TRACINGS FROM THE ACTS OF THE
APOSTLES
XVII. PAUL AT JERUSALEM.
ACTS xxi. 17—xxin. 35.
WELCOMED by the brethren in Jerusalem, Paul and his
company, on the day following, whilst the feast of Pentecost was proceeding,
had an interview with James and all the elders. To the tale of God's work among
the Gentiles and in heathen lands, by his ministry, all doubtless listened with
lively interest, and glorified God. Not a word had any one to say against the
work of grace which had gone on abroad. But he was in Jerusalem, and reports
prejudicial to him were rife in the holy city. To those reports definite
denials should be given, and no one could so well do that, they all would urge,
as Paul himself.
Reports. - But reports - what evils have they
often wrought, taken up, believed, and spread abroad, without the retailers or
first propagators taking pains to ascertain on what foundation they rested!
People's characters have been thereby blackened most unfairly, and hearts have
been broken most ruthlessly. For many are often more ready to listen to the
reports, and so imbibe a prejudice hostile to the individual concerned, than to
receive even the most positive contradiction of them on grounds which cannot be
questioned. Nehemiah was subject to such in his day (Neh. vi. 6). Little wonder
that Paul, the champion of free grace, was the object of malicious attacks in
his day! What were the reports? First, that he taught the Jews among the
Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their
children, neither to walk after the customs. The first of these was wholly
untrue. Timothy's circumcision, on which Paul lad insisted (Acts xvi. 3), gave
the lie to it. The second had some foundation, since Paul had rebuked Peter to
the face at Antioch for withdrawing from social intercourse with Gentiles, by
not eating with them (Gal. ii. 12-14). Pusillanimity, however, marked the
leaders at Jerusalem. Instead of having this last question threshed out, and
the proper course for Christians with reference to Judaism distinctly laid
down, they desired evidently no controversy on the matter, but urged on Paul
open conformity to Jewish ordinances to refute the charges against
him.
Zealous for the Law. Myriads among the Jews, so they
affirmed, had believed, but all were zealous for the law (Acts xxi. 20).
Evidently full Christian ground was unknown at Jerusalem. To have died through
law to law (Gal. ii. 19) to live to God had not formed part of their professed
creed as yet. To have died to the law by the body of Christ, to be married to
another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, to bring forth fruit unto God
(Rom. vii. 4), was teaching to which the Christians at Jerusalem had evidently
not yet intelligently listened, nor to which were they ready to subscribe. "To
go forth to Christ without the camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb. xiii: 13), was
a step they had never thought of taking. The superiority of the Lord Jesus, as
Apostle and High Priest of their confession, over Moses and Aaron had
apparently not dawned upon them; nor had they apprehended the truth that, by
the sacrifice of Christ, sacrificial rites at the brazen altar had for
Christians been terminated, seeing that believers were perfected for ever by
the one offering (Heb. x. 14); and forgiveness being secured for them by His
one sacrifice, there could be no more offering for sin (Heb. x. 18). Christian
ground, as distinct from Jewish ground and position, they had evidently never
been taught, and knew not, we may surely say, the Christian privilege of
entering the holiest with boldness by the blood of Jesus (Heb. x. 19), as well
as that of intelligently feeding on the sin-offering, the blood of which had,
as it were, been taken into the sanctuary for sin (Heb. xiii. 10-12). Myriads
of Jews believed, but as long as the Temple worship continued they joined in
it. Full Christian privileges, and distinct Christian ground, they were slow to
apprehend. On border ground there was the tendency for them to remain, content
pretty much with truth common to Jews and Christians, the death of the Lord
Jesus and His coming again excepted. How needful, then, was the Epistle to the
Hebrews, written, as we see, to those who ought to have made progress in the
school of Christianity, but who needed still to learn the first principles of
the oracles of God (Heb. v. 12). Amongst such did the Apostle here find
himself. The appeal to Paul by James and ths elders shows where they were, and
tho Epistle to the Hebrews demonstrates clearly what they lacked.
