Paul’s Last Journey
Paul Leaves Rome
About the same time that the Sadducees threw down James the Righteous from the height of the Temple—at least a year before Simon Peter's arrival in Rome-Caesar Nero dismissed the case involving Paul of Tarsus. Paul left Nero's court as a freeman. "After he had made his defense it is said that the apostle was sent again upon the ministry of preaching" (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2.22.2). He quickly firmed up his travel plans to leave Rome.
Some of Paul's itinerary can be deduced from the pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus. We may assemble some of it from other sources and traditions.
In his epistle to the Corinthians, Clement of Rome says that Paul preached "both in the east and the west ... having taught righteousness to the whole world, and having come to the extreme limit of the west" (I Clement 5:6-7). When Clement of Rome says that Paul preached to the east and the extreme limits of the west, one must remember that he spoke as a Roman on the Italian peninsula. Judea and Syria were to his east, and Spain was his extreme west. Romans used the expression "extreme limit of the west" to refer to the Iberian Peninsula.
Long before his imprisonment, Paul already intended to take the gospel to Spain. He wrote to the Roman believers, "I will go to Spain and visit you on the way" (Romans 15:28). He said, "I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while" (Romans 15:23-24 NIV). The verb translated as "assist" (propempo, пролёш) means to escort a departing traveler and provide him with food, money, companions, or guides for his journey. In other words, Paul wanted the believers at Rome to sponsor his journey and work in Spain just as the assembly in Antioch had sponsored his work in the east. Later church traditions affirm that, after his residence in Rome, Paul departed to Spain.
The four years of incarceration slowed the apostle down, but the delay did not change his plans. According to the legendary and apocryphal Acts of Peter, after Paul's release, he fasted for three days and asked the LORD for instruction. The Master appeared to him in a vision and said, "Arise, Paul, and become a physician to them that are in Spain" (Acts of Peter).
The believers in Rome lamented his departure, begging him not to be absent from them for more than a year. They said, "We know your love for your brethren. Do not forget us when you are gone from us; neither forsake us, as little children without a mother."
The Acts of Peter reminds readers that some of Paul's disciples came from Rome's most influential circles:
A great multitude of women knelt and prayed and besought Paul; and they kissed his feet and accompanied him to the harbor. Dionysius and Balbus, of Asia, knights of Rome and illustrious men, and a senator by the name Demetrius walked beside Paul on his right hand. Demetrius said, "Paul I would leave the city and travel with you if I were not a magistrate and required to remain in the city." Also from Caesar's household, Cleobius and Iphitus and Philostrate with Narcissus the elder accompanied him to the harbor. (Acts of Peter 3)
Paul and his entourage of admirers must have left Rome by the Via Ostiense (the Ostian Way) and walked to the new port of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber River. According to Acts of Peter, a storm at sea prevented Paul from sailing for several days, and he spent three days teaching in Ostia. Several of his disciples from Rome traveled to Ostia to hear his farewell addresses. He may have presented his teachings in the Ostian synagogue, the archaeological remains of which survive to this day.
On the fourth day, the seas calmed, and Paul's ship was ready to sail. A few traveling companions set out with the apostle. Titus and Luke may have traveled with him. Timothy was away in Macedonia and Ephesus (Philippians 2:19; I Timothy 1:2).
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Voyage to Sephard
The voyage from Rome to Spain usually took less than a week. The church has not passed on any reliable stories or traditions about Paul's work in Spain. He certainly found far fewer God-fearing Gentiles to work with than he was accustomed to hinding in other Roman cities. The Jewish Diaspora was small in the far west. The smaller Jewish presence enabled Paul to fulfill his dream of preaching the gospel someplace where the concept of Messiah had not been previously published so that "he would not build on another man's foundation" (Romans 15:20). Paul summarized his ministry objectives in Spain with a quotation from Isaiah 52:15: "They who had no news of him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand" (Romans 15:21).
The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula began in the third century BCE. Augustus declared the conquest completed in 19 CE. By the time Paul arrived, Rome had held Spain securely under imperial control, and Spain had become one of the most Romanized provinces in the empire. The people spoke Latin. As a Roman citizen, Paul was competent in Latin, and his incarceration in Rome had provided him with two years to brush up on his Latin skills. He had no difficulty communicating with the people of Spain.
