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The only individual in the New Testament church whose life and teaching we can reconstruct is the apostle Paul. Our primary source, of course, is the writings of Paul himself, and the last words we have from him are those addressed to the Christian community at Rome:

Since I no longer have any room for work in these regions
(i.e. Greece), and since I have longed for many years to come to you,
I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain,
and to be spend on my journey there by you,
once I have enjoyed your company for a while.
Romans 15:23-24

But before he can set off for Rome, Paul has one more task to perform:

At present I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints.
For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make
some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem....
When, therefore, I have completed this,
and have delivered to them what has been raised,
I shall go on by way of you to Spain.
Romans 15:25-26.28

Paul’s relations with the Jerusalem church were never cordial, and he asks the Romans to pray for the success of his mission:

I appeal to you, brethren, to strive together with me
in your prayers to God on my behalf,
that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.
Romans 15:30-31

Jerusalem’s acceptance of the offering of the Pauline churches would be an acknowledgment of Paul’s apostolic ministry, and that is why this last task is of such vital importance to Paul. But it is not without risk. Paul asks the Romans to pray that he may be "delivered from the unbelievers in Judaea" (Romans 15:31), i.e. from non-Christian Jews, and the fact that Christian Jews were deeply suspicious of Paul made this journey, which Paul insisted on carrying out in person, all the more dangerous.

For the continuation of the story, we are dependent on the Book of Acts. In today’s second lesson, what Paul had feared now comes to pass. In order to disprove the charge that Paul teaches Jews who are living among Gentiles to forsake the law of Moses and the practice of circumcision, Paul agrees to pay the expenses of four men who have taken the Nazirite vow (Acts 21:20-26).

But the plan backfires, and Paul is falsely accused of having brought non-Jews into the temple precincts (Acts 21:28), a crime punishable by death. Paul is rescued from the mob by the Roman tribune (verse 33). The mob’s furious cry, "Away with him!" (verse 36), parallels their cry when Jesus was brought before Pilate (John 19:15). The altercation in Jerusalem marks the beginning of Paul’s Way of the Cross.

When Paul reveals that he is a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25-28) and appeals to Caesar (Acts 25:11), the stage is set for his journey to Rome, a journey which he will now make under vastly different circumsances from those he anticipated in writing to the Romans.

Paul will come to Rome as a prisoner, and the final chapter of the Book of Acts shows Paul under house arrest (Acts 28:16), "welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered" (verses 30-31).

As we await with anticipation the arrival in Toronto of the successor of St. Peter, the Bishop of Rome, it is appropriate to recall that St. Paul, in whose writings Reformed Christianity finds its voice, also ended up in Rome. Scripture tells us nothing about the death of either apostle, but, according to church tradition, they both suffered martyrdom in the persecution under the Emperor Nero around the year 60.

July 14, 2002

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