Introduction
Do you sometimes struggle to stand firm against opposition from the world?
Let me tell you about someone who stood firm against opposition from the world.
Athanasius was a noted Christian leader of the early fourth century AD.
He was born between 296 and 298 AD and died in 373 AD.
He became the Bishop of Alexandria and served intermittently in that role for 45 years.
The reason his service as bishop was intermittent is that he was exiled five times by four different Roman Emperors.
Athanasius was a giant of a Christian leader in the fourth century AD, and he stoutly opposed the teachings of Arius, who declared that Christ was not the eternal Son of God, but a subordinate being.
Athanasius was eventually summoned before Emperor Theodosius (347 - 395 AD).
Theodosius demanded that Athanasius cease his opposition to Arius.
Theodosius reproved Athanasius and asked, “Do you not realize that the whole world is against you?”
Athanasius quickly answered, “Then I am against the whole world.”
Athanasius did not bow to opposition and pressure to conform to the world.
For millennia, Christians have stood firm against opposition from the world.
We learn about this stand in our text for today, which is Acts 21:27-36, where we learn about the arrest of a preacher.
Scripture
Let’s read Acts 21:27-36:
27 When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. 31 And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. 35 And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”
Lesson
Acts 21:27-36 teaches us that serving Jesus sometimes results in severe opposition.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. Serving Jesus Sometimes Results in Accusations (21:27-29)
2. Serving Jesus Sometimes Results in Attack (21:30)
3. Serving Jesus Sometimes Results in Arrest (21:31-36)
I. Serving Jesus Sometimes Results in Accusations (21:27-29)
First, serving Jesus sometimes results in accusations.
The Apostle Paul’s third and final missionary journey began around 52 or 53 AD.
It lasted about 4 years and ended in the summer of 56 or 57 AD.
Paul and his companions traveled nearly four thousand miles.
The third missionary journey started in Antioch and included a significant time in Ephesus, where Paul spent three years evangelizing and discipling the people of that great city.
Ephesus was the capital of Asia, located in modern-day Turkey.
Throughout Paul’s trip, but especially when he was returning to Jerusalem, he received numerous warnings about impending opposition and imprisonment; however, Paul remained resolute in his mission.
Paul went to Jerusalem for two reasons.
First, he wanted to give the money he had collected from the Gentile Christians to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.
And second, Paul wanted to give an account to the Christian leaders in Jerusalem of what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Paul told the leaders about the incredible ways God worked to bring thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of people to saving faith in Jesus.
God’s sovereign grace in the salvation of sinners was magnified, as we read in Acts 21:20a, “And when they heard it, they glorified God.”
However, word had reached the Jerusalem leaders that Paul was teaching the new Christians—who were mostly Gentiles—to forsake the Law of Moses.
You may recall that the Judaizers, who had years earlier come from Jerusalem, taught that a person should trust in Jesus for salvation, but that they should also obey the Mosaic Law.
This had become such a contentious issue that the first Church Council of Jerusalem, convened around 50 AD, addressed the question of whether salvation involved faith in Jesus alone or faith in Jesus and obedience to the Mosaic Law.
The Jerusalem Council concluded (back in 50 AD) that both Jews and Gentiles—in other words, all people—were saved “through the grace of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 15:11).
However, the Jerusalem Council was concerned that Gentiles would revel in their freedom in Christ and would pressure Jewish believers to exercise that same liberty and violate their consciences.
Therefore, the Jerusalem Council advised Gentile believers to abstain from certain practices in order not to cause stumbling blocks to Jewish believers.
Now, certain Judaizers were saying that Paul was teaching Jewish believers to abandon the Jewish Law.
However, that was not what Paul was teaching.
Paul took pains not to put obstacles in anyone’s way to become a Christian.
The gospel was the same for every person, whether Jew or Gentile: salvation was by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus alone.
If Jews wanted to follow certain customs as part of their cultural heritage, that was fine, so long as they did not see that as necessary for salvation.
The Jerusalem elders then addressed the concerns of some of the Jewish Christians.
They suggested that Paul should join four men who were taking a vow of purification.
He should purify himself along with them.
By doing this, they argued, Paul would show respect for the Mosaic Law.
Paul agreed to do this, and the next day he purified himself along with the other four men (Acts 21:26).
The purification process lasted seven days.
The purification process required Paul to visit the temple on the third and seventh days.
