In the last scene Paul himself models the tension of continuity and discontinuity in a Jewish Christian's life. He remained loyal to the Lord's holy place, exercising piety in worship in the temple upon his return to Jerusalem. Even after conversion, then, he practiced a piety that gave the lie to the recent charges that he taught against the temple and cavalierly defiled it by bringing Gentiles into its sacred precincts.

During worship, in a trance, Paul saw Jesus, the Lord of the temple (Lk 19:45-48; compare 2:46-49). The Lord directed him, Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me. This heavenly command and rationale declared the scandalous proposition that the risen and exalted Messiah would direct his messengers of salvation tidings away from Israel. Its rationale was an indictment of Israel's unwillingness to receive the gospel.

Paul showed his zeal for the people by remonstrating with the Lord. Surely his life as a persecutor and his service as an accomplice to Stephen's death would be enough evidence of his Jewish loyalty and would gain him a hearing (7:58; 8:1, 3; 9:2; 22:4). The Lord did not argue with Paul. He had already given his rationale: Israel did not oppose the messenger but the message, your testimony about me. All that remained was for the Lord to repeat the command and for Paul to obey. Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles (2:39; 13:46; Eph 2:13, 17). The Gentile mission was the focus of Paul's ministry, yet always within a "to the Jew first" strategy (Acts 9:15; 13:46; 14:27; 15:3, 12; 21:19).

In the divinely commanded mission to the Gentiles and the Jewish people's refusal to accept the gospel we have the explanation of the Jews' opposition to Paul. The charges are false, but the opposition is real. Should our Lord's directive to Paul become a paradigm for church-growth strategy today—for example, "hold resistant fields lightly; concentrate harvesters where the response is greatest"? The Jewish people's unique position in relation to the Gentiles in salvation history (Rom 11:25-26) prevents us from extrapolating principles about responsiveness and concentration of forces. The momentum, however, always seems to be toward the frontiers, toward those who have never heard the gospel.