The Story

The Lord's disciples had been taking journeys far away from Jerusalem to tell people about the Lord. The Twelve whom the Lord especially chose and sent out were called apostles. (Luke 6:13) Afterward Paul and other leaders among the disciples were also called apostles. Paul especially had traveled far away. We have heard of him at Athens and Ephesus and other places. Now he was coming back to Jerusalem from one of his long journeys to tell what he had done and how the Lord had given His blessing to many Gentile people in far-off places. For Jerusalem was still like the home of the Christian Church, and coming to Jerusalem was like coming home to tell what they had done. It was a little like the coming back of the twelve apostles to the Lord when He first sent them out, to tell Him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. (Mark 6:30)

As Paul was journeying to Jerusalem, he knew in his heart that he would never see again the friends that he was leaving in the cities that he passed. The friends knew it, too, and in some places they would have hindered Paul from going to Jerusalem, but he felt that his duty called him there. There were touching farewells as they said, good-bye to Paul, or kneeled and prayed with him on the shore.

When he reached Jerusalem, the leaders among the Christians came together to listen to Paul's story, and they were very glad. But there were Jews who were angry with Paul because he had been so friendly to the Gentiles, and because when he received them as Christians he did not require them to keep all the many rules of the Jews about washings and sacrifices and a hundred other things. Many Jews, and Christians who had been Jews, were angry with Paul for this, and they said that he was turning Jews against the law of Moses and the temple. There was great excitement about it in^, Jerusalem, until these enemies of Paul seized him one day in the temple and dragged him out and began beating him, and would have killed him, as you remember Stephen had been killed long before.

But Paul was not killed, for the chief captain of the Roman soldiers in Jerusalem heard of the disturbance, and came running with soldiers and took Paul and bound him and carried him to the castle, the strong building where the soldiers lived near to the temple. The soldiers carried Paul to the castle; the angry people followed. The captain let Paul speak to the crowd from the steps of the castle, and he told them who he was and the story that you know about the vision as he went to Damascus, which led him to become a Christian. They listened to his story until he told how the Lord had sent him to the Gentiles. At that word their anger broke out again, and the captain had to take Paul inside the castle for safety. The soldiers had respect for Paul when they knew that he was a Roman.

But Paul's enemies did not rest; some of them were determined to kill him. So the captain sent him away by night with a strong guard of soldiers, to the governor, Felix, at Caesarea.

We follow Paul to Caesarea, where we were once before with Peter, the home of the Roman governor of the country. The governor now was Felix. He knew that Paul had done nothing wrong, but he kept him a long time a prisoner. His friends were allowed to come and see him, and Paul was allowed to speak for himself before the governor. Paul was still a prisoner when Felix handed over the office to Festus, a new governor. Still Paul was kindly treated and might have been set free, but he had appealed for trial before Caesar, the emperor at Rome, and Festus was waiting for a chance to send Paul to Rome. Read about Paul and Felix in Acts 24:10-27.

If we pick up the thread of our story where we left it, we find Paul in Ephesus and visit with him again the churches in Macedonia and Greece. Then we hasten back with him to Jerusalem, which he was anxious to reach by Pentecost. Notice a number of times in this story the expressions, "We sailed," "We abode," etc., showing that Luke, who writes the narrative, was one of the party. Paul felt that danger awaited him, and that he was saying farewell for the last time. Read of his last words with the elders from Ephesus, and with his friends at Tyre and at Caesarea. (Acts 20:17-38; 21:4-14) The James mentioned in verse 18 is mentioned also in other places as the head of the church in Jerusalem. (Acts 12:17; 15:13) He is believed to be the James named in the Gospels as a brother of the Lord. (Matthew 13:55) These leaders of the church were glad to hear Paul's story, but they knew that there was much angry feeling against Paul - the report had been spread that he was not only friendly with the Gentiles, but that he was teaching Jews to neglect the law of Moses and the temple. This will help you, to understand what they advised Paul to do. (Acts 21:23-29) They wished him to join a little company of Jewish Christians who were keeping a Nazarite vow, and were performing in the temple the acts that belonged to the last days of that vow. (It was common for one to join others in these ceremonies even when he had not kept the full period of the vow himself.) This public observance of a Jewish ceremony they thought would reassure those who had heard that Paul was teaching neglect of the Jewish law. But it did not have this effect, and the disturbance arose that we read of in our story. Begin to read at verse 30.

