Part II. The Church of Palestine

Chapter I. Dispersion of the Christians—Activity of Philip. A.D. 36.

THE martyrdom of the great Hellenist, who was conveyed to his grave amidst much lamentation by devout men (Acts viii. 2), was the signal for a furious persecution of the Christians. The protection with which the prudence of Gamaliel had hitherto shielded them was now withdrawn. Pharisee and Sadducee alike, in the absence or with the connivance of the Roman procurator, turned against the hated sect, and the young Cilician of Tarsus, who was consenting to the death of Stephen (Acts viii. 1), and probably was now or shortly afterwards a member of the Sanhedrin, found himself able to give vent to the full fury of his zeal.

Resolved to make havoc of the Church (Acts viii. 3), he invaded the dwellings of those who professed adherence to the Christian faith, dragged forth their inmates, whether men or women, and committed them to prison (Acts viii. 3, xxvi. 9, 10, xxii. 3). Some of these persecuted people he scourged, often, in many synagogues (Acts xxvi. 11); some he strove to compel to blaspheme the Holy Name whereby they were called (Acts xxvi. 11); others he brought before the Sanhedrin, and when it was decided that they should be put to death, gave his vote against them (Acts xxvi. 10), so that his fame as an inquisitor spread beyond the boundaries of Palestine, and reached even the distant city of Damascus (Acts ix. 13).

From a persecution instigated by such a zealous leader the disciples fled in different directions throughout Judæa and Samaria, and even further north still, to Phœnicia, Cyprus, and Antioch (Acts xi. 19), but the Apostles remained firm at their posts, and for the present did not leave Jerusalem (Acts viii. 1).

Amongst those, who were thus dispersed abroad, was one of the “Seven” who had been elected with Stephen to superintend the distribution of the funds of the Christian society. Between Judæa and Galilee lay the district of Samaria, the inhabitants of which, though shunning and shunned by the Jew, “yet clung to the same promises and looked forward to the same hopes.” Thither Philip now went down, and entering one of its towns, began to proclaim the message of Glad Tidings to its people, and performed many miracles, casting out demons, and healing many that were lame and paralysed. He was received with no less readiness than the Holy One Himself, when sitting on Jacob’s well, He declared Himself the Messiah to the woman who was a sinner. With one accord the Samaritans gave heed to his words (Acts viii. 6).

At this time there was present in the neighbourhood a man, who made no small stir in his day, by name Simon. By his skill as a magician he had succeeded in astounding the people of Samaria to such a degree that he found votaries amongst all ranks and all ages, and was pronounced to be the Power of God which is called Great (Acts viii. 10). But in Philip he found a rival whom he could not resist. He might astonish and perplex, but Philip could do more. He could heal, and restore gladness to many a saddened home (Acts viii. 12). The magician, therefore, soon found himself deserted, and many, both men and women, left him, and believing the Glad Tidings announced by the Evangelist, were admitted into the Church by baptism (Acts viii. 12). These results made a deep impression on the mind of Simon, and he too professed himself a believer, and received baptism at the hands of Philip (Acts viii. 13).

Meanwhile news that the despised Samaria had received the word of God reached the ears of the Apostles at Jerusalem, and they dispatched Peter and John thither on a special mission of enquiry. They on their arrival prayed that some of those extraordinary gifts, which followed and attested the effusion of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, might be bestowed upon the Samaritan believers, and laid their hands upon them (Acts viii. 17), whereupon the endowments, for which they had prayed, were vouchsafed, and attested the planting of a Church in Samaria, standing in an equal rank with the first Church at Jerusalem.

Astonished as Simon had been at the miracles of Philip, he was still more astonished at the results of the imposition of the hands of the two Apostles, and he tried to bribe them to bestow upon him the same peculiar power (Acts viii. 18, 19). This mercenary proposal opened their minds to the real character of the man, and with the same just severity with which he had rebuked Ananias, Peter now denounced the wickedness of the pretender, and declaring that his heart was not right in the sight of God, that he had neither part nor lot in the matter, bade him pray that peradventure his evil intentions might be forgiven (Acts viii. 20–22). Struck dumb by the plain-spoken truthfulness of the Galilæan fisherman, and awakened rather to feelings of apprehension of the Divine vengeance than to repentance, Simon implored the Apostles to intreat the Lord for him, that none of the things which they had threatened might come to pass (Acts viii. 24).