If it
is asked, how was this, seeing that there were very godly people there, notably
James, styled the Just? The answer may well be, that very probably there was a
tendency in the leaders to go on as they had begun from the commencement of
Christianity at Pentecost; and very possibly there was a desire in many for an
easier path, thus avoiding fresh persecution. Some, indeed, had suffered in
early days even unto death, and others had known imprisonment for Christ's
sake. There had been, too, the spoiling of their goods by adversaries (Heb. x.
32-34). Things, however, appear at this time to have quieted down, and James
and the rest could live in comparative peace and security, though the Jews were
ready and willing, if they could, to tear the Apostle Paul's body limb from
limb.
A Proposal. Now Paul was at Jerusalem, and many of his
countrymen viewed him as a renegade Jew, and a ringleader of the sect of the
Nazareans. His presence, when known, would stir questions and arouse
controversy. But if he showed by his acts in the Temple that he was after all
as good a Jew as others, all would be well, and the stories afloat about him
could be treated as calumnies. This James and the elders desired, and there
seemed doubtless to them a providential opening for it to be brought about.
Four men they had, with a vow on each, from which, till the rites prescribed by
the law had been satisfied, they could not be free. Let Paul, in conformity
with the custom, take on himself to defray the expenses of these four men, as
identified with them. All would then see that he kept the law like any one else
of the seed of Jacob. Now, this advice, they urged, if followed, would in no
way cancel the decree of the council of Jerusalem about Gentile converts. To
that decree James and all still adhered. Then it had been a question of
Gentiles. Now it was one about Jews.
A False Position. Had the
truth of the Body of Christ been held by them in intelligence and in power,
they must have seen that part of the Body could not be free from legal
observances, which were properly binding, and to be submitted to by the other
part. But, as we have said, full and distinctive Christian teaching was really
unknown to the bulk of them. To their proposal, however, Paul assented. We know
his ardent love for his kinsmen after the flesh (Rom. ix. 1-3, x. 1), and his
longing desire for their salvation. Perhaps that made him the more willing to
consent, and tended to blind him to the false position into which he would put
himself. The eye of the Lord was, however, on His servant. So whilst allowing
him to be persuaded into this compromising position, for his profit surely, and
for our warning, He delivered him out of it in a very unexpected way. For, like
David of old, Paul now had a way of escape opened up which he could never have
brought about. David was in a thoroughly wrong position when he fled to Achish,
King of Gath, and was casting in his lot with the Philistines against his own
nation of Israel, and professing his willingness to fight on the side of the
uncircumcised host. What a position to be placed in! The former champion of
Israel, and conqueror of Goliath, in the ranks of the very race against which
he had fought so successfully! But how to get out of that position - that was
the difficulty. God then came in. "The lords of the Philistines upon advisement
sent him away" (1 Chron. xii. 19). Freed from his false position, David had to
learn, when he reached the blackened remains of Ziklag, what trouble he had
brought on himself and others by moving forward to the battle-field under the
banner of the King of Gath.
And now Paul was in as thoroughly a false
position. And soon all must see it, if the time came for him to stand at the
brazen altar with the prescribed offerings. For if the vow of these men was
that of a Nazarite, as is commonly supposed, sacrificial victims must be
offered - viz., a he-lamb for a burnt-offering, an ewe-lamb for a sin-offering,
and a ram for peace-offerings (Numb. vi. 14) - for each of them. Paul had
charged himself with all that, conforming thereby to a practice which had
sprung up among the Jews, of richer people taking on themselves to defray the
expenses or sacrifices of poorer brethren.* The appointed seven days were
running out, and Paul, at their close, would have appeared at the altar with
his sin-offering. What a triumph that would have been to the Judaising party!