Paul may have reached Spain as early as 62 CE, but he does not seem to have extended his stay beyond a year. He probably disembarked at Tarragona, the Roman capital of the province. The city is located south of Catalonia on Spain's northeast Mediterranean coast. Its cosmopolitan Latin culture made it exactly the type of place that Paul liked to work.
The Roman remains of Tarragona are still visible in the modern city today. Catalans proudly assert their association with the Apostle Paul. If Paul were to visit the city today, he would be abashed to discover an enormous statue of himself erected on the location where the Temple of Jupiter stood in his day.
Paul probably found welcome in a small, local Jewish community. The Jews of Tarragona established themselves in the Roman Era and persisted until their expulsion in 1492.
Spanish-Christian tradition holds that Paul also visited the Roman colony of Tortosa, some thirty miles southwest of Tarragona. Tradition says that he founded an assembly in that place and appointed Rufus, the son of Simon of Cyrene, as the overseer of the assembly (Mark 15:21; Romans 16:13). Spanish Christians have other legends of Paul's work in Spain, but none of the legends can be traced to a period prior to the eighth century.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Kretim
The travel itinerary of his return journey emerges from his pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus. The Sent Ones assembles the reconstruction presented below from clues in the pastoral epistles, along with some reasonable speculation. Other reconstructions are certainly possible, and very few details of the following itinerary are a certainty.
Apparently Paul and Titus bypassed Italy on the return trip and sailed directly to Crete. Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and lies south of the Aegean Sea. Rome conquered the island in 69 BCE. The Romans made the city of Gortyn into their capital on the island.
In the days of the apostles, Crete had a substantial Jewish community. Cretan Jews attended the pilgrimage festivals in Jerusalem and first encountered the gospel at the time of the giving of the Spirit (Acts 2:11).
By the time Paul and Titus came to Crete, the gospel had already taken root and spread across the island. On Crete, the disciples of Yeshua remained tightly connected with greater Judaism, so much so that Paul later warned Titus about "empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain" (Titus I:10-II). Apparently, proselytes (i.e., the circumcision) on Crete raised concerns about the purity status of God-fearing Gentiles. The status of marriages between God-fearers and proselytes might have also been called into question, and the legal status of the children born from intermarried couples may have become a contentious issue, as in Judaism today. The teachers on Crete seem to have opposed Paul's opinion on the matter, whatever it was. Paul detected selfish motivations behind the legal ruling, and he spoke bitterly against those advancing the opinion:
To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. (Titus I:15-I6)
Paul expressed his disapproval of "Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth" (Titus I:14). He denounced the recent legal opinions as "commandments of men," a pejorative way of referring to halachic rulings. The term "Jewish myths" refers to midrashic and haggadic embellishments on Scripture that Paul's opponents might have appealed to as a buttress for their contrary opinions.
Paul did not intend to censure all Jewish legend, midrash, and legal rulings-only those elements that conflicted with apostolic rulings and turned men "away from the truth." He regarded the legal controversy on Crete as a distraction from the gospel and the weighty matters of the Torah. He wanted "those who have believed God [to] be careful to engage in good deeds ... but avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Torah, for they are unprofitable and worthless" (Titus 3:8-9).
Paul's criticisms belong to an internal Jewish debate about legal issues within the Jewish community on Crete. Paul was arguing about a matter of Torah within the context of Torah-Judaism. He argued as a Pharisaic Jewish leader within the Jewish community, not as an outsider.
When New Testament readers encounter these statements, they generally misunderstand them as a Christian denouncement of Judaism. From that perspective, Jewish midrashic stories and haggadic parables and anecdotes are censured as "Jewish fables." Rabbinic rulings and traditions are deprecated as "commandments of men." Torah study and scholarship are dismissed as "unprofitable and worthless." Legal discussions are assessed as "foolish controversies." Such a misreading creates the impression of a sweeping condemnation of Judaism.
The problems on Crete stemmed from a lack of qualified leaders among the disciples. The lack of qualified elders, teachers, and overseers left the Cretan believers vulnerable. They needed to look to the broader Jewish community for authoritative teaching and legal answers, but the rabbis from whom they sought counsel did not always represent apostolic interests.