After this encounter Peter and John extended their missionary labours to many other villages of the Samaritans (Acts viii. 25), and then returned to Jerusalem. But other work was reserved for Philip, for a Divine intimation bade him go toward the south, along the road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza. Of the roads leading to this well-known city, one by Ramleh passed through town and villages; another, better adapted for carriages, through Hebron, and thence through a district comparatively little inhabited, and exposed to the incursions of southern marauders, whence it was called desert (Acts viii. 26). The latter was the one which the heavenly Voice bade the Evangelist take, and as he traversed it, probably ignorant of the cause wherefore he was sent, he perceived a chariot, in which one sat reading as he rode. This was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch, the chief officer of Candace, queen of Meröe, and steward of all her treasure, who had come up to worship at one of the Feasts at Jerusalem, and was now returning (Acts viii. 27, 28). Bidden by the heavenly Voice to join the Stranger, Philip quickened his steps, and presently overheard him reading aloud, probably in the Septuagint Version, the words of the prophet Isaiah (chap. liii. 6, 7):

He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened He not His mouth: in His humiliation His judgment was taken away: and who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken away from the earth.

Understandest thou what thou readest? enquired Philip. How can I, answered the other, unless some man should guide me? and he besought him to get up and sit down by his side. Then the conversation began. I pray thee, said the eunuch, of whom is the prophet speaking this? of himself, or of some other man?

Thereupon Philip opened his mouth, and told him who that “Man” was, and preached the glad tidings of Him, who died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven. As he went on, the eunuch was filled with an ardent desire to embrace the faith, and, being probably informed by Philip of the last command of his ascended Lord to the Apostles, on reaching a stream of water, enquired whether aught could hinder his being baptized? Thereupon the chariot was stayed, and the two went down to the water, and Philip baptized him, and then, either in consequence of some sudden inward summons or by a miraculous withdrawal, was instantly caught away, so that the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing (Acts viii. 39). Meanwhile Philip had passed on to Azotus, the ancient Ashdod, and thence evangelizing all the towns in his way, and following the coast-line, proceeded to Cæsarea on the Sea (Acts viii. 40).

CHAPTER II. THE CONVERSION OF ST PAUL. A.D. 36 or 37–A.D. 40.

IN His parting charge to His Apostles the Saviour had declared that they should be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts i. 8). In exact accordance with this order the Church, as we have seen, was first founded in Jerusalem (Acts ii. 1), then spread to the cities round about (Acts v. 16), and after the martyrdom of Stephen to Samaria (Acts viii. 5–25). Provision was now to be made for its extension to the Gentiles, and for this purpose a fitting instrument was raised up in the person of no other than the young Cilician Pharisee, whom we have seen consenting to the death of the first Martyr, and making havoc of the Church.

At this point, then, it will be well to group together such particulars of his early life as have come down to us.

1. Saul, or as he was afterwards called Paul, was born at Tarsus (Acts ix. 11, xxi. 39, xxii. 3), the capital of Cilicia, situated on the banks of the Cydnus, a river famous for the dangerous fever caught by Alexander while bathing, and for the meeting of Antonius and Cleopatra. Even in early times it was a place of consequence, and after belonging to the empire of the Seleucidæ, and for a short time to that of the Ptolemies, espoused the cause of Cæsar during the civil wars, was then named Juliopolis in honour of a visit from him, and made a free city by Augustus. Under the early Roman emperors it was famous as a seat of education, and in this respect could vie even with Athens and Alexandria, and could boast of several Stoics, such as Athenodorus, the tutor of Augustus, and Nestor, the tutor of Tiberius. As a place of commerce, it was a meeting-point for Syrians, Cilicians, Isaurians, and Cappadocians.

2. The family of Saul were strict Jews, though Hellenists in speech, and of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. iii. 5). Neither his father’s nor his mother’s names are mentioned, but we have notices of his sister, and his sister’s son (Acts xxiii. 16), and of some more distant relatives (Rom. xvi. 7, 11, 21).

3. Born probably during the later years of the reign of Herod, or the earlier of his son Archelaus, as the son of a Pharisee (Acts xxiii. 6), he was circumcised on the eighth day (Phil. iii. 5), and received the name of Saul. But from his earliest years he probably had two names, “Saul the name of his Hebrew home, Paul that by which he was known among the Gentiles.”

4. From his father he inherited a great privilege, that of Roman citizenship. How his father acquired it is unknown. He may have obtained it for a large sum of money (Comp. Acts xxii. 28), or it may have descended to him, or it may have been bestowed upon him in recognition of some service rendered during the civil wars to some influential Roman.

5. In conformity with the usual custom of his nation, one of whose proverbs was that He who taught not his son a trade, taught him to be a thief, the youthful Saul was instructed in the art of making tents, of the hair-cloth known as Cilicium, and supplied by the goats of his native province.

