Acts 21:15-17 Paul and his companions travelled to
Jerusalem. Evidently Mnason of Cyprus lived in Jerusalem and had a lodging
capable of housing Paul and his baggage carriers. Mnason received them
graciously. Since Mnason is nowhere else mentioned in the Bible, we would only
be speculating that he might be one of those who first became a Christian as a
result of Paul's visit to Cyprus during his first missionary journey.
Acts 21:18-26 Paul's preparation to
go to the temple. Paul met with all of the elders of the church in Jerusalem,
and told them everything that God had done through his evangelization and
teaching among the Gentiles. The response was first to give God the glory, and
then to bring up the Jews who had become believers but remained zealous for the
Law. The issue being that even though Paul was evangelizing Gentiles in
Galatia, Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia, and that Jews were also turning to Christ
in these regions, that there were rumors. And these rumors were that Paul was
telling the Jews in the dispersion who converted that they did not have to keep
the law of Moses, did not have to circumcise their male sons, and that they did
not have follow the customs of the Jews. The church elders' recommendation to
Paul was to purify himself and pay the expenses of four other men who had
volunteered to take similar vows. Somehow this was supposed to persuade the
Judaizers that there was nothing to these rumors. The elders repeated the
contents of the letter to the Gentiles, as recorded in Acts 15:23-29. Paul then
followed their advice.
There
are several issues that come to mind, that revolve around the role of the
Jewish law for Jews who became believers in Christ. There might be some degree
of truth to the rumor, based on Galatians 2:11-16, when Paul confronted Peter
over his fall into legalism because neither of them was strictly following the
Jewish rules. But Paul elaborates further in this letter about the difference
between salvation by grace and seeking to be justified by works. Galatians 2:16
says, "a man is not justified by
the works of Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in
Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the
works of Law; since by the works of Law
no flesh will be justified". Galatians 3:10-14 continues to elaborate this
thought. Now this is not the same as telling Jews who have believed in Christ
that they should not follow the Mosaic Law. But is does reduce the value of the
Law in the eyes of those who received this letter.
Perhaps
this is just a picture of the condition of the church in Jerusalem at that
time, and Paul's visit there may have been for the reason of addressing this
doctrinal issue. Romans 13:8-10 explains that the one who loves his neighbor
fulfills the law. Paul never said that the Jews did not have to keep the Law.
But as to custom, there is a very specific teaching on circumcision. The letter
to the Gentiles was written on specifically that point, that the Gentiles did
not need to be circumcised in order to become Christians. Romans 2:25-29
tackles head-on the issue of circumcision for Jewish believers. It is
summarized in the final verse in this passage: "But he is a Jew who is one
inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by
the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God." (Romans 2:29)
So it is fairly clear from these passages that the rumors that the Jewish
believers had heard were not far off the mark.
We
then get into the politics of what was happening in Jerusalem. In the events
that followed, Paul complies with a Jewish ritual of purification, as an effort
to placate the Jewish believers who were zealous for the law. Perhaps this is
what he referred to in I Corinthians 9:19-21 when he said that to those under
the law, he became as one under the law that he might win some. It did not mean
he believed in or trusted in the law for his salvation or for his relationship
with The Lord, but he was willing to go through this ritual purification in
order to attempt to reach out with the gospel to the Jews. But what happened
ultimately shows little immediate fruit of it. It was the unbelieving Jews, the
Jews who rejected Christ, who used these circumstances to attack Paul and
ultimately have him arrested. And yet, this laid the groundwork for Paul's
later demonstration, in his letters to the Romans and the Galatians, that the
Law was unable to save, and that those who used the Law as their own
justification were in fact capable of great evil, and used the Law to justify
themselves in doing it.