Paul would probably would have been killed as Stephen was, had not the Roman captain and soldiers rescued him from the crowd and hurried him to the castle of Antonia, where Roman troops were quartered, overlooking the temple, and ready in case of trouble.

Notice Paul's claim to Roman citizenship (Acts 21:39, and more fully in 22:25-29), and the magic effect that it had in gaining respectful treatment from the Roman soldiers. The Roman citizenship, with the privileges that came with it, was sometimes bought, as by the captain, but it was Paul's by birth. Probably, for some reason not told, citizenship had been conferred upon his family. You read with interest Paul's own account of his conversation. (Acts 22:1-16, and again in 26:1-8) Notice how the confusion broke out at the word Gentiles (Acts 22:21), as it broke out in the crowd at Athens, at the mention of the resurrection. (Acts 17:31, 32)

The captain brought Paul once more before the Jews, this time before formal council, for he saw that the trouble was upon religious matters. (Acts 22:30-23:10) The meeting broke up in disorder - Pharisees against Sadducees - and the captain took Paul again to the castle for safety. Paul's saying in verse 5, "I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest," is thought by some to mean that Paul did not have good sight, but for other reasons he might not have known. Then follows the story of the conspiracy to kill Paul, and of his being sent at night with a strong guard to Caesarea. He spoke there before Felix, the governor, and again before Festus, who followed Felix in the office, but appealed his case, as a Roman citizen had a right to do, to Caesar. The emperor at this time was Nero. This led to his being sent to Rome.

The effect of Paul's preaching upon Felix, "as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come," reminds us of the effect of John the Baptist's preaching upon Herod. (Acts 24:25; Mark 6:20) Paul's speech before Festus and Agrippa (one of the family of Herods) in chapter 26 you will like sometime to read. Agrippa was not a man to be deeply influenced by Paul's preaching. His words, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian," are more truly translated in the Revised Version, "With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian." And remember the tone of scorn in which the word "Christian" was spoken; for as yet it was used only by their enemies in contempt. Next time the voyage to Rome.

After running over this story of Paul, telling some and reading some, read carefully the Lord's prediction of these things in John 15:18-21; 16:1-3. The Lord who foretold the disciples' trials was with them to strengthen and comfort them when the trials came. When Paul was in the castle of Antonia, "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."

1. Why was there an outbreak against Paul on his last visit to Jerusalem?

2. Of what use to him was his Roman citizenship?

3. How did the Lord strengthen him?

4. How did this violence against Paul lead to his going to Caesarea and to Rome?

Deeper Study

We have kept ourselves reminded of the Lord's predictions of persecutions which the disciples would suffer. He made such predictions when He sent out the twelve on their first mission in Galilee (Matthew 10: 16-22). These were not immediately fulfilled, but had fulfillment when the disciples went out on their larger mission into the world. (See also John 15:18-21 and 16:1-3.) With these predictions were joined promises of the Lord's presence with the disciples, protecting them and teaching them what to say. We do well to note the many passages in the Acts which tell of the Lord's presence with the disciples, guiding and strengthening them. Besides the evidence of His presence in the power given to the disciples to do miracles and to preach (Mark 16:20), there are many instances of visions instructing them where to go, the opening of prison doors and the word of cheer to Paul imprisoned in the castle. In this story of the apostles we see fulfillment of the Lord's promise, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20) The Lord's presence and help are no less real with us. We know that it is so, and we must go forward meeting trials and duties in the courage and strength of this knowledge. More and more we shall be conscious of the Lord's deeper blessings of guidance and protection. The promise is still in force, "Lo, I am with you always."