Luke then reported in verses 27-28a, “When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, ‘Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place.’ ”
Apparently, some Jews were in Jerusalem from Asia, most likely from Ephesus.
They recognized Paul, stirred up the crowd, grabbed him, and made three accusations against him.
First, they said that Paul was teaching “against the people.” The Judaizers had already tried to charge Paul with this accusation.
But Paul was not against the Jewish people at all.
Nowhere did Paul teach that Jewish Christians were to forsake their customs.
Paul affirmed that Gentile Christians should not be pressured to observe the Mosaic Law.
Second, they said that Paul was teaching “against… the law.” The Jews were committed to obeying the Law of Moses.
However, Paul was not teaching against the Law.
He wanted them to understand how the Mosaic Law was fulfilled in the Person and Work of Jesus.
And third, they said that Paul was teaching “against… this place.” The temple was the focal point of Jewish worship, as it was said that God dwelt in the temple.
Again, however, Paul was trying to show the Jewish people how the curtain in the temple had been torn in two when Jesus died, enabling all people to have access to God through the mediatorial work of Jesus.
To substantiate their accusation against Paul, they said in verse 28b, “ ‘Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.’ ”
Luke then added the explanatory comment in verse 29, “For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.”
The charge was absurd.
Paul was seeking to please the Jews by going through the purification rite. He would hardly do something that would undermine what he was trying to accomplish by bringing a Gentile into the Jewish section of the temple precinct.
Multiple courts surrounded the temple, each serving a different purpose and offering varying levels of access.
The outermost was the Court of the Gentiles, open to all, including non-Jews.
Nineteen steps above this was a platform with the inner courts, separated by a stone wall with warnings forbidding Gentiles from entering under penalty of death.
The inner courts included the Court of Women, accessible to Jewish men and women, the Court of Israel for Jewish men, and the Court of Priests, reserved for priests and Levites.
At the center was the Court of the Altar, containing the altar of burnt offering.
The Jews accused Paul of taking Trophimus beyond the Court of the Gentiles.
But Paul would never have endangered his friend’s life.
Moreover, he would not have such blatant disregard for the law at the very time he was seeking to prove that he was not opposed to following certain customs of the Jewish law.
The point is that serving Jesus sometimes results in accusations.
In June 2025, a Christian man in Lahore, Pakistan, was acquitted of blasphemy and terrorism charges after enduring a lengthy legal battle.
The charges, which can carry the death penalty in Pakistan, were proven to be baseless.
His acquittal was a rare victory in a country where blasphemy accusations are often used to target religious minorities (see https://christiannews.net/2025/06/13/christian-falsely-charged-with-blasphemy-in-pakistan-is-acquitted/).
Earlier this month, in August 2025, two Catholic nuns and a Protestant man from the Gond tribal group were arrested in Chhattisgarh, India, on charges of trafficking and forced religious conversion.
The accusations were based on coerced confessions from three tribal women, who later recanted and joined thousands of Christians in protest.
The women stated they had willingly traveled for employment and were pressured by Hindu nationalist activists to accuse the Christians falsely (see https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/08/india-nun-arrest-catholics-protestant-chhattisgarh/).
We might be tempted to think that these accusations only happen to Christians in other countries.
That is not so.
While not always criminal, many Christians in the U.S. report being falsely accused of hate or intolerance simply for holding biblical convictions—especially around marriage, sexuality, or gender.
These accusations often lead to job loss, social ostracism, or legal battles over religious freedom (see https://servantsofgrace.org/how-christians-should-respond-to-false-accusations/).
Serving Jesus sometimes results in accusations.
We should not be surprised when that happens.
II. Serving Jesus Sometimes Results in Attack (21:30)
Second, serving Jesus sometimes results in attack.
Luke said in verse 30, “Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.”
The Asian Jews were able to stir up the emotions of Jerusalem’s Jews.
They were intent on not defiling the temple precincts, so they dragged Paul outside, most likely to the Court of the Gentiles beyond the Court of the Women.
They closed the doors.
Rather than carry Paul out of the city and stone him to death (as they had done with Stephen), they intended to beat the apostle to death on the spot.
Derek Thomas recounts the story of a time when John Wesley, the renowned Methodist preacher, was attacked.
It occurred in October 1743 in the town of Wednesbury, South Staffordshire, England.
John Wesley was in the midst of a religious revival that had spread through many parts of the country, and great hostility had been aroused against Wesley and Methodism.
