" PAST " SAINT PAUL PART IX SAINT PAUL WRITES FROM MACEDONIA Segment I

 

Saint Paul

St Paul Writes from Macedonia II – First Epistle to Timothy


This is one of St Paul’s shortest Epistles. He is writing in AD 65. St James had been executed by Ananias three years earlier and in the previous year Rome had been destroyed by fire and the Emperor Nero had been persecuting the Catholics, in an endeavour to fix the blame on them. The infant Church was under external attack, but internally she was also under attack from false teachers. St Paul had left the Church in Ephesus under the care of the young man Timothy – his “beloved son in the Faith” (1 Tim. 1:2).

He recalls that when he left Timothy in charge in A.D 64 he had given him the task of correcting those propagating false teachings and useless speculations.

He humbly acknowledges his past persecution of the Church and thanks God for being given his role as Christ’s minister – “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief” (1 Tim. 1:15). St Paul has, he says, given the same vocation of ministry to Timothy, and he refers to prophecies once made concerning Timothy. He contrasts Timothy’s faith and good conscience with Hymeneus and Alexander who have been delivered up to Satan for blasphemy.

St Paul urges Timothy to lead the Church in Ephesus in supplications, prayers and thanksgivings for all men, for kings and for all in high positions “that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all piety and worthy behaviour” (1 Tim. 2: 1-2). Clearly, he has the horrors of the persecution under Nero in mind.

St Paul reflects on the very basis of his life’s work: “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, Himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, bearing witness in his own time. To this, I have been appointed a preacher and an apostle (I tell the truth, I do not lie), a teacher to the Gentiles in faith and truth’. (1 Tim. 2: 5-7)

He firmly sets before Timothy his concept of what is appropriate for women in the church. They should dress modestly and simply without excessive ornament and expense. They should not speak or teach in the church. This brief section of the text concludes with the phrase most often translated “Yet women will be saved by child-bearing”. Quite apart from sending legions of feminists into paroxysms of rage, this false translation is a theological nonsense – what of all the saintly virgins throughout the Church’s long history?  No – as the late Monsignor Ronald Knox’s accurate translation shows: “Yet woman shall find her salvation in the Child-bearing…”

The Greek definite article refers to one unique Child-bearing, the birth of Our Lord at Bethlehem”. (Mons. Ronald Cox “It Is Paul Who Writes” P.463) finally, we see what St Paul truly wrote.

St Paul goes on to list the qualities of a good Bishop: blamelessness, married but once, reserved, prudent, of good conduct, hospitable, a teacher, no drinker or brawler, moderate not quarrelsome or avaricious. He must rule his own household well. He should not be a new convert lest pride overtake him. And he must have a good reputation outside the Church.

He then lists the requirements for Deacons whose responsibility in the early Church was principally ministering to the poor and the needy through charitable works. The requirements are not greatly dissimilar to those for Bishops in spirit, though less exacting in detail.

St Paul gives the rationale for his letter: he hopes to come to Ephesus soon but, if he is delayed, he wants Timothy to have sound advice on how to conduct himself in his weighty position. Interestingly he reveals that the Holy Spirit has made it clear that in future times some will leave the Faith to follow false teachers, forbid marriage, and require abstinence from certain foods. St Paul reminds Timothy that all that God has made is good and not to be so falsely rejected.

He urges on Timothy authentic piety – “…avoid foolish fables and old wives’ tales and train thyself in godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7). He directs him to let no man despise his youth – we must remember here that in the ancient world authority went hand in hand with maturity – the young Timothy could expect some resistance to his Episcopal appointment.

St Paul urges Timothy not to neglect the grace infused in him by his ordination and to be an example to the faithful in speech, conduct, charity and chastity and to be diligent in reading, exhortation and teaching.

SAINT TIMOTHY

He lays out a careful plan of respect for older men, older women and younger women – to be treated as fathers, brothers, mothers and sisters respectively. He urges him to honour widows but stresses that they are primarily the responsibility of their families.

