There is a world of difference between accepting something and receiving someone. Most folks treat those two words as twins, but they are not even cousins. Acts 21 makes that difference shine. It shows what it looks like when people truly receive a servant of God, and what happens when others only accept information about him without ever touching truth.
Acts 21:17, “And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.”
That word received is δέχομαι, dechomai, “to welcome, to embrace, to take in with readiness.” It is the language of relationship. It is the heart leaning forward. They did not accept the idea of Paul. They received the man, the whole man, mission and all.
The New Testament also uses λαμβάνω, lambanō, “to take hold, to grasp, to take into oneself intentionally.” This is active, volitional, movement toward Yeshua Himself.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew equivalent is קָבַל, qabal, “to receive, to accept, to take in personally.” Sometimes לָקַח, laqach, is used for “to take, to grasp,” showing the same intentional, relational action.
English, however, often blurs the line. When we say “accept Jesus,” most of the time we mean just agreeing in our mind. That’s passive, intellectual. Scripture uses active verbs. Receiving is relational, participatory, and transforming.
Later in Acts 21, the crowds hear rumors, and instead of receiving truth, they simply accept the gossip. Accepting says, Yes, I acknowledge that. Receiving says, Come in, you have a place here. Accepting nods with the head. Receiving opens the heart.
Scripture never once tells us to “accept Jesus.” That is English church culture talking. The Word says something much stronger.
John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.”
The verb is λαμβάνω, lambanō, “to take hold, to grasp, to take into oneself intentionally.” That is movement toward Yeshua. Participation. Yielding. Stepping into union with Him.
You can accept a whole stack of doctrines and never become a child of God. You can accept that He lived, died, and rose, and still never walk with Him. Accepting informs the mind. Receiving transforms the person.
The early believers got this. They were not adding Yeshua to a spiritual shopping cart. They received Him. His presence shaped their identity, their loyalty, their obedience, their daily choices, and even their risk taking. They were not playing safe religion. They were receiving the Living One.
This is why the wording of the Apostle’s Writings is so deliberate. Dechomai shows how to welcome someone fully. Lambanō describes actively taking hold of what God offers. The Hebrew Scriptures reflect the same relational reality: qabal and laqach both speak of receiving with intention. Each of these verbs requires movement toward the One who stands at the door. They are never passive.
Acts 21 becomes a mirror. The brethren received Paul with joy. The crowds accepted the rumors without discernment. One group moved toward truth. The other group let hearsay do their thinking for them.
Every believer eventually has to ask, Which group am I standing with? Do I accept, or do I receive? Accepting feels safe. Receiving will rearrange a life. Accepting stays skin deep. Receiving goes down into the soul where the Spirit writes truth with fire.
Yeshua calls us to receive Him, not to just accept a doctrine about Him. He is not information. He is not a set of truths to agree with. He is the One who walks into a life when that life actually opens the door. And when the heart reaches toward Him with lambanō, it finds what John promised, the power to become children of God.
image done by chatgpt at my direction
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