These and other wonderful signs must have filled the Jews with alarm; whilst real troubles were daily increasing upon them.
There had long been a dispute between the Syrians and the Jews, as to which of them had the best right to the city of Cæsarea Philippi, built on the borders of the two countries. In the time of Felix, the two parties were preparing to fight for the possession of it; but the governor stopped them for a time, and sent the chiefs of both nations to Rome, to plead their cause before the Emperor. Nothing had then been decided; but now, in the year a.d. 66, Nero declared that the town of Cæsarea Philippi should belong to the Syrians. This decision was very displeasing to the Jews, and led to a dreadful war, which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem a few years later. But before we go on with this subject, we must go back a little, and say a few words about St. Peter.
The Book of Acts tells us nothing more of the Apostle St. Peter after the Council held by St. James and the Church at Jerusalem, when "Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them," were sent up from Antioch "to Jerusalem, unto the Apostles and elders," to inquire whether it was needful for the Gentiles who became Christians, to be also "circumcised after the manner of Moses," and "to keep the law." When there had been much disputation on the subject, St. Peter spake out boldly; reminding the assembly of the conversion of Cornelius, and telling them that after what God had then done, it would be quite wrong to require the Gentiles to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. This speech decided the matter; and St. James then gave sentence, that the Ceremonial Law was not binding upon the Gentile converts.
Soon after this, St. Peter and St. Paul were together at Antioch; and there, St. Peter, in his eagerness to please the Jews, withdrew himself from the Gentiles, as thus countenancing the idea that being uncircumcised, they were not fit company for the Jews. St. Paul blamed him, and showed him that he was doing wrong, since he himself knew, that in the sight of God there would be no difference between Jew and Gentile, circumcision or uncircumcision, when once they became believers in Jesus Christ. This happened a.d. 49.
Where St. Peter spent the next seventeen years, we do not know; but wherever he was, we may be quite sure that he zealously preached the Gospel, and endeavoured to bring all men to believe in Jesus Christ. It is most likely that St. Peter came to Rome just before or after St. Paul's martyrdom, in the year 66 (a.d.); and he then wrote his First Epistle. This Epistle was not written to the inhabitants of any particular place, but generally, to all the Jewish Christians, who had been forced by persecution to leave their own land and take refuge in heathen countries; and also to those Gentiles who had become Christians, and were now living in many different countries. In his Epistle, St. Peter entreats all to whom he writes, to keep steady to their religion, and suffer anything rather than give it up. He also shows them how necessary it is that they should lead holy and blameless lives, not only for their own sake, that they might obtain the blessing of God, but also to show all men, that Christians were in every respect better than any other men. St. Peter speaks of writing from "Babylon"; but by Babylon, he means the city of Rome, which in figurative language he calls Babylon, because in the idolatry and wickedness of its inhabitants, it resembled that ancient city. Besides this, the real Babylon was the place where the Jews, then the Church of God, suffered much during their long captivity; and now the Christian Church was suffering fearful things at Rome. St. Peter might well then use the figurative language so common amongst the Jews at that time, and speak of wicked, persecuting Rome, as "Babylon." It was prudent moreover to do so, for had the Christians spoken openly and plainly of Rome, they would have provoked the anger of the Romans; and though the Christians suffered patiently all that was laid upon them, they never provoked persecution unnecessarily. St. Peter did not long escape persecution; and with the prospect of a cruel death before him, he wrote his Second Epistle to the Jewish and Gentile Christians in all countries, to warn them not to listen to the doctrines of false teachers, but to keep firm in the faith of the holy Gospel, which he and the other Apostles had taught. In this Letter, he gives many directions for living a holy life; and reminds those to whom he writes, that the Lord Jesus Christ will one day come to judge the world, and that all who believe this, must try to be then found blameless, without spot of sin. This applies just as well to each one of us, as it did to those to whom St. Peter originally wrote: let us therefore watch and pray, that we may, as he says at the end of this Epistle, "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
Very soon after he had written this Second Epistle, the death which St. Peter had expected came upon him. He who had once denied his Lord from fear, now boldly refused to give up his religion to purchase safety: he was therefore sentenced to be crucified, according to what the Lord had foretold to him long before; saying, "When thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." From histories of that time, we learn that St. Peter, not thinking himself worthy to die in the same manner as his blessed Lord and Master, begged that he might be fastened to the cross with his head downward: this must greatly have increased his sufferings for the time they lasted, though it probably caused him to die sooner. St. Peter was thus crucified at Rome with his head downward, a.d. 68, when Nero had been Emperor for fourteen years; and, as we believe, about two years after St. Paul's death; though some people think that St. Peter was put to death first. We cannot, of course be quite sure; but it is most probable as we have said, that St. Paul was beheaded a.d. 66, and that St. Peter was crucified a.d. 68. Nero died very soon after the crucifixion of St. Peter, and in the short space of one year, three different Emperors, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, succeeded each other.
We must now return to Jerusalem.
Chapter XXXIV.—VESPASIAN SENT INTO JUDÆA.
The decree of the Emperor giving Cæsarea Philippi to Syria, was no sooner known, than the Jews in all parts of Judæa took up arms. Agrippa happened at this time to be in Jerusalem, and he did his best to show the Jews the extreme folly of trying to fight against such a powerful people as the Romans, and begged and entreated of them not to rebel, and so bring misery upon themselves. Instead of listening to this wise and kind advice, the Jews were so enraged with Agrippa for giving it, that he was obliged to leave the city at once, to save himself from their violence. War now raged on every side, and fearful acts of cruelty were perpetrated by both parties. Thousands and thousands of Jews were massacred at Cæsarea, at Ptolemais, and even at Alexandria; and at Jerusalem, the soldiers of Florus put 3,500 to death in one day. The Jews acted in the same manner as far as they could, and murdered great numbers both of Syrians and Romans. Upon this general revolt of the Jews, Cestius Gallus the governor of Syria, marched with a large army into Judæa and Galilee; burning all the towns and villages in his way, and killing the inhabitants.