Where there is no family and the widow is less than sixty years old and of good and pious reputation, she may be accepted as the responsibility of the Church. He suggests that younger widows should re-marry so that they avoid becoming mere gossipers and busy-bodies.

St Paul praises priests (presbyters) who rule well and are active in preaching and teaching. Complaints against priests should only be entertained where they are supported by two or three witnesses. When they sin they are to be rebuked in front of all. He charges Timothy to act impartially in these matters before God the Father and Christ Jesus and the elect angels. He urges Timothy to remain chaste and urges him to cease drinking only water and to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake and for his frequent infirmities.

He urges Timothy to exhort slaves to treat their masters with honour and not to presume upon masters who are believers. He makes it clear that in this, his purpose is to ensure that “the name of the Lord and His Teaching be not blasphemed”.

Few things could give Roman society greater anxiety than anything which seemed to encourage the disaffection/discontent of slaves. Any attempt to do so or any appearance of doing so would lead to swift and ruthless suppression. St Paul had little time for “rights language” in the name of which so much evil is done today (e.g. the invented “RIGHT” to choose – used to justify the abortion super holocaust). What matters to him is personal fidelity to Christ and the eternal salvation of souls. Strict personal rights must await the further development of the Kingdom – but first things first.

He warns against false teachings and against the pursuit of wealth. The former lead to the loss of godliness and bring  about envies, quarrels, blasphemies and base suspicions and the latter often stray from the faith and fall prey to temptation.” For we brought nothing into the world, and certainly we can take nothing out...” (1 Tim. 6: 7).

He rousingly exhorts Timothy to the pursuit of justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience and mildness until the coming of the Lord “… the Blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; who alone has immortality and dwells in light inaccessible, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be everlasting dominion. Amen.” (1 Tim. 6: 15-16). He urges him to exhort the rich not to be proud but to become truly rich in good works in order that they might secure eternal life.

St Paul concludes “O Timothy...” to guard what has been entrusted to him and to avoid the profane novelties of speech used by false teachers, noting that some of their users had fallen away from the Faith.

This is the letter of a busy, faith-filled man burning with fatherly love for his Ephesians and for his young co-worker in whose hands he has left them.

In typical St Paul style, the ideas tumble forth always hitting the mark precisely and always serving faithfully the Lord Jesus Christ who claimed the undying loyalty of St Paul on the road to Damascus all those years and miles ago.

Tony Dixon
COPYRIGHT. This article first appeared in the March 2009 issue of FOUNDATION.

" PAST " SAINT PAUL PART VII PAUL WRITES FROM EPHESUS

 

St Paul Writes from Ephesus


In AD 54 St Paul, now in Ephesus, writes to the Galatians. Now 50-51 years old, he has been a Catholic for 20 or 21 years.

He had founded the church in Galatia only two years ago in AD 52, and had made a further visit to the Galatians in AD 53. He has been greatly disturbed by reports reaching him, that these Gentile converts were being led astray by Judaizers. These Jewish converts, most of Pharisaical training, had often been – and would continue to be, the bane of Paul’s missionary life.

Among the Galatians, the Judaizers had advanced three arguments:

Paul was not a “real” Apostle as were those appointed prior to the Crucifixion;

Paul was false to the teaching of Christ and the true Apostles in teaching that converts to Christ, Jew or Gentile, were not bound by the Mosaic Law;

Gentile converts must be circumcised and submit to the ritual and dietary requirements of the Law.

From the heart of the large and busy church in Ephesus, St Paul writes with righteous indignation. The very opening words of the Epistle bristle with his targeted refutation of these falsehoods:

 “ Paul, an apostle sent, not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead……” (Gal. 1:1) 

 

No Galatian reader can doubt that they are about to get the TRUTH with “both barrels”. He offers them his blessing: “Grace and peace be to you from God the Father, and from Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from the wickedness of the present world according to the will of God our Father; to whom is glory forever and ever. Amen” (Gal. 1:3-5) The reference to the “wickedness of this world” suggests his concern at the forces that have been preying on his Galatian flock.

