SUFFERINGS OF ST. PAUL. 589 The zeal of the great Apostle seemed to quicken as he went; the more he suffered, the more was his heart on fire: the Jews persecuted him in every place that he visited; but the more violently he was opposed, the more earnestly did he strive to make Jesus Christ known and honoured amongst the nations. And everywhere his labours were crowned with success in the conversion of many, both Jews and Gentiles, to the Christian faith. Sufferings of St. Paul.-Acts, xxii., xxiii., &c. St. Paul allowed himself no rest; he incessantly preached Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, through all the provinces of Greece and of Asia Minor; from province to province, from island to island, he passed with indefatigable labour, braving every danger by land and sea, as his pastoral solicitude for the various churches called him.* Berea. From Athens he proceeded to Corinth, where, as has been stated in the text, he made a lengthened stay. Corinth was the turning point of his journey on this occasion. He sailed thence to Ephesus, and from Ephesus to Cæsarea, whence he at once proceeded to Jerusalem, which, as we have seen, he reached in time for the celebration of Pentecost. Then, as on the former occasion, he brought his missionary journey to an end by returning to ANTIOCH. *The Third Missionary journey of St. Paul, thus briefly referred to, may be traced as follows (see Acts, xviii. 23—xxi. 17) :— Starting once more from ANTIOCH, and proceeding by land through SYRIA to ASIA MINOR, he passed through the provinces of Cilicia, Galatia, and Phrygia, to Ephesus. From Ephesus, where he stayed for a considerable time, he set out for MACEDONIA, proceeding, as on his First Journey, by sea from Troas. After an extended journey through Macedonia, he next visited GREECE, where he stayed for three months in Corinth. Thence he returned, by land, through MACEDONIA, to Neapolis, from which port he sailed to ASIA MINOR. From Troas, where he landed, he proceeded to Asso, where he embarked on a vessel which, sailing by the islands of Mitylene, Chios, and Samos, brought him with his companions to Miletus. Thence he again embarked, and after a short sea journey, in which he passed by the islands of Coos and Rhodes, he landed at Patara, in the province of Lycia. From Patara, taking another vessel, he crossed to SYRIA, where he landed, first at Tyre, and then at Ptolemais; whence he journeyed by land to Cæsarea and JERUSALEM, which city, as on his return from his Second Journey, he reached in time to take part in the celebration of the feast of Pentecost. But on this occasion, the events narrated in the text prevented his return to Antioch. When he could not visit them in person, he instructed, reprehended, and exhorted them by his Epistles. The glory of God, and the salvation of souls, were the only objects that occupied the thoughts of the zealous Apostle. Though he had great difficulties to contend against, he had the happiness to see his preaching rewarded by the faith of thousands, and his endeavours crowned with success, by the special grace of Almighty God. For, as he says, it was not by himself, but by the grace of God with him, that he performed such wonders. His gift of miracles was so conspicuous, that even the handkerchiefs and aprons which had touched his body healed the sick, and put the infernal spirits to flight From visiting the churches of Asia, he was called to Jerusalem, where he foresaw that great trials awaited him. From his having been ordained as the Apostle of the Gentiles, the Jews of Jerusalem looked upon him as an enemy to their Law and to their holy Temple. He had not been then, many days in Jerusalem, before the city was in an uproar. The Jews seized him in the very Temple, and having dragged him forth, were preparing, amidst a riotous crowd of citizens, to kill him, when Lysias, the commandant of the Roman garrison, being apprised of what was going on, took with him a company of soldiers, and hastened to the scene of the tumult. The Jews, overawed by the presence of the soldiers, desisted from their violent treatment of the Apostle, and Lysias immediately laying hold of him, ordered him to be bound in chains, asking who he was, and what he had done. Some gave one answer, some another; nothing was to be heard but clamour and tumult. Lysias, therefore, not being able, amidst such confusion, to learn anything for certain, ordered his soldiers to lead off the prisoner to their quarters. The people followed with loud and insolent cries, demanding the Apostle's death. St. Paul asked Lysias to allow him to speak to them; the permission being granted, he made a sign with his hand to the people, as he stood upon the steps; and in the midst of a profound silence he began to harangue them in the Hebrew tongue. He gave them a clear and circumstantial account of his birth at Tarsus, and of his education at Jerusalem, of his doctrine, and zeal for the Law of his forefathers, of his former violence SUFFERINGS OF ST. PAUL. 591 against the Christians, of his conversion and mission amongst the Gentiles. They listened with great attention, until he mentioned the Gentiles; they then interrupted him, and cried out that such a man was not worthy to live. Lysias then had him conveyed to the soldiers' quarters, where he ordered him to be scourged and put to the torture, hoping thus to ascertain from the Apostle himself, why it was that such a tumult had been raised against him. When they had bound him, Paul asked the centurion, whether it was lawful to scourge a Roman citizen uncondemned. The centurion, having thus learned that the prisoner was a Roman citizen, at once went to Lysias, and informed him of the fact. Lysias, fearful of the consequences of ill-treating one who had a claim upon the protection of the imperial city, went straightway to the holy Apostle, unloosed his chains, and appointed the next day for him to plead his cause before the Council of the Jews. The Council was composed of members of two