Videos—3MJ: Return (Judea)
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Return—Judea: Rhodes
Luke’s command of the Greco-Roman world of his day as evidenced in Acts is unquestionably impressive. Of the abundance of his references in passing, 30 countries, 50 cities, many islands, and 60–100 persons are exclusive to Acts in the Bible. His grasp of local politics, customs, seafaring, culture, and the Mediterranean world is masterful and puts him in an elite category of cosmopolitan writers from the ancient world. Of the many islands mentioned by Luke, one quite famous is the island of Rhodes, almost always included on any tour group’s cruising itinerary.
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Return—Judea: Caesarea
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Caesarea: Herod's Port City
Many of the spectacular ruins in Israel today are the result of the building programs of Herod the Great. Herod entertained grandiose Hellenistic aspirations, and constructed monuments and cities to match. Judea had no natural harbor, so Herod used Roman engineering to create the largest manmade harbor of the ancient world, and a fine city as adornment. He named his capital Caesarea after his patron, the emperor Augustus. The city became known as Caesarea Maritima, “Caesarea by the Sea,” to distinguish this port city from Caesarea Philippi, the city built later at ancient Pan by Herod’s son, Philip the Tetrarch, also named after Augustus.
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Caesarea: Roman Governors
Judea became an imperial province after Herod’s son, Archelaus, who ruled Judea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 6, was banished to Gaul by Augustus after only ten years. The Roman governors took up residence in Herod the Great’s capital city of Caesarea, using Herod’s former palace as residence and governmental headquarters. Caesarea also is where we meet the Roman governors Felix and Festus, before whom Paul defended himself in Acts, as well as a defense before Agrippa II, Herod the Great’s great grandson.
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Caesarea: Pilate Inscription
During excavations at Caesarea an inscription was found at the theater with the name of Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea AD 26–36 (or 27–37). This inscription is our only archeological confirmation of the existence of Pilate. Normally, Judea’s governor lived in Caesarea. During Jewish festivals, however, crowds in Jerusalem swelled, and political unrest seethed under the surface. So, the Roman governor temporarily moved to Jerusalem personally to command his troops in station at the Antonia Fortress adjacent to the temple. Such a festival time is when we meet Pilate considering the case of Jesus before the fickle Jerusalem crowds, who only a week before had acclaimed Jesus the royal Son of David in the Triumphal Entry into the city.
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Caesarea: Early Church
Caesarea figures prominently into the story of the early church in Acts. Philip the Evangelist lived here after the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. Cornelius the centurion was converted here. As a “God-fearer,” Cornelius was used by Luke to set the paradigm of the typical Pauline gentile convert on Paul’s missionary journeys. Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, lived in Caesarea and ruled Judea. He became infamous for attacking early church leaders by having James, the brother of John, murdered and by imprisoning the apostle Peter in Acts 12.
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Caesarea: Herod's Port City
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Return—Judea: Jerusalem
Did God want Paul to go to Jerusalem at the end of the third missionary journey? Contrary to many commentators, the answer is no. Luke makes clear that from the beginning, God never wanted Paul in Jerusalem. Paul’s private visits to salute leaders of the Jerusalem church were not problematic to God’s purposes. However, Paul’s public preaching and testimony in Jerusalem were problematic to God’s purposes, and God told Paul so. In a temple vision to which Paul himself testified that he experienced soon after the Damascus road vision—almost completely ignored by readers of Acts—God told Paul his testimony in Jerusalem never would serve God’s purposes. Thus, God commanded Paul to leave Jerusalem immediately, which stood as a permanent divine mandate over Paul’s life (Acts 22:21). Therefore, when Paul insisted on going to Jerusalem at the end of the 3MJ, he was fighting God’s will. In fact, The Holy Spirit made patently clear to Paul that God’s earlier “stay out of Jerusalem” vision mandate was still in place even while Paul was on his way to Jerusalem (Acts 21:4). God’s will for Paul was Rome (Acts 23:11). Jerusalem, then, as Luke tells the story, was Paul’s self-willed, destructive, and disastrous detour in the divine itinerary west to Rome.
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