What a blow to the truth, so firmly, so boldly, contended for by Paul! For
where remission of sins is there is no more offering for sin (Heb. x. 18) is
Christian teaching, which was now gravely imperilled. But as with David, so
with Paul - the Lord came in.
* See Josephus, Ant., XIX. vi. 1.
David
never entered the battle with Achish. Paul never approached the brazen altar
with his sin-offering. For when the days were almost ended, Jews from Asia,
when they saw him in the Temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on
him. The man who taught all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and
that place was actually in the very courts of the sanctuary, and, as they
supposed, had polluted the holy place, by introducing Trophimus, an Ephesian,
into the part that no Gentile could enter. In this supposition they were quite
mistaken. Nevertheless, now commenced an uproar. The city was moved. People ran
together, and, seizing hold of Paul, dragged him out of the Temple, intending
to kill him outside its sacred precincts. But ere they could accomplish their
purpose, the chief captain, with centurions and soldiers, ran down into the
midst of the crowd. The appearance of the military saved Paul's life. The
multitude left off beating him. The chief captain took him. He was a prisoner
now in the hands of the Romans, and bound with two chains.
The prophecy
of Agabus had come true. But enmity against Paul was not yet appeased, nor was
the noise of the crowd lessened. Vociferating, some one thing, and some
another, it was impossible for the chief captain to understand the cause of
their hostility, so he commanded Paul to be brought into the castle,* where,
out of the sound of the uproar, he might learn what it was all about. But as
the crowd pursued Paul, crying out, "Away with him!" and as the pressure became
so great, and the efforts of his assailants so determined, not content with
having already 504 TRACINGS FROM THE ACTS. beaten him, he had to be carried up
the stairs, borne of the soldiers. Often had his life been threatened, and
often had he been in imminent danger of losing it. But each time the Lord had
delivered him. Now again his life was endangered, and afresh was he rescued
from death. For nothing less than that his enemies clamoured. Yet he had done
them no wrong. Why, then, was he singled out as alone worthy of death at that
time ? No outcry was raised against James and the elders, professed ringleaders
of the sect of the Nazorseans in common with Paul. Why was he thus pursued ?
Because he had boldly and persistently refused to compromise the Gospel of the
grace of God. Those once Gentiles were fellow-heirs, and of the same Body, and
partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel (Eph. iii. 6). This
he had maintained. And this was the real cause of his persecution, and of the
clamour for his death.
* Either the barracks belonging to the castle or
tower of Antonia, or perhaps the castle itself. The word used by Luke may mean
either. Josephus thus describes the fortress: "Now, as to the tower of Antonia,
it was situated at the corner of two cloisters of the court of the Temple, of
that on the west, and that on the north; it was erected upon a rook of fifty
cubits in height, and was on a great precipice; it was the work of King Herod,
wherein he demonstrated his natural magnanimity. . . . On the corner, where it
joined to the two cloisters of the Temple, it had passages down to them both,
through which the guard (for there always lay in this tower a Roman legion)
went several ways among the cloisters, with their arms, on the Jewish
festivals, in order to watch the people, that they might not there attempt to
make any innovations; for the Temple was a fortress that guarded the city, as
was the tower of Antonia a guard to the Temple ; and in that tower were the
guards of those three." - Wars of the Jews, V. v. 8.
But was
deliverance from death the only deliverance he experienced at that time? Many,
and perhaps most even, of the Christians in Jerusalem thought only of the
preservation of his life. We, however, see that there was another deliverance
brought about by the chief captain's interposition. Paul was kept thereby from
compromising the truth. Are we casting a stone at him? By no means. But facts
are facts, and Scripture deals with them. He had, as we may remember, been
expressly forbidden by the Spirit, through the disciples at Tyre, to go to
Jerusalem; nevertheless, he went there, and nothing but God's intervention by
the Roman power prevented the Jews on the one hand from accomplishing their
murderous purpose, or Paul on the other from compromising the truth, which his
presence at the altar of burnt-offering with the sacrifices required by law
must have brought about. It was a mercy to the whole Church that Paul was taken
prisoner by the Romans. Could the teaching of the Hebrews have been
subsequently set forth, if the great champion of the full Christian faith had
at this time practically surrendered the latter by yielding to the doctrine of
expediency? The chief captain's prompt appearance was a deliverance indeed. The
false position in which Paul had put himself he was in no longer. And what he
could not have done before he could with a free spirit do now - viz., boldly
address the Jews ; and though not in the Temple court, yet from a more
commanding position, even the stairs of the castle.