When Paul was ready to travel on from Crete, he decided to leave Titus behind to remedy that situation. He told Titus, "Set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city ... namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion" (Titus I:5-6). In his epistle to Titus, Paul enumerated the qualities he should seek in a candidate for community leadership:
For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. (Titus 1:7-9)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Rendezvous with Timothy
Paul left Titus behind on Crete, but he still traveled with his regular entourage of disciples and fellow workers. In the pastoral epistles, he referenced familiar names like Erastus, Tychicus, Trophimus, Demas, and Luke. Paul wanted to meet Timothy in Ephesus, but he had to first travel into Achaia and Macedonia as he had promised the Philippians more than a year earlier (Philippians 2:24). On the way to Macedonia, he might have stopped to visit the congregation in Corinth. From there he could have sent a message to Ephesus, telling Timothy to rendezvous with him at Troas. Teacher and disciple shared a glad reunion in Troas.
Timothy filled Paul in on the situation in Ephesus. He had several concerns. The widows' list had become imbalanced, and he felt that some of the women receiving weekly stipends did not warrant the allowance. The assemblies in Ephesus had grown substantially since Paul's stay there, but they had not grown in spiritual depth. Despite the probability that the Apostle John was now at work in Ephesus, Timothy found a shocking lack of strong leadership in the Ephesian assemblies.
Some of the Gentile leadership had begun to present themselves as rabbinic authorities on matters of Torah-self-proclaimed rabbis. Although they were neither Jewish nor credentialed in Torah, they considered themselves authorities on matters of halachah (legal rulings) and Jewish teaching. Timothy described congregations under their influence as veering into strange doctrines, fruitless discussions, "myths and endless genealogies." Paul exclaimed with exasperation, "They want to be called teachers of the Torah, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions!" (I Timothy I: 6-7).
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Doctrines of Demons
Timothy also warned Paul about Hymenaeus and Alexander, two Ephesian believers who had "suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith" (I Timothy I:19) under the teaching of "deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" (I Timothy 4:1).
Paul referred to the new, heretical teachings as "Gnosis (yvwol)," i.e., "knowledge." He warned Timothy to stand fast against the new teachings:
O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called "knowledge" —which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. (1 Timothy 6:20-21)
Hymenaeus and Alexander were among those who had gone astray after that which was falsely called "knowledge." Their teaching involved a "realized eschatology," the belief that the kingdom has already come and that the final redemption has already occurred in a spiritual way. The false teaching of Hymenaeus and Alexander apparently spiritualized the promise of the future kingdom and the resurrection of the dead in favor of a Gnostic interpretation about the ascent of the soul. Paul told Timothy, "Some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme" (I Timothy I:19-20). In another passage, he complained, "Hymenaeus and Philetus ... have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some" (2 Timothy 2:17-18).
By means of the Holy Spirit, Paul foresaw a day when the Gnostic heretics would forbid physical pleasures like food and sexual relations on the basis that all sensual pleasures belonged to the material realm. He foresaw people falling away from the faith to follow after teachers (Gnostics and ascetic Encratites) who would "forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth" (I Timothy 4:3).
New Testament readers sometimes suppose that the "doctrine of demons" in 1 Timothy 4 refers to Judaism. They mistake those who "advocate abstaining from foods which God has created" for Jews who taught the observance of the Torah's dietary laws. Such an interpretation concludes that all foods are permissible because "everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude" (I Timothy 4:4). Even unclean and forbidden animals are universally permissible when they are "sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer" (I Timothy 4:5). According to these interpretations, the Torah's dietary laws represent "the work of deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons."
This is an impossible interpretation for a number of reasons. Remember that Paul and Timothy were both Jewish, and both kept the Torah's dietary laws. Furthermore, there is no prohibition on marriage in the Torah; rather, God commands human beings to be fruitful and multiply.
The dualistic worldview of the early Gnostics, on the other hand, taught that the material world was intrinsically evil. Some forms of Gnosticism and Encratic Christianity taught their followers to shun physical pleasures and carnal ties. They valued abstinence from sex, marriage, and certain foods. They said, "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!" (Colossians 2:21).
Paul used Genesis I:31 to refute the teachings of the ascetic, proto-Gnostics: "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Genesis I:31). Whereas the proto-Gnostics taught that certain foods were intrinsically bad because they were part of the physical world, Paul pointed out that the Torah says, "Everything created by God is good" (I Timothy 4:4). This goodness also applies to foods and to sexual relations, both of which were created to be enjoyed. According to Paul, to reject as evil some good and permissible thing that God has created shows ingratitude. The Jerusalem Talmud expresses an almost identical sentiment: "A man will have to give an account on the judgment day for every good and permissible thing which he might have enjoyed and did not" (y.Kiddushin 4:12).
