Grace Institute: Luke & Acts: Bearing Withness in Rome

Bearing Witness in Rome Acts 19:21-28 Spring 2008

The Return to Jerusalem (19:21-21:14)

This section of the book of Acts ends while Paul is in Ephesus, and concludes in the midst of what is traditionally known as the third missionary journey. That is because while Paul is still in his final missionary journey, Paul's focused has shifted. He is now heading to Rome. But the road to Rome will go through Jerusalem (19:21).

Paul finishes his third missionary journey with a whirlwind tour through Macedonia and Greece, and then back to Miletus where he meets with the elders from the church in Ephesus. He gives them a long farewell address (20:17-35), and then they all weep and hug Paul knowing that they would never see Paul again (20:38).

Most of the Ephesian elders probably thought that Paul's journey to Jerusalem would result in his execution. All the Christians who met with Paul as he headed towards Jerusalem clearly expected that Paul would be killed when he arrived. In Tyre, the disciples told Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem (21:4). In Caesarea, Agabus the prophet tells Paul he will be bound in Jerusalem (21:11), and the Caesarean believers beg Paul not to go to Jerusalem (21:12).

But Paul's purpose was to go to Jerusalem, for the Spirit had told him that the road to Rome would go through Jerusalem (19:21). Was the Spirit being contradictory, telling Agabus and the Christians in Tyre one thing, while telling Paul another? If we look closely at Agabus' prophecy, it was not a prohibition but a merely a declaration of what was to come. Furthermore, the church in Tyre was in the Spirit, but it doesn't mean that the message was from the Spirit.

Paul would go to Jerusalem because he knew that he would be arrested, after which he would appeal to Caesar, as was his right as a Roman citizen, thus providing him with a trip to Rome with all expenses paid by the Roman empire. The gospel would reach the remotest parts of the earth by first heading back to the center of it all.

Paul's Arrest and Imprisonment in Judea (21:15-26:32)

Paul's Witness to the Jews (21:15-23:34)

All happens according to plan. Paul is arrested in Jerusalem. The actual charge against Paul is that he brought a Gentile into the temple (21:28), something he did not do (21:29). It seems that Paul's mission to the Gentiles not only upset those within the church, but it upset those Jews outside of the church as well. This charge enrages the crowd and a riot starts. Paul is rescued/arrested by the Roman army for disturbing the peace (21:30-36).

After some clarification as to his identity (21:38-39), Paul convinces the Roman army commander to let him talk with the gathered Jewish mob (21:40). In this message we see that Paul departs from a proclamation of what others have witnessed regarding Jesus (i.e. his death and resurrection), and instead proclaims what he has witnessed about Jesus. Paul recounts his conversion experience (22:6-16) and his vision of Jesus and His call to the Gentiles (22:17-21). Paul is “being a witness” of Christ, in the way that Christ has affected him.

The Jews become enraged by Paul's explanation of his mission to the Gentiles, but when the Roman centurion discovers that Paul was a Roman citizen, he unbinds Paul. But he has to put him back into protective custody because he was afraid the Jewish leaders would kill Paul otherwise (23:10).

Paul remains in “protective” custody in Jerusalem, and it seems that Paul's plan to make it to Rome had been thwarted. But Paul received sees the Lord that night and receives a promise that he would be his witness in Rome (23:11).

Paul's Imprisonment in Caesarea (24:1-26:32)

Eventually Paul is moved to a prison in Caesarea, again because of threats against his life. The centurion sends a letter with Paul to the governor in Caesarea, Felix. This letter is just one of many declarations by Roman officials in the book of Acts that Paul is not the cause of the disruption of peace wherever he goes, but that he is innocent of any of the charges.

In Caesarea Paul is given an opportunity to responds to his Jewish accusers before the Roman governor Felix. As he had done in his trial before the Jewish Council in chapter 23, Paul emphasizes only his belief in a resurrection, thereby making the dispute look like the longstanding theological debate between the Pharisees and Sadducees (24:21). Felix only keeps Paul imprisoned because of his own corruption (24:26).