Asking leave from
Claudius Lysias, who courteously granted it, after learning that he was not
that Egyptian who had formerly stirred up sedition, and led out into the
wilderness a number of assassins, Paul from his elevated and therefore more
commanding position intimated by gesture his desire to address the excited
multitude. Great silence now prevailed, and he proceeded to speak. Greek he
could speak with facility, as the chief captain learnt, to his evident
surprise; but he began to address his countrymen in a tongue more dear to them
- that of Aramaic which is called by Luke "Hebrew". It had since the Babylonish
captivity become the common tongue of the home-born Jews. There is a charm in
one's own language, a melody to the native ear, however harsh and uncouth it
may sound to that of a foreigner. To that the Jews were not indifferent. So
hearing him speak in Aramaic, they were the more quiet.
Paul's
Defence. Though a prisoner in the hands of the Romans, he wa.s free in
spirit. And the opportunity now occurring, he availed himself of it to let them
know, what hitherto doubtless they had never heard, the cause of the great
change in his life, the result of his visit to Damascus. Commencing by
reminding all of his Jewish education and training, brought up at the feet of
Gamaliel, and well instructed in the law, and the added traditional teaching of
the fathers, of his zeal toward God in old days there was no doubt. Proofs in
abundance were forthcoming. He had persecuted the Way unto death, and populated
prisons with suspected and incriminated persons. Of his determination to put
down Christianity, if possible, he had given many and marked proofs; and the
high priest and the elders were well acquainted with them. Who had more
determinedly played the role of persecvitor than he? Zeal for God had indeed
characterised him. Zeal for God he owned (xxii. 3) characterised them. But
there may be zeal for God without knowledge. That he had experienced in his own
case. That, he well knew, animated the multitude before him. He, however, was a
changed man. What had made him cease from being the relentless persecutor, to
become the ardent champion of the faith ? They should hear. He had seen Jesus
the Nazaraean. He had heard Him speak, but it was from heaven. The crucified
One had appeared to Paul in a glory above the brightness of an Eastern noonday
sun. He had spoken directly to him, calling him by his name. But further.
Charging him with persecuting the One who was addressing him from heaven, He
directed him still to proceed to Damascus, and there to learn what he was now
to do. That heavenly visions could be vouchsafed to men at times no Jew could
deny. That obedience to directions from heaven was incumbent on any one thus
favoured, which of the multitude before him would in his sober senses for a
moment dispute? Would any take the ground that he was under a complete
misapprehension as to the vision of which he now told them? He had an
unimpeachable witness to confirm it. One Ananias, a devout man according to the
law, and well reported of by all the Jews at Damascus, had visited him when in
his blindness, the effect of that heavenly vision. He endorsed the fact that
Paul had seen the Lord Jesus at that time, and had heard words from His mouth.
Moreover, he confirmed what the Lord had said to Saul when on the ground
outside the city walls (xxvi. 16-18), that he was to be "a witness for Him unto
all men of what he had seen and heard." A worldwide commission had Paul then
received. All men were embraced within the range of it. What could he, then,
do? The Nazarean, as the Jews contemptuously called the Lord, had appeared to
him, had spoken to him, and had entrusted him with such a commission. To
profess himself His disciple, to forsake his past ways of persecution, which
clearly were evil, surely became him. So hearkening to the admonition of
Ananias, "And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy
sins, calling upon His name" (xxii. 16), he was enrolled as a disciple of
Christ by baptism, and washed away his sins, calling upon the Lord's name.