The
actual ritual of purification would most likely follow the command prescribed
for the Nazirite vow in Numbers 6, with the shaving of the head marking the end
of the period of the Nazirite ritual (Numbers 6:18). Following this ritual
according to Jewish custom was perhaps intended to demonstrate that Paul still
respected the Law of Moses. However, it seems to be very similar to Paul's
earlier actions mentioned in passing in Acts 18:18. Perhaps it is worth
considering the appropriateness of various activities of self-control and
self-denial in the Christian life. (see also Acts 24:25) According to Numbers
6:2-8, the purpose of the Nazirite vow is for a person to dedicate himself, or
separate himself, to the The Lord. Three aspects of this vow are listed in
Numbers 6:1-12.
• The Nazirite must abstain from anything that comes from the
grape, including alcoholic beverages, vinegar, and even grapes from the vine.
• The Nazirite is to let his hair grow without being cut all
the days of his vow.
• The Naririte is not to touch or even go near a dead person.
There are special provisions if he inadvertently is exposed to such a person.
The Bible records a few persons who
practiced the Nazirite vows for extended periods. Samson (Judges 13:5 &
16:17), the implication that Samuel the prophet was since he did not cut his
hair (I Samuel 1:11), and the implication that John the Baptist did, since he
abstained from wine (Luke 7:33). It seems from Numbers 6:13-20 that the
intention of this vow was for a temporary period, with a defined beginning and
end, after which the person would perform a ritual offering to The Lord and
then be able to drink wine. Keeping these vows for life would require that the
parents begin them before the child was old enough to know about them, and then
for the child to continue to observe them when he became able to choose (as
Samson failed to do, Judges 14:9, 15:15, 16:17). The implication of Acts 18:18 is that Paul
was ending the period of a Nazirite vow, and the implication of Acts 21:23-24
is that the Jerusalem church elders had four men who were then in the process
of carrying out this vow, and recommended to Paul that he do likewise. Is it
possible that the early church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, practiced
this kinds of ritual self-denial, possibly not exactly the Nazirite vow, but
some similar ritual, as part of their Christian life?
The
most common practice of this kind practiced among Christians today is fasting.
Some believe that abstinence from alcoholic beverages is part of a holy
lifestyle, while others believe it is simply a wise practice to avoid the
problems that typically arise from it. Fasting cannot be a permanent lifestyle
unless one is on a hunger strike and intends to die by starvation.
When
we fast, what is our purpose? There could be multiple reasons. The purpose of
the Nazirite vow was to dedicate oneself to The Lord. This would have been for
the sake of obedience (if The Lord had called someone to do this), or out of a
desire to seek a closer identification with Him, if one felt that he or she was
not in as a close relationship with Him as they would desire. The Nazirite vow
was not a fast from food, except for the fruit of the vine. The Bible does
speak about fasting in other passages. In several Old Testament passages,
fasting was part of a season of mourning and repentance before The Lord.
(Judges 20:26, I Samuel 7:6, 31:13, 2 Samuel 1:12, 12:16-23, 1 Kings 21:27,
Nehemiah 1:4, 9:1, Esther 4:3, Psalm 35:13, 69:10). Fasting was also part of
seeking The Lord in a time of difficulty or trial. (2 Chronicles 20:3, Ezra
8:21-23, Esther 4:16, Psalm 109:23, Jer 14:12, 36:6 & 9, Daniel 9:3, Joel
2:12-17) There are two instance where Gentiles fasted (Daniel 6:18 and Jonah
3:5) in response to being confronted by God. Isaiah 58:1-6 speaks specifically
to the purposes of fasting and concludes with this statement: “Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of
wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and
break every yoke?" (Is 58:6)
Zechariah 7:2-7 speaks to whether
fasts were a means to get something from God, or turn their hearts to God.
Zechariah 8:19 speaks of the blessedness of fasts in a future era when Jews
truly seek God.