St Paul asserts firmly that he has preached the truth of Christ’s Gospel to them and that anyone, man or angel, who preaches otherwise – even if it were Paul himself – must be declared anathema. He emphasises that in his preaching of the Gospel, his only purpose is to please God – not men.

St Paul vigorously asserts that what he preaches is a direct revelation from Jesus Christ and not something taught to him by other men. He recounts the story of his miraculous conversion, his retreat in Arabia, his time in Damascus, after three years his fifteen day visit to St Peter in Jerusalem, where he also met St James. Then he briefly recounts his early missionary journeys and after 14 years his visit to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus. He emphasises that “the leaders” St Peter, St James and St John did not see any need for the circumcision of Titus – a Gentile. The leaders shook hands with St. Paul and confirmed his mission and teaching to the Gentiles, only reminding him to have care for the poor “ the very thing I was eager to do.” (Gal. 2:10)

St Paul explains how in Antioch he found it necessary to remind St Peter of their freedom from the Law since Peter was continuing the observances of the Law when eating with Jewish converts.

In the course of outlining the consequences of being saved by and converted to Christ St Paul utters the sublime phrase that glows ever more powerfully as the centuries pass:

 

 ”It is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20) 

 

He wraps up his opening argument against the Judaizers quite succinctly: “For if justice is by the Law, then Christ died in vain.” (Gal. 2:21)

St Paul now lays out in detail the essence of his argument (we can see here the outline of the argument, mature and fully developed, in his mighty Epistle to the Romans (Foundation December, 2008). He reminds the Galatians of the movement of the Holy Spirit which brought them Faith in Jesus Christ. But he shows that the Law is concerned with the flesh not the Holy Spirit Who even worked miracles among them. Faith is the key as it was for Abraham who               “ believed God and it was credited to him as justice. ” (Gal. 3:6) He teaches that “men of Faith are the real children of Abraham” (Gal. 3:8) and reminds them of the words of God to Abraham “in thee shall all nations be blessed”. (Gal. 3:9) Here he is highlighting the situation of the Gentile converts. The covenant God made with Abraham was made 430 years before the Law was given and was not annulled by the Law. The promises of the Covenant were made to Abraham “and his offspring” (Gal. 3:16) – Christ – and now by grace and faith all converts are one in Christ and thus heirs to the promises of the Covenant. The Law is not relevant to them..

St Paul is very movingly personal in demonstrating his concern that the Galatians might give up the freedom they have been given in becoming one with Christ. “I fear for you, lest perhaps I have laboured among you in vain….”. (Gal. 4:11) “And you know that on account of a physical infirmity I preached the Gospel to you formerly; and though I was a trial to you in my flesh, you did not reject or despise me; but you received me as an angel of God,, even as Christ Jesus.. ” (Gal. 4:13-14) Paul’s intimate concern for his Galatian children in Faith is powerfully evident. It is the greater because of their generous and grace-filled treatment of him when he first brought the Good News to them, despite the fact that his illness at that time evidently disfigured him or affected him in some way that made him a “trial” to them. “I wish I could be with you now, and change my tone, because I do not know what to make of you.” (Gal. 4:20) He begs them once again not to accept circumcision and the obligations of the Law which would separate them from Christ. He sums up: ”For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision is of any avail nor uncircumcision, but faith which works through charity”. (Gal 5:6) This latter statement most clearly refutes the mischief of false teachers such as Luther who tried to argue that St Paul taught salvation by Faith alone and attempted to contrast his teaching with that of St James (who taught that Faith without good works is dead). Clearly St Paul and St James were of one mind – the mind of Christ.