However, Paul did not mean to sanction indulging in every edible substance or every conceivable kind of sexual relationship. Rather, he said that sex and permissible foods are "sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer." Sanctified means set apart. That is to say, the Torah (God's Word) has sanctified permissible foods (Leviticus 11) and permissible sexual relationships (Leviticus 18) by defining them from those that are not permissible. God's commandments permit certain foods and potential sexual partners and forbid others.
According to Jewish tradition, both a meal and a marriage are instituted with blessings of thanksgiving. In this sense, they are "sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer." For example, consider the following blessing pronounced over a bride and groom on the occasion of their betrothal:
Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us through his commandments and commanded us concerning forbidden unions and forbidden women who are betrothed and permitted those who are married to us through the ceremony of the bridal canopy and marriage. Blessed are You, LORD, who sanctifies his people Israel by the bridal canopy and marriage.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Sending Timothy Back to Efsos
In view of the disturbing reports, Paul decided to send Timothy back to Ephesus. He told Timothy, "Remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith" (I Timothy I:3-4). In addition, he charged Timothy with the task of appointing elders, overseers, and deacons.
Timothy and Paul said a tearful farewell. Timothy returned to Ephesus; Paul and his companions prepared to sail for Neapolis and Philippi. Paul later wrote, "I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy" (2 Timothy 1:3-4). He planned to visit Ephesus in the near future.
He instructed Timothy to conduct synagogue services in Ephesus until his arrival. He said, "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching" (I Timothy 4:13). Compare the use of the Greek words for "public reading (anagnosis, aváyvwol)" and "exhortation (paraklesis, napá)no)" in the following passages:
After the reading (anagnosis) of the Torah and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, "Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation (paraklesis) for the people, say it." (Acts 13:15)
Until I come, give attention to the public reading (anagnosis) of Scripture, to exhortation (paraklesis) and teaching. (I Timothy 4:13)
Paul hoped to return to Timothy by way of Troas, perhaps before winter. He decided to leave a few personal items behind and retrieve them on the return journey. He entrusted his winter cloak, several large scrolls, and a stack of parchments with a believer named Carpus. His plans changed, and he never did make it back to Troas.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Mekedon and Nikapolis
Paul and his companions seem to have arrived in Macedonia in the summer of 64 CE. They spent the summer months in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. On July 18 of that same year, a fire broke out in the city of Rome and quickly engulfed a major portion of the capital. Paul and his companions in Macedonia did not receive news about the fire until several weeks after the blaze. They did not imagine the implications that the faraway fire would have for their lives.
The local assemblies in Macedonia gladly received their beloved apostle.
Paul did cross paths with Apollos that summer. Apollos was traveling with a rabbi named Zenas, and the two of them were preparing for a voyage back to Apollos' home in Alexandria, Egypt. They agreed to stop at Crete on their way and deliver a letter to Titus. Paul quickly composed a letter to Titus and placed it in their hands. He told Titus, "Diligently help Zenas the [Torah scholar] and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them" (Titus 3:13).
Apollos and Zenas might have carried Paul's letter to Timothy as well. Paul's first epistle to Timothy contains a plethora of advice and practical instruction for ordering the assembly, conducting worship, maintaining gender roles, installing leadership, refuting heresy and apostasy, instructing various classes and groups in the assembly, dealing with widows, and so forth. He indicated to Timothy that he still intended on coming to Ephesus himself.
In his epistle to Titus, however, Paul changed his mind about returning to Troas. Instead, he planned on following the Via Egnatia through Macedonia all the way to its terminal point on the Adriatic Sea and then traveling south along the coast to arrive in Nicopolis by winter. He instructed Titus that when his replacement arrived, he was to leave Crete and join him in Nicopolis: "When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there" (Titus 3:12).
The next spring, when the navigation season opened, Paul dispatched a coworker named Crescans to Galatia, but some manuscripts say that Crescans went to Gaul (2 Timothy 4:10). This may indicate that Paul sent Crescans back to the new believers in Spain with mail from their apostle. Tradition says that Crescans went into Gaul, founded assemblies in Vienne and Mayence near Lyons, and became the bishop of Chalcedon.
