And now, behold, being bound in the spirit, I go to Jerusalem: not knowing the things which shall befall me there:
και νυν ιδου εγω δεδεμενος τω πνευματι πορευομαι εις ιερουσαλημ τα εν αυτη συναντησοντα μοι μη ειδως
9 Church Fathers comment on this verse · 11 commentaries
Having first moved their minds, he then continues. Why does he say this? In order to teach them to be ready for dangers, both manifest and hidden, and to obey the Spirit in everything. He also explains that something great awaits him. What is it? Is this why you are departing? No. On the contrary, I know very well that "bonds and afflictions await me." I know that trials await me, but I do not know what kind. This is still harder.
"I am bound in the Spirit." The word "bound" should be separated by a comma, so that the thought is as follows: I go to Jerusalem bound, without first having learned from the Spirit what will happen to me.
Then the holy apostle announces his separation from them, and indeed a final one. Certain persons in various Churches, by the clairvoyance given to them, foretold that bonds and sufferings awaited him in Jerusalem (Acts 21:4, 11).
The Holy Spirit, the holy Apostle Paul continued, “testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me” in Jerusalem. “But I regard nothing and do not count my life precious, if only I may finish with joy my ministry, which I received from the Lord Jesus, to preach the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that all you among whom I went preaching the Kingdom of God will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all.
For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:22-27).
May God grant that every Christian, when departing from the world and taking leave of his neighbors, may look upon his lot in the life beyond the grave with such calm and such joy.
Here, in the heavy moment of separation, the holy apostle clearly foretold future quarrels and schisms in the Christian Church generally, and in the Church of Ephesus in particular. Therefore he exhorted the Ephesian presbyters with special force to be attentive, vigilant, and strict with themselves beforehand. Otherwise, while preaching attentiveness and strictness of morals to others, they might provoke in others inattention and contempt toward themselves.
With friendly candor he discloses his circumstances and the state of his soul, which is tormented and drawn both by the impulses of the spirit and by the certain expectation of calamities in Jerusalem.
Now the apostle turns his gaze toward the future. The Holy Spirit, through prophets in every city, testified that bonds and afflictions awaited the apostle in Jerusalem. He also foresaw that the Christians of Asia would no longer see his face. Yet he still intended to go to Jerusalem, because such was the impulse of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God irresistibly drew him to Jerusalem.
The apostle, however, did not know exactly what would meet him in Jerusalem. From the revelation of the Spirit of God through the prophets, he knew only that bonds and afflictions awaited him there. For ordinary human weakness, this alone would have been enough to avoid visiting Jerusalem.
Yet this could not frighten the apostle, who served the Lord with complete self-sacrifice. He says, in effect, “I regard nothing, and I do not count even my life precious, if I must sacrifice it to the glory of God. I ask only to complete the ministry of preaching the gospel with joy until the end of my life.”
This is the joy of knowing that he fulfilled his calling precisely to the end of his life. He did not retreat before obstacles. He did not lose heart before the difficulty of struggles. He did not grow weak in zeal.
It is the joy of knowing that, to the end of life, no obstacle held back or bound the word of God, the preaching of the gospel of God’s grace. “And now, behold, I know that all you believers in Asia, among whom I went preaching the Kingdom of God, will see my face no more.”
“And now, behold, I am going,” and so forth. From the past the apostle turns his gaze toward the future.
“Bound in the Spirit” means by an irresistible compulsion of the Spirit, though in a way unaccountable to his own spirit, for he does not know what will happen to him there. Yet despite this ignorance, the Spirit irresistibly draws him there.
This ignorance, however, concerns only the details of what precisely will meet him there. In general, by the revelation of the Spirit, he knows that bonds and afflictions await him there. He also knows that he will not return again to his beloved children in Asia Minor, from whom he is taking leave forever in the persons of their presbyters.
“I know that trials await me, but what kind, I do not know” (Chrysostom; cf. Theophylact).
Speaking of his journey, the apostle states that it is being made by a special prompting of the Spirit of God. The Spirit revealed to him, both inwardly and through others, that bonds and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem.
By telling them this, he expected consolation from those who loved him. At the same time, he showed that they too should not be troubled if afflictions overtook them.
Saint John Chrysostom asks, “Why does he say this?” He answers, “In order to teach them to be ready for dangers, both manifest and hidden, and to obey the Spirit in all things. He also shows that he is going voluntarily, not to escape bonds or from necessity. He also explains that something great awaits him.”
Blessed Theophylact adds, “It is remarkable that the prophets do not know everything, but only what the Holy Spirit inspires in them. Thus Paul, having foretold as a prophet everything that was to happen to him, said that he did not know one thing: what the end of all this would be.”
“The Holy Spirit left him in uncertainty so that, fearing the weakness of the flesh, he would pray to God for deliverance from temptations.”
“The Holy Spirit testified through the prophets generally concerning bonds and afflictions. In particular, however, the apostle did not know what would happen to him there. How exactly these prophecies were fulfilled! What did Paul not suffer at that time in Jerusalem?”
