The Apostle Paul is maybe the most famous person in Christianity, just behind Jesus himself. His testimony of once persecuting followers of Jesus to then becoming the greatest witness of Jesus as Messiah is stunning. Most Christians call Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles, and this was true. In Acts 9, the Lord says that he’s sending Paul to proclaim His name to the Gentiles, but also to the people of Israel. As a very faithful Jewish man, Paul did make a priority of taking the good news of Jesus to his own people, Israel. Nine times in the Book of Acts, Paul makes a priority of visiting the synagogues as he travels throughout the Roman Empire. In Acts 18, we come to one of the most misunderstood verses in the New Testament.
In verse 6, Paul makes a frustrated declaration to the Jewish community in Corinth who were opposing his message that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. After the Bible says the Jewish leaders insulted him, he said, from now on, I will go preach to the Gentiles. For most of church history, this verse was used to show that Paul abandoned the Jewish people and focus his efforts only on the Gentiles, but this is not true, and all we need to do is read the next verse to prove this. In verse 7, it says, “Then he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.” Okay, so lemme get this straight. In Acts 18:6, Paul says, from now on, I will preach to the Gentiles. The very next verse, he goes next door to the home of a gentile who worshiped the God of Israel and was attending the synagogue Paul just stormed out of. And at this home, the leader of the synagogue and his whole house put their faith in Jesus.
Okay, well yeah, Nick, that was just coincidental because I mean, Paul was preaching to everyone with a pulse, so of course he would go up next door. That’s not good enough proof to show that Paul still went to the Jew first. Acts 18: 19, just 13 verses later, they stopped first at the Port of Ephesus where Paul left the others behind. When he was there, he went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews, and they asked him to stay longer, but he declined. As he left, however, he said, “I will come back later, God willing”. Then he set sail from Ephesus.
But y’all, that’s not the end of it. Acts 19:8, “Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.” Now, after this Paul realizes he needs to go to Jerusalem because the feast of Shavuot or Pentecost was approaching and as a Jewish male, Paul was required by the law of Moses to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem. We pick up Paul’s arrival in Acts 21:18, “The next day Paul went with us to meet with James and all the elders of the Jerusalem church were present. After greeting them, Paul gave a detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry. After hearing this, they praised God and they said, ‘You know, dear brother, how many thousands of Jews have also believed, and they all follow the law of Moses very seriously’.” Lemme just pause here and say, there were thousands of Jewish followers of Jesus who continued to live a Jewish life, even after they put their faith in Jesus. And we go back to verse 21, “But the Jewish believers here in Jerusalem have been told that you’re teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn their backs on the law of Moses. They’ve heard that you teach them not to circumcise their children or follow other Jewish customs. What should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.” Here’s what we want you to do. We have four men here who have completed their vow. Go with them to the temple and join them in the purification ceremony, paying for them to have their heads ritually, shaved. Then everyone will know that the rumors are all false and that you yourself, Paul, observe the Jewish laws. So Paul went to the temple, fulfilled his vow, and was then arrested by a Jewish mob for speaking against the temple. In Acts 23, Paul tells the religious leaders that he’s actually on trial for believing in the resurrection of the dead. We know that Paul eventually appeals to Caesar and is sent to Rome where the Book of Acts ends in chapter 28.
But watch how the most missionary book in the Bible ends starting in 28:17. Three days after Paul’s arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders and they told Paul, we want to hear what you believe. Then in verse 23, the book closes with this: “So a time was said, and on that day, a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging [Jewish people]. He explained and testified about the kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening. Some of them were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe.” This was a Jewish crowd Paul was attempting to persuade in Rome as the Book of Acts closes.
Acts 18:6 was not Paul declaring that he was abandoning the Jewish people in favor of the Gentiles. We just saw numerous examples that showed Paul continued to live a faithful, observant Jewish life and also continued sharing the good news with the Jewish communities wherever he went. The lesson for us in this is that we should remain committed to the Jewish community as well. God never gave up on His people. He sent Jesus who never gave up on them either, and Paul never gave up on the Jewish people. Neither should we.
