Chapter 38
Paul a Prisoner
[This chapter is based on Acts 21:17 to 23:35.]
When we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And
the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were
present."
On this occasion, Paul and his companions formally presented to the
leaders of the work at Jerusalem the contributions forwarded by the
Gentile churches for the support of the poor among their Jewish brethren.
The gathering of these contributions had cost the apostle and his fellow
workers much time, anxious thought, and wearisome labour. The sum, which
far exceeded the expectations of the elders at Jerusalem, represented many
sacrifices and even severe privations on the part of the Gentile
believers.
These freewill offerings betokened the loyalty of the Gentile converts
to the organised work of God throughout the world and should have been
received by all with grateful acknowledgement, yet it was apparent to Paul
and his companions that even among those before whom they now stood were
some who were unable to appreciate the spirit of brotherly love that had
prompted the gifts.
In the earlier years of the gospel work among the Gentiles some of the
leading brethren at Jerusalem, clinging to former prejudices and habits of
thought, had not co-operated heartily with Paul and his associates. In
their anxiety to preserve a few meaningless forms and ceremonies, they had
lost sight of the blessing that would come to them and to the cause they
loved, through an effort to unite in one all parts of the Lord's work.
Although desirous of safeguarding the best interests of the Christian
church, they had failed to keep step with the advancing providences of
God, and in their human wisdom attempted to throw about workers many
unnecessary restrictions. Thus there arose a group of men who were
unacquainted personally with the changing circumstances and peculiar needs
met by labourers in distant fields, yet who insisted that they had the
authority to direct their brethren in these fields to follow certain
specified methods of labour. They felt as if the work of preaching the
gospel should be carried forward in harmony with their opinions.
Several years had passed since the brethren in Jerusalem, with
representatives from other leading churches, gave careful consideration to
the perplexing questions that had arisen over methods followed by those
who were labouring for the Gentiles. As a result of this council, the
brethren had united in making definite recommendations to the churches
concerning certain rites and customs, including circumcision. It was at
this general council that the brethren had also united in commending to
the Christian churches Barnabas and Paul as labourers worthy of the full
confidence of every believer.
Among those present at this meeting, were some who had severely
criticised the methods of labour followed by the apostles upon whom rested
the chief burden of carrying the gospel to the Gentile world. But during
the council their views of God's purpose had broadened, and they had
united with their brethren in making wise decisions which made possible
the unification of the entire body of believers.
Afterward, when it became apparent that the converts among the Gentiles
were increasing rapidly, there were a few of the leading brethren at
Jerusalem who began to cherish anew their former prejudices against the
methods of Paul and his associates. These prejudices strengthened with the
passing of the years, until some of the leaders determined that the work
of preaching the gospel must henceforth be conducted in accordance with
their own ideas. If Paul would conform his methods to certain policies
which they advocated they would acknowledge and sustain his work;
otherwise they could no longer look upon it with favour or grant it their
support.
These men had lost sight of the fact that God is the teacher of His
people; that every worker in His cause is to obtain an individual
experience in following the divine Leader, not looking to man for direct
guidance; that His workers are to be moulded and fashioned, not after
man's ideas, but after the similitude of the divine.
In his ministry the apostle Paul had taught the people "not with
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power." The truths that he proclaimed had been revealed to him by the
Holy Spirit, "for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit
of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God. . . . Which things," declared Paul, "we speak,
not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 1 Corinthians
2:4, 10-13.
Throughout his ministry, Paul had looked to God for direct guidance. At
the same time, he had been very careful to labour in harmony with the
decisions of the general council at Jerusalem, and as a result the
churches were "established in the faith, and increased in number
daily." Acts 16:5. And now, notwithstanding the lack of sympathy
shown him by some, he found comfort in the consciousness that he had done
his duty in encouraging in his converts a spirit of loyalty, generosity,
and brotherly love, as revealed on this occasion in the liberal
contributions which he was enabled to place before the Jewish elders.
