Acts 21:17-26 Considering Haircuts… Again.
Good morning! Turn with me to Acts 21, verses 17-26, page 930 in the pew Bibles.
Oddly enough we are going to be looking at the second passage in the Book of Acts that concerns haircuts. Last time there was a debate about who got the haircut, whether it was the Apostle Paul or Acquilla. This time we know that it was four members of the church at Jerusalem, we just don’t know their names.
It seems like when considering the historical narrative of the book of Acts, sometimes this is all we get with some passages but I promise, there is more at work here than a trip to the barber.
Let’s read Acts 21:17-26.
17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. 25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.
Let’s pray.
Now you may remember from last time how that church in Tyre and in Caesarea had all pleaded with Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Agabus had come and warned Paul that he would be bound by the Jews and handed over to the Gentiles in Jerusalem but Paul was still determined to go and so he did.
17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, along with the elders of the church in Jerusalem greeted gladly and heard his testimony of what the Lord had done through him on his missionary journeys and they glorified God. All good so far!
And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed.
Well that’s good news! The word used in the original Greek for “many thousands” literally means “innumerable, or many, many.” A lot a lot! That’s good!
They are all zealous for the law,
A lot a lot of Jewish believers, zealous for the Law. Well, that’s good, they love the Lord, they love His Word, they want to be obedient to His commands, that’s great!
21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.
Umm… well that’s less good. It’s not at all accurate for one. And number two, they’re not going to be happy.
There’s nothing quite like going after somebody’s religious traditions to get their hackles up. We had to wait until there was hardly anybody here anymore to get rid of the old organ!
Regardless of how you feel about organ music, we can all admit the reality of how easy it is to let our traditions become more than they are meant to be. It has been a temptation in the church to create idols from the very beginning and we have always been adept at making idols. Whether it’s the instruments we use in worship, or the lack of instruments, paintings, statues, candles on the Communion table, dress code, you name it, people can worship it.
In this particular instance, it was strict adherence to the Law of Moses and Jewish traditions that were in question. Those particular Jewish believers had been told that Paul was teaching the Jews that lived abroad to forsake Moses and the Law and their customs.
Was he teaching that? No. We’re going to talk about this more next week. But the simple fact is that the Jewish believers in Jerusalem had been misinformed as to Paul’s teaching when it came to the Law and its purpose.
I’ll sum it up by saying that Paul did not teach that it was sinful to observe the customs and ceremonies laid down by Moses. He did teach that adherence to that Law was not necessary for salvation and that one was not made right before God by strictly following the Law. Instead, the Law was given to expose our sinfulness and show our need for a Savior to intervene on our behalf.
The entire book of Romans is given to this topic.
The lesson from this text this morning comes from the plan formulated by James and the elders of the Jerusalem church.
And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. 25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.
If I counted right from Numbers chapter six, this is a lot more than paying a barber for four haircuts. It also would have included four male lambs, four female lambs, four rams, four baskets of unleavened bread, also four grain offerings and four drink offerings. The four men would also shave their heads and the priests would throw their hair on with the burnt offerings.
Not a small deal, not just a quick trip to the barber in town.
But the real question is not about how big of a sacrifice this would have been for Paul to fund this little trip, but why would he do it in the first place? Given what we know of Paul and his writings about the Law, was he acting hypocritically? Was he denying his own convictions about the Law by observing these Levitical customs?
Paul was not perfect, I’m not going to acts as if he never sinned, he certainly did, but this was not one of those times. This acquiescence to Jewish custom was not an act of weakness but of strength and love.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23,
19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
For Paul to join these four men in their cleansing and pay for their haircuts and sacrifices was not an act of hypocrisy but of deference. He put the needs of the weak before his own in order to win the weak, in order to remove unfounded prejudice against him. He was simply practicing what he preached.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23,
23 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Going to the Temple and participating in the custom of ritual cleansing was not an attempt to earn salvation, but an act of self-denial out of love for his own nation, taking up his cross to put the needs of others before his own. To spare the weak and thus to gain the weak, to make them see that they had been misinformed about his teaching.
This was more than a trip to the barber, it was an act of love and strength, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and it is an example that we can learn from and follow.
It is an example of having a tender regard for the weak. Not just the weak physically, but the weak in faith, the young and inexperienced, those who are still maturing and early in their walk with Jesus.
It is an example of noble self-denial by putting the needs of others first. This is the very definition of love, preferring someone above yourself and serving them.
It’s an example of liberty of spirit, distinguishing between form and substance. Paul knew that the sacrifices of lambs and bread accomplished nothing in regards to salvation, but would show the Jews that he was still one of them and he still valued the Law for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And finally, it is an example of firmness of character, Paul did not surrender his principles in order to please people, but refused to be a slave to his own freedom. He was set free from the Law but followed it still out of love for his Jewish brethren so that they would be united in Christ.
Paul wrote in Philippians 3:2,
2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Amen.