In
the New Testament, Jesus spoke about fasting in the Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 6:16-18) primarily from the viewpoint that people should fast before
God and not before men, so that God would reward them. This is also brought up
in Luke 18:12 where Jesus contrasts the Pharisee with the Publican. The
question of why Jesus' disciples did not fast while John the Baptist's
disciples and the Pharisees did fast was answered. (Matthew 9:14-15, Mark
2:18-20, Luke 5:33-35) Jesus commented that His presence was like a wedding celebration
- no one fasts then; but when He was gone, then they would fast. Jesus
commented on deliverance that there is a class of demon that can only be cast
out by prayer and fasting. (Matthew 17:21) Jesus Himself fasted during the
forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2, Luke 4:2). Luke 2:37 mentions Anna
who served in the temple among other ways, with fasting. Fasting was taken for
granted as part of the Christian lifestyle in Acts (13:2-3, 14:23, 27:9).
In
reviewing all of these passages, we can draw a few conclusions. Jesus' words in
the Sermon on the Mount indicate that one ground rule is that fasting is to be
a private matter between a believer and God, but seems to promise rewards from
God as a result. There is a hint in the discussion about why the disciples did
not fast while Jesus was present, that one of the primary purposes for fasting
would be to draw close to God or experience His presence or hear His voice. The
physical presence of Jesus in the flesh obviated the need for fasting to achieve
any of these, but this was a unique circumstance occasioned by the Incarnation.
In the comment about the category of demons that only come out with prayer and
fasting (Matthew 17:21), Jesus gives clear indication that in some
circumstances, we can fast towards a specific end, although it should be noted
that the power to cast out difficult demons comes from God Himself. Therefore,
from this view, even though there was a specific purpose and goal in this kind
of fasting, the link to the efficient cause of the deliverance was that fasting
invoked the power of the presence and immanence of God the Father. Jesus Himself fasted in the wilderness for
forty days; but He was God in the flesh, so He had no need to fast in order to
draw close to God. Perhaps what we are to learn from this is that He still felt
the need to separate Himself from the world, to deny natural appetites, in
order to draw close to God the Father.
In
reviewing the words of Isaiah 58:6 quoted above, it seems clear that there is
also a link to deliverance, although Isaiah does not identify demons as the
affliction from which deliverance is sought. In this case, wickedness is
generalized and the implication is that the yoke is bondage to sin, that
oppression is part of that yoke. Through Isaiah, (58:1-12) God is speaking in
the first person, to a people who have forsaken the essence of the revelation
He had given them, but cling to its form. Fasting had become a ritual by which
they expected God to respond to their prayers, but although they abstained from
food, they still allowed themselves other pleasures of life and expected their
employees to work hard. There is nothing wrong with the legitimate pleasures of
life, or of hard work, but they are aspects of life in this world. It becomes
clear from this passage that God's purpose and intention in fasting is to
change the heart, so that those who trust God and fast will refocus their lives
on Him and His ways, by denying themselves the legitimate satisfactions and
pleasures of the physical and worldly existence. God's desire is to take care
of the poor and to free those in bondage to sin or to other people, and from
the passage in Isaiah it seems that He views fasting as primarily a means by
which His people join Him in this effort, both by taking action and by turning
their heart towards this end.
Seen
in this light, the concept of fasting for a particular situation could be
viewed as seeking God's presence and power in it. When Jesus spoke of casting
out a particular type of demon only by prayer and fasting, could He have been
saying, in effect, that it takes a very strong presence of God to do this,
which requires a person to fast, in order to draw close enough to God? When
Isaiah spoke of fasting in order to set captives free and minister to the poor,
was he saying that the power of God's presence is needed to accomplish these
things, but they (and potentially we) nullify God's manifest presence when in
the physical domain we take actions to directly counter His ministry, even
though we are fasting?
It
is hard to see how Paul was separating himself to God in his vow; rather, the
circumstances described in the text indicate that Paul was going forward with a
ritual for the purpose of appeasing the legalists. In this circumstance, it
does not appear that the primary purpose of this vow was to seek God's
presence.