After the presentation of the gifts, Paul "declared particularly
what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry." This
recital of facts brought to the hearts of all, even of those who had been
doubting, the conviction that the blessing of heaven had accompanied his
labours. "When they heard it, they glorified the Lord." They
felt that the methods of labour pursued by the apostle bore the signet of
Heaven. The liberal contributions lying before them added weight to the
testimony of the apostle concerning the faithfulness of the new churches
established among the Gentiles. The men who, while numbered among those
who were in charge of the work at Jerusalem, had urged that arbitrary
measures of control be adopted, saw Paul's ministry in a new light and
were convinced that their own course had been wrong, that they had been
held in bondage by Jewish customs and traditions, and that the work of the
gospel had been greatly hindered by their failure to recognise that the
wall of partition between Jew and Gentile had been broken down by the
death of Christ.
This was the golden opportunity for all the leading brethren to confess
frankly that God had wrought through Paul, and that at times they had
erred in permitting the reports of his enemies to arouse their jealousy
and prejudice. But instead of uniting in an effort to do justice to the
one who had been injured, they gave him counsel which showed that they
still cherished a feeling that Paul should be held largely responsible for
the existing prejudice. They did not stand nobly in his defence,
endeavouring to show the disaffected ones where they were wrong, but
sought to effect a compromise by counselling him to pursue a course which
in their opinion would remove all cause for misapprehension.
"Thou seest, brother," they said, in response to his
testimony, "how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and
they are all zealous of the law: and they are informed of thee, that thou
teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses,
saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk
after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come
together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we
say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and
purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave
their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were
informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest
orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we
have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that
they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and
from strangled, and from fornication."
The brethren hoped that Paul, by following the course suggested, might
give a decisive contradiction to the false reports concerning him. They
assured him that the decision of the former council concerning the Gentile
converts and the ceremonial law, still held good. But the advice now given
was not consistent with that decision. The Spirit of God did not prompt
this instruction; it was the fruit of cowardice. The leaders of the church
in Jerusalem knew that by non-conformity to the ceremonial law, Christians
would bring upon themselves the hatred of the Jews and expose themselves
to persecution. The Sanhedrin was doing its utmost to hinder the progress
of the gospel. Men were chosen by this body to follow up the apostles,
especially Paul, and in every possible way to oppose their work. Should
the believers in Christ be condemned before the Sanhedrin as breakers of
the law, they would suffer swift and severe punishment as apostates from
the Jewish faith.
Many of the Jews who had accepted the gospel still cherished a regard
for the ceremonial law and were only too willing to make unwise
concessions, hoping thus to gain the confidence of their countrymen, to
remove their prejudice, and to win them to faith in Christ as the world's
Redeemer. Paul realised that so long as many of the leading members of the
church at Jerusalem should continue to cherish prejudice against him, they
would work constantly to counteract his influence. He felt that if by any
reasonable concession he could win them to the truth he would remove a
great obstacle to the success of the gospel in other places. But he was
not authorised of God to concede as much as they asked.
When we think of Paul's great desire to be in harmony with his
brethren, his tenderness toward the weak in the faith, his reverence for
the apostles who had been with Christ, and for James, the brother of the
Lord, and his purpose to become all things to all men so far as he could
without sacrificing principle--when we think of all this, it is less
surprising that he was constrained to deviate from the firm, decided
course that he had hitherto followed. But instead of accomplishing the
desired object, his efforts for conciliation only precipitated the crisis,
hastened his predicted sufferings, and resulted in separating him from his
brethren, depriving the church of one of its strongest pillars, and
bringing sorrow to Christian hearts in every land.
On the following day Paul began to carry out the counsel of the elders.
The four men who were under the Nazarite vow (Numbers 6), the term of
which had nearly expired, were taken by Paul into the temple, "to
signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an
offering should be offered for every one of them." Certain costly
sacrifices for purification were yet to be offered.
