Acts 21:18

The Reception of Paul by James and the Jerusalem EldersThey tell Paul how he should act towards the Jewish Christians present at the FeastThe Gentile Apostle acts on their Advice, 18-25.

Acts 21:18. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James. This James was the so-called brother of the Lord, not one of the Twelve, but who, converted to the faith probably owing to a special appearance of the Lord after His resurrection, took his place at once among the more prominent members of the Jerusalem Church, of which community after some little time he became the ‘bishop' or presiding elder. See the note, chap. Acts 15:13, where the position and character of this eminent and devoted servant of the Lord are discussed at some length. There are in the New Testament story three men bearing the name of James the first, James the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, one of the twelve apostles: he suffered martyrdom at a comparatively early period in the history of the Church, at the bands of Herod (see Acts 12:2); the second, James the Less, the son of Alphæus, also one of the Twelve; the third, James the so-called brother of the Lord (most probably with the other ‘brethren of the Lord,' a son of Joseph by a former wife), the bishop or president of the Church of Jerusalem. He is generally known in history as ‘the Just.' This is the James who received Paul when he came up to the Holy City to keep this feast of Pentecost, A.D. 58. Some ten or eleven years later, he suffered as a believer in Jesus of Nazareth, the year before the fatal siege of Jerusalem. By direction of the high priest Annas, a Sadducee, James, the head of the Christian Church in the city, was hurled from a pinnacle of the temple, and finally despatched by stoning (Hegesippus in Eus. H..E. ii. 23).

And all the elders were present. The mention of James and ‘all the elders,' and the omission of any allusion to the apostles, is a clear proof that none of these were at this time resident in the Holy City. It must be borne in mind that more than a quarter of a century had passed since the memorable first Pentecost kept by the believers in Jesus of Nazareth; some had doubtless rejoined their Lord, others were working for Him in distant lands.