6. Carefully nurtured under his father’s roof, speaking Greek, and acquainted with the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, he was removed, probably between the age of 10 and 15, to Jerusalem, where he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and under the superintendence of this wise and candid teacher made progress in his knowledge of Jewish rites above many of his contemporaries in his own nation, and became distinguished for extraordinary zeal for the traditions handed down from his fathers (Gal. i. 14). Under the same teacher he probably added to that knowledge of Greek and of the Septuagint, as also of the elements of Gentile learning, which he had brought with him from Tarsus, a more exact acquaintance with the original Hebrew, as also with the hidden and mystical meaning of the Scriptures; a knowledge of aphorisms, allegories, and the opinions of the learned; as also the facility of quick and apt quotation; while the study of Greek authors would not be altogether discouraged.

Such was the early life, and such was the training of the champion of the Pharisaic party, who was now to become the great Apostle of the Gentiles.

In his determination to make havoc of the Church, Saul was not content to persecute its members at Jerusalem. Breathing forth threatenings and slaughter against them, he determined to seek them out wherever they might be found, and with this intention requested letters of the high-priest empowering him to seize any of “the Way,” whom he might find in the city of Damascus, whether men or women, and convey them thence to Jerusalem to be punished (Acts ix. 1, 2, xxvi. 12, xxii. 5).

Armed with these credentials, he set out with a considerable retinue, and having probably passed through Shechem, then called Neapolis, and Samaria, and thence through Galilee towards the sea of Tiberias, crossed the Jordan, and made his way along the dreary barren uplands which stretch between the base of Antilibanus and the city of Damascus.

It was on the last, probably the sixth day of this long journey, that about noon (Acts xxii. 6, xxvi. 13), when the sun was burning with the fulness of its noontide heat, that the beautiful city appeared in view. But just as the object of his journey seemed to be attained, suddenly a light, brighter even than that fiery sun, flashed upon the persecutor and his companions (Acts ix. 6, xxvi. 13). Struck dumb with fear he and they fell to the ground (Acts ix. 7, xxvi. 14), and then from the inmost depths of the incomprehensible light there came a Voice, which all heard, but one only was enabled to understand (Acts xxii. 9, ix. 8), and a Form appeared, which none saw save one, the persecutor himself (Acts xxii. 14; 1 Cor. xv. 8). Saul, Saul, said the Voice in distinct articulate words in the Hebrew tongue (Acts xxvi. 14), why persecutest thou Me? Who art Thou, Lord? replied the stunned and confused Pharisee. I am Jesus, was the answer, Whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the goad (Acts xxvi. 14). Trembling and astonished the persecutor went on, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? and in reply was directed to arise and go into the city, and there it should be told him what he was to do (Acts ix. 11).

Thereupon he arose, but when he opened his eyes, all was dark around, for they were blinded by the brightness of the light and the majesty of the Son of God. His companions who had stood speechless listening to the voice, but seeing no man (Acts ix. 7), now took him by the hand (Acts ix. 8), and led him into the city, and through the street called “Straight” to the abode of one Judas (Acts ix. 11).

For three days the blindness continued, and during this period he neither ate nor drank (Acts ix. 9), but remained engaged in solitary prayer (Acts ix. 11) unvisited either by the Christians, who had been alarmed by the intelligence of his approach, or the Jews, who could not sympathise with his present condition. At length one drew near to reveal the Divine will respecting him.

There was living at this time in Damascus a disciple named Ananias, held in high estimation amongst all the Jews resident there (Acts xxii. 12). To him the Lord appeared in a vision, and bade him seek out in the house of Judas for one called Saul, for behold he was praying, and had seen in a vision a man coming in, and laying his hand upon him that he might recover his sight. At first Ananias would have declined the mission, knowing well the character of him to whom he was to go, and the purpose for which he had visited Damascus. But his objections were overruled; he who had been a persecutor was designed by the Lord to do great things, and to him he must go (Acts ix. 11–16).

Thereupon Ananias went, entered the house, and beholding the triumphant persecutor lying exhausted and fasting, laid his hands upon him and said, Brother Saul, the Lord hath sent me, even Jesus who appeared unto thee on the way as thou camest, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts ix. 17). He had scarcely spoken when from the eyes of the new disciple of the risen Saviour there fell as it had been scales, and looking up he beheld the face of Ananias (Acts xxii. 13), and learned the object of the heavenly vision, and the purpose for which the God of his fathers had chosen him (Acts xxvi. 18). Thereupon he arose and was baptized, and having taken meat was strengthened for the work that lay before him.

