NT Doctrine — Acts 24-28

This is not so much a study as an outline of events. The Book of Acts yields no further doctrinal material. However, we cannot leave Paul in the royal quarters at Caesarea.

By now we are somewhere around AD 58. Paul faced the Sanhedrin in the presence of Felix. This governor was married to a Jewess, so he wasn’t ignorant of Hebrew religion and culture. Felix realized that the Sanhedrin did not have a case, but wanted a bribe from Paul. It never came and after some unnerving discussions with Paul about sin and eternal destiny over a couple of years, he left Paul in custody as a small favor to the Jews when he was replaced by Festus.

Paul has been under mere house arrest, free to wander the Roman facility and to see any visitors, along with whatever gifts they might bring. Festus comes on the scene and visits the Roman facilities in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin approach him about Paul, but it was a cover for getting Paul out in the open where they could ambush the Roman guards and kill Paul. Festus must have smelled something nasty was up and declined to make any moves until he first visited Caesarea, and he already had plans to go there in a few days. This brings us to around AD 60.

Festus was trying to offer an olive branch to reduce the tensions from the rising Jewish nationalism, and asked Paul if he would return to the Sanhedrin Court in Jerusalem. Paul appealed to Caesar. But lacking anything definitive to write about this prisoner, Festus took advantage of a visit from Herod Agrippa to see if there was anything of substance in the Sanhedrin’s complaint.

Luke spends a whole chapter recounting Paul’s speech. It summarizes pertinent parts of the Book of Acts itself. Festus interrupted when it got to be more than he could take. Paul turned back to Agrippa, but the king jokingly parried without saying anything of substance, and rose to signal his lack of interest in any further discussion. In a private conference between Agrippa and Festus, it was agreed there was no case, but Paul’s appeal to Caesar forced them to send him to Rome.

They set sail at a bad time of year and Paul prophesied that the ship would be lost. Eventually it was, as harsh storms drove it into some shallow rocks near an island. But Paul had prayed for the lives of those aboard the ship and all were saved when the ship broke apart. Paul and his friends ministered and performed miracles on the island where they landed, staying three months while waiting another ship.

The weather became much milder and the ship made its way up the coast of Italy to its destination, and the entourage traveled overland the rest of the way. Paul met with both church leaders and those of the Jewish community. After some days, the latter group split as usual between those who believed and those who did not.

Meanwhile, Paul was granted leave to rent his own quarters and remain under house arrest in Rome. His influence saw many believers among Roman troops, the imperial palace staff and others who came to visit. He remained there another two years where Luke ends his narrative. The Roman Emperor was Nero, whose early reign was considered rather good.

We are quite certain Paul was released some time around AD 62. Piecing together hints and comments scattered among his letters and some contemporary stories from Christian writings, we believe Paul headed to Macedonia for a while. At some point he visited farther west along the Dalmatian Coast and eventually went to Spain. Somewhere in his travels Paul was arrested again, and we have no way of knowing if it was provoked by Jews or something directly offensive to Roman Law. Nero was becoming quite unstable by this time, and had already set fire to parts of the city and blaming Christians. Either way, in custody again around AD 66, Paul writes a few more letters and was eventually executed, as he expected.

Then came the revolt in Jerusalem in AD 70. The Apostles and their flocks left the city before the Roman siege. John makes his way to Ephesus, which soon became the new center of gravity for Christian religion. The other letters are written over the next two decades. John finally writes his Gospel in the early 90s, and his Revelation around AD 95. According to those he taught, he died around AD 98 or 99.