Paul makes his way toward Jerusalem, following in the footsteps of Jesus. Like Jesus, he meets people who don’t want him to go.

Paul already knows that bonds and afflictions await him. The disciples at Tyre tell him not to set foot in Jerusalem.

The series of warnings come to a dramatic climax in Caesarea. A Judean prophet named Agabus binds his hands and feet with Paul’s belt and announces, “In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the one who owns this belt and hand him to Gentiles.” Everyone begs Paul not to go.

Jesus had his Peter, Paul has his Agabus. Peter rebuked Jesus for saying He would go to the cross. Agabus warns Paul he will face arrest in Jerusalem.

Paul could answer by saying the Spirit is leading him. After all, he told the Ephesian elders, “bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem.”

The problem is, the Spirit also speaks through those who tell him not to go. At Tyre, they tell Paul “through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.” Agabus announces his prophecy with, “This is what the Holy Spirit says.”

When Peter raises objections, Jesus answers him severely: Get behind me, Satan! You are setting your mind on the things of man, not the things of God. Peter’s opposition to the cross was literally Satanic, a variation on Satan’s temptation in the wilderness.

Paul can’t say that to the disciples at Tyre or to Philip’s daughters or to Agabus. They speak by the Spirit, not Satan.

The Spirit seems to be at odds with Himself. He impels Paul toward Jerusalem. He inspires others to warn Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Paul can’t decide by saying, The Spirit is leading me. It seems the Spirit is leading in opposite directions.

This is different from the Spirit’s earlier work. At the beginning of his second expedition, Paul tried to go to Phyrgia and Galatia, but “he was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6).

Earlier in his ministry, the Spirit blocks Paul and doesn’t give him a choice. Now the Spirit compels Paul, and at the same time inspires friends to stop him. Early on, the Spirit trumped Paul’s plans. Now the Spirit sends a complicated message. Paul has to discern the Spirit.

It’s uncomfortable, but it’s not a problem. It’s a sign of Paul’s maturation. He’s no longer a child, relying on direct interventions but in the Spirit assessing the Spirit’s direction.

It happens to us too. We don’t necessarily like it. We’d like to have clear direction. We want the Spirit to throw us in the right direction. Sometimes He does.

Much of the time, most of the time, He doesn’t. He impels us in one direction. Others who are equally filled with the Spirit caution us and suggest another direction.

It’s rarely cut and dried. But that’s good. It means hand-holding is over. The Spirit treats us like grown-ups.

– Pastor Leithart