Paul in Cesarea

“These are the tones to brace and cheer The lonely watcher of the fold, When nights are dark and foemen near — When visions fade, and hearts grow cold.” “And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” — Matthew x. 18-20.

“When I consider this Apostle as appearing either before the witty Athenians, or before a Roman court of judicature, in the presence of their great men and ladies, I see how handsomely he accommodateth himself to the apprehension and temper of those politer people.” — Loud Shaftesbury’s Characteristics, vol. i. p. 30.

n the times of St Paul, a sailor on the Mediterranean, approaching the city of Cesarea, must have been struck with its greatness and grandeur. The first thing which caught the eye in sailing into its port, was the Temple of Sebas-It was perched on a lofty rock in front of the town, dedicated to Rome and her great emperor, and mainly intended as a sea-mark for mariners. The site of the city had evidently been selected owing to the spaciousness of the natural harbour. The coast was terribly swept by westerly winds, and there being no refuge for ships between Dora and Joppa, Herod the Great, at enormous labour, turned the natural advantages, of what was originally a little fishing-town, into a great capital. “He drew his model,” says Josephus, “and set people to work, and, in twelve years’ time, finished it. The buildings were all of marble, private houses as well as palaces; but his master-piece was the port, which he made as large as the Piraeus of Athens — a safe station against all winds and weathers.”* Immense blocks of stone, fifty feet long, were sunk to twenty fathoms, on the south and south-west, to form a breakwater, leaving a free passage only by the north.

Cesarea seems to have risen rapidly to importance, and as rapidly to have dwindled into insignificance. Not long after the period of which we write, it began to decline. It now lies, as you see in our picture, a pile of ruins sunk in the sands. It is far distant even from the common coast-road, and therefore comparatively little known or visited by travellers. At the time of St Paul, many heathens and foreigners mingled with the Jewish population. In a Romannamed town, where the Roman procurator lived, it was natural to suppose that there would be many habits, tastes, and customs, introduced from the great Roman capital.

In this city we left the Apostle, by the orders of Felix, in confinement in Herod’s judgment-hall (the guard-room adjoining his magnificent palace), till his accusers arrived from Jerusalem. He had not to wait long. In five days, Ananias, his heart still burning with revenge, and other members of the Sanhedrim, made their appearance. They were accompanied by an advocate named Tertullus, or Tertius, whose name tells us he was of Latin origin — one versed in the usages of the Roman law, and also able to speak in the Latin tongue, both of which were necessary qualifications in cases similar to the present. Paul was surn-

* JoBcphus’ Antiquities, boot xv. chap. 13.

moned forthwith to appear before his accusers in the procurator’s court, or place of judgment — the floor of which, if it were like others in the empire, was beautified with a tesselated pavement — square pieces of marble, or stones of various colours, disposed with art and elegance.*

Felix takes his place on his tribunal, and Tertullus delivers a speech, which, even in the brief outline we have of it, showed great power and dexterity. He begins by words of flattery to the judge, complimenting him on the only praiseworthy act of his government — the suppression of robbers and religious fanatics, who had recently, as in the case of the Egyptian impostor, disturbed the peace of Palestine.t Truly it required some ingenuity to say anything praiseworthy of a man like Felix, whom Josephus and Tacitus concur in denouncing as a monster of iniquity and injustice. “He exercised,” says the latter, “the royal authority with the spirit of a slave, and indulged himself in every species of cruelty and lust.” Tertullus then details in succession the charges brought against the Apostle. These were threefold: — 1st, That he had been the means of creating disturbances among the Jews; 2d, That he was the ringleader of a sect called Nazarenes; and, 3d, That he was guilty of profaning the Jewish temple, which Roman kw was bound to protect from insult. The object of his accusers evidently was, to get Felix to consent to deliver him up to be tried by their own Jewish courts — in which case they could, with the utmost ease, have effected his murder. The Jews pre-

* Home’s Introduction, vol. ii. p. 131.
t Josephus’ Antiquities, book xx. chap. 8.

sent applauded violently the speech of their hired advocate, declaring that all he said was j ust.

If Felix had possessed the honourable feelings which we formerly found in Gallio, he would, on charges so false and frivolous, have driven the Jews from the judgment-seat, and dismissed the prisoner; but the Roman purple did not always cover true greatness of soul or rigid equity.

Paul was now called on to make his defence. He did so, answering the accusations of Tertullus one by one; and concluded by complaining, that the Asiatic Jews, who had first accused him, and with whom the uproar in the temple had begun, had not, according to the usage of law, come forward as witnesses against him. You may read for yourselves the brief account which St Luke gives of the Apostle’s reply. You will find it in chapter xxiv. 10-22.

