The Bible Book

294

I ADMIT THAT I

WORSHIP THE GOD OF

OUR ANCESTORS AS A

FOLLOWER OF THE WAY

ACTS 24:14, PAUL’S ARREST

D

espite it leading to his

arrest and near lynching

at the hands of a mob, the

Apostle Paul’s decision to return to

Jerusalem from Rome is made for

a simple and virtuous reason: he

wants to hand over money that

has been collected among Gentile

churches to relieve the poor of

the Judean Church. The intent is

generous, yet, as Luke makes clear,

by traveling to the Jewish capital,

Paul is entering dangerous territory.

The Apostle is only too aware of

this. “I am going to Jerusalem,” he

tells friends, “not knowing what

will happen to me there. I only

know that in every city the Holy

Spirit warns me that ... hardships

are facing me” (Acts 20:22–23).

Pain and trials

It is not long until Paul must face

these hardships. His first act

upon arriving in Jerusalem is to

meet with James, the leader of

the Judean Church, who warns

him that many believers in Judea

think Paul is subverting the Law

of Moses because of a rumor that

Paul has been teaching Jews to

abandon their obedience to that

law. To prove them wrong, he

suggests that Paul join four local

believers who are about to undergo

a Jewish purification rite. Paul

agrees and reaches the last day of

the rite before he is spotted in the

Temple by Jews from Asia. He has

also been seen in the company of a

Greek from Ephesus, and the Jews

assume he has sacrilegiously taken

The arrest of Paul is a popular

subject in religious artwork, such as

this fresco from the Papal Basilica of

St. Paul Outside the Walls, which was

built on the site of Paul’s burial.

IN BRIEF

PA S SAGE

Acts 21:17–28:31

THEME

Faith under trial

SETTING

c. 57–60 ce Jerusalem and

Caesarea Maritima.

KEY FIGURES

Paul An Apostle of Christ.

Claudius Lysias A tribune

(high-ranking military officer)

in command of the Roman

garrison in Jerusalem.

Roman procurators

Governors of Judea, first

Marcus Antonius Felix

c.52–60 ce, then Porcius

Festus c.60–62 ce.

Agrippa II Great-grandson

of Herod the Great. A Roman-

appointed king whose realms

include Galilee.

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ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 295

the Greek into parts of the Temple

forbidden to Gentiles. A riot ensues

in which, according to Acts, the

Asian Jews drag Paul from the

Temple and try to kill him. He is

saved only by the intervention of

a Roman commander who takes

him into protective custody and,

after discovering a plot within the

Jewish Sanhedrin to murder Paul,

sends him to the headquarters of

the Roman governor, Felix.

Paul remains a prisoner there

for two years until Felix is replaced

by another Roman governor, Festus,

who reviews the case alongside

the Herodian King Agrippa. He

proposes another meeting with

the Sanhedrin, but Paul, revealing

that he is a Roman citizen, insists

on his case being referred to Rome.

While imprisoned, Paul tells

the story of his conversion outside

Damascus twice and portrays the

risen Jesus he encountered there

as the fulfillment of all that God has

promised the Jewish people. In the

end, Festus and Agrippa can find

no just cause to sentence Paul to

death, and he is sent on to Rome

to live under house arrest for a

further two years, before he

eventually gains his freedom.

Gospel parallels

Throughout the trials of Paul, there

are parallels with the account in

Luke’s Gospel of the trial of Jesus,

who, like Paul, strived to spread the

word of God amid often barbaric

opposition. Unlike his portrayal of

Jesus, who remained largely silent

during His torments and judgment,

in Acts Luke records three major

speeches in which Paul defends

himself and his record. Moreover,

Paul advocates for his own holiness

with a vehemence that Jesus does

not display, arguing that he is not

merely a Jew, but a Pharisee, and

thus, like all Pharisees, fully believes

in bodily resurrection, like that

experienced by Jesus.

Although the trajectories of

Jesus and Paul are not identical—

after all, within biblical scripture

Paul escapes his mission alive—

both men represent devout teachers

of the word of God who, despite

suffering, choose to persist under

the burden of their holy mission. ■

Persecution

and martyrdom

For prophets in the Bible,

faithfulness to God draws

hostility. Jeremiah speaks for

many when he begs God to

“think of how I suffer reproach

for your sake” (Jeremiah

15:15). Likewise, Jesus makes

clear in the New Testament

that just as He will suffer,

so will the disciples that

spread His message: “they

will seize you and persecute

you ... all on account of my

name” (Luke 21:12).

The changing meaning of

the Greek word transliterated

as “martyr” reflects this

close link between preaching

and suffering. In the New

Testament, the word occurs

often, meaning “witness”—

someone who bears witness

to Christ. By the end of the

1st century ce, as witnessing

increasingly began to lead to

persecution and death, the

word took on its modern

meaning of one who suffers

and dies for the sake of their

religious beliefs. Paul himself

was beheaded on the orders

of Emperor Nero.

See also: Peter’s Denial 256–57 ■ The Crucifixion 258–65 ■ The Word

Spreads 288–89 ■ The Road to Damascus 290–91

I am saying nothing

beyond what the prophets

and Moses said would

happen—that the Messiah

would ... bring the message

of light to his own people

and to the Gentiles.

Acts 26:22–23

My brothers ... I stand

on trial because of the

hope of the resurrection

of the dead.

Acts 23:6

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