Thenceforth he served Him, through whose servant-messenger his eyesight had
been perfectly restored.
Who could suppose that he could do anything
else? Yet he had more to tell them, and also to tell us, that of which we have
not previously read. He had another vision. A second time had the Lord appeared
to him and spoken to him. On this occasion the appearance was the more
remarkable, seeing that it was in the Temple at Jerusalem on Paul's first
return to the city after his conversion. Engaged there in prayer, he fell into
a trance, and saw the Lord, who said to him, "Make haste, and get thee quickly
out of Jerusalem; for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me" (xxii.
18). With that freedom which characterised, as we have seen, Ananias (ix.) and
Peter (x.), Paul reminded the Lord, he here tells his hearers, of his former
ways as a persecutor, with which the Jews were cognisant. His past conduct he
looked on as sufficient to make the Jews more ready to listen to him. But the
Lord's reply was imperative and decisive. "Depart: for I will send thee far
hence unto the Gentiles" (xxii. 21). What could he do, he might ask, but
endeavour, as he had done, to carry out his mission?
The Lord had
appeared to him in God's house at Jerusalem. Would the God of Israel, jealous
of His glory, have allowed in that Temple the appearance of a blasphemer or
impostor, as the Jews regarded Christ? Who then and what must He be who had
there spoken to Paul ? It was One who had authority, and could send him on a
mission from Himself. "I will send thee." Who in Jehovah's house could thus
speak but He who is God over all, blessed for evermore?
Another thought
this second appearance suggests. God had not dwelt in His earthly house since
the captivity. He left it in Ezekiel's day (Ezek. x. 18, 19, xi. 22, 23). The
house continued bereft of the Divine Presence all the time the Lord was on
earth (Matt, xxiii. 38). And the only occasion on which that actual building
had been graced by the Divine Presence was that time, when the Lord Jesus
appeared to Paul and told him to leave Jerusalem; "for they will not receive
thy testimony concerning Me." A command from One speaking with authority in the
Temple! What, again Paul might ask, could he do but obey? True, how true, were
the Lord's words! And if confirmation was needed, soon was it supplied. The
renewed vociferations of the crowd, as the Apostle pronounced the last words of
the Lord's command, supplied it. "Away with such a fellow from the earth: for
it was * not fit that he should live" (xxii. 22), was a sad and solemn
confirmation of what the Lord had said years before. Was Paul disappointed at
the reception his defence had met with? Very possibly. For very decided were
the renewed manifestations of hostility.They cried out. They rent their
garments. They threw dust into the air. So, if the chief captain did not
understand Aramaic, he could be at no loss to perceive the effect of the
address.
* So the better reading, implying, as Alford remarks, that he
ought to have been put to death long ago.
A Roman. But what was
it all about? What caused the uproar at first? And then, after Paul's defence,
what called forth the cries, and the renewed exhibition of intense hostility?
How could Lysias, responsible for the peace of the city, get at the truth, and
so understand the situation? He resolved, without further intercourse with
Paul, to scourge him, in hopes that something might be elicited from the victim
to throw light on the subject. Barbarous treatment we should say, but in
character with the times. Orders were at once given to that effect, and the
centurion entrusted with them proceeded to execute them. Paul was tied up with
the thongs for that purpose. Then he spoke, and asked a question, the
importance of which he well knew, and the importance of which the centurion at
once perceived. "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and
uncondemned?" (25). That was enough. The threatened scourging was averted, for
the centurion at once went and warned the chief captain of the privilege which
Paul enjoyed. He was a Roman. Ascertaining this fact from personal inquiry,
Lysias at once became afraid because he had even bound him. A Roman citizen had
rights which no official in any part of the empire could trample on with
impunity. And especially after the celebrated prosecution of Verres by Cicero
officials everywhere would be more careful. To bind a Roman uncondemned was
unlawful; to scourge him was a heinous offence. Paul, now released, passed the
night in custody of the soldiers in the castle of Antonia.