The speech of the Great Apostle seemed to make a decided impression on the mind of the governor; but, from all we can gather of the character of Felix, we need have no expectation on his part of leniency, or even fair dealing, if this were to interfere with his own private ends. As to the innocence of the Apostle, and the unfounded nature of the accusations brought* against him, he could now, after having heard both sides, entertain little doubt; but Paul was a poor, persecuted, hated man. Felix would be no sufferer by oppressing him; but he might be so by offending the leaders of the Jewish people. He declined, therefore, at present giving any decision. He told them he would defer until “Lysias came down,” who was shortly expected from Jerusalem. Till that time he gave orders that

his prisoner be confined, enjoining, at the same time, that no severity or harshness be shown towards him, but that any of his friends might have free liberty to go and visit him.

If Lysias came to Cesarea, we have no mention made of it. But a few days after the public trial, Felix and his wife Drusilla sent for Paul to come to the audience-chamber (or a private apartment in the palace), to have an interview with them. Drusilla was the sister of King Agrippa — herself a Jewess. She is spoken of as a young woman of great beauty, at this time only eighteen years of age. She had married Azizus, King of Emesa; but by the wicked influence of Simon Magus, the friend of Felix, she deserted her husband, and became the unlawful wife of the old profligate Felix. Paul’s eloquence, power, and earnestness seem evidently to have arrested the attention of the governor; and Drusilla being a Jewess, and from her infancy having heard much of Paul, she was doubtless from curiosity anxious to see him. Behold, then, the Great Apostle called again to speak the word of his Master! Two wicked, hardened, selfish individuals were seated before him, probably on benches of Tyrian purple, and under a fretted ceiling. Remembering the manifold vices which lurked under all that outward grandeur, he directed the arrow of conviction to these seared consciences — reasoning of “righteousness, temperance, and the judgment to come.” It was a bold thing for Paul to do; for the aged reprobate before him had his life in his hands — “he had power to crucify him, and power to release him;” and to irritate his savage temper would be to bring down upon himself certain vengeance; but he felt that if he “pleased man, he was not the servant of Christ.” It was no time to preach smooth things; by “the terrors of the Lord” he sought to persuade this ruler, revealing to him all the dread realities of that day of wrath, when small and great, mighty and mean, governor and apostle, would stand before God. “To penitent hearts he was in the habit of preaching the crucified Jesus as the Mediator; but to these worldly individuals, he displayed him as the Judge.” *

“No more he feels upon his high-raised arm
The ponderous chain, than does the playful child
The bracelet, form’d of many a flowery link.
Heedless of self, forgetful that his life
Is now to be defended by his words,
He only thinks of doing good to them
That seek his life.” t

“Felix trembled!” conscience was aroused, and for the moment shook the iron frame of the debased Roman; but it was only for the moment. Conviction was suffered to pass away, — “Go thy way,” said the procrastinator, “for this time, when I have a convenient season I will call for thee.” Alas! we fear that more convenient season never came. Indeed, we find him, immediately after, guilty of the meanest and most dishonourable conduct towards the Apostle — conduct unworthy of his name and his office. He seems to have held many conversations and private conferences with Paul, to induce him to give a bribe in order to secure his release. He had heard, probably, that his relations were independent or perhaps he remembered that the prisoner in his defence had hinted at a collection he had brought from a distance to Jerusalem ;$ and from the known generosity of the Nazarene sect,

* Olshausen. f Graham’s Poems. J Cave, p. 96.

he knew there might be little difficulty in getting them to subscribe liberally to purchase the freedom of their champion. But the high-minded Christian principle of the Apostle scorned the base and impious attempt thus to evade the law. He would rather wear his chains than stoop to dishonour. The consequence, however, was a continuance of his imprisonment for two long years in the town of Cesarea. How he occupied himself during this lengthened interval in his life we know not. It must have been a precious season for turning his eye inwards on his own soul, and fostering the work of grace there. It was, as a writer has called it, “the school for his own personal improvement”* — the Patmos of his active life, where in silence and solitude he was permitted to hold communion with his God. We may imagine him seated in his prison or private house, chained by the right hand to the left arm of a Roman soldier, who was held responsible for the safety of his charge. Much of his time may probably have been spent in writing epistles to his various churches, which are now lost to us, — and also in receiving visits from Christians in Cesarea and Judea, who, as we have said, were allowed to come and cheer the hours of his solitude.

