John Calvin Commentary Acts 24:11

"Seeing that thou canst take knowledge that it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship at Jerusalem:" — Acts 24:11 (ASV)

To worship. First, it is certain that he came for other reasons, and he will afterward confess that the chief reason was to bring alms for the support of the brethren. But we may well excuse him, because it was not necessary for him to give an account of his coming; he only meant, incidentally, to clear himself of corrupt religion.

Therefore, though he came to Jerusalem for some other reason, yet this is always true: he came with no other intention than to profess himself a worshipper of God and to affirm the holiness of the temple by his worship. The other question is more difficult: how can he say that he came to worship, since the religion of the temple was already abolished and its special status removed?

I answer similarly here: though he does not make his purpose known, he does not lie or dissemble. For the faithful servants of Christ were not forbidden to worship in the temple, provided they did not tie holiness to the place but lifted up pure hands freely without making choice of places (1 Timothy 2:8).

It was lawful for Paul to enter the temple after he had come to Jerusalem, so that he might make his godliness known and there use the solemn rites of the worship of God, because he was free from superstition; thus, he did not offer any propitiatory sacrifices that were contrary to the gospel. Therefore, religion did not compel him to come to Jerusalem according to the requirement of the law, as if the sanctuary were the face of God as in former times; yet he does not abhor the external worship which was to others a testimony of godliness.