St Paul now reminds his Galatians of the characteristics of the life of followers of Christ who, being led by the Holy Spirit avoid all lustful behaviour, idolatry ,sorcery; witchcraft, and all negative viciousness. Rather, in them can be found” charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, modesty and continency.” (Gal. 5:22)

He specifically counsels them to concentrate on the conduct of their own lives. But where one of their number goes astray to counsel that one in meekness and humility. “….while we have time, let us do good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith”. (Gal. 6:10)

In his concluding remarks he attacks the motives and the actions of the Judaizers. He cries out, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ…”

I Corinthians

Three busy years later in AD 57 St Paul is in the early years of his third missionary journey (see Foundation October 2008). He is disturbed by reports he has received from the church he had founded in Corinth. He was last there in AD 51 and it seems that the Gentile converts in that wealthy pagan city had tended to lose their way in important matters.

St Paul addresses the problems in broad groupings. The first is factionalism, then Christian life, the sacrament of marriage, the consumption of idol offerings, the celebration of the Eucharist, appropriate dress, the Mystical Body of Christ, prophesy and speaking in tongues, the resurrection of the body and finally St Paul’s intentions. The list is extensive and the letter is long in fact St Paul’s second longest, exceeded only by the Letter to the Romans (Foundation December 2008) The difference is that this first epistle to the Corinthians is “ an easy read” unlike the complex letter to the Romans. It should be noted here that there is evidence in this letter (at 1 Cor.5:9) that there had in fact been an earlier letter from St Paul to the Corinthians and there is evidence in the Second letter to the Corinthians (at 2 Cor. 2:4 and 7:8) of another letter preceding it -neither has come down to us. So that the letters we have are actually the second and fourth of St Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.

Factionalism is the first topic which no doubt reflected or resulted in, some of the other issues dealt with later. St Paul tackles it head-on. He reminds the Corinthians that it was Jesus Christ he preached to them and into whom they were baptised. Therefore their slogans of “I’m for Paul/Apollos/Cephas are absurd. Paul, Apollos, Cephas are for Christ and Christ should be the unifying common inspiration of every one of them. He then sets about elaborating on the origins and implications of the Christ-centred reality of the Church He points out that “… Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks look for “wisdom”, but we for our part, preach a crucified Christ – to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men…” (I Cor. 1:22-25) “Therefore let no one take pride in men. For all things are yours whether Paul, or Apollos or Cephas ;or the world or life or death; or things present, or things to come – all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (I Cor. 4:22-23) He tells them that he is sending Timothy to assist them to re-order their approach and conform with what he has taught them.

Apollos was an Alexandrian Jewish convert. He was evidently a highly educated man in terms of philosophy, and may have been influenced by the ideas of Philo of Alexandria. However that may be, his knowledge of Christ’s Gospel, which he began to preach, was seriously deficient. (Acts 18:24-28) As we have seen earlier, St. Paul discovered that Apollos had been unaware of the Holy Spirit and was simply performing John’s baptism., rather than the Sacramental Baptism of Christ. It will be recalled that St Paul left Aquila and Priscilla the task of completing Apollos’ instruction in the Faith. St Paul properly baptised those Apollos had earlier “ baptised “ It would seem that Apollos was certainly not a wrongly intended person, and he was certainly not unintelligent, but perhaps his very intelligence had led him to believe he knew it all, long before he did. St Paul treats of him kindly and carefully in his writings, no doubt not only out of regard for his abilities and work, but also on account of his strong following in Corinth.

St. Jerome recounts that Apollos was so disenchanted by the divisions in Corinth that he retired to Crete, but when St Paul’s letter healed the divisions there Apollos returned, becoming in due course bishop of the city.

