Chapter 43—Paul in Rome: Big-City Evangelist in Chains
This chapter is based on Acts 28:11-31 and the Letter to Philemon, RSV.
(TT 237)
With the opening of navigation, the centurion and his prisoners set out on their journey to Rome. An Alexandrian ship had wintered at Melita on her way westward, and in this the travelers embarked. The voyage safely accomplished, the ship cast anchor in the beautiful harbor of Puteoli in Italy, where a few Christians entreated the apostle to remain with them for seven days, a privilege kindly granted by the centurion.
(TT 237.1)
Since receiving Paul’s letter to the Romans, the Christians of Italy had eagerly looked forward to a visit from the apostle. His sufferings as a prisoner only endeared him to them the more. The seaport being only 140 miles from Rome, some of the Christians started to meet and welcome him.
(TT 237.2)
On the eighth day after landing, the centurion and his prisoners set out for Rome. Julius willingly granted the apostle every favor in his power to bestow, but he could not change his condition as a prisoner. With a heavy heart Paul went forward to the world’s metropolis. How was he, fettered and stigmatized, to proclaim the gospel?
(TT 237.3)
At last the travelers reached Appii Forum, 40 miles from Rome. The gray-haired old man, chained with a group of hardened-looking criminals, received many a glance of scorn and was made the subject of rude jests.
(TT 237.4)
Suddenly a cry of joy was heard, and a man sprang from the passing throng and fell on the prisoner’s neck, embracing him with tears and rejoicing, as a son would welcome a long-absent father. Again and again was the scene repeated. Many discerned in the chained captive the one who at Corinth, at Philippi, at Ephesus, had spoken to them the words of life.
(TT 237.5)
As the warmhearted disciples eagerly flocked around their father in the gospel, the whole company was brought to a standstill. The soldiers, impatient of delay, had not the heart to interrupt this happy meeting; for they too had learned to esteem their prisoner. In that pain-stricken face the disciples saw reflected the image of Christ. They assured Paul that they had not ceased to love him. In the ardor of their love they would bear him on their shoulders the whole way to the city, could they but have the privilege.
(TT 238.1)
When Paul saw his brethren, “he thanked God and took courage.” The weeping, sympathizing believers were not ashamed of his bonds. The cloud of sadness that had rested on his spirit was swept away. Bonds and afflictions awaited him, but he knew that it had been his to deliver souls from a bondage infinitely more terrible, and he rejoiced in his sufferings for Christ’s sake.
(TT 238.2)
At Rome Julius delivered up his prisoners to the captain of the emperor’s guard. The good account which he gave of Paul, with the letter from Festus, caused the apostle to be favorably regarded by the chief captain, and instead of being thrown into prison, he was permitted to live in his own hired house. Although still chained to a soldier, he was at liberty to receive his friends and to labor for the cause of Christ.
(TT 238.3)
Many of the Jews previously banished from Rome had been allowed to return. To these, first of all, Paul determined to present the facts concerning himself and his work, before his enemies should have opportunity to embitter them against him. Three days after his arrival he called together their leading men, and said:
(TT 238.4)
“I had done nothing against the people or the customs
(TT 238.5)
of our fathers, yet I was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar... . It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”
(TT 239.5)
He said nothing of the repeated plots to assassinate him. He was not seeking to win sympathy, but to defend the truth and to maintain the honor of the gospel.
(TT 239.1)
His hearers stated that none of the Jews who had come to Rome had accused him of any crime. They also expressed a strong desire to hear for themselves the reasons of his faith in Christ. Paul bade them set a day, and at the time appointed, many came together. “He expounded the matter to them from morning till evening, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets.” He related his own experience and presented arguments from the Old Testament Scriptures.
(TT 239.2)
The apostle showed that religion is a practical, personal experience of God’s renewing power on the soul. Moses had pointed Israel to Christ as that Prophet whom they were to hear; all the prophets had testified of Him as the guiltless One who was to bear the sins of the guilty. He showed that while they maintained the ritual service with great exactness, they were rejecting Him who was the antitype of all that system.
(TT 239.3)
Paul declared that he had rejected Jesus of Nazareth as an impostor because He did not fulfill his cherished conception of the Messiah to come. But now his views of Christ were more spiritual, for he had been converted. To apprehend Christ by faith, to have a spiritual knowledge of Him, was more to be desired than a personal acquaintance with Him as He appeared on the earth, a mere earthly and human companion.
(TT 239.4)
As Paul spoke, those who were honestly seeking for truth were convinced. Upon some minds his words made an impression that was never effaced. But others stubbornly refused to accept the testimony of the Scriptures. They could not refute Paul’s arguments, but they refused to accept his conclusions.
(TT 240.1)
Many months passed by before the Jews of Jerusalem appeared to present their accusations against the prisoner. Now that Paul was to be tried before the highest tribunal of the Roman Empire, they had no desire to risk another defeat. Delay would afford them time to seek by intrigue to influence the emperor in their favor; so they waited a while before preferring their charges against the apostle.
(TT 240.2)
This delay resulted in the furtherance of the gospel. Paul was permitted to dwell in a commodious house, where he could present the truth daily to those who came to hear. Thus for two years he continued his labors, “preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered.”
(TT 240.3)
During this time the churches he had established in many lands were not forgotten. The apostle sought to meet their needs by letters of practical instruction, and from Rome he sent consecrated workers to labor in fields that he himself had not visited. The apostle, kept informed by constant communication with them, was able to exercise a wise supervision over all.
(TT 240.4)
Thus Paul exerted a wider and more lasting influence than if he had been free to travel among the churches as in former years. As a “prisoner for Jesus Christ,” he had a firmer hold on the affections of his brethren, and his words commanded greater attention and respect than when he was personally with them. Heretofore the believers had largely excused themselves from responsibility and burden bearing because they lacked his wisdom, tact, and indomitable energy; but now they prized his warnings and instructions as they had not prized his personal work. And as they learned of his courage and faith during his long imprisonment, they were stimulated to greater fidelity in the cause of Christ.
(TT 240.5)
At Rome, Luke, “the beloved physician,” who had attended him on the journey to Jerusalem, through the two years’ imprisonment at Caesarea, and on his perilous voyage to Rome, was with him still. Timothy also ministered to his comfort. Tychicus stood nobly by the apostle. Demas and Mark were with him. Aristarchus and Epaphras were his “fellow prisoners.” See Colossians 4:7-14.
(TT 241.1)
Mark’s Christian experience had deepened as he had studied more closely the life and death of Christ. Now, sharing the lot of Paul the prisoner, he understood better than ever before that it is infinite gain to win Christ, infinite loss to win the world and lose the soul. In the face of severe trial, Mark continued steadfast, a wise and beloved helper of the apostle.
(TT 241.2)
Paul wrote, “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.” 2 Timothy 4:10. For worldly gain, Demas bartered every high and noble consideration. Mark, choosing to suffer for Christ’s sake, possessed eternal riches.
(TT 241.3)
Among those who gave their hearts to God in Rome was Onesimus, a pagan slave who had wronged his master, Philemon, a Christian believer in Colosse, and had escaped to Rome. In the kindness of his heart, Paul sought to relieve the distress of the wretched fugitive and then endeavored to shed the light of truth into his darkened mind. Onesimus listened, confessed his sins, and was converted to Christ.
(TT 241.4)
He endeared himself to Paul by his tender care for the apostle’s comfort and his zeal in promoting the gospel. Paul saw in him a useful helper in missionary labor and counseled him to return without delay to Philemon, beg his forgiveness, and plan for the future. Being about to dispatch Tychicus with letters to various churches in Asia Minor, he sent Onesimus with him to the master he had wronged. It was a severe test, but this servant had been truly converted, and he did not turn aside from duty.
(TT 241.5)
Paul made Onesimus the bearer of a letter in which the apostle pleaded the cause of the repentant slave. He reminded Philemon that everything he possessed was due to the grace of Christ; this alone made him different from the perverse and the sinful. The same grace could make the debased criminal a child of God and a useful laborer in the gospel.
(TT 242.1)
The apostle asked Philemon to receive the repentant slave as his own child, “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother.” He expressed his desire to retain Onesimus as one who could minister to him in his bonds as Philemon himself would have done, though he did not desire his services unless Philemon should of his own accord set the slave free.
(TT 242.2)
The apostle knew the severity which masters exercised toward their slaves. He knew also that Philemon was incensed because of the conduct of his servant. He tried to write in a way that would arouse his tenderest feelings as a Christian. Any punishment inflicted on this new convert would be regarded by Paul as inflicted on himself.
(TT 242.3)
Paul volunteered to assume the debt of Onesimus in order that the guilty one might be spared the disgrace of punishment. “If you consider me your partner,” he wrote to Philemon, “receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand, I will repay it.”
(TT 242.4)
How fitting an illustration of the love of Christ! The sinner who has robbed God of years of service has no means of canceling the debt. Jesus says, I will pay the debt. I will suffer in his stead.
(TT 242.5)
Paul reminded Philemon how greatly he himself was indebted to the apostle. God had made Paul the instrument of his conversion. As he had by his liberalities refreshed the saints, so he would refresh the spirit of the apostle by granting this cause of rejoicing. “Confident of your obedience,” he added, “I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.”
(TT 242.6)
Paul’s letter to Philemon shows the influence of the gospel upon the relation between master and servant. Slaveholding was an established institution throughout the Roman Empire, and masters and slaves were found in most churches for which Paul labored. In the cities where slaves often greatly outnumbered the free population, laws of terrible severity were regarded as necessary to keep slaves in subjection. A wealthy Roman often owned hundreds. With full control over the souls and bodies of these helpless beings, he could inflict on them any suffering he chose. If one in retaliation or self-defense ventured to raise a hand against his owner, the whole family of the offender might be inhumanely sacrificed.
(TT 243.1)
Some masters were more humane than others, but the vast majority, given up to lust, passion, and appetite, made their slaves the wretched victims of tyranny. The whole system was hopelessly degrading.
(TT 243.2)
It was not the apostle’s work suddenly to overturn the established order of society. To attempt this would be to prevent the success of the gospel. But he taught principles which struck at the foundation of slavery and would surely undermine the whole system. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17. When converted, the slave became a member of the body of Christ, to be loved and treated as a brother, a fellow heir with his master to the blessings of God. On the other hand, servants were to perform their duties “not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” Ephesians 6:6.
(TT 243.3)
Master and slave, king and subject, have been washed in the same blood, quickened by the same Spirit; and they are one in Christ.
(TT 243.4)