The time was approaching when St. Paul was to leave Corinth--not
sailing thence to Jerusalem as he had planned, but returning by
the way he had come, because he found that some of the
unbelieving Jews had formed a scheme to destroy him while upon
his journey.
For the space of a week the Apostle remained at Troas, and upon
the last evening he had assembled the Christians together in an
upper room--one of those dining-halls which the Latins termed
_cænacula_.
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The Scripture narrative tells us that they were there to "break
bread," the name usually given in those days to the celebration
of the Holy Mysteries. The Body and Blood of our Lord was
received by those early Christians with extreme care and the
profoundest reverence, but in that age the Church had not
ordained that the reception of the Eucharist should take place in
the morning and fasting. This rule prevailed at the close of the
first century out of respect to so great a mystery. In the time
of the Apostles the Communion was given at other parts of the
day, and thus we understand the passage referring to this meeting
of Christians upon the last evening of St. Paul's stay in
Corinth.
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An unusual crowd appears to have been assembled, and the heat was
so great that the windows were left open. A young man named
Eutychus, sitting in the recess of one of these windows, being
overcome with sleep, fell through it to the ground. St. Paul at
once descended, to find Eutychus, as it seemed, lifeless, but
stretching himself upon the body, he besought God to manifest His
power, and then returned to the upper room, and continued
teaching till the day dawned.
Eutychus soon joined the assembly, perfectly restored by the
power of the Almighty through His servant.
St. Luke, with Timothy and others who proposed accompanying the
great Apostle on his journey, went down to the ship, but St. Paul
had decided to travel on foot to the place at which it would next
stop, called Assos, where he entered the vessel and went on to
Miletus, situated some thirty-five miles from Ephesus.
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At Miletus he sent a message asking some of the bishops and
priests to come down to the ship and pray with him. They talked
together upon the shore, and St. Paul told them that he was bound
for Jerusalem. "I go to Jerusalem not knowing the things which
shall befall me there. Save, that the Holy Ghost in every city
witnesseth to me, saying that bands and afflictions await me at
Jerusalem." He conjured the bishops to guard the people confided
to their care, and warned them against false teachers, who would
seek to mislead them, and then he bade them farewell. We read
that there was weeping among them all, for they feared from his
words that they should see the face of their teacher and father
no more; and as the vessel sailed from Miletus they returned to
Ephesus with heavy hearts.
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At Tyre the ship had to unload, and St. Paul with his companions
availed themselves of this opportunity of going on shore to find
out the Christians who dwelt in that part. Seven days they
remained amongst the disciples they found there; and one who had
the power of understanding some of the things which were to
happen, warned the Apostle of the great danger which threatened
him at Jerusalem.
But St. Paul knew that his way was ordered by God Who could
shield him from every danger if such was His Divine Will,
therefore he would not be persuaded to alter his course.
The Christians of Tyre went with him to the shore and knelt down
while he blessed them, and so they parted, and the ship sailed on
to Ptolemais.
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There the Apostles left the vessel and pursued their way by land,
staying at Cæsarea in the house of Philip the Evangelist, whose
four daughters had the gift of prophecy. During St. Paul's visit,
there came down from Judea a prophet, named Agabus, who took the
girdle of the Apostle, and binding his own hands and feet with
it, said, "Thus saith the Holy Ghost. The man whose girdle this
is, the Jews shall bind in this manner in Jerusalem, and shall
deliver into the hands of the Gentiles."
St. Luke and Timothy then entreated their companion not to go to
Jerusalem, but he would not listen to them.
"What do you mean, weeping and afflicting my heart?" he said,
"For I am ready not only to be bound, but to die also in
Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus."
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When the Apostle uttered these words, the others besought him no
longer, but said, "The Will of the Lord be done," and thus--the
one with heart filled with courage and even with desire to die
for Christ, the others with sorrow mingled with their confidence
in God--they went on to Jerusalem.
Arriving in that city, St. Paul was received with the greatest
joy by all the Christians, and next day the Apostle James, the
Bishop of Jerusalem, convened a meeting of all who composed the
Church.
To them St. Paul gave a report of his work during his four years'
absence. When he had concluded his address, he was told that
great numbers of the Jews in that city believed the Gospel, yet
were very strict in their observance of Mosaic law, and that they
were hostile because they believed St. Paul taught the Jews of
other places to neglect the customs of their people.
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St. James advised that, to prove this belief unfounded, the
Apostle should go to the temple upon the next day, which was the
feast of Pentecost, and take part in a certain ceremony for four
of the faithful.
These four men had taken a vow. The Jews frequently did this for
some special purpose, either that they might be delivered from
some danger, or to show their gratitude for some special
blessing. Vows were made for a certain time, during which the
person considered himself specially consecrated to Almighty God,
and he had to observe strict rules, such as to abstain from
drinking wine, or from shaving his head.