St Paul moves on, addressing the scandal of one of the community who has been carrying-on with his father’s wife. (Paul notes that even the pagans would not behave so.) He forcefully insists that the man be excommunicated – separated from the community. He also refers to cases where members of the community are prosecuting cases in the civil courts against one another. He strongly upbraids them for not dealing with the problems within the community itself. In any case he says, if an agreement cannot be reached, “Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” (I Cor. 6:7)

In a summary section useful still in to-day’s society St Paul says ”Do not err; neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor the covetous nor drunkards nor the evil-tongued nor the greedy will possess the Kingdom of God” (I Cor. 6:9-10)

Urging them to physical morality he says:” For you have been bought at a great price. Glorify God and bear Him in your body.” (I Cor. 6:20)

In an extended consideration of the married state St. Paul makes it clear that he is answering questions that the Corinthians have put to him in a letter(I Cor. 7:1) St Paul heavily emphasises the preferred status of the celibate life. But he makes it plain for them that there is nothing wrong in being or getting married. He simply makes it clear that the single person needs only to please God, whereas the married person has to please his/her spouse also. His comments are equally applied to those who are widowed.

Where a person is married to an unbeliever they should continue in that marriage as long as the unbeliever consents to live with them. But if the unbelieving spouse leaves the marriage St Paul rules that the abandoned party has the right to marry within the Church. (This is known as the Pauline Privilege.)

He urges the Corinthians to adhere to their status on becoming Christians, whether single, married or slave. Further he urges those now married or single to remain in that state, those in charge of an unmarried ward should have the ward follow the same counsel. However, those who are widowed or single and wish to marry may do so. St Paul’s concern is the approach of the Second Coming and his aim is to concentrate their attention on God, rather than the affairs of this world.

Food which has been sacrificed to idols and then offered/sold for consumption presents problems Paul says. He insists the food itself is not a problem – the “gods” it has been sacrificed to are nothing. But he does see potential for giving scandal. This would be particularly the case if the Christian party was seen eating the food where it might appear that he was consenting to the sacrificial rite e.g. in the pagan temple feast or in the home of someone who makes a point of identifying the food as having been sacrificed to a “god”. Any onlooker might assume that the Christian had apostasised. In other circumstances St Paul says, there is nothing to worry about.

He considers at length the right of preachers and teachers of the Gospel to support. He insists on the right whilst noting that he has never taken advantage of it, supporting himself through his tent making activities. As we have noted elsewhere in our examination of St Paul’s life and work, these were skills he probably acquired among the nomadic tribes of Arabia during his three year retreat there. His present prolonged stay in Ephesus was facilitated by the tent making opportunities created in that pagan pilgrimage centre by the four yearly festival of the “goddess” Diana which is believed to have swelled the population of the city from 35,000 to 1,000,000 this was the “great opportunity” St Paul referred to- great as a source of income from the tent dwelling pilgrims, but more importantly great in delivering to him over 950,000 people to evangelise.

He comes to the consideration of the celebration of the Eucharist. St Paul vigorously remonstrates with the Corinthians for their unworthy celebration of the Eucharist. It was the custom of the very early Church to integrate the essence of the Eucharistic celebration within a light meal- after the fashion of the Last Supper (in which it will be remembered, Our Divine Lord consecrated the bread at the beginning of the ritual Passover meal, and the wine at the end of the meal). However the Corinthians had descended into a routine in which each party brought his own food – the rich an abundance and the poor their own meagre fare. The result was a shameful clash of scandalous excess and miserable poverty in the midst of the celebration of the Eucharist – the heart of Christian unity. St Paul puts them straight in short order.

He reflects on the distribution of spiritual gifts in the Church. He acknowledges the value of both prophesy and speaking in tongues in the Church. But he emphasises the importance of all gifts to the Mystical Body of Christ, just as every organ of the physical body has its role and complements the others.

He injects at this point his truly superb reflection on Charity (Love):

Charity is patient, is kind,

Charity does not envy, is not pretentious, is not puffed up,

is not ambitious, is not self-seeking

is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice over wickedness, but rejoices with the truth; bears with all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (I Cor 13:4-7)

Now he returns to the question of prophesy and of tongues. He accords prophesy the higher standing. He sees value in the gift of tongues when they can be properly interpreted by the speaker or another. But, he says, “….yet in the church, I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may also instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue”. (I Cor. 14:19) He proposes that when the church assembles no more than three persons should speak in tongues, and then only if there is an interpreter. He requires women to remain silent in the churches and they should veil their heads just as men should leave their heads uncovered. Above all he stresses the need for order and proper procedure in the churches.