Paul still intended on arriving in Ephesus soon, but it made sense to stop at Corinth on the way. When he did set out, he left Titus to continue the work in Nicopolis. He later told Timothy, "Crescans has gone to Gaul (or Galatia), Titus to Dalmatia" (2 Timothy 4:10).
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Trouble at Militos
Paul, Demas, Erastus, Trophimus, Tychicus, and Luke boarded a coastal vessel that would carry them the short distance from Nicopolis on the lonian Sea and up the Corinthian gulf to the harbor at Lechaeum. With favorable winds, the trip should have only taken them a few days.
Paul and company probably spent several weeks in Corinth, encouraging the believers and firming up relationships. Then they said goodbye to Erastus: "Erastus remained at Corinth" (2 Timothy 4:20). By then, rumor of recent events in Rome arrived: Nero is rounding up "the Christians," and leaders of the movement are wanted by the government for questioning. Paul reasoned that he must be on the most-wanted list. The news would have discouraged him from traveling to Ephesus. He would not be able to keep a low profile in the city.
He and his companions boarded a ship at Cenchrea and set sail for Asia Minor. The ship put into the harbor at Miletus, just thirty miles south of Ephesus, the same location where, seven years earlier, he had said farewell to the elders of the Ephesian assemblies.
Paul and his companions spent some time among the believers there and sent word to Ephesus about their arrival. He may have planned on sending for Timothy or meeting him outside Ephesus, but something dramatic happened at Miletus that changed his plans abruptly. Perhaps Alexander the coppersmith, his old enemy from the Jewish community in Ephesus, heard about his presence in Miletus and tipped off the Roman authorities. Paul complained, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds" (2 Timothy 4:14). Whatever the case may have been, he had to leave Miletus abruptly and unexpectedly. If Paul had the option, he would have delayed the voyage at least long enough to connect with Timothy, who was only thirty miles away.
Trophimus of Ephesus was ill at the time, too sick to board the ship with Paul. The urgency of Paul's departure from Miletus forced the apostle to abandon his sick traveling companion in Miletus. Paul wrote to Timothy, "Trophimus I left sick at Miletus" (2 Timothy 4:20).
What happened at Miletus? The fact that Paul had to sail at once, forfeiting his opportunity to see Timothy and abandoning his fellow worker Trophimus, may indicate that he was trying to escape arrest or, perhaps, he was already under imperial arrest. Paul's trouble with the law in Miletus explains why those "who are in Asia" turned away from him. He told Timothy, "You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes" (2 Timothy 1:15).
If Paul fled from arrest in Miletus, he did not make it far. He might have been captured at some other Aegean port. His arrest also explains the desertion of Demas. Demas was not willing to return with Paul to Rome and face the Neronian persecution. He could see no reason to flee into the lion's den. Paul bitterly recounted, "Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica" (2 Timothy 4:10).
Only Tychicus and Luke remained to sail with him back to Italy.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Prisoner Again in Rome
If our chronology of Paul's last journey is correct, he arrived in Rome in the summer or fall of 65 CE. He entered the custody of Tigellinus and Rufus, the captains of the Praetorian Guard. They had none of the noble virtues of Burrus, the previous captain of the guard who had taken charge of Paul the last time he came to Rome. Tigellinus and Rufus were Nero's henchmen, cruel masters of torture and designers of intrigue.
By then, the worst of it was already done. Nero had gutted the believing community in Rome. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were dead. Many of the survivors had fled. Most of Paul's friends were dead, gone, or too frightened to associate themselves with him. Priscilla and Aquila had fled to Ephesus. John Mark had also narrowly escaped and left the city.
Paul's Roman citizenship kept him from an ignoble death in the circus and guaranteed his right to a trial. Roman citizens were not supposed to be tortured. As a commoner, Simon Peter had none of the legal protection against abuse or any of the rights to due process that Paul enjoyed as a citizen. Whereas Peter could be tortured and executed without so much as a hearing, the law protected Paul from torture and execution without a proper judicial trial. Until the trial, the Romans incarcerated Paul as a common criminal. He complained, "I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal" (2 Timothy 2:9).
One believer from Ephesus traveled to Rome to find Paul and pay him some kindnesses. Onesiphorus knew Paul from the days when the apostle lived in the city. During those days, he often provided hospitality for the apostle. When he heard about Paul's arrest, he traveled to Rome. It was not easy to find the apostle. No one seemed to know where he had been imprisoned.