Those who advised Paul to take this step had not fully considered the
great peril to which he would thus be exposed. At this season, Jerusalem
was filled with worshipers from many lands. As, in fulfilment of the
commission given him by God, Paul had borne the gospel to the Gentiles, he
had visited many of the world's largest cities, and he was well known to
thousands who from foreign parts had come to Jerusalem to attend the
feast. Among these were men whose hearts were filled with bitter hatred
for Paul, and for him to enter the temple on a public occasion was to risk
his life. For several days he passed in and out among the worshipers,
apparently unnoticed; but before the close of the specified period, as he
was talking with a priest concerning the sacrifices to be offered, he was
recognised by some of the Jews from Asia.
With the fury of demons they rushed upon him, crying, "Men of
Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men everywhere against
the people, and the law, and this place." And as the people responded
to the call for help, another accusation was added--"and further
brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy
place."
By the Jewish law it was a crime punishable with death for an
uncircumcised person to enter the inner courts of the sacred edifice. Paul
had been seen in the city in company with Trophimus, an Ephesian, and it
was conjectured that he had brought him into the temple. This he had not
done; and being himself a Jew, his act in entering the temple was no
violation of the law. But though the charge was wholly false, it served to
arouse the popular prejudice. As the cry was taken up and borne through
the temple courts, the throngs gathered there were thrown into wild
excitement. The news quickly spread through Jerusalem, "and all the
city was moved, and the people ran together."
That an apostate from Israel should presume to profane the temple at
the very time when thousands had come there from all parts of the world to
worship, excited the fiercest passions of the mob. "They took Paul,
and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut."
"As they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief
captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar." Claudius
Lysias well knew the turbulent elements with which he had to deal, and he
"immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them:
and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of
Paul." Ignorant of the cause of the tumult, but seeing that the rage
of the multitude was directed against Paul, the Roman captain concluded
that he must be a certain Egyptian rebel of whom he had heard, who had
thus far escaped capture. He therefore "took him, and commanded him
to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had
done." At once many voices were raised in loud and angry accusation;
"some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he
could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be
carried into the castle. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that
he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the
multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him."
In the midst of the tumult the apostle was calm and self-possessed. His
mind was stayed upon God, and he knew that angels of heaven were about
him. He felt unwilling to leave the temple without making an effort to set
the truth before his countrymen. As he was about to be led into the castle
he said to the chief captain, "May I speak unto thee?" Lysias
responded, "Canst thou speak Greek? Art not thou that Egyptian, which
before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness
four thousand men that were murderers?" In reply Paul said, "I
am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean
city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people."
The request was granted, and "Paul stood on the stairs, and
beckoned with the hand unto the people." The gesture attracted their
attention, while his bearing commanded respect. "And when there was
made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto
you." At the sound of the familiar Hebrew words, "they kept the
more silence," and in the universal hush he continued:
"I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in
Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught
according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous
toward God, as ye all are this day." None could deny the apostle's
statements, as the facts that he referred to were well known to many who
were still living in Jerusalem. He then spoke of his former zeal in
persecuting the disciples of Christ, even unto death; and he narrated the
circumstances of his conversion, telling his hearers how his own proud
heart had been led to bow to the crucified Nazarene. Had he attempted to
enter into argument with his opponents, they would have stubbornly refused
to listen to his words; but the relation of his experience was attended
with a convincing power that for the time seemed to soften and subdue
their hearts.
He then endeavoured to show that his work among the Gentiles had not
been entered upon from choice. He had desired to labour for his own
nation; but in that very temple the voice of God had spoken to him in holy
vision, directing his course "far hence upon the Gentiles."
Hitherto the people had listened with close attention, but when Paul
reached the point in his history where he was appointed Christ's
ambassador to the Gentiles, their fury broke forth anew. Accustomed to
look upon themselves as the only people favoured by God, they were
unwilling to permit the despised Gentiles to share the privileges which
had hitherto been regarded as exclusively their own. Lifting their voices
above the voice of the speaker, they cried, "Away with such a fellow
from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live."
"As they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust
into the air, the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the
castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might
know wherefore they cried so against him.
"And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion
that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and
uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief
captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then
the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He
said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I
this freedom. And Paul said, But I was freeborn. Then straightway they
departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain
also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had
bound him.
"On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty
wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and
commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought
Paul down, and set him before them."
