LESSON XXII
PAUL'S JOURNEY TO ROME
The material of this lesson is so extensive that only the barest summary can be attempted in the class. The great features of the narrative should be made to stand out clear—the bitter opposition of the Jews, the favorable attitude of the Roman authorities, the journey to Rome. Before the lesson is over the student should have a deeper impression of the character of Paul—his perfect ease and tactfulness in the various relations of life, his unswerving boldness where the gospel was concerned, his inexplicable power. Finally, the peculiar quality of the narrative should be appreciated. These chapters contain the two longer "we-sections" of The Acts.
1. THE JOURNEY TO TROAS
At first Paul had intended to sail direct from Corinth to Syria, but a plot of the Jews caused him to change his plan. Acts 20:3. It has been suggested that the ship upon which he was intending to sail may have carried non-Christian Jews, going to the approaching feast in Jerusalem, v. 16, who could have done him harm upon the voyage. By choosing the route through Macedonia he averted the immediate danger.
The use of the first person plural begins again at Acts 20:5. It was broken off at ch. 16:17. Luke had parted from Paul at Philippi on the second missionary journey; and it is at Philippi that he now appears again. The following journeys, in which Luke himself took part, are narrated with the utmost vividness and minuteness. The narrative amounts practically to a diary—in some sections every day is accounted for.
The departure from Philippi took place "after the days of unleavened bread," that is, after the passover week. Acts 20:6. From the account of the subsequent journey it is not quite possible to tell whether Paul actually succeeded in carrying out his plan of being in Jerusalem at Pentecost. Pentecost, it will be remembered, came fifty days after the beginning of the passover week.