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| PAUL'S LEGAL BATTLES |
| 470 Roman soldiers protected him from a lynch mob. |
| "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me." 20:22-23 |
| The drumbeat starts with the last verse in chapter 20. "What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again." After this, wherever he went, Paul's friends begged him not to go to Jersalem. One of them bound his own hands and feet with Paul's belt, publicly role-playing what was in store for Paul (21:10-11). But Paul had survived shipwrecks, a stoning, beatings, and long nights in jail, and fear had never stopped him. Besides, he knew that God wanted him to take his word to Rome, and no disaster in Jerusalem could prevent that. A Dangerous Revolutionary? Thus, against all advice Paul went to Jerusalem. His reputation as a Christian missionary had spread, to such an extent that it took a brigade of 470 Roman soldiers to protect him from a Jewish lynch mob. Luke details the process of Roman justice so thoroughly that some have speculated he wrote Acts as a legal brief for Paul's defense. Was Paul a violent terrorist intent on inciting revolt? Luke meticulously records that, no, Paul had no political ambitions and consistently worked within Roman law. Most of the time, Roman law found Paul innocent. An official in Corinth dismissed charges against him (18:15), as did the town clerk at Ephesus (19:35-41). In Judea Governor Festus and King Agrippa both concluded Paul might have been freed ourtight had he not appealed to Caesar (26:32). |