Chapter XXXIII.—MARTYRDOM OF ST. PAUL AND ST. PETER.
St. Paul, feeling that he was about to be taken away from earth, wrote to take leave of Timothy, whom he had loved as his own son. This letter, which is called "The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy," gave him such advice as the Apostle thought might be useful to him.
The First Epistle to Timothy has already been mentioned, as having been written nine years before, when St. Paul went into Macedonia, after the riot at Ephesus, where he had left Timothy to direct the affairs of the Church.
In this Second Epistle, St Paul entreats Timothy to keep steadfastly in the faith of the Gospel, in spite of every danger. In this Epistle the Apostle declares his willingness to die; his conscience told him that ever since he became a follower of Jesus, he had tried to please his heavenly Master; and therefore he felt, that he should enjoy in heaven that happiness which God has promised to all who truly love and serve Him. St. Paul's own words are, "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
We must all try to fight a good fight against the Devil, and all our own sinful tempers and wishes: we too must keep the faith, doing all those things which the Gospel bids Christians do: then when we have finished our course, and done the work given us to do, we, like St. Paul, may hope, that for the sake of Jesus Christ, we shall be looked upon as righteous, and as such, be received into everlasting happiness.
Very soon after writing this Second Epistle to Timothy, St. Paul suffered martyrdom by command of Nero, because he would not renounce his faith, and bow down to the false gods of the heathen. Being a freeman of Rome, St. Paul was put to death by having his head cut off with a sword, instead of being given to be devoured by wild beasts, as the Christians usually were. The Apostle died in the month of June, a.d. 66. Slaves and persons guilty of great crimes, were often condemned to fight with wild beasts, who of course tore them to pieces: this was a most cruel barbarous way of putting even the greatest criminals to death; and yet to such a fate were Christians condemned, because they would not "deny the Lord Who bought them!"
It is dreadful to think that the people delighted in witnessing such dreadful fights, which took place in the amphitheatres. These amphitheatres were buildings without roofs; each consisting of a large space enclosed by walls of moderate height, called the arena; and rows of seats outside the wall of the arena, rising up like steps to the outward wall of the building. From these seats, which were always crowded, the spectators could see whatever was going on in the arena.
About the time that St. Paul suffered martyrdom at Rome, strange and awful sights were seen at Jerusalem: the Almighty thus warning His once-favoured people, that as they had forsaken Him, so He had given them up; and that all the evils foretold by Jesus Christ, were now about to fall upon their devoted city.
The cruel and unjust conduct of their Governor Florus, and the consequent anger of the people, threatened to produce a war in Judæa; and in addition to this there were famines and earthquakes, and fearful sights in the heavens. Just before the Passover, when a multitude of people were assembled at Jerusalem to keep it, on a sudden, in the middle of the night, such a brilliant light shone round the temple and the altar, that it seemed to be day. A few days afterwards, just before the sun set, chariots and troops of soldiers were seen passing through the clouds, fighting with each other. Then the eastern gate of the temple, which was of solid brass, and so heavy that twenty men could hardly open or shut it, flew open of itself one night, although it was fastened with strong bars and bolts. At the Feast of Pentecost, when the Priests were going into the inner temple by night to attend to their duties, they heard voices saying, "Let us depart hence"; and immediately there was a noise as of a multitude of people, rushing forth out of the temple.