“By the impulse of the Spirit, one should not understand only an inward self-awareness telling the apostle that he had to go to Jerusalem. No, this was a direct command of the Holy Spirit. The apostle commonly received His special revelations in his preaching and journeys (see Gal 2:2; Acts 19:21). This command of the Spirit was compelling, and the apostle expresses this by the word bound. Of course, in Jerusalem the apostle could expect every kind of affliction. But what these trials would be, whether beating, bonds, or death, he did not know.”
“And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem” (Acts 20:22).
To show an even higher and sacred example of service to God, weakened by nothing, let us look at divine Paul. Such service stands against the opinions of men who have not yet renounced the world and themselves.
It proves that faithful servants of God struggle with difficulties and endure sorrows not only by unavoidable necessity. They do so with voluntary readiness, and even with a certain desire to suffer for God, which springs from strong love for God.
Let us look at divine Paul as he goes to Jerusalem into danger. This danger was clear not from guesses and conclusions, but certain by the witness of the Holy Spirit. Yet he goes and does not waver.
Let us read the words that he spoke on this journey to the presbyters of Ephesus, as he took leave of them. “And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will befall me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I take no account of anything, nor do I count my life dear to myself, if only I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24).
Wondrous Paul! If you already know that bonds and afflictions await you in Jerusalem, who is driving you there while you are still free? True, you do not know from whom they will come or for what cause, since you are guilty before no one in anything.
Yet you know this not by guesses and conclusions. These may be drawn from circumstances, but may prove false because circumstances change or because they are not precisely known.
You know it by the witness of the Holy Spirit, spoken by His prophets. You cannot doubt its infallibility. Who, then, drives you to Jerusalem while you are still free?
No one, he says, except that I am bound by the Spirit. “Bound in the Spirit, I go to Jerusalem.”
What does “bound in the Spirit” mean? Does the Spirit truly draw him to Jerusalem for suffering, as a prisoner is drawn to prison? No.
For we see that when men devoted to him tearfully begged him not to go up to Jerusalem, he did not answer that he was doing this by necessity or compulsion. He affirmed that he was doing what he desired and what he was ready to do by good will.
“Then Paul answered and said, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:12-13).
How, then, was this man, I do not know what to call him, perhaps a free captive, “bound in the Spirit”? He went to Jerusalem for suffering like a lamb to sacrifice. Yet he was as content in this state as a lamb in rich pasture.
Paul was bound and led by the Spirit, just as “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness” after His baptism. Saint Paul came under this full and sovereign guidance and governance of the Spirit.
He did so by actively following the same contemplation and the same rules that he taught to others when he said to Christians: “The Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor. 3:16). Therefore, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19).
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). “Walk by the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). In like manner, Saint Peter taught that souls are purified “in obedience to the truth through the Spirit” (1 Pet. 1:22).
To the measure that satisfaction is denied to the lusts of the flesh, the flesh dies to sin and the spirit comes alive to righteousness, or virtue. The more willingly and faithfully men follow the good impulses of the reviving spirit, the more the sacred fire of the spirit is kindled.
Or, in the words of Saint Peter, the more they purify their souls “in obedience to the truth through the Spirit,” the more its light shines forth. It goes from strength to strength.
Sometimes, in moments of rapture, it binds not only all fleshly lusts, but every desire of man's own will. It leaves them inactive, as if captive or in bonds.
Then it guides and carries the man who scarcely touches the earth, so to speak, only by pure spiritual understanding, only by divine love, and only by surrender to God's will.
It carries him wherever God and the laws of His Kingdom call, even if he must go through fire and water, through suffering and death.
O blessed captivity! O sweet bonds! O boundless and free compulsion! O servitude of supreme mastery! For what is the captivity of the spirit if not the all-conquering conviction of truth?
What are the bonds of the spirit, if not love that firmly embraces all things? The voluntary compulsion of self-renunciation is the perfect will of God.
The deepest enslavement to the law of the spirit is the lofty right of citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Its final purpose is not to enslave the free, but to make slaves free, and even kings and priests to our God.
Therefore the captive and prisoner of the spirit will not wish to break his bonds or step out of his captivity. He will not do so for any freedom of the flesh, any dominion in the world, or any human impulse, however plausible it may seem.
Judge for yourselves from the apostle's own words whether these notions about the state of one bound in the Spirit agree with truth. “I take no account of anything,” he says, “nor do I count my life dear to myself.”
That is, I do not value my life, “if only I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God.”
"And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem" (Acts 20:22).
If we consider that from God we have being, life, powers, senses, heart, reason, and will, and from His providence the many blessings we enjoy in the world, we must ask a grave question.
God, and God alone, can grant us eternal blessedness. He truly grants it to His faithful servants. Most people either know this by understanding, or believe it on the sure testimony of those who understand.
Yet most people do not devote themselves to serving God faithfully, constantly, and exclusively. At least, they do not prefer it above every other occupation.
With amazement we must ask how it is possible to go so directly against justice, against gratitude, and against one’s own greatest good.
