13. Суд над апостолом Павлом и мученическая кончина его (58–67 гг. по Р.Х.)

When, after the third great journey, the Apostle Paul arrived in Jerusalem, the Apostle James, bishop of the Jerusalem Church, warned him that the Jews were extremely angry against him, and advised him, in order to mitigate this anger, to take part in the vow of the four Nazirites known to him 24. The Apostle Paul followed this advice 25 . The seven days in which the Nazirites were supposed to fast according to their vow before making a sacrifice were already coming to an end, when suddenly the Jews from Asia Minor, who were especially hostile to him, saw the apostle and raised a terrible cry. “Men of Israel, help: this man is teaching everyone everywhere against the people, the law and this place; Moreover, he brought the Greeks into the church and desecrated this holy place” 26. The whole city was in motion. The Jews grabbed the apostle and wanted to kill him; but the head of the Roman guard appeared and, believing that this was some important criminal (before that time they were looking for some troublemaker Timothy), he ordered the apostle to be bound with two chains and taken to prison. The crowd shouted furiously: “Death to him; destroy him from the earth, he must not live!” At these furious cries, the Jews threw their clothes and threw dust into the air. In view of such terrible irritation of the Jews against the apostle, the Roman commander ordered him to be scourged, but the apostle declared his dignity as a Roman citizen. The chief was frightened, hastened to free him from his shackles and ordered the Sanhedrin to gather in order to reliably find out what the Jews were accusing him of. The meeting of the Sanhedrin took place in fierce disputes between the Pharisees and Sadducees over the words of the apostle that he was a Pharisee and was being judged for waiting for the resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees took him under their protection, and the Sadducees were so irritated against the apostle that they were ready to tear him to pieces. On the night after this stormy day, the Lord appeared to the apostle and said: “Be of good cheer, Paul; For just as you testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” The next day, forty Jews made a vow not to eat or drink until they killed Paul. The time for the murder was set when the apostle was taken from prison to the Sanhedrin for another meeting. The high priest and the elders entered into an agreement with them. The Roman commander, having learned about this, hastened to escort the apostle under strong guard (200 foot soldiers, 70 cavalry and 200 archers) to Caesarea, to the court of the procurator Felix. Felix kept the apostle in custody for two years, hoping to receive a ransom for him from the Nazarenes, who were considered rich (because the apostle participated in the Nazarene vow). One day he invited Paul and listened with attention while the apostle spoke to him about faith, but as soon as he began to talk about moral duties - justice, abstinence, and mentioned the future judgment of the wicked, the procurator interrupted him and said: “Go now, and when I find the time, I will call you.” Felix's successor, procurator Festus, wanted to give them the apostle to please the Jews. Then Paul demanded that his case be transferred to the court of Caesar himself, and he was sent by ship to Rome. While traveling to Rome, the apostle suffered a strong sea storm. For two weeks those who sailed did not see either the sun or the stars, lost all hope of salvation and, expecting death from hour to hour, did not eat food. But then the great apostle stands up in the midst of the congregation and in the name of God predicts that everyone will be saved, but only one ship will perish. “An angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, appeared to me that night and said: “Do not be afraid, Paul, you must appear before Caesar, and now God has given you all those who sail with you.” After some time, the sailors landed on the island of Malta, and then Paul safely reached Rome. In Rome, the case of the apostle was carried out for about two years, and he was kept under the so-called noble and light guard: he lived in a rented house under the guard of one soldier and could receive anyone he wanted. During these two years, he preached first to the Jews living in Rome, and then to the pagans, and had such success that some even from the house of Caesar turned to Christ. At the same time, the apostle wrote four letters: to the Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon 27. After two years of home confinement, Paul was given freedom, and he undertook the fourth great preaching journey, which his pastoral letters indicate. One of these messages indicates his visit to the island of Crete, where, for the establishment of the Church, he left his disciple Titus. The Apostle left Titus to finish what he himself did not have time to do, and to appoint elders in all the cities (Titus 1:5). The authority given to this disciple exceeds the rights of the elders and points to the installation of Titus as bishop of the Church of Crete. Around the year 67 after the Nativity of Christ, the Apostle Paul arrived in Rome for the second time, preached even at the court of Emperor Nero and, according to ancient legend, converted his beloved concubine to the faith. For this he was put on trial and although by the grace of God he was delivered, in his own expression, from the jaws of lions, that is, from being eaten by beasts in the circus (2 Tim. 4:16-17), he was nevertheless imprisoned. During his last stay in Rome, the Apostle Paul ordained two bishops for the Roman Church - Linus and Anacletus - and wrote two letters: 2 Timothy and Hebrews 28. “I am already becoming a sacrifice,” the apostle writes to Timothy, “and the time of my departure has come” (2 Tim. 4:6) Finally, in the year 67, June 29, the holy apostle ended his glorious life with martyrdom. He, as a Roman citizen, was assigned the execution of nobles - beheading by sword. – The apostle aroused this particular irritation against himself, firstly, by his very conversion from a persecutor to the most zealous preacher of Christianity; secondly, by free preaching about the non-obligatory nature of the ritual law of Moses for Christians. The participation of the Apostle Paul in the Nazarite vow would have shown the Jews that he was not such an opponent of the law of Moses as they represented him. – The holy apostle himself observed the ritual laws in many cases and taught that Jewish Christians could continue to observe the ancient rites. He just did not force the pagans to become Jews by faith. – The reason for this last accusation was that the Jews saw the Apostle Trophimus, a pagan Christian, in the city. – The first of these messages is called a thank you message. The Philippians especially loved Orthodoxy, they had already sent him benefits from Thessalonica twice, and now, having learned that he was a prisoner in Rome, they sent him rich gifts. Pavel touchingly thanked them for their zeal for him. The Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians are similar in content. The Apostle glorifies in them the Person and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and warns believers against adherence to both Jewish rituals and pagan philosophy. Philemon was a wealthy resident of the city of Colossae. His servant Onesimus fled from him, was in Rome, listened to the Apostle Paul and turned to faith. The Apostle Paul, with great pastoral love, meekness and humility, intercedes for Onesimus before Philemon and asks to accept him not as a slave, but as his beloved brother. – Epistles 1 to Timothy and Titus were sent earlier, during the 4th journey. You might be interested in: