spirit that has made known to me what awaits me and that I am setting out on the road to the city. I do not go ignorant of what will happen there, for I have foreseen it, and I am not being checked from going. So do not break my heart with your tears.” Whoever has been nobly prepared to be courageous enough to have no thought for his own life does not succumb to fear even if someone tries to provoke it. Now among them such dread had come to grip their thinking, and so the apostle said that his heart was being broken. He was not saying that he was weak but that he had come to such a state because of their bitter weeping. One could also say that just as little sins, in their actual commission, seem great to a holy person, so do the initial movements toward them, and so here he says the breaking of his heart is great. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 21.13-14.

21:16 | The House of Mnason of Cyprus

IT IS IN OUR POWER TO WELCOME CHRIST. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul was the guest he welcomed. Perhaps one of you will say, “If Paul was given to me as a guest to welcome, I would receive him readily and with great enthusiasm.” But look, it is possible for you to welcome Paul’s master as your guest, and you refuse. “For he who welcomes,” says he, “the least among you welcomes me.” Inasmuch as the brother is “the least,” so much the more is Christ present through him. For he who welcomes the mighty often does so for the sake of vainglory, but he who welcomes the lowly does so honestly, for the sake of Christ. It is even possible for you to welcome the father of Christ, and you refuse. “For I was a stranger, and you invited me in.” “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers who believe in me, you did for me.” Even if he is not Paul but a brother who believes and even if he is the least, Christ is present through him. Open your house, take him in. “Anyone who receives a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.” So likewise he who receives Christ will receive the reward due to one who welcomes Christ. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 45.