The apostle was now to be tried by the same tribunal of which he
himself had been a member before his conversion.
As he stood before the Jewish rulers, his bearing was calm, and his
countenance revealed the peace of Christ. "Earnestly beholding the
council," he said, "Men and brethren, I have lived in all good
conscience before God until this day." Upon hearing these words,
their hatred was kindled afresh; "and the high priest Ananias
commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth." At this
inhuman command, Paul exclaimed, "God shall smite thee, thou whited
wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be
smitten contrary to the law?" "They that stood by said, Revilest
thou God's high priest?" With his usual courtesy Paul answered,
"I wish not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is
written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
"But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the
other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a
Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead
I am called in question.
"And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the
Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. For the
Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit:
but the Pharisees confess both." The two parties began to dispute
between themselves, and thus the strength of their opposition against Paul
was broken. "The scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and
strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel
hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God."
In the confusion that followed, the Sadducees were eagerly striving to
gain possession of the apostle, that they might put him to death; and the
Pharisees were as eager in striving to protect him. "The chief
captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them,
commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among
them, and to bring him into the castle."
Later, while reflecting on the trying experiences of the day, Paul
began to fear that his course might not have been pleasing to God. Could
it be that he had made a mistake after all in visiting Jerusalem? Had his
great desire to be in union with his brethren led to this disastrous
result?
The position which the Jews as God's professed people occupied before
an unbelieving world, caused the apostle intense anguish of spirit. How
would those heathen officers look upon them?--claiming to be worshipers of
Jehovah, and assuming sacred office, yet giving themselves up to the
control of blind, unreasoning anger, seeking to destroy even their
brethren who dared to differ with them in religious faith, and turning
their most solemn deliberative council into a scene of strife and wild
confusion. Paul felt that the name of his God had suffered reproach in the
eyes of the heathen.
And now he was in prison, and he knew that his enemies, in their
desperate malice, would resort to any means to put him to death. Could it
be that his work for the churches was ended and that ravening wolves were
to enter in now? The cause of Christ was very near to Paul's heart, and
with deep anxiety he thought of the perils of the scattered churches,
exposed as they were to the persecutions of just such men as he had
encountered in the Sanhedrin council. In distress and discouragement he
wept and prayed.
In this dark hour the Lord was not unmindful of His servant. He had
guarded him from the murderous throng in the temple courts; He had been
with him before the Sanhedrin council; He was with him in the fortress;
and He revealed Himself to His faithful witness in response to the earnest
prayers of the apostle for guidance. "The night following the Lord
stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified
of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome."
Paul had long looked forward to visiting Rome; he greatly desired to
witness for Christ there, but had felt that his purposes were frustrated
by the enmity of the Jews. He little thought, even now, that it would be
as a prisoner that he would go.
While the Lord encouraged His servant, Paul's enemies were eagerly
plotting his destruction. "And when it was day, certain of the Jews
banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they
would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they were more
than forty which had made this conspiracy." Here was a fast such as
the Lord through Isaiah had condemned--a fast "for strife and debate,
and to smite with the fist of wickedness." Isaiah 58:4.
The conspirators "came to the chief priests and elders, and said,
We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing
until we have slain Paul. Now therefore ye with the council signify to the
chief captain that he bring him down unto you tomorrow, as though ye would
inquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come
near, are ready to kill him."
Instead of rebuking this cruel scheme, the priests and rulers eagerly
agreed to it. Paul had spoken the truth when he compared Ananias to a
whited sepulchre.
But God interposed to save the life of His servant. Paul's sister's
son, hearing of the "lying in wait" of the assassins, "went
and entered into the castle, and told Paul. Then Paul called one of the
centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief
captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. So he took him, and
brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me
unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath
something to say unto thee."
Claudius Lysias received the youth kindly, and taking him aside, asked,
"What is that thou hast to tell me?" The youth replied:
"The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down
Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they would inquire somewhat of
him more perfectly. But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait
for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an
oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and
now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee."
"The chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him,
See thou tell no man that thou hast showed these things to me."