John Wesley’s diary for October 27 through November 17 reveals the riotous behavior he encountered again and again, sometimes having to make his way through a hostile crowd as attempts were made to beat him on the head with sticks and clubs (Derek W. H. Thomas, Acts, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary [Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2011], 615).
Even today, Christians have to take precautions because of so much violent opposition against Christians, which sometimes results in attacks.
III. Serving Jesus Sometimes Results in Arrest (21:31-36)
And third, serving Jesus sometimes results in arrest.
The frenzied Jewish mob would have succeeded in beating Paul to death, but God providentially intervened to protect Paul.
Help arrived in the form of Roman soldiers.
Luke tells us in verses 31-32a, “And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them.”
The Antonia Fortress was built by Herod the Great and named after Mark Antony.
The fortress was built at the northwest corner of the Temple Mount and was connected to the Temple by a series of porticoes.
The fortress housed up to 1,000 Roman soldiers, and its chief function was to ensure that law and order were maintained correctly.
As soon as the Roman sentries saw the disturbance with Paul, they immediately notified the tribune.
He ordered at least two centurions and two hundred soldiers to address the riotous situation.
Within seconds, the tribune and the soldiers arrived in the Court of the Gentiles.
Luke notes of the Jewish mob in verse 32b, “And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.”
Paul’s life was spared.
“Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done” (v. 33).
Although Luke did not state it here in this portion of his book, we do know from Acts 23:26 that the tribune’s name was Claudius Lysias.
He was the ranking officer in Jerusalem when the governor (whose official residence was in Caesarea) was not in the city.
Lysias was therefore very concerned that nothing get out of hand in Jerusalem under his watch.
Having asked for Paul’s identity and what he had done, Lysias could not get a straight answer.
Luke said in verse 34, “Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.”
Lysias ordered Paul to be taken to the Antonia Fortress.
The Jewish mob became increasingly violent, and they wanted to get at Paul to hurt him.
It became so bad that Luke noted in verses 35-36, “And when he [that is, Paul] came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, for the mob of the people followed, crying out, ‘Away with him!’ ”
This reminds us of what happened about twenty-five years earlier.
Perhaps some of the same people were in the crowd at that time when they cried out to Pontius Pilate about Jesus, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” (John 19:15).
What happened to Jesus also happened to Paul.
And it has happened to many of Jesus’ disciples over the centuries as well.
Two Christian converts, Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo and Nour Girgis, were imprisoned in Egypt in 2021 without formal charges or trial.
Abdo, a Yemeni refugee, fled to Egypt after his wife was murdered for converting to Christianity.
He was later arrested for participating in a Facebook group for Christian converts.
Egyptian authorities have labeled him a “security risk” and denied his lawyers access to him.
The two men were finally released on January 25, 2025.
This case reflects a growing trend of pretrial detention as punishment for religious minorities in Egypt (see https://morningstarnews.org/2025/02/two-christians-in-egypt-released-after-three-years-in-jail/).
According to Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List, 4,476 Christians were arrested, imprisoned, or detained without trial between October 2023 and September 2024—simply for practicing their faith (see https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US).
These arrests span countries like Burkina Faso, Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan, where believers face systemic persecution.
Serving Jesus sometimes results in arrest.
Conclusion
According to Open Doors, “7,679 churches and public Christian properties were attacked last year.
“380 million Christians around the world suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination because of their faith in Jesus.
“209,771 Christians were forced to leave their homes, go into hiding in-country, or leave their country.
“13 countries out of 50 on the persecution list recorded extreme persecution against Christians” (https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US).
When I read these statistics, they seem somewhat sterile to me.
I think part of the reason is that I don’t know anyone personally who is openly opposed and persecuted for his or her faith in Jesus.
Martin Niemoller (1892-1984) was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor.
He initially supported Adolf Hitler but later became a vocal opponent of the Nazi regime.
His haunting poem, “First They Came,” reflects the consequences of silence in the face of injustice:
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me (https://hmd.org.uk/resource/first-they-came-by-pastor-martin-niemoller/).
Serving Jesus sometimes results in severe opposition.
What should you and I do?
First, pray.
Pray that God will preserve and support those who are experiencing opposition and persecution because of their faith in Jesus.
And second, if—or perhaps I should say when—you encounter opposition, stand firm in your commitment to Jesus.
He will be glorified, and he will preserve you faithfully to the end. Amen.