sects, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were as violent in temper, as they were opposed to one another in doctrine, concerning the existence of spirits and the resurrection of the dead. St. Paul, taking advantage of this circumstance, when he was brought before his judges, proclaimed his belief and hope in the resurrection of the dead. The members of the Council were thereupon divided in their judgments for and against him; the dispute grew warm, and Lysias being apprehensive lest Paul might be torn to pieces by them, ordered a guard of soldiers to go and to bring him safe within their quarters. The Jews were not yet satisfied; their malice against the holy Apostle was implacable, and more than forty of the most fiery zealots bound themselves by oath neither to eat nor drink till they should see him dead. St. Paul received notice of this conspiracy from his sister's son, and acquainted the commandant with it; he, for the security of his prisoner, ordered a strong body of troops to escort St. Paul out of the town and to convey him to Cæsarea, where he could be placed in the hands of Felix, the Roman Governor. Felix at once perceived the innocence of the Apostle, yet being in hopes of extorting money from him for his release, kept him a prisoner. This imprisonment lasted for two years; at the end of which time, Felix was recalled from the governorship of Judea, and replaced by Festus.* On the arrival of the new governor, the Jews presented a petition to him, that he would order Paul to be sent for trial from Cæsarea to Jerusalem. Had their request been granted, their design was to have assassinated the Apostle upon the road. St. Paul knew their intention, and had no other way of preventing its effects than by availing himself of his privilege as a Roman citizen, to appeal to the Emperor himself. Festus then promised him he should be sent to Rome. A few days afterwards, King Agrippat came to visit Festus at Cæsarea their conversation turned upon the subject of St. Paul; Agrippa had heard much of the wonderful man, and was eager to see him. Festus promised that he should both see and hear the prisoner. Next day, St. Paul was brought forth into the hall of audience, before the principal men of the city, and permitted to speak for himself. The holy Apostle began by saying, how happy he was in being permitted to plead before Agrippa: then he went on to speak with such forcible and elegant simplicity of expression, that Agrippa at length declared that he himself had been almost persuaded to become a Christian. The speech of the Apostle, in proof of his innocence, was so satisfactory to all who heard him, that both Festus and Agrippa publicly declared he might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed to Cæsar. But, * See Chronological Table of the Apostolic History. †The monarch here referred to, was Herod Agrippa II., the son of Herod Agrippa I., whose persecution of the Church in Jerusalem has already been described. (See p. 502.) At the time of his father's death, in A.D. 44, he was considered by the Emperor Claudius too young to be placed upon the throne of Judea; the kingdom was, therefore, once more formed into a Roman province, under the governorship of Cuspius Fadus, as procurator. In a few years, however, Agrippa received from Claudius the small kingdom of Chalcis, in lieu of which the Emperor soon afterwards conferred upon him a kingdom in Judea, consisting chiefly of the district over which Herod Philip had formerly ruled as tetrarch. And again, in A.D. 55, some few districts in Galilee and Peræa were granted to him by the Emperor Nero as an addition to his kingdom. Eventually, after siding with the Romans during the Jewish war which resulted in the downfall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), he retired to Rome, where he died in the third year of the Emperor Trajan, A.D. 100. SUFFERINGS OF ST. PAUL. 593 by the Roman law, an appeal once made to the Emperor, could not be withdrawn. St. Paul was therefore committed to the care of Julius, a centurion, who had orders to conduct him to Rome.* Having taken leave of his friends, he was put on board a ship with other prisoners, and after a long and perilous navigation, through boisterous winds and seas, was shipwrecked upon the coast of Malta. The ship went to pieces upon the rocks; but the crew got safe ashore, where they experienced great kindness from the inhabitants. But St. Paul having gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them upon the fire which was kindled to dry the clothes of himself and his shipwrecked companions, a viper shrinking from the heat, fastened itself to his hand, and clung to it; the barbarians from this circumstance concluded that he was a murderer, whom the divine justice had overtaken by land, after having spared him at sea. when they saw him shake off the venomous creature into the fire without receiving any hurt, they altered their opinions, and fancied him to be a god. The Apostle during his stay in the island employed his miraculous power in favour of the sick, and amongst others, healed the father of Publius, the Governor of the island. At the end of three months, Julius, with his prisoners, again embarked, and after passing by several places, landed at Puteoli, whence they proceeded to Rome. St. Paul met with courteous treatment from the Roman authorities, being permitted to remain unmolested in his own private lodging under a single guard, and to see whom he pleased. He remained a prisoner in that manner for two years, during which time he ceased not to preach the faith of Christ to all who came to see him. Thus he made many converts, among whom, as we gather from his Epistle to the Philippians, were some even of the Emperor's household. St. Luke here closes his inspired narrative of the Acts of the Apostles. Some details, however, of the closing years of St. Paul's life are supplied by the tradition of the Church * The course of this journey to Rome is clearly indicated on the Map of St. Paul's Journeys, in the Bible Atlas. |