Toward the end of the Epistle there is a lengthy examination of the question of the resurrection of the body. St Paul insists that the Resurrection of Christ has won for us the resurrection of our own bodies as incorruptible spiritual bodies.

In concluding he urges them to assist in the collection for the saints in Jerusalem currently being taken up in the churches, asking them to appoint a delegate to go to Jerusalem with their contribution in company with other such delegates.

He foreshadows a possible visit to Corinth and urges their wholehearted cooperation with Timothy during his visit. Paul reports that although he asked Apollos to go to Corinth he would not do so at present.

He urges them also to co-operate with Stephanas and Fortunatus in Achaia, together with Achaicus and sends greetings from the churches of Asia and from Aquila and Priscilla.

Paul signs off in his own hand and blesses them in Christ. At the same time he anathematises any member who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ.



TONY DIXON
COPYRIGHT This article first appeared in the January 2009 issue of FOUNDATION.

" PAST " SAINT PAUL PART V THE MISSIONARY Part III

 

St Paul the Missionary Part III


THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY 53 - 58 A.D.( Paul is 48-52 years old as he begins.) Covers modern Syria, Turkey, Greece and Israel.

SILAS RETURNED to St. Peter. Timothy remained with Paul and they were joined by Luke’s brother Titus.

From Caesarea Paul returned to Antioch in Syria. He spent some time there during the winter months building up the church. Then he moved on again through the Phrygian region of Galatia strengthening the Faith of the churches he and his companions had previously visited. At Derbe they were joined by the disciple Gaius.

They travelled on to Ephesus. For three months Paul preached in the synagogue there, but the Jews in the main hardened their hearts against his teaching. So Paul and his companions withdrew from the synagogue and based their preaching and teaching efforts each day in the school of Tyrannus. They operated in this way with great effect for two years. Paul worked many miracles and exorcisms in this time by the power of God.

Numbers of others purported to perform exorcisms in Our Lord’s name. Among them were the seven sons of Skeva one of the Jewish chief priests. In the course of one of their efforts, the evil spirit addressed them. It acknowledged the Name of Jesus and even of Paul which they had used, but expressed contempt for them and violently attacked them forcing them to flee naked and wounded. News of the event spread widely through Ephesus. The Name of Jesus came to be treated with great reverence and those who had followed the black arts of sorcery came forward making a bonfire of their books and instruments and seeking conversion.

Paul decided to travel on through Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem and on to Rome. Pausing a little longer in Asia Minor, he sent Timothy and another disciple, Erastus, on into Macedonia. During this period there was a spectacular disturbance when the silversmiths of Ephesus, whose business relied on making images of the goddess Diana, stirred up a riot against Paul and his companions. The mob seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonian companions of Paul, and forced them to the theatre where the tumult grew with great confusion and lack of direction. Paul wanted to go to the theatre to address the mob but was dissuaded by the disciples who feared he would be killed. The Jews at the theatre pushed forward Alexander who tried to speak. But as soon as the mob found out he was a Jew, he was drowned out. For two hours the tumult went on aimlessly. Finally, the town clerk calmed the mob down, reminding them that if called to account for this disturbance of the peace, they could not do so. He convinced them to break up and, if they had any legitimate complaint to take it to court.

Paul then gathered the disciples to comfort and encourage them and set out on his journey to Macedonia with Titus, Gaius and Aristarchus.

Here, where the Church had been hounded by an enraged mob shouting “Great is Diana of Ephesus”, some 374 years later, the Council of Ephesus was to define the doctrine that Mary is the Mother of God. A man-made “goddess” had been forgotten and the honour of the Blessed Virgin became the focus of attention in Ephesus.