The arrival of the delegate of the Sanhedrin was no secret among the Christians at Damascus, and the words of Ananias testify to the fame he had acquired as a persecutor of their body. Great, then, must have been their surprise when they heard of the change which his spirit had undergone, and still more when they saw him entering the synagogues (Acts ix. 20), and fearlessly declaring his conviction that that Jesus, whose followers he had come to imprison, was the Son of God. The first effect upon those who heard him was blank amazement, for they were well acquainted with his previous history, and the object of his visit, and they clearly saw that the astounding change which had come over him could not be ascribed to any wayward, irregular impulse, for his energy gathered renewed strength day by day, and the Jews were unable to confute the arguments by which he proved that Jesus was the long-promised Messiah (Acts ix. 21, 22).

After the lapse, however, of some days, it became clear that it would not be safe for him to continue his labours. The fury of the Jews would naturally be roused to the utmost pitch, and it became necessary that he should leave the city. But instead of going up to Jerusalem to consult those who were Apostles before him (Gal. i. 17), he departed to Arabia, either the region which bordered on Syria and Mesopotamia and included Damascus itself, or the Sinaitic peninsula, the scene of the giving of the law. What was the purpose of this journey we are not told. Perhaps it was to undertake some missionary enterprise, perhaps to engage in solitary communion with Him who had called him to be an Apostle, before he entered upon his active labours.

Chapter III. St Paul’s First Visit to Jerusalem—Peter at Joppa. A.D. 40.

WHATEVER was the precise object of this journey to Arabia, and whatever was its duration, certain it is that the Apostle returned thence to Damascus (Gal. i. 17), and preached boldly in the name of Jesus (Acts ix. 27). On this occasion, however, the Jews, unable to confute his arguments, resolved to assassinate him, but their design reached his ears, and every precaution was taken by the Christians that night to secure him from danger.

This, however, was a matter of no little difficulty. In consequence either of hostilities between the Romans and Herod Antipas on the one side and Aretas king of Petra on the other, or of the assignment of Damascus by Caligula, the successor of Tiberius, to Aretas, the city was held by the Ethnarch of this monarch (2 Cor. xi. 32), and the Jews having won him and his soldiers over to their side, a strict watch was kept day and night to prevent the Apostle’s escape, and deliver him over to execution (Acts ix. 24). In this emergency, therefore, the disciples taking advantage of an unguarded part of the wall and the darkness of the night, let him down in a basket from a window, which opened on the outer country (Acts ix. 25; 2 Cor. xi. 33). Thus delivered from circumstances of great peril, the Apostle turned his steps towards Jerusalem, being desirous, as he informs us, to become acquainted with Peter, and in the Holy City he arrived three years after his conversion (Gal. i. 18).

But his escape had been too hurried to allow him to bring with him letters of commendation; when, therefore, he attempted to join himself to the disciples (Acts ix. 26), they were all afraid of him, and could not believe that he was united with them in the bonds of a common discipleship. But now it was that Barnabas, who, as we have seen, may have become acquainted with him at Tarsus, took him by the hand and brought him to the Apostles, and told them how he had seen the Lord on the road to Damascus, and how in that city he had already spoken boldly in His Name (Acts ix. 27). Thereupon Peter, and James the Lord’s brother (Gal. i. 18, 19), in the absence of the other Apostles, probably on some mission to the churches of Judæa, Galilee, and Samaria (Acts ix. 31), gave him the right hand of fellowship, and for a period of 15 days (Gal. i. 18) he was with them coming in and going out of Jerusalem (Acts ix. 28).

As might be expected, the chief sphere of his activity was in the synagogues of the Hellenists, where he had before distinguished himself as a zealous opponent of Stephen. Now, however, he disputed with the same energy and force in support of the very doctrines which he had then persecuted (Acts ix. 29), and brought down upon himself the same furious opposition which had caused the death of the first Martyr. A plot was formed to secure his assassination, and the disciples perceived that he must retire from the work he had commenced in Jerusalem. The Apostle, himself, was unwilling to quit a place, where his former zeal against the faith was so well-known, and his sincerity, as he hoped, would be appreciated (Acts xxii. 19, 20). But as he was one day praying in the temple, he fell into a trance (Acts xxii. 17), and saw his Lord, who said to him, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me; and when he hesitated to obey the command and pleaded his former zeal in persecuting the faith as a reason why he should stay, the injunction to leave the city was repeated, Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles (Acts xxii. 21).