The Praetorian Guard had chained the apostle and flung him into a prison cell, guarded by soldiers on detachment who served as prison guards and turnkeys. The squalid living conditions characterizing that type of detention were appallingly bad. It would have been difficult for a visitor like Onesiphorus to find the prisoner. He "eagerly searched" for Paul until he found him. He brought him fresh supplies and provision, correspondence, and news from Ephesus. Paul was grateful for the visitor. He told Timothy:
The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me—the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. (2 Timothy I:16-18)
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
The First Defense
Paul received an initial hearing before the tribunal of Nero. He later recounted, "At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them" (2 Timothy 4:16). Apparently, none of Paul's friends, companions, or supporters from among the Roman believers were willing to risk associating themselves with the apostle. Not even Luke and Tychicus testified in his defense. By then, it was well known that Nero's court was putting all known believers to death. Testifying in defense of a believer was a certain way to incur one's own death. Paul did not even have an advocatus to argue for his acquittal.
Most scholars identify Paul's first defense as the Roman prima actio, a preliminary, public hearing meant for gathering basic facts about a case and arraigning the suspect. It was his official reply to the charges leveled against him. Scholars believe that the charges filed against him accused him of crimen laesae maiestatis, that is, a crime against the majesty. A "majesty" charge cast a broad net. Nero often used it to accuse and condemn his citizens. Essentially, it implied that Paul's teachings or actions diminished, injured, slandered, or insulted the emperor's person or authority.
Given the current climate in Rome, Paul did not have much chance of acquittal or pardon. His accusers could present evidence and testimony that he actively engaged in persuading Roman people to adopt a foreign superstition and abandon the worship of the emperors and the gods of Rome. Some of those accusers may have been members of the Roman Jewish community. Some may have been former Yeshua believers turned apostates who now sought to distance themselves from Paul and the Christians.
Though Paul stood utterly alone before the tribunal of Nero, he sensed the presence of the Master standing next to him. He later recounted, "But the Master stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear" (2 Timothy 4:17). In other words, Paul took full advantage of the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Master.
As he was accustomed to doing, he vigorously defended his innocence while at the same time persuasively arguing the message of the gospel.
In his opinion, the initial hearing went well. He accomplished his objec-tives, and he received the due process of Roman law. He said, "I was rescued out of the lion's mouth" (2 Timothy 4:17). With those words, Paul alluded to Psalm 22, a psalm that the apostles interpreted in light of the Master's suffering and death:
But You, O LORD, be not far off; O You my help, hasten to my assistance. Deliver my soul from the sword, my only life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth. (Psalm 22:20-22[19-21])
Paul's cryptic remark about "the lion's mouth" might indicate that Nero was present to hear the apostle's first defense. Jewish texts sometimes cryptically refer to the Roman emperor as "the lion." In the apocalyptic vision of Revelation, the beast that represents Rome has a "mouth like the mouth of a lion" (Revelation 13:2).
Nero's court agreed to continue with the prosecution against Paul and to grant him a full trial. That decision bought Paul some time, perhaps months, perhaps years. The last time he waited for a trial before Nero, it had taken two years to acquire a hearing. Until then, he would remain a prisoner.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
The Last Epistle
Chained in prison, waiting for his trial before Nero and almost certain execution, Paul dictated an epistle to his faithful disciple Timothy. He placed the letter into the hands of Tychicus and instructed him to replace Timothy in Ephesus. He told Timothy, "Make every effort to come to me soon" (2 Timothy 4:9). He did not know how long he had. He instructed Timothy: "When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments" (2 Timothy 4:13).
The second epistle to Timothy contains a haphazard collection of aphorisms, personal concerns, and parting words of wisdom. Paul imparts pastoral advice for community leadership and fatherly instruction to his "beloved son." He warns Timothy about various theological concerns, and he makes prophetic predictions about the last days.
As he writes, the apostle is clearly distressed, lonely, and apprehensive. He laments, "Only Luke is with me." Then he adds, "Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service" (2 Timothy 4:11).
The letter repeatedly dips into nostalgia and sentimentality. Paul recalls the early days in Iconium and Lystra with Timothy's mother and grand-mother. He vacillates between distress over his personal plight and confidence in the Master: "I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned" (2 Timothy 2:9). He calls on Timothy to stand up for him and the gospel, despite the dangers.