Having travelled through Macedonia, Paul and his companions went on to Greece where they spent 3 months preaching and teaching. Paul was preparing to sail for Syria when he learned of a plot by the Jews to murder him during the voyage. Rapidly changing his plans, he returned through Macedonia accompanied by Sopater of Beroea. Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe and Timothy, together with Tychicus and Trophimus of the Asian church sailed on to Troas where they were re-united with Paul, Sopater and Luke. It was at Troas, whilst Paul was preaching for many hours, that the young man Eutychus, who had been sitting on the sill of a window dozed off and fell to his death in the street.. Paul miraculously brought him to life.

Paul moved on to Assos by land whereas the rest of the group travelled on by sea. Assos was an ancient city founded around 1,000 B.C. In 133 B.C. it was absorbed into the Roman Empire. Here Paul came aboard and they sailed on to Mitylene the capital of the island of Lesbos.

This group of representatives of the various churches which Paul led was travelling to Jerusalem with funds collected to aid the disciples there. Paul was eager to reach Jerusalem promptly, hoping to be in Jerusalem in time for the feast of Pentecost. It was for this reason that from Mitylene he asked the leaders of the Church of Ephesus to come to him on the coast, and there in most moving terms encouraged them and farewelled them forever, well aware of the continuing peril to his life.

They sailed on via Cos and Rhodes to Patara where they joined another ship sailing for Phoenicia and on to Syria where the vessel was busy discharging cargo and re-loading for a week. They spent this time in Tyre. This very ancient city was founded around 3,000 B.C., so that, even in Paul’s time it was truly ancient. It had been devastated by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. – its 30,000 inhabitants massacred or sold into slavery. In 64 B.C. the inevitable happened and, along with the rest of Syria, it came under Roman control.

Paul and his group stayed with the church in Tyre. Here disciples were moved by the Spirit to warn Paul against going to Jerusalem .Undismayed they sailed on in due course to Ptolemais and Caesarea where warnings and prophesy of danger to Paul in Jerusalem multiplied. Despite it all Paul would not be deterred – “the will of the Lord be done “ was his response..

After some days they set off for Jerusalem, accompanied by some of the brethren from Caesarea. They were joyfully welcomed in Jerusalem and stayed at the home of Mnason a Cypriot and one of the first converts in Jerusalem. The following day they called upon St. James the Bishop of Jerusalem and all of the presbyters had gathered to meet them and hear their account of all that God had done through them.

It is interesting to recall that it was on this visit, his first to Palestine, that St Luke gathered much of the information for his Gospel and Acts, including, for example, the encounter between St. Phillip and the Ethiopian (Acts 8)

The leading brethren in Jerusalem were concerned for Paul’s safety because many Jewish converts were still hostile toward Paul, principally over the circumcision issue .To make a public demonstration of his respect for the Law they encouraged Paul to accompany four men under a vow to the Temple to join in their purification rite and meet the cost of their head shaving.

The following day, taking their advice, Paul did just that. He repeated the action daily as the vow observances required, but nearing the seventh day, some Jews from Asia Minor saw him in the Temple. They quickly stirred up the crowd thronging the Temple for Pentecost time, accusing Paul of disrespect for the Law and the Temple. Further they accused him of bringing a Gentile into the Temple ( some had seen Paul and Trophimus in the city and assumed he had also brought him into the Temple). The commotion extended beyond the Temple precinct into the city. They dragged Paul out of the Temple seeking to kill him The Roman garrison was installed in the Antonia Fortress which was next to and higher than the Temple site, affording good supervision of what went on there. The Romans were on high alert during such religious festival times, when the population of the city swelled enormously and any number of factors could create major problems if not nipped in the bud. As a result the mob dragging Paul out of the Temple ran straight into the arms of the Roman detachment which had been turned out in the most efficient bit of “policing” recorded in the Gospels. The mob was quickly subdued and the Tribune had Paul secured in double chains mistaking him for an Egyptian trouble maker then being sought. He ordered that Paul be taken into the Fortress since the mob had again become rowdy and irrational.