We have thought of the Lord's predictions of opposition and persecution and of His promises of protection and guidance as applying personally to the apostles. They have also a wider meaning and a meaning for all time, for the apostles in an impersonal sense are the Christian truths which the Lord sends into the world. This wider and more impersonal meaning is a help in understanding the Lord's words in Matthew 16:28, "There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom"; and again in John 21: 22, when the Lord said, concerning the apostle John, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? " The same thought helps us to understand the Lord's saying that the twelve apostles should sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28) It helps us also to see why the names of the twelve apostles were seen written on the foundations of the holy city. (Revelation 21:14) The Lord's protection and power were not only with the apostles, but are always with His truth. The Lord's providence and power have been and still are over the Bible in its wonderful preservation and distribution. They are over true doctrines revealed from His Word. The Word and the doctrines will meet with persecutions. Some will think that in opposing them they are doing God service. The Lord's power, not ours, protects His truth and gives it success as it goes forth into the world. "So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11; R.903; E. 137; A. 10683)

We have learned that "the Father" means the Divine goodness, and "the Son," the Divine truth. The Jews were not good and they were not true. They did not "know"- that is, they did not love - the Divine goodness, and they did not know the Divine truth. They did not love the Lord God Jesus Christ, because He is the Father and the Son: the Divine good and the Divine truth. Now, Paul had preached the Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection, and had converted many people of the Jews and of the Gentiles, in other countries. And as the Jews hated the Lord, of course they hated Paul, who preached the Lord. In wishing to kill Paul, they showed that they wanted to bind the truth, and to kill out the Lord's influence.

Agabus, as a prophet, represented this by binding his hands and his feet.

But, although the prophet forewarned Paul as to what would surely happen to him if he went to Jerusalem, and although the Christians at Caesarea pleaded with him not to go, until he felt broken-hearted over their affectionate anxiety, and although he was free to go or not to go, he declared his willingness not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the. name of the Lord Jesus.

As we follow the story in today's lesson, where Paul takes some men with him to the temple, to observe the law of the Nazariteship (Numbers 6) (see also Acts 18:18), we see that those of the early Christians who had been converted from Judaism, still continued to perform the rites prescribed by the Jewish Church. This probably continued until, as the Lord had predicted, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed, which was done by Titus the Roman general, about ten years after the arrest of Paul, which we are reading about. With the destruction of Jerusalem, of course, the temple was also destroyed. The Roman soldiers carried away the sacred furniture, and a picture of the candlestick and of the table of showbread carried in triumph by the Romans, was sculptured upon the Arch of Titus in Rome, where, although much defaced, this bas-relief can be seen to this day. With the destruction of the temple, the Jewish representative worship came absolutely to an end, for they could worship according to "The Law" only where the temple was. And the Jewish converts to Christianity doubtless then ceased performing any of the distinctive Jewish ceremonies, retaining only the two representative rites which the Lord Jesus Christ had instituted: Baptism, to take the place of the numerous washings that had been observed in the Jewish Church, and the Holy Supper, in place of their many sacrifices.

Since our next lesson will be about an adventure that happened to Paul while he was being taken by ship to Rome, we will take a look ahead at the intervening chapters, where we see that the reason Paul repeatedly gave for his persecution by the Jews, was: "Of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question." (Acts 23:6; 24:15, 21; 26:6, 8, and on) He laid great stress on the fact that he preached the resurrection from the dead, and bore witness, from his own experience, that the Lord Jesus Christ was risen from the dead.

As it was in the beginning of the First Christian Church, so it is now in the beginning of the New Christian Church. One of the chief reasons why more people do not accept the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem seems to be that they tell plainly about man's resurrection, and what he then does. Swedenborg tells us, from his own experience, and from the internal sense of the Word, very much about the life of spirits and angels in the other world: what they look like, how they live, what they love, and think, and say, and do. Moreover, the chief teaching of the New Church is that the Lord arose from the dead with his whole body completely made Divine or "glorified," and that in this His glorified body He rules heaven and earth.

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