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When the time had come to an end, it was the duty of the person
who had made the vow to appear in the temple, taking his
offerings. Offerings on such an occasion were costly, and it was
a customary thing for some richer and pious Jew to pay this
amount for the man whose vow was at an end.
It was for this purpose that St. James proposed St. Paul
accompanying to the temple the four men who now accomplished the
vow of the Nazarite, so that the Jews might observe his respect
for their ancient law.
Scarcely had the Apostle shown himself than some Jews, who had
come up from Asia for the festival, saw him, and pointed him out
to their fanatical companions as one who despised the law and
profaned the temple. A terrible uproar followed, and seizing the
Apostle, they cried, "Men of Israel, help: this is the man that
teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and
this place, and moreover hath brought in Gentiles into the
temple, violating this holy place."
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St. Paul was thus dragged from the temple to the outer court, and
the gates were closed, while the angry people began beating their
prisoner, and would certainly have killed him had not word been
taken to the Roman tribune Lysias, who sent soldiers and
centurions down to the scene of contest.
Lysias readily believed that the Apostle had committed some
serious offence, nevertheless, however guilty, it was not lawful
for the mob to punish him, so the soldiers were ordered to bring
him in chains to receive judgment.
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When the captain enquired what was the charge against the
prisoner, there was such a confusion that he could not discover
the truth, and therefore bade the soldiers lead St. Paul to the
castle, the angry crowd following, with cries of "Away with him.
Away with him."
When the Apostle was brought into the castle, he turned to
Lysias, and asked if he might speak with him, who replied, "Canst
thou speak Greek?" Upon hearing that St. Paul was a Jew of
Tarsus, he acceded to his request that he might address the
people.
"Men, brethren, and fathers," began St. Paul, using the Hebrew
language, which was spoken in Jerusalem, and in a moment the
tumult was hushed and every ear strained to listen.
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The Apostle gave them a sketch of his early history, telling them
how he once hated and persecuted the Christians, and then of his
wondrous journey to Damascus--of his blindness, and its cure.
He passed on to his first visit to Jerusalem, spoke of his vision
in the temple, when the Lord Jesus appeared to him, and bade him
depart and preach to the Gentiles.
The crowd had heard him thus far with silent attention, but now
their rage burst forth afresh. Were they, the sons of Abraham, to
be left for the despised Gentiles? They would not suffer such
words to be spoken, and once more they cry, "Away with him." Away
with such an one from the earth, for it is not fit that he should
live.
They began casting off their heavy outer garments purposing to
stone him, but Lysias ordered his soldiers to bring the prisoner
within the castle.
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He had not understood St. Paul's address, being delivered in
Hebrew, but he saw how greatly the people were infuriated, and
therefore judged that some terrible crime must have been
committed.
He accordingly told one of the centurions to scourge the
prisoner, so that he might confess what he had done, and St. Paul
was bound to a low pillar that he might receive this humiliating
punishment. But he spoke to the centurion and said, "Is it lawful
for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?"
The centurion knew that such a thing was unlawful, so he went to
Lysias to tell him that their prisoner was a Roman.
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When Lysias found from St. Paul that he was a free-born citizen
of Rome, he gave orders for him to be unbound, and convened a
meeting of the Jewish council for the next day, before which the
Apostle should answer the charges made against him.
Early in the morning this council assembled, just as once it had
assembled to judge St. Stephen when Saul, the well-known
Pharisee, was one of its members. Now he was a prisoner--Paul,
the servant of Jesus Christ, standing before many who knew him as
the persecutor of Christians.
"Men and brethren," he said, "I have conversed with all good
conscience before God until this present day."
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At this the high priest Ananias, in his anger, told those who
stood near to strike the prisoner upon the mouth. Then St. Paul
said to him, "God shall strike thee, thou whited wall. For
sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and contrary to
the law commandest me to be struck?"
The bystanders now accused the Apostle of speaking against the
high priest. Seeing that he was not to be fairly tried, St. Paul
appealed to the Pharisees who were present. "Men, brethren, I am
a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. Concerning the hope and
resurrection of the dead I am called in question."
At these words a great dissension arose between his judges. Party
spirit was kindled immediately in the Pharisees, who, forgetting
their anger against the Apostle, now declared that they found no
evil in him. The confusion increased, so that Lysias heard of it,
and ordered his soldiers to go and bring back the prisoner to the
castle.
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It was well that he did so, or St. Paul would have been almost
torn to pieces by the indignant Sadducees.
Night drew on, and in the still darkness the Lord Jesus Christ
appeared to His servant, speaking softly and encouragingly in his
ear: "Be constant; for as thou hast testified of me at Jerusalem,
so must thou bear witness also at Rome."
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Not to die then! not yet to lay down life for God's truth. To
suffer again and to suffer more--yet St. Paul was not dismayed.
Had he not said already to the Christians of Ephesus, when upon
the sea-shore of Miletus they looked on his face for the last
time, "I fear none of these things, neither do I count my life
more precious than myself, so that I may consummate my course."
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