Thus assured that Jerusalem was not to be the field of his labours, he allowed the brethren to convey him to Cæsarea-on-the-sea, whence he took ship and sailed to Tarsus, his native city, and there probably devoted himself to preaching in its synagogue, and to missionary activity in the regions of Syria and Cilicia (Gal. i. 21). His brief visit to Jerusalem had not been without some result. He had seen and was recognised by Peter and James, and though he remained for the present personally unknown to the churches of Judæa, yet the intelligence which reached them from time to time that their persecutor of former days was now preaching the Faith, filled them with thankfulness, and they glorified God in him (Gal. i. 22–24).

While the Apostle was thus employed amidst the familiar scenes of his childhood, the churches throughout Judæa and Galilee and Samaria, lately disturbed by his unceasing animosity, had peace, increased in numbers, and walked in the fear of the Lord (Acts ix. 31). The rest, however, which they thus enjoyed, may perhaps be ascribed to another cause besides the conversion of their late persecutor. In A.D. 36 Pontius Pilate, as we have already seen, was sent to Rome by Vitellius. Thereupon Marcellus was sent out as procurator of Judæa in his place, but on his arrival at Cæsarea was directed to make way for Marullus. In the following year, A.D. 37, Vitellius was recalled from Syria, and was succeeded in that prefecture by Petronius, while Theophilus succeeded his brother Jonathan in the office of high-priest. But a still more important event in the same year was the death of Tiberius, and the accession of Caligula. Releasing Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, from his prison at Rome, where Tiberius had confined him, he appointed him king of Trachonitis, which had belonged to Herod Philip’s tetrarchy, and bestowed upon him also the tetrarchy of Lysanias. But the new emperor was scarcely seated on the throne, before in his insane vanity he ordered divine honours to be paid to himself throughout the empire, and directed that a golden colossal statue of himself should be placed in the Holy of Holies at Jerusalem. The execution of this mandate was entrusted to Petronius, and having ordered Sidonian workmen to make the statue, he moved up with his troops to Ptolemais, prepared to set it up by force. But no sooner did intelligence of what was intended reach the Jews than one universal feeling of horror pervaded the nation, and thousands assembled from all quarters without distinction of rank or age or sex, imploring the prefect to desist from carrying out his instructions. Shrinking from the horrible task of commencing a war of massacre and extermination which he saw was inevitable, if the statue was set up, Petronius hesitated, wrote to expostulate with his master, and put off the execution of the order. At the same time Herod Agrippa, then at Rome, implored his patron to pause, and a deputation from Alexandria, headed by the learned and venerable Philo, set forth the stern requirements of the Jewish Law. But Caligula was inexorable, and it is impossible to say what would have been the result, had he not been assassinated on the 24th of January, A.D. 41. Thus the Jews were delivered from this terrible indignity.

The rest, then, which the Christians now enjoyed, may not improbably be ascribed to the distractions of Caligula’s reign, and to the fact that the Jewish authorities were wholly occupied with frustrating his mad designs. Taking advantage, therefore, of this period of repose the Apostle Peter made a visitation of the different churches founded in Palestine, and amongst other places went down to Lydda, anciently called Lod (1 Ch. viii. 12; Neh. vii. 37), and afterwards Diospolis, situated about 9 miles from the sea-port of Joppa. Here finding a man afflicted with paralysis, who had kept his bed for upwards of 8 years, he addressed him in his Master’s name, Æneas, Jesus Christ healeth thee, whereupon he rose immediately, restored to perfect soundness. The cure of such a man was quickly noised abroad throughout his own town and the neighbouring plain of Sharon, and contributed in no small degree to the spread of the Church in those regions.

While still at Lydda the Apostle received intelligence that the Christian society at Joppa had sustained a grievous loss by the death of a widow of substance, named Tabitha or Dorcas, who had been wont not only to minister with her own hands to the wants of the poor, but in providing clothing for them. The death of such a person caused great regret at Joppa, and the Apostle was no sooner informed of it by messengers, who intreated his presence, than he set out, and on his arrival was conducted to the upper chamber, where the body lay prepared for the burial (Acts ix. 37–39), surrounded by many widows, who stood by weeping, and shewed him the many proofs of the kindness of their benefactress.

Like his Master before him in the chamber of the daughter of Jairus, the Apostle thereupon put these mourners forth, and kneeling down engaged in prayer. Then turning to the body he pronounced the words Tabitha, arise (Acts ix. 40), whereupon her eyes instantly were opened, and seeing Peter she sat up. Taking her by the hand the Apostle then raised her from the spot where she had lain prepared for burial, and calling in the widows presented her to them alive. The fame of this miracle, confirming as it did the impression already made at Lydda, quickly spread, and caused an accession of many to the Christian Church; and the Apostle perceiving an opportune field of usefulness thus opened to him, tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner (Acts ix. 43).