Paul asks to speak to the Tribune - a Greek who had purchased his Roman Citizenship at high cost (Acts 22:28) The Tribune is surprised that Paul speaks Greek. Paul asks for permission to address the mob and the Tribune agrees. Paul is known to many of the leading Jews from his studies under Gamaliel and his pre-conversion persecution of the Church. He addresses them in Hebrew, the language used by their biblical scholars and he gains a hearing. He moves them beyond what they know of him, relating the story of his miraculous conversion, the vision of Our Lord during Paul’s visit to Jerusalem ( it seems he is speaking of the second visit after his conversion, not the first)commanding him to preach to the Gentiles.

At the mention of the Gentiles, the mob, which had listened quietly until then, burst out in a new clamour. The Tribune ordered Paul to be removed to the soldiers’ quarters and examined under the lash. As the Centurion moved to execute the order Paul asked if he had the right to scourge a Roman citizen who had been neither tried nor sentenced.

The assertion of his Roman Citizenship alarmed the Centurion who went directly to the Tribune to warn him of the problem. The Tribune came to question Paul on the point. Noting Paul’s simple attire, the Tribune comments that his own Roman Citizenship had cost him a great deal of money. Paul is quick to point out that he is a Roman citizen by birth.

So Paul was released until the following day when the Tribune had called him to attend a meeting with the leading priests and members of the Council., to enable the Tribune to hear both sides of the matter. When Paul asserted his lifelong fidelity to God, the High Priest Ananias ordered those near to Paul to strike him in the mouth. Paul rebuked him for pretending to judge Paul by the Law whilst breaking the Law by ordering him to be struck. The bystanders cried out that he should not thus insult the High Priest. Paul makes it clear that he did not know the man was the High Priest and that he is aware of the respect the Law accords him.

But seeing the obvious division between the Sadducees and the Pharisees on the Council, he states that he is being attacked because of his belief as a Pharisee in the resurrection of the dead. The assembly dissolved into a furious dispute between the two factions .The Tribune, fearing for Paul’s safety ordered his troops to protect him and return him in custody to their quarters

 Tony Dixon
 Copyright This article first appeared in the October 2008 issue of FOUNDATION.

" PAST " SAINT PAUL'S GREAT OPPORTUNITY AND OURS

 

St.Paul gives us so many leads as to how we should act. But not all of them are expressed. We can follow  his example with profit: he wrote that he was going to Ephesus because there was a great opportunity for him there. 

 

Here we learn that in spreading the Gospel, the Church needs to be alert to what is happening in the world, and to use its capabilities to adapt to circumstances. St. Paul's "opportunity" was the biennial Festival of the goddess Diana which we are told increased the population of Ephesus from 300,000 to 2,000,000. What an opportunity to reach vast numbers of people - pilgrims who had to be housed in tents. And who followed the trade of tent-maker? Why, none other than St.Paul - the very man the pilgrims would need. He   had more for them than they imagined!
 

 

To-day there is a massive opportunity for the Church on the Internet. The gathering of people on the Internet - especially the young - is in the tens, perhaps hundreds of millions per day, every day. Yet some Dioceses, for example have no website or a truly pathetic website. Others are truly impressive. But as yet we have no Australian Bishop with a Blog and very few Priests, whereas there are a number of Bishops and even Cardinals worldwide with such Blogs, and numerous highly active Priest Bloggers.
 

Now, some people including perhaps Priests and Bishops will say "Oh, I can't be bothered with all that computer nonsense, my role is to minister to real people."Some even pride themselves on their ignorance of the whole area of technology. They are ignoring the great opportunity. They would surely get chased out of their complacent attitude by the ever vigorous St. Paul.
Everything we know of this dynamic apostle makes it clear he did not have a "comfort zone". He went out to meet every opportunity - we, institutional Church, Bishops, Clergy and Lay Faithful must not do less.


This item is adapted from "Serving With the Angels"in FOUNDATION October 2007.