Before the
Council. But what should the chief captain do with his prisoner? On what
ground could he detain him? Or should he go free? Puzzled evidently as to the
course he should pursue, his next device was to summon the council to meet, and
to bring Paul before it. Something might then be elicited to make his path
clear. The council met, and Paul, who had once, it is supposed, been a member
of it, for the first and the last time in his life stood before it, yet not as
a prisoner arraigned before that tribunal, for no charge had been formulated
against him. Many who now looked on him must have known him in earlier years.
Ex-high-priests, as Caiaphas and Theophilus,* were probably there, and doctors
of the law, with whom, before his conversion, Paul had doubtless consulted.
What a company to stand before, and what an occasion for them to see and hear
the one whose name and whose course were well known to them all! But the
purpose for which the council was summoned utterly failed to be realised. The
chief captain could only gather that nothing worthy of death or of bonds could
be brought against his prisoner. Questions of Jewish law were all that he could
understand had caused the turmoil into which Jerusalem had been thrown; and
even as to them there was not unanimity. For the council was divided. The
Pharisees declared there was no evil in Paul; whilst the Sadducees, if they had
had their way, would have killed him. Judicial calmness and even-handed
justice, it became apparent, were absent from their proceedings. So as Paul's
life was evidently in danger, the military, summoned by their commander,
rescued him from his perilous position, and took him back to the
castle.
On Paul's behaviour at this trying time some have commented in a
manner not complimentary to the Apostle. The situation was unusual, and his
circumstances were trying. He was there with no charge brought against him to
which he was to plead. And when he said, and could say with truth, he had lived
in all good conscience to that day, the high priest Ananias ordered him to be
struck on the mouth, a most unrighteous act, and, considering the circumstance
we have mentioned, utterly indefensible. No wonder the Apostle's sense of the
injustice stirred him up, and he answered the high priest, not knowing that he
was the high priest, in a way he would not have done had he been consciously
addressing that officer. And then, discerning the character of the assembly, he
rallied the Pharisaic section to his side, by reminding all that his great
offence in the eyes of the Sadducees consisted in upholding the doctrine of
resurrection, which they systematically denied. We would, however, whilst thus
noticing what the historian has told us, leave Paul in the hands of his Judge
and ours, only remembering that he had been distinctly forbidden by the Spirit
to go to Jerusalem at this time. It is no wonder, then, if his conduct on this
occasion laid him open to animadversion. No one of us is perfect. But ere we
pass strictures on him, let us be sure that we should have acted better
ourselves.
* Before Caiaphas the Lord had stood, and by him had been judged
guilty of blasphemy. From Theophilus the Apostle had solicited and obtained
letters to Damascus to carry out his mission there.
Ananias. A
few words on Ananias the high priest. He was the son of Nebedeus, and had been
nominated to the office by Herod Agrippa II., King of Chalcis. A chequered
experience was his, having been, ere this, sent to Rome in bonds as a prisoner,
after, for a time, enjoying the dignity of the high priesthood (Josephus, Ant.,
XX. vi. 2). Acquitted, he returned to Jerusalem, and it would seem from Luke
that he again discharged the functions of the high priesthood. Deposed from his
office shortly after this, he ended his life in an ignominious way,
assassinated by the Sicarii, who dragged him forth from an aqueduct in the
pleasure grounds of Herod's palace, or pretorium, in Jerusalem, whither he had
fled for safety. A more worthless person never, it is said, filled the office
of high priest. How low had Judaism sunk! Paul's words came awfully true in the
end of that arrogant man, "God shall smite thee, thou whited wall"; whilst the
Apostle's regard for the office is put also on record. As high priest there was
a respect due to him, which his personal character could never have
claimed.