Chapter IV. The Conversion of Cornelius. A.D. 41–43.

DURING the Apostle’s stay at Joppa an event occurred destined to have no small influence on the spread of the Church.

Cæsarea, as has been already stated, was the head-quarters of the Roman government in Judæa. Among the troops quartered there was a cohort of Italians, possibly volunteers, and amongst its officers was a centurion named Cornelius, a devout man, who had learned to worship the one true God, and was well known for his almsgiving and uprightness of life (Acts x. 2). One day, about the ninth hour, the hour of prayer, he beheld in a vision an angel who informed him that his prayers and alms were not forgotten before God, and bade him send for the Apostle, now lodging at Joppa, who would tell him what he should do, and inform him concerning that faith which had already excited much attention in the neighbourhood (Acts ix. 42).

Obedient to the heavenly vision the centurion summoned two of his servants, and a devout soldier attached to his own person, and sent them with the necessary instructions to Joppa. As the three drew near their destination, the Apostle Peter, who had retired for devotion to the flat housetop of his lodging by the seaside at the noontide hour of prayer (Acts x. 9), fell into a trance, and saw the heaven opened, and a great sheet-like vessel, let down by its four corners, till it rested upon the earth (Acts x. 11). As he observed it closely, he noticed that it contained all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air, and he heard a Voice saying, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But this the Apostle, who from earliest childhood had observed the strict precepts of the Levitical Law, stedfastly declined to do: he had never eaten anything common or unclean. Then the Voice spoke again, saying, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common, and when the strange scene had been repeated three times, probably with the same command, the same remonstrance, and the same reply, the vessel was received up again into heaven (Acts x. 15, 16).

The Apostle was deeply moved, and while meditating on the possible meaning of what he had beheld and heard, the messengers of Cornelius had arrived, and were making enquiries for him, and at the same moment the Spirit bade him go down and accompany them whithersoever they went, doubting nothing (Acts x. 19, 20). Thereupon he descended from the housetop, and having learned from the men the purport of their errand, he brought them in and hospitably entertained them (Acts x. 21–23).

The next day he set out with them towards Cæsarea, attended by certain of the brethren from Joppa, and on entering the house of Cornelius found him in the midst of many of his relatives and intimate friends, whom he had assembled to listen to the Apostle’s words. As he crossed the threshold (Acts x. 25), the centurion went forth to meet him, and falling down at his feet would have worshipped him. But Peter raised him up, and reminded him that he also was a man, and then addressed himself to the assembled company. They all knew, he said, that he was a Jew, and how unlawful it was for one of that nation to associate with or enter the house of a foreigner: but God had shewed him that he was not to call any man common or unclean, and therefore he had come without delay, and now desired to know the reason for which he had been sent (Acts x. 28, 29).

Then Cornelius recounted the particulars of his vision (Acts x. 30–33), and requested the Apostle to announce to him and his assembled friends what he, as a messenger of God, had to say to them. Thus assured that all things had occurred under the Divine guidance, the Apostle opened his mouth, and having acknowledged that God was indeed no respecter of persons, but accepted out of every nation all that feared Him and worked righteousness, proceeded to proclaim the glad tidings of his risen Lord. He told them of His life of love; of His victories over disease and the spirit-world (Acts x. 38); of His death by the hands of men (Acts x. 39); of His resurrection, and His appearances afterwards, not to all the people but to chosen witnesses, even the Apostles, who had eaten and drunk with Him (Acts x. 40, 41); of His exaltation to heaven and His future coming to judge the world; of the commission he and the rest of the Twelve had received to proclaim to all that believed in Him the remission of sins (Acts x. 42, 43).

While he was still speaking, the events of the day of Pentecost were repeated in the house of the Roman soldier. To the astonishment of the Jewish Christians who had accompanied the Apostle from Joppa, the gift of the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the Gentiles, and they heard them speaking in various dialects and magnifying and praising God (Acts x. 46). Now fully awakened to the meaning of the vision on the housetop, the Apostle enquired whether any could forbid that these, who had already evidently received the gift of the Holy Ghost, should be admitted to the rite of baptism, and then ordered that it should be administered; and thus he who had first preached the resurrection to the Jews, baptized the first converts at Jerusalem, and confirmed the first-fruits of the church in Samaria, now, under direct communication from heaven, first threw down the barrier which separated proselytes of the gate from Israelites, and admitted them on an equal footing into the Christian Church.