Paul remains imprisoned in Caesarea for two years when a new Roman governor is appointed. The new Roman governor, Festus, asks visiting King Agrippa to help determine the charge against Paul before he sends him to face Caesar. As he did in Acts 22, Paul proclaims his personal experience with Jesus rather than that of the other apostles. As he did before Felix, Paul states that he is preaching nothing more than the Jewish prophets have stated. However, Paul goes on to proclaim that the Old Testament prophets had predicted a suffering Christ who would rise from the dead (26:23). This clearly is a defense of Jesus as the Christ, for his listeners would have known of Jesus death and of the rumors of his resurrection.

Festus (25:25) and Agrippa (26:32) both agree that it is only because Paul appealed to Caesar that they couldn't release him. Luke is demonstrating to a skeptical audience, that Christianity is not a threat to the Empire and that in reality the leadership is civil, and for the most part been badly treated by those in authority.

The Trip to Rome (27:1-28:10)

Because Paul appealed to Caesar, his trial would take place in Rome not Caesarea. So he it put on a ship with other prisoners and they set sail for Rome. The journey turns out to be very eventful, for they end up in a storm and are shipwrecked on the island of Malta. But even in this narrative, Luke is defending Paul as a man innocent of the charges against him. Paul is not a trouble maker, but as an extraordinary man possessing great integrity.

• Paul warns the Roman centurion in charge of the prisoners not to sail farther during the winter (27:9-10).
• An angel encourages the ship that all aboard would be saved, for Paul must stand before Caesar (27:23-24).
• Paul warns the soldiers that if they abandon the ship that they will die, demonstrating his concern for his guards (27:31).
• Paul shakes off a deadly viper (28:3).
• Publius' father healed (28:8).
• Paul heals many of the sick on Malta (28:9).

Paul Arrives in Rome (28:10-31)

Finally, after wintering in Malta for three months, they depart for Rome. Paul is placed under house arrest, but is free to preach. He gathers the Jewish leaders in Rome and defends himself. Word has already arrived from Jerusalem warning the leadership to watch out for Paul (28:21), but they decided to hear Paul for themselves (28:22).

Large numbers of Jews came to hear Paul as he preaches about the “kingdom of God”, showing them that Jesus as Messiah as predicted in the Law and Prophets (28:23). This ties back to the beginning of the book of Acts, where the apostles ask about the kingdom of God and Jesus gives proof that he is the Messiah from the Law and the Prophets.

Some believe and some do not (28:24). When those reject him begin to leave, Paul gives a parting word, quoting Isaiah as a demonstration that their rejection had been predicted (28:26-27), and that it is for this reason that salvation would be offered to the Gentiles (28:28).

Progress Report #7

Luke ends the book demonstrating how it is that the gospel moved from being a small Jewish sect in Jerusalem to a Gentile movement found throughout the empire and even in Rome itself. He concludes with his seventh and final progress report (28:30-31), declaring that the message of the kingdom of God continued in Rome with “all openness, unhindered.” Even the might of the Roman Empire could not stop the progress of the gospel!

Conclusion

The apostles expected Christ's kingdom and the end of the age to come after His resurrection. But the program was not their design. Paul expected to preach the gospel to the Jews, but the program was not his design. The Jewish Christians expected Gentiles to follow the Jewish traditions, but the program was not their design. The history of the church, and its quick growth was designed by God, powered by God, and as Gamaliel put it, “of God.”

The apostles fulfilled the commission of Christ not through their tremendous vision and strategy. Vision and strategy belonged to Christ. Their fulfillment came with their willingness to look for the open doors and walk through them, whether it be Paul hearing the Europeans calling to him, or Peter responding to the Spirit's leading to enter Cornelius' house. It was uncomfortable to them, and often just opposite what they expected. But their willingness to listen to the Spirit and respond, resulted in the growth of the church.