The unreasonable have found this unhappy possibility in the fact that they do not renounce God’s service altogether. They wish to attain blessedness in it, and they think this is enough.
But the narrow way? It has become wider because the number of those walking it has increased.
But the strait gate? New craftsmen of the moral life have rebuilt it more spaciously than before.
But the many tribulations through which we must enter the kingdom of God? Christ’s Apostles, martyrs, and confessors drank that cup to the dregs during the persecutions of Christianity, by sheer necessity.
Now, they say, there is no such necessity, and we may fill for ourselves a cup of gladness.
Perhaps not many will admit that they think this way. Yet many live so that their life serves as the signboard of such opinions.
"Be not conformed to this age" (Rom 12:2), the Apostle wrote to Christians in the age of Judaism and paganism.
O woe! Even in Christian times it is necessary to repeat to Christians: "Be not conformed to this age."
Conform yourselves to those true servants of God whose faithful service to Him is weakened neither by the enticement of worldly advantages and sensual pleasures, nor by fear of difficulties, obstacles, and sorrows.
So that we need not seek an example far away, look at this faithful servant of God, this firm primate of this Church.
See how he went without wavering, not only against difficulties, but into manifest danger for the honor of the faith, which is the honor of God.
He went for the safety of the Church, which is God’s inheritance.
Twice he went to the Horde kings, whose might was marked by nothing more often than cruelty and treachery.
Once Janibek summoned Alexius to heal the queen. But Alexius had learned the word of God and prayer, not the art of medicine.
Therefore he could accomplish healing only by a miracle. It could not be known whether God would grant a miracle of healing, especially for one sick and infected with false belief.
But this could be known almost certainly: failure in healing would bring reproach upon the faith of Christ.
A jest against the faith, according to the taste of the Horde, would be nothing other than the bitter death of its chosen servant.
The hierarch dared in the Lord. The miracle was accomplished, and the faith was glorified.
Another time, Grand Prince John urged Alexius to go to the Horde. He was to turn the new king Berdi Beg from hostile designs against Russia and bring him to peaceful dispositions.
This king had begun his reign by murdering twelve brothers.
In this case the Grand Prince could place some hope in the respect for the name of Alexius, which undoubtedly remained in the Horde after the queen’s healing.
Nevertheless, this embassy resembled sending a shepherd of sheep with only his staff to tame an enraged lion or tiger.
But the shepherd of rational sheep resolved to lay down his soul for the sheep.
The almighty Chief Shepherd preserved his life and, through him, granted peace to the rational flock and to the Russian land.
But to show still more highly the sacred example of service to God weakened by nothing, let us look at the divine Paul.
This example stands against the opinions of those who have not yet renounced the world and themselves.
It proves that faithful servants of God struggle with difficulties and endure sorrows, not only by unavoidable necessity, but with voluntary readiness.
They even have a certain desire to suffer for God, arising from strong love for Him.
Let us look at the divine Paul as he goes to Jerusalem into danger. This danger is manifest, not by conjectures and conclusions, but certain by the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
Yet he goes and does not waver.
Let us read the words which he spoke on this journey to the presbyters of Ephesus, as he took leave of them.
"And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and tribulations await me.
But I make account of none of these things, nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:22-24).
Wondrous Paul! You already know that bonds and tribulations await you in Jerusalem, though you do not know from whom or for what, since you are innocent before all in everything.
You know this not by conjectures and conclusions, which may fail through changing circumstances or incomplete knowledge of them.
You know it by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, spoken by His prophets, whose infallibility you cannot doubt.
Who, then, drives you to Jerusalem while you are still free?
No one, he says, except that I am bound by the Spirit. "Bound in the spirit, I go to Jerusalem."
What does "bound in the spirit" mean? Does the Spirit truly drag him to Jerusalem for sufferings, as a prisoner to a dungeon?
No. For we see that when those devoted to him wept and begged him "not to go up to Jerusalem," he did not answer that he did this by necessity or compulsion.
Rather, he affirmed that he was doing what he willed, and what he was ready to do freely.
"Then Paul answered and said, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21:12-13).
In what way, then, was this man, I do not know what to call him, perhaps a free captive, "bound" in the spirit?
He went to Jerusalem for suffering like a lamb to sacrifice. Yet in this state he was as content as a lamb in rich pasture.
The one who has been united to the Holy Spirit is bound to Him, so that he is in no way separated from Him. A man in such a state is a prisoner of Christ, having His Spirit. “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Rom 8:9). Clearly, the one who has the Spirit has Christ within himself.
The one who is in these bonds, and is adorned by them, begets those whom he teaches. Concerning this passage, it must be said that the apostle is ready to be bound in chains for the sake of piety. When he heard that he should not go to Jerusalem, because he would be seized and bound there, he says that by the impulse of the Spirit he hastens to Jerusalem. He knows what awaits him there.
His resolve is witnessed by the words, “I die daily” (1 Cor 15:31), and, “We who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor 4:11). To this you may also apply what the psalmist said: “I am ready for wounds” (Ps 37:18).
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 17 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS