Saturday 30 May 2009

Background

Paul arrives in Rome to have his appeal heard at the emperor'scourt, following a highly adventurous sea-voyage involving ashipwreck which had given Paul opportunity to preach and heal onMalta. His escorting soldiers would have brought a letter detailinghis case. Verses 16 and 30 enable us to deduce what the authoritiesmade of it.

For one thing, Paul is guarded by a single soldier, quite possiblychained to him by his right wrist, but having a good deal offreedom of movement around the house. Previously Paul had been inthe charge of a higher-ranked centurion. In Acts12:6 Peter had been chained to two soldiers. In contrast,Paul's imprisonment is now low key - he is not being regarded as asignificant criminal.

Nor is any credence being given to a charge of sedition, for he isunder house arrest rather than held in prison; he is free to earnhis own living and pay his way, presumably using his trade as atentmaker, and he is permitted to entertain whichever visitors hewishes.

After just three days' recovering from his journey he invites thelocal Jewish leaders to meet him to clarify three things:

• that he had in no way acted against Jewish customs. Notice thathe still sees himself as first a Jew, referring to them as "ourpeople" (verse 17)
• that the Roman authorities had agreed he had not broken civillaw, and would have released him, had not Jewish hostilitiescompelled Paul to appeal to the emperor, an appeal which must beheard
• that he does not wish to bring a counter-case against the Jewsfor wrongful imprisonment.

So Paul seeks to set Jewish minds at rest, quite apartfrom continuing with his strategy throughout Acts (and Romans1:16) of always seeking opportunities to share the goodnews with Jews first, and then with others (Gentiles).

Verse 31, with its strong ending emphasising both theboldness of Paul and his freedom to speak out clearly, should beseen not just as an account of this two-year period of Paul's life(AD 60-62) but as Luke's (the author of Acts) deliberate conclusionto his work, summarising what it has all been about, and opening upfuture possibilities.

Almost certainly after the two years Paul was released, whenhis appeal was heard, but Luke's interest is not in neat endingsbut in ever new opportunities for the gospel to spread.

To Ponder

Compared to his earlier ministry and widetravelling, Paul has spent some five years in captivity, but hasused every opportunity to continue his ministry. In what ways isyour life more restricted than you would wish? Do you see this as ahandicap or as a special opportunity?

What are your thoughts about Paul's continuingdesire for cordial relationships with Jewish community leadersdespite the fact that it is their counterparts in Jerusalem who areresponsible for his being a prisoner?

If the Christian good news is about being setfree (Galatians5:1,13), to what extent is this message helped or hindered whenthe preacher is in chains?