The news of such an event was not long in reaching Jerusalem, and provoked not only enquiry and comment, but actual complaint, so that when the Apostle returned thither, he found himself warmly censured by not a few of the more exclusive section of the “circumcision,” who complained that he had consorted and eaten with men who were uncircumcised (Acts xi. 1–3). Thereupon Peter recounted all the particulars of his visit to Cæsarea from the beginning; how he had seen a vision at Joppa, and how a Divine Voice had accompanied and interpreted it; how the messengers of Cornelius had arrived while he was pondering over the vision, and he had been bidden to accompany them nothing doubting; how taking with him six impartial witnesses (Acts xi. 12), who were then present, he had proceeded to the house of Cornelius, and on his arrival was told of another vision which the good centurion had beheld, the “very counterpart and index of his own;” how when he had only begun to speak and to touch upon the Gospel History, the infallible sign of the Divine Presence had been manifested, and the Holy Ghost had fallen on his Gentile hearers as on the disciples in Jerusalem at the beginning; how this had recalled to his mind his Lord’s words, John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, and he had admitted them to baptism; for who was he, after this visible proof of the Divine Presence, that he could withstand God? (Acts xi. 4–17). The question contained its own answer, and the Christians at Jerusalem not only held their peace, and desisted from further reprehension of the Apostle, but glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life (Acts xi. 18).

Meanwhile events had occurred at other and more distant places than Cæsarea, shewing that the Christian Church was no longer to be confined to the Jews only or to the sacred land of Palestine. The Christians, whom the persecution that followed after the stoning of Stephen had driven from the Holy City, travelled in different directions, to Phœnicia, the neighbouring island of Cyprus, and to Antioch, the metropolis of Syria (Acts xi. 19). For some time they confined their ministrations to the Jews only, but at length some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, on their arrival at Antioch, began to preach the word even to the Gentiles, and with such success that a great number became believers, and turned unto the Lord (Acts xi. 21).

Tidings of these events reaching the Church at Jerusalem, in accordance with the precedent already acted upon in Samaria (Acts viii. 14), it was resolved to send to Antioch one in whom they had entire confidence, and who might report on all that had occurred. The person selected for this important duty was no other than Barnabas, the son of exhortation, himself a Hellenist, a native of Cyprus, and in all probability well acquainted with Antioch, one known to be a good man, full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith (Acts xi. 24).

Accordingly Barnabas set out, and on his arrival found much to approve in the ministrations of the Hellenistic teachers. They had evidently been blessed with great success, and he laboured earnestly to advance it, exhorting all to cleave to the Lord with full purpose of heart. His own endeavours did not lose their reward, for the church at Antioch received many additions to its numbers (Acts xi. 24), but Barnabas saw that a wise master-builder (1 Cor. iii. 10) was required for the work, and he therefore set out for Tarsus to fetch Saul. Once more, then, the two met, and Saul proceeded with his friend to the Syrian metropolis, and there side by side they continued to labour for a whole year, and so greatly were their exertions blessed, and so numerous were the additions made to the Church, that it was clear the disciples could no longer be confounded with any sect or party of the Jews. Standing out, then, as a separate community, they acquired a distinctive title, and it was first at Antioch, whose inhabitants were notorious for inventing names of derision, that the honourable appellation of Christians was first applied to them (Acts xi. 26). This name they were not likely to assume themselves, nor is it probable that it was bestowed upon them by the Jews. They called them in hatred and contempt the sect of the Nazarenes (Acts xxiv. 5), and Christ being equivalent to Messiah, they were not likely to apply to them a term they themselves held sacred. The name, therefore, probably originated with the Gentiles, and with the Romans rather than the Greeks. The disciples would often speak of Christ as their leader and chief, and the heathens would naturally call them in mockery and derision Christians, or the Followers of Christ, just as the partisans of Marius were called Mariani, of Pompeius Pompeiani, of Otho Othoniani, of Vitellius Vitelliani, of Herod Herodiani.

While the two Apostles were thus employed, there arrived at Antioch, A.D. 42, certain prophets from Jerusalem, one of whom named Agabus stood up and announced that a great famine was at hand, which in fact came to pass during the reign of Claudius Cæsar (Acts xi. 28), a reign distinguished for earthquakes, bad harvests, and general scarcity. Having full faith in his prophetic words the Christians in the Syrian metropolis determined to send relief, every man according to his ability, to their poorer brethren at Jerusalem, and Saul and Barnabas were selected to convey their contributions to the Holy City (Acts xi. 29, 30).

Chapter V. Martyrdom of St James—Death of Herod. A.D. 44.

ABOUT the time when these delegates from the church at Antioch arrived on their errand of Christian love at Jerusalem, a severe calamity befell the Church there. On the accession of Claudius, A.D. 41, Herod Agrippa, who had taken an active part in securing his succession, was rewarded by the addition of Judæa and Samaria to the tetrarchies of Philip and Antipas which he had already received, and ruled as king over a territory as widely extended as that governed by his grandfather.