Divine Encouragement. What must have been Paul's
feelings during these two most harassing days ? He had left Mnason's house,
where he had lodged, on the previous morning, to attend, as he had done day by
day, the Temple, with the four men the expenses of whose offerings he had
undertaken to defray. He passed the next night a prisoner in the castle, after
having narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Jews outside the sanctuary.
He had addressed the multitude from the stairs leading to the castle,
expecting, we may quite believe, that the story of his conversion would tell on
them, and mitigate, if not subdue, their angry passions. But nothing is more
cruel than religious hate.
How often have people since that day, who
have felt in their own souls the power of the truth, expected that the recital
of that which converted them must act in a similar way on others! How often
have such been disappointed! Was Paul disappointed at the result? And was that
all the testimony, he might ask himself, that he was to bear in Jerusalem? On
the second day he had appeared before the Sanhedrin, and the council had broken
up in disorder. But he remained a prisoner, though a prisoner against whom no
charge had been preferred, or could be, of which the Roman authorities could
take cognisance. The second day closed, and night overshadowed the earth. Paul
was probably alone, certainly with no friendly Christian to encourage him, or
to pray with him. And, till morning came, he could look for no acquaintances to
visit him. Was he deserted? Was he forgotten? If friends could not reach him -
and there were certainly some in the city who would gladly, if it had been
possible, have shared in his captivity - there was One who did visit him that
night, and to whom bolts, bars, and guards were no obstacle. "The Lord stood by
him, and said, Be of good cheer: for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem,
so must thou bear witness also in Rome" (xxiii. 11). How different was the
Lord's estimate of Paul from that of the Jews! A witness for Christ in the
Lord's eyes; a fellow unfit to live in those of the Jews. Gracious indeed of
the Lord was it to visit Paul. He had watched the whole proceeding. He was not
unconcerned about His servant. The defence on the previous day from the stairs
of the castle might seem to the Apostle to have been fruitless, since it had
made no favourable impression on the crowd. Yet it was not service thrown away,
strength expended for naught and in vain. Paul had borne witness to Christ in
Jerusalem. That service was acceptable to the Lord. The Jews had heard that the
Nazarean was in heaven, that He had those on earth whom He regarded as part of
Himself, and that He could show grace to those who had openly opposed Him by
persecuting His saints. The Lord remembered all this, and approved of it. How
the Apostle's heart must have been cheered! It was grace indeed, but grace to
His failing servant. Were some inclined to call him rash in venturing to
Jerusalem after so many and such distinct warnings? Certainly the One who might
have reproached him is the One who did not; and the only one that we know who
received a Divine communication that night was Paul the prisoner, separated
from all his friends, and detained in the castle of Antonia. Honour should be
put on him for whose death the Jews were so clamorous. "Not fit to live!" they
cried out. A fitting vessel to bear witness for Christ in Rome, the Lord, in
the silence of that night, announced to His servant and confessor. Well does He
know the time and the way to encourage a servant, lest he should be cast down
and crushed under the weight of circumstances. And Paul is not the only one,
nor the last in point of time, who has proved this loving ministry of the Lord;
his history also bears witness that no time is out of season for such
ministration, if circumstances call for it.
Divine
Communications. With what communications from the Lord had Paul been
favoured! Spoken to outside Damascus, and learning that all his plans were
known to Him whom he had regarded contemptuously as the Nazarean, he received
another communication, when in the Temple at Jerusalem, again disclosing how
perfectly acquainted was the Lord with his desires, and this time for his
countrymen's welfare. Guidance he received afresh. Then at Corinth, when in
danger of discouragement, the Lord a third time communicated with him, and kept
him in that city to labour for his Saviour. And now on a fourth occasion, but
the second time at night, the Lord spoke to encourage His servant. If men might
think his service in life was over, Paul should learn that there was yet more
that he should be permitted to engage in. Gracious Master, how truly dost Thou
care for and minister to Thine own !
