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`One by one he would call forward the beloved delegates, that they might with their own hands, lay at the
feet of James, the sums of money which his Gentile Churches had contributed out of their deep poverty, and
which in many and many a coin bore witness to weeks of generous self denial. There lay all this money, a
striking proof of the faithfulness with which Paul, at any rate, had carried out his share of the old compact at
Jerusalem ... and on this occasion, if ever, we might surely have looked for a little effusive sympathy, a little
expansive warmth, on the part of the community which had received so tangible a proof of the apostle's
kindness. Yet we are not told about a word of thanks, and we see but too plainly that Paul's hardly disguised
misgiving as to the manner in which his gift would be accepted, was confirmed' (Farrar).
We are certainly told that when the Elders at Jerusalem heard Paul's report, `they glorified the Lord', but this
was immediately followed by words that must have well nigh quenched any glow of anticipation those first words of
the Elders had kindled:
`And (they) said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they
are all zealous of the law: and they are informed of thee ...' (Acts 21:20,21).
Let us pause at this word `informed'. The structure brings it into prominence, for it is repeated in verse 24.
`Studiously indoctrinated' or, `sedulously informed' have been suggested as conveying the veiled threat that, with
all the charity in the world, one feels to have been behind the words. Zeal can alas be the outcome, not only of love
and faith, but of envy. Zelotes would remind the apostle that once, as a Pharisee, he had been `zealous' for the
tradition of his fathers (Gal. 1:14), and what a bitter sectarian it had made him. The verb zeloo, while it is used in a
noble sense in the New Testament, is mostly used for the cruel emotion of `envy'. The two occasions where it
comes in the Acts are:
`The patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph' (Acts 7:9).
`But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy' (Acts 17:5).
Zelos, too, though it stand for a `zeal of God', may also stand for zeal `not according to knowledge' (Rom. 10:2).
So then, the introduction of such words as `zealous of the law' and `they are informed of thee' would stifle any
uprising of joy at the brief doxology that had first been uttered.
`They are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses,
saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs' (Acts 21:21).
How near, and yet how far from the truth, false charges arising from sectarian zeal can be! For instance, the
Christian public have been `informed' or `studiously indoctrinated' that The Berean Expositor takes away all
Scriptures from the church, except four short epistles, and that as an inference from our teaching concerning the
Lord's Supper, we have very little regard for the doctrine of the atonement. We also understand that we are said to
deny the Second Coming of the Lord. Further, like misstatements are made, which become weapons and
stumbling-stones to the unwary. We may not expect to find much in the theology of Kipling that we could endorse,
but we can enter very really into the words:
`If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools;
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build `em up with worn-out tools'.
Had Paul known these lines, we think he would have felt that they were almost a part of his biography.
Did Paul, at this time, remember Stephen, with whose death he was so intimately associated? Did he remember
how the truth Stephen had stood for had been `twisted'?
`Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against
God ... This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: for we have heard
him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered
us' (Acts 6:11,13,14).