Arriving at Jerusalem, A.D. 42, he dedicated in the Temple, as a memorial of the Divine protection, the golden chain with which he had been presented by Caligula, and which was of equal weight with the iron one he had worn when imprisoned by Tiberius, and endeavoured to ingratiate himself with his subjects by the strictest profession of Judaism. He offered sacrifice every day; paid the expenses of certain Nazarites on completing their vows; abstained from every legal impurity; remitted the house-tax of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; encircled the new suburb of Bezetha with a wall; and prepared to strengthen the entire fortifications of the city.

Thus determined to ingratiate himself with the Jews, and doubtless at the suggestions of their chiefs, he resolved to take measures for the suppression of Christianity. Accordingly, in A.D. 44, he seized the Apostle James, the brother of St John, and without any apparent process of Jewish law summarily slew him with the sword (Acts xii. 2), thus early admitting him to his Master’s baptism (Mtt. xx. 23). Perceiving that this atrocity rendered him exceedingly popular with his subjects, he arrested Peter also at the feast of the Passover, and committed him to the custody of four quaternions of soldiers (Acts xii. 4), intending at the close of the festival to bring him forth before the people and gratify them with his death.

Great was the sorrow of the Church at the prospect of the Apostle’s execution, and unceasing and not ineffectual prayer was made to God in his behalf. For on the night before the day fixed for the spectacle of his martyrdom, while the Apostle was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the sentinels without were carefully guarding the doors, a light suddenly shone into his cell, and an angel touched him on the side, and bade him rise up quickly. Thereupon he arose, and his chains fell from off his hands. Gird thyself, resumed the angel, and bind on thy sandals. The Apostle did so, and casting his garment about him, and scarcely believing the reality of what was going on, followed his celestial guide through the first and second ward, and thence through the iron gate, which opened of its own accord, into the street of the city (Acts xii. 5–10).

Then the angel departed, and the Apostle realising for the first time the fact of his deliverance, repaired to the house of Mary, a sister of Barnabas, where many were gathered together praying. As soon as he had knocked at the door, a damsel named Rhoda came forth to open it, but recognising his voice was so transported with joy that she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the door. Those within, however, declared that she was mad, that she had seen his angel or ghost, and refused to believe her words. Meanwhile the Apostle stood without knocking, and at length the door was opened, and the disciples were assured that it was he and no other. They would have expressed their joy with loud thanksgivings, but holding up his hand he beckoned to them to be silent, and then having recounted all that had befallen him, bade them carry the joyful news to James the Lord’s brother and the rest of the disciples (Acts xii. 11–17). With these words he betook himself to some secure hiding-place.

The morning dawned, and the soldiers rising from their slumbers were overwhelmed with astonishment at finding their prisoner gone, and while with no small stir they were endeavouring to make out what had become of him, Herod sent for them, and when he could not ascertain any tidings respecting their prisoner, ordered them to be put to death, and then left Jerusalem for Cæsarea (Acts xii. 19).

Before the autumn, however, a terrible end had overtaken the tyrant. Tidings reached Judæa of the triumphant return of Claudius from his expedition to Britain, and shows similar to those at Rome were commenced at Cæsarea, which was crowded with people from all quarters. On the second day of the festival the king, clothed in magnificent robes, entered the glorious theatre which his grandfather had built, and sitting down on his throne (Acts xii. 21) proceeded to give an audience to certain ambassadors from the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon. For some reason the people of these Phœnician cities had given him offence, and through the intercession of Blastus, the royal chamberlain, they now sought a reconciliation and a renewal of friendly relations, which was a matter of no small importance, since Phœnicia, as in ancient times, depended on Palestine for its supplies of corn and oil (Acts xii. 20). It was early morning. The sun’s rays fell upon the apparel of the king glistering with silver tissue, and the excited multitude sitting in a great semicircle, tier above tier, on the stone seats of the theatre, were dazzled with the brightness which flashed forth from the monarch’s robes. Presently he spoke, and they shouted, It is the voice of a god and not of a man. The king made no attempt to repress their adulation, and in the midst of this idolatrous ostentation an angel of God smote him, and he was carried out of the theatre, smitten with a terrible internal disorder, and eaten of worms (Acts xii. 23). After lingering five days in excruciating agony he died in the fifty-fourth year of his age, having reigned seven years, four over part of his dominions, and three over the whole of Palestine, and leaving behind him one son, Agrippa, and three daughters, Drusilla, Berenice, and Mariamne.