Paul's First Defense at Rome

Festus was sent by Nero to succeed Felix. Under him Paul pleaded his case and was taken to Rome in chains. Aristarchus was with him, whom he reasonably calls his fellow prisoner somewhere in his letters. And Luke, who wrote down the Acts of the Apostles, brought his history to a close there, after noting that Paul spent two whole years at Rome at liberty, and preached the word of God without hindrance. [a] So the story is that, after he had made his defense then, the apostle was sent out again on the ministry of preaching, and that when he came to the same city a second time he was perfected by martyrdom. During that imprisonment, held in chains, he composed his second letter to Timothy, where he speaks both of his earlier defense and of his approaching end. [b] Take his own testimony on these things. “At my first defense,” he says, “no one came to stand by me, but everyone deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully accomplished and all the nations might hear it; and I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.” [c]

By these words he shows clearly that on the former occasion he was rescued from the lion’s mouth so that the preaching might be completed through him. By the lion he means Nero, it seems, because of his savagery. And so he did not go on to add anything like “He will rescue me from the lion’s mouth,” for he saw in the spirit that his death was very near. That is why, after the words “and I was rescued from the lion’s mouth,” he adds, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom,” pointing to his martyrdom close at hand. He foretells it still more plainly in the same letter when he says, “For I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time of my departure has come.” [d]

Now in the second letter to Timothy he shows that only Luke was with him as he wrote, but that at his first defense not even Luke was. So it is likely that Luke brought the Acts of the Apostles to a close at that time, carrying his history down to the period when he was with Paul. [e] We have said these things to show that Paul’s martyrdom was not completed during the stay at Rome that Luke records. It is likely, indeed, that since Nero was more mildly disposed at the beginning, Paul’s defense of his teaching was more readily accepted; but that once Nero had gone on to lawless acts of daring, he set his hand against the apostles along with the rest.