Estimating Service. What
real work had Paul done in Jerusalem? He had not preached in any synagogue. He
had not let his voice be heard in the Temple. Nobody, that we read of, had been
converted, nor any unsaved impressed. No conscience was reached. No heart was
even softened. Men are too often apt to judge by immediate results. If there
are none, then all that has been done is pronounced of no use. Paul had
addressed the multitude from the stairs, but it only excited still more their
rage and opposition. Judged, then, by immediate results, it must be pronounced
a failure. But was it a failure? Did the Lord so regard it? He did not. Very
different, at times, is the Lord's estimate of service from that of man's. Paul
had borne witness for Christ. It was not labour in vain. And by-and-by, when
the yield of the harvest can be rightly estimated and openly displayed, that
will be made apparent. Meanwhile, what encouragement for labourers to remember
that testimony for Christ is not forgotten by Him, nor thought little of,
though at the time there may be no visible results! How many have been called
to labour in the winter time, as it were, sowing the seed in anything but
genial weather, or, it may be, but preparing the ground ! Such labour may seem,
in the eyes of the multitude, of little worth compared with the rich harvest
which falls beneath the sickle of the reaper. Most men are apt to think of the
reaper; little, often, of the sower. Yet, had not the sower been first at work,
what fruit would there have been for the reaper to gather? That which the Lord
told His disciples at Sychar we all do well to remember: "Herein is that saying
true, One soweth, and another reapeth : I sent you to reap that whereon ye
bestowed no labour; other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours."
Those to whom the Lord referred had very likely long passed away. They had
wrought no deliverance on the earth, neither had the inhabitants of the world
fallen (Isa. xxvi. 18). True service, nevertheless, had been theirs, though
they had never seen the fields at Sychar white for harvest. And the Lord did
not forget them ; nor will He. So in other cases. Instead of hastily judging or
depreciating the labours of others, let us wait for that time to judge when
"the sower and the reaper shall rejoice together" (John iv. 36-38).
A
Plot. To return. Morning came, and with it most unexpectedly light on the
path of Claudius Lysias. A company of Jews, upwards of forty in number, had
bound themselves under a curse not to eat nor to drink till they had slain
Paul. But in the chief captain's hands Paul was safe. How, then, should they
carry out their purpose ? The council was to ask the chief captain for a second
examination ; then, on Paul's road to the court, these Jews would waylay and
kill him. What hatred to the truth this manifested! They could not confute the
Apostle, so they would kill him. And, what was worse, chief priests and elders,
members of the council, were made privy to it. Those who should have set an
example of impartial justice were ready to connive at this iniquity. What
demoralisation there must have been among the members of the Sanhedrin, when
any of them could lend an ear to such a proposition! But Paul's nephew, his
sister's son, heard of it, and told him. Sent by the Apostle to Lysias, the
young man revealed the plot. The chief captain thereupon took prompt measures,
and sent away his prisoner that night to Cesarea under a strong escort of
soldiers, sending also a letter to Felix the governor, acquainting him with the
fact that Paul was a Roman, and that nothing worthy of death or of bonds had
been proved against him.
Thankful must. Lysias have been when released
from further responsibility in the matter. Thrice had he saved Paul's life. The
first time was when he appeared so promptly on the scene, and rescued him from
the hands of the infuriated mob. A second time he saved his life, when at his
command the military carried off Paul from the council, lest he should have
been torn in pieces by the Sadducean members of it. A third time he saved him,
when he had sent him out of Jerusalem to Caesarea under an armed escort. Lysias
had done his duty. His name appears but once more in the narrative (xxiv.
22).
Paul had now left Jerusalem, perhaps for ever, certainly for years. His
life at Caesarea under detention will next come before us. Meanwhile, arriving
in that city, he had completed the first stage of his journey to Home.
Go To Chapter Eighteen