The epistle frequently exhorts Timothy not to "be ashamed" of the gospel—a reference to the climate of fear and disavowal spawned by the persecution. Paul says, "God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Master or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God" (2 Timothy 1:7-8). "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of the Messiah Yeshua" (2 Timothy 2:3). "I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (2 Timothy I:12). "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).
Near the end of the epistle, he summarizes the outcome of his first hearing and expresses gratitude that the LORD rescued him from the lion's mouth. He confidently asserts, "The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen" (2 Timothy 4:18). All the same, he has no illusions about how things will turn out for him in the end. He knows that his time is short, and his life hangs in the balance:
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
The letter included greetings from fellow prisoners and a few Roman believers who dared to visit Paul in prison: "Eubulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren" (2 Timothy 4:21). Finally, Paul appealed to Timothy one last time, "Make every effort to come before winter" (2 Timothy 4:21).
The apostle placed his last epistle into the hands of Tychicus, his trusty mail carrier, and sent him off to Ephesus with instructions to deliver the letter to Timothy and take his place there in the ministry. According to certain traditions, Timothy did come and was arrested.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Luke’s Writings
Luke remained in Rome during those days, looking after Paul as best he could. He made good use of the time. He obtained a copy of Peter's gospel (the Gospel of Mark), a document treasured among the Roman believers, and carefully copied it into his sources. That document became one of the primary sources he used to create his own version of the gospel. The Gospel of Luke consists of passages and paraphrases of Mark, interspersed with excerpts from another earlier gospel of the Master's sayings (Q) and Luke's own unique material that he gathered from eyewitnesses. He dedicated the book and its sequel (Acts of the Apostles) to his patron, the most excellent Theophilus.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
Via Ostiense
Paul waited in chains for more than a year before he received his trial. The trial itself ended quickly. Paul made his testimony for the Master; the magistrate condemned him as a "Christian" who propagated forbidden superstitions, robbing the gods of Rome of their glory and thereby committing a crime against the emperor himself.
Typically, a condemned man could expect his execution within a week or two of sentencing. Roman law protected Roman citizens from crucifixion and the arena. Roman citizens received the far more merciful sentence of decapitation. A small military escort composed of soldiers and at least one officer led the condemned man outside the city. Roman custom required the condemned man to carry or be preceded by a titulus, a board or placard announcing his name and crime. Paul's placard might have read: "Paulos of Tarsus, a Christian and enemy to the emperor."
Paul's executioners led him outside the city walls to a place near the third milestone on the Ostian Way. Various apocryphal traditions embellish the scene. The apocryphal Acts of Paul says that Paul turned toward the east, prayed aloud in Hebrew, then descended to his knees and lowered his head, baring the back of his neck.
Clement of Rome remembered Paul and the execution:
Paul also obtained the reward of patient endurance. Seven times he wore chains. He was compelled to flee and was stoned. He was a herald both in the east and west, he gained the noble fame due to his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world, and having come to the extreme limit of the west, he testified before rulers and thus was removed from the world and taken up into the holy place, having proved himself a striking example of endurance. (I Clement 5:5-7)
Eusebius dates Paul's death in Nero's thirteenth year, that is, 67 CE. Nero was out of the city that year on his famous trip to Greece. In the emperor's absence, the city prefect handled capital charges against Roman citizens. Nero left the despicable Praetorian Prefect Tigellinus in charge of Rome; Paul may have faced his last trial before him. There was no reason for Nero to hear the case himself. The outcome was a foregone conclusion.
An apocryphal story from the third century says that a woman named Lucina took charge of Paul's body and accorded him burial. If not Lucina, someone buried Paul in a nearby columbarium. Roman citizens had the right to a proper burial, and relatives and friends of an executed person could usually obtain the body from the authorities without much difficulty.
The early believers took note of the place of Paul's execution and inter-ment. Roman Christians in the second century could point out Simon Peter's tomb on Vatican Hill and Paul's tomb just off the Ostian Way, near the Tiber. By the middle of the second century at the latest, a distinct funeral monument marked the grave, and pilgrims were already making their way there to pray. Second-century Roman Christians boasted, "If you will go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way, you will find the trophies of those who laid the foundations of this church!" The Emperor Constantine built a basilica at the location around 324 CE at the place where the Basilica of Saint Paul's Outside the Walls now stands.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.