God’s Word for You
Acts 21:12-14 the deep breath before the plunge
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, December 21, 2020
12 When we heard this, we and the people there begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Paul answered, “Why are you crying? You’re breaking my heart! I am ready, not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 He would not change his mind, so we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Luke says “we” again in verse 12, and maybe we get so accustomed to hearing it now that we miss what he’s saying about himself. He’s including himself in the group that begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem, even though Luke had traveled all the way from Greece to do just that. We get the impression that Luke and the traveling companions hadn’t objected before this, but now they added their voices. “We, too, along with the people there, begged Paul not to go.” Was it the force of the prophecy by Agabus? Was it that now at last Jerusalem was close at hand, a few days’ walk to the east? Was it that their love for Paul finally welled up into this outburst? I think that all of these things were probably true, and perhaps more.
I wonder whether most of us read “You’re breaking my heart!” and understand just what a powerful phrase it is. The word syn-thrypto (συνθρύπτω) means to “crush together,” and maybe a better translation would be “You’re pulverizing my heart!” They should have been building up his heart, encouraging him, strengthening him like the angels did who came to minister to Jesus after his temptation (Matthew 4:11) and when he prayed on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:43). Instead of angels strengthening his heart, Paul had friends who were crushing his heart. But his resolve was set. He would go.
Having made up his mind, another contrast appears, this one more favorable to Luke and the others. Whereas Jesus’ disciples had resisted and misunderstood about the Lord’s betrayal and arrest, and even fought with swords to defend him (John 18:10), Paul’s companions stopped objecting and confessed, “The Lord’s will be done.”
It was all about the name of the Lord Jesus. By “name,” Paul meant the whole revelation of Jesus; the gospel itself. Without Jesus, the message of the gospel would be empty. But Jesus fills the gospel message in every way and gives it true meaning, true completeness like the spirit of a human being filling up an otherwise lifeless body and giving it life. As Lenski says in one place, “The prophecy rests on the event, not the event on the prophecy.” All of the prophecies about the Christ in the Old Testament are filled up completely by Jesus Christ. Without Jesus, the prophecies would remain prophecies. For those who reject Jesus, the prophecies have become confusing, enigmas that cannot be resolved. There is a belief among some today that the “Messiah” is not a man at all, but a few acres of soil, that the land of Israel is the Savior. But they have to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to what all of the prophecies really say. They don’t say, “The Lord’s will be done.” They twist the Lord’s words into nonsense, and they crucify Christ all over again in their hearts.
We want to lift up the name of Jesus with whatever we say, whatever we do. In our prayers, we want to “sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High” (Psalm 7:17). We want to make music to his name (Psalm 92:1), praise his name (Psalm 92:2) and give glory to his name (Psalm 92:8). But more than anything we want to call on his name (Psalm 99:3), in times of trouble, in times of joy, and to thank him for his promises, his gifts, and the miracle of his Son who mended our broken hearts, lifted the burden of our guilt, and rescued us from the bonds of our sin.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.