Lysias at once decided to transfer Paul from his jurisdiction to that
of Felix the procurator. As a people, the Jews were in a state of
excitement and irritation, and tumults were of frequent occurrence. The
continued presence of the apostle in Jerusalem might lead to consequences
dangerous to the city and even to the commandant himself. He therefore
"called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred
soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen
two hundred, at the third hour of the night; and provide them beasts, that
they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor."
No time was to be lost in sending Paul away. "The soldiers, as it
was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris."
From that place the horsemen went on with the prisoner to Caesarea, while
the four hundred soldiers returned to Jerusalem.
The officer in charge of the detachment delivered his prisoner to
Felix, also presenting a letter with which he had been entrusted by the
chief captain:
"Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth
greeting. This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of
them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he
was a Roman. And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused
him, I brought him forth into their council: whom I perceived to be
accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge
worthy of death or of bonds. And when it was told me how that the Jews
laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to
his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him.
Farewell."
After reading the communication, Felix inquired to what province the
prisoner belonged, and being informed that he was of Cilicia, said:
"I will hear thee . . . when thine accusers are also come. And he
commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgement hall."
The case of Paul was not the first in which a servant of God had found
among the heathen an asylum from the malice of the professed people of
Jehovah. In their rage against Paul the Jews had added another crime to
the dark catalogue which marked the history of that people. They had still
further hardened their hearts against the truth and had rendered their
doom more certain.
Few realise the full meaning of the words that Christ spoke when, in
the synagogue at Nazareth, He announced Himself as the Anointed One. He
declared His mission to comfort, bless, and save the sorrowing and the
sinful; and then, seeing that pride and unbelief controlled the hearts of
His hearers, He reminded them that in time past God had turned away from
His chosen people because of their unbelief and rebellion, and had
manifested Himself to those in heathen lands who had not rejected the
light of heaven. The widow of Sarepta and Naaman the Syrian had lived up
to all the light they had; hence they were accounted more righteous than
God's chosen people who had backslidden from Him and had sacrificed
principle to convenience and worldly honour.
Christ told the Jews at Nazareth a fearful truth when He declared that
with backsliding Israel there was no safety for the faithful messenger of
God. They would not know his worth or appreciate his labours. While the
Jewish leaders professed to have great zeal for the honour of God and the
good of Israel, they were enemies of both. By precept and example they
were leading the people farther and farther from obedience to God--leading
them where He could not be their defence in the day of trouble.
The Saviour's words of reproof to the men of Nazareth applied, in the
case of Paul, not only to the unbelieving Jews, but to his own brethren in
the faith. Had the leaders in the church fully surrendered their feeling
of bitterness toward the apostle, and accepted him as one specially called
of God to bear the gospel to the Gentiles, the Lord would have spared him
to them. God had not ordained that Paul's labours should so soon end, but
He did not work a miracle to counteract the train of circumstances to
which the course of the leaders in the church at Jerusalem had given rise.
The same spirit is still leading to the same results. A neglect to
appreciate and improve the provisions of divine grace has deprived the
church of many a blessing. How often would the Lord have prolonged the
work of some faithful minister, had his labours been appreciated! But if
the church permits the enemy of souls to pervert the understanding, so
that they misrepresent and misinterpret the words and acts of the servant
of Christ; if they allow themselves to stand in his way and hinder his
usefulness, the Lord sometimes removes from them the blessing which He
gave.
Satan is constantly working through his agents to dishearten and
destroy those whom God has chosen to accomplish a great and good work.
They may be ready to sacrifice even life itself for the advancement of the
cause of Christ, yet the great deceiver will suggest to their brethren
doubts concerning them which, if entertained, would undermine confidence
in their integrity of character, and thus cripple their usefulness. Too
often he succeeds in bringing upon them, through their own brethren, such
sorrow of heart that God graciously interposes to give His persecuted
servants rest. After the hands are folded upon the pulseless breast, when
the voice of warning and encouragement is silent, then the obdurate may be
aroused to see and prize the blessings they have cast from them. Their
death may accomplish that which their life has failed to do.
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