NOTES for Act 28:16-31
16 And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. |
17 And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. |
18 Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. |
19 But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. |
20 For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. |
21 And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee. |
22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against. |
23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. |
24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. |
25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, |
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: |
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. |
28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. |
29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. |
30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, |
31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. |
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While awaiting the emperor's trial, Paul does not waste time. First of all he meets with representatives of the Jewish community of Rome, one of the largest and most influential in the western Diaspora. And, as always and everywhere, he turns first to his own people. Paul is sure: he is guilty of nothing either before the Roman community or before the Jewish people as a whole. Again and again he emphasizes this, speaking of his appeal to the emperor's court only as a forced measure.
He does not break with Judaism; he is only trying to resolve a concrete conflict that, in that concrete situation, could not be resolved in any other way. But the apostle begins his witness, as he did in Jerusalem, with a conversation about the Torah and the prophetic books. As in Jerusalem, he appeals to Tradition. Precisely to Tradition with a capital letter. Not to religious tradition, but to the Tradition of Revelation. He regards his conflict with the leaders of the Synagogue in Jerusalem and with the Sanhedrin as a specifically religious conflict, and therefore a local one that does not touch the main thing.
For the apostle, the main thing is the history of Revelation and the history of salvation connected with it, which for him is the spiritual core and spiritual backbone not only of Judaism, but also, more broadly, of Yahwism. And in testifying to Christ, Paul appeals precisely to Tradition with a capital letter. He does not, of course, reject religion as such, but neither does he put it first. He knows from the experience of his own meeting with the Risen One on the Damascus road that everything that happened to him starting from that minute does not fit into any religious framework, but it can fit into those other frames that were opened to him, perhaps not immediately.
In truth, the spiritual picture opened to the apostle can be called a framework only in a very qualified sense. With his spiritual vision, Paul seems to see the whole sweep of God's action in the world: from the creation of this world, through the tragedy of the fall, and then through the giving of the Torah and prophetic revelation, to Christ, and therefore to the Kingdom entering the world.
This is the Tradition by which Paul lives. He relies on it when he bears witness to Christ, and especially when he bears witness to Jews. He takes nothing from others and loses nothing himself. And he gives up nothing except what can obscure the spiritual fullness opened to him. But what gets in the way is exactly what the apostle gives up, quickly and decisively. Otherwise all his witness will lose its meaning. And so will his life.
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