Little did the believers at Cesarea, who, a little while before, wept so touchingly at his going to Jerusalem, think that that very journey was to lead to a personal residence among them for two whole years. Among the friends who thus visited him, probably Timothy was, as formerly, a frequent and an always welcome guest. We know that Philip and his pious daughters were citizens of Cesarea, and more than likely Cornelius

* Olshausen.

the centurion was still stationed in the Roman barracks, rendering still to * Caesar the things which were Csesar’s, and to God the things which were God’s.” Luke, too, we may believe, was much with him. It has even been supposed by many that the beloved physician occupied these years of leisure in writing his Gospel, with the inspired Apostle at his side, to guide him in the momentous task.

During this same period, Felix was recalled by the Emperor to Rome. His rapacity and violence had made him universally hated; and a cruel massacre of the Jews he had ordered in the streets of Cesarea, at the very time Paul was confined in the Pretorium, had added to the popular hatred which eight years of cruelty and selfishness had fostered. Before leaving, the selfishness of his character was still further displayed. He wished to appease and conciliate the Jews. He succeeded in doing so by an act which cost him nothing, — et he left Paul bound” “We are rather tempted to wonder, that to show them a still greater favour, he did not order Paul for execution. But here the providence of God interfered: God had said to Felix, as he said once before to Satan, ‘Behold, he is in thine hand, but save his life.’ The lion can only go the length of his chain; and thanks be to God, that chain is held by One, who, although he is almighty to destroy, is yet ’ almightiest to redeem.’” * We know little more of this “bold, bad man.” A number of Jews followed, at his departure, to accuse him before the Emperor at Rome; but by the powerful mediation of his brother Pallas, he escaped in this world the severe punishment his many crimes deserved.

* Blunt, vol. ii. p. 181.

Festus succeeded Felix in the Governor’s house at Cesarea. He seems to have been a just and honourable man — a favourable contrast to his predecessor. At the outset of his official career, he was very properly anxious to get an insight into the character, customs, tastes, and feelings of those he had come to govern.* Accordingly, after he had been only three days in his new residence, he set out for Jerusalem. This, moreover, may probably have been a customary mark of respect on the part of a new imperial Prefect.

Ismael, the son of Fabei, had by this time been appointed to the vacant office of high priest,t inheriting all the bitter feelings of those who went before him towards the Nazarenes. No sooner did Festus arrive in the Jewish capital, than the chief priests and the leaders of the nation, along with many of the people,’ renewed in his ears the accusation against Paul. They were especially desirous that he would grant liberty to have him brought up for trial again at Jerusalem before the Sanhedrim — their real and covert purpose being to have hired assassins ready to despatch him on the road thither. Festus, however, in a spirit worthy of a noble-minded Roman, refused to give up his prisoner in this unlawful way; adding, if they had anything of which to accuse him, they must come down to Cesarea, and there meet him face to face. On the return of Festus, in a few days, to the seat of his government, the accusers of the Apostle followed him; the day after his arrival, we find Paul once more brought before the judgment-seat, and his relentless foes preferring their old charges. Festus, with a number of assessors or jury at his side, heard the

* Howson, vol. ii. p. 297. t J°s- book xx. chap. viii.

pleadings. He at once saw that they had reference, not to any political offences, but to differences in religions matters, which, he felt, lay beyond his province; moreover, that in all their accnsations there was nothing that made the prisoner worthy of death. However, with a desire probably to gratify the accusers, and alleging the difficulty he had in settling the question, he proposed to Paul to go up under his protection to Jerusalem, and be tried there before the Sanhedrim. He promised that he would himself take part in the proceedings, and secure that these should be impartial. The Apostle saw the certain destruction awaiting him if this were determined upon. There was only one way left by which he could save himself from the “lion’s mouth.” But his clear judgment does not permit him for a moment to hesitate. He claims his privilege as a Roman citizen. He pronounces one little sentence which changes his whole history: he must have felt, while uttering it, that it involved the issues of life or death: — “I appeal unto C^sar.”

These words, I repeat, not only changed in a moment the whole case, but gave a new character to the Apostle’s future. It was not the first time we have found him availing himself of his right of citizenship. It was a privilege peculiarly valuable at the present crisis, protecting him, as it did, from the abuse of authority. His suit now must be tried before the Emperor himself, and in the Roman capital. Festus was doubtless astonished at the new turn which events had taken perhaps, too, affronted at the great boldness of the prisoner. He consulted those around him if the plea were a sound one, and in every way admissible. Discovering that he had no power to set it aside, he declared, as the decision of the court, and as if he seemed right glad to get rid of the entire matter, “Hast thou appealed unto Csesar 1 unto Caesar shalt thou go.” *

It only further remained for Festus to send to the supreme tribunal in Rome the necessary official documents about the case that was thus appealed, and to keep the person of the accused in safety before an opportunity occurred to forward him for his final trial. He was, however, in difficulty as to what charges he could specify against Paul, and which he could send along with him to the Emperor. In his perplexity, a thought occurred to him: Agrippa II., King of Chalcis, with his sister Bernice (sister also to Drusilla), had just come from Cesarea Philippi to offer their respects to Festus on his accession to the supreme power in the other Cesarea. As Agrippa had, from his earliest years, been familiar with Jewish customs and laws, Festus resolved to consult with him on this matter. He mentioned to him the opinions the prisoner was charged with holding, and especially “concerning one Jesus, who had died and was alive again.” t Agrippa had often before heard of the fame of St Paul; curiosity made him desirous of seeing him personally, and next day Festus resolved to gratify his

* Among other testimonies, “a passage in Pliny’s Epistle to Trajan confirms this right and privilege which Roman freemen enjoyed, of appealing from provincial courts to Rome. He thus writes: — ‘The method I have observed towards those who have been brought before me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were Christians. If they confessed, I repeated the question twice again, adding threats at the same time, when, if they still persevered, I ordered them to be immediately punished. There were others also brought before me, possessed with the same infatuation, but being citizens of Rome, I directed them to be carried thither.’’” — Home’s Introduction, vol. ii. p. 129.

Acts xxv. 19.

Y wish. The Apostle, chained to the soldier who guarded him, was ushered into the audience-chamber in the Pretorium, where Agrippa, Bernice, and Festus were waiting in pomp to receive him. Roman officers quartered in the barracks and some leading people of the city were also invited to be present. Paul must have remembered the words of his Lord, which were now strikingly fulfilled as he stood in bonds before this royal audience — “Ye shall be brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.” * Festus began by making a formal speech, stating the case of the prisoner, and his perplexity in knowing how to represent it to the Emperor. Agrippa then asked Paul to speak for himself. The Apostle willingly complied. He went minutely over the circumstances of his own conversion, declaring that the .faithful performance of his Divine mission to preach to the Gentiles had drawn down upon him the hatred and revenge of the Jews; that all his teaching and preaching was not contrary to, but in accordance with, Moses and the prophets, who had testified “that Messiah should suffer, and that He should be the first to rise from the dead, and should show light to the house of Israel, and also to the Gentiles.” t

Festus had listened with silent attention. He could not have failed to admire the simple but impressive way in which the accused had stated his case — the grace of his manner, and the sincerity of his views. But when he heard about the bright light on the road to Damascus, the voice from heaven, and worse than all, his reference to the resurrection, he at once put the prisoner down for a fanatic or enthusiast, who had

* Matt. x. 18. t Acts xxvi. 1-23.

overworked his brain with severe study; and, interrupting him, said, “Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.” He was evidently surprised that a man so well educated and talented, and more than all, a Roman citizen, could give heed to such “cunningly devised fables” — submitting to evil, poverty, scourging, imprisonment, and all without hope of reward. To a selfish man of the world, there was nothing but insanity in all this. The Apostle calmly replied, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.” Then turning to Agrippa he made the appeal — “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets 1 I know that thou believest;” I know that thou believest the testimony of those holy men who have told that Christ must needs suffer. The reply of Agrippa showed how deeply moved he was — “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” What a confession for a monarch to make to one standing before him in chains! In answer, Paul held up his hands, clanking with these fetters, and made the noble and bold reply, “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.” Never was there a finer protestation — never a more glorious testimony to the happiness of the soul at peace with God. With all his chains, and the dark prospect of trial before him, the Apostle not only felt, but boldly avowed in the presence of a king, that he was the happier of the two!

But, alas! Agrippa was not “altogether persuaded.” The name of Jesus, which was the boast of Paul, was hated by Agrippa’s proud countrymen. He would not make up his mind to part with a corruptible crown, and thus, we fear, he lost the incorruptible.

The meeting thus ended. As the listeners talked the case over, they came to the conclusion that the accused had committed no crime worthy of death or of imprisonment, — indeed, Agrippa gave it as his opinion that he might have been released at once, if he had not already appealed unto Csesar. That appeal, however, having been made by law, it could not be departed from; the first opportunity that occurs, the prisoner must be sent to Rome. His own ardent wish was thus at last to be fulfilled — not that he had ever doubted that, in some way or other, the hand of God would bring it about; for in the Castle of Antonio, you remember, two years before, his Saviour had appeared to him, and told him, that as he had witnessed for him at Jerusalem, so also was he to witness in the great city of the empire. In his voyage to the world’s mighty capital, therefore, we must trace in the next L-hapter “the footsteps of St PauL”