As I tried to point out this morning, I don’t think that there were many Jews in Rome when Paul arrived.
And for that matter there probably were not many Christians either, even though in a few months or a couple of years they would be accused of burning down a large part of the city.
As far as the untaught Romans were concerned Christianity was a sect of Judaism.
But probably at that point, most of the Christians in Rome had come from a Gentile background.
And yet whether there were few or many they were certainly making their mark.
Even these Jews touched upon that during their initial visit with the Apostle Paul.
And speaking of those Jews, I think that they deserve some credit for their attitude towards Paul.
First, it was UN-likely that they had NEVER heard about him.
And remember that Roman Empire was quite fluid at that time with people coming & going constantly.
News about Paul was undoubtedly spreading, especially to the great capital.
And if you think about it, it was very unlikely that they knew anything about Paul’s appeal unto Caesar.
If we assume that Julius caught the first ship out of Caesarea after Paul made his appeal;
And if they hurried along the coast and caught the only ship leaving Myra for Rome, then it was very unlikely that any other ship left after they did and safely reached Puteoli that Autumn.
I would guess that the ship with the sign of “Castor and Pollux” was the first ship from the eastern Mediterranean to reach Italy that season.
Not only hadn’t these Jews any official word about Paul from Jerusalem, but they hadn’t even heard the gossip about Paul’s last trial before Festus and Agrippa.
On the other hand, they were undoubtedly aware that Christianity was sweeping the Empire and that thousands of Jews were being converted.
The people meeting with Paul at that point were not among the converts,
I would guess that these were people who were actively looking for the Hope of Israel.
Like some of the people in Jerusalem early in the Saviour’s ministry, they were somewhat open.
“We know that thou art a teacher sent from God, for no man doeth the things that thou doest except God be with him.”
Not only are these things to the Jew’s credit, but the words of verse 22 are actually more gracious in the Greek than they appear in English.
“But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.”
The words “we desire” are “xioo” (ax-ee-o-o) and are found seven times in the New Testament.
In other words they said, “we think you deserve to be heard” – as an ambassador of this new sect.
He would probably have spit in the face of the Apostle of God and walked out.
When the lawyer Tertullus was hired to accuse Paul before Felix he said: “We have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”
I hope that you remember that when we looked at Acts 24 I mentioned that the Greek word translated “sect” is “hairesis” ( hah’-ee-res-is).
But originally the word didn’t have the same evil connotation which we give to it today.
It means little more than a differing opinion, and its root meaning is “to choose.”
An “hariesis” ( hah’-ee-res-is) is the choice of a differing opinion.
Acts 15:5 – “But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
I pointed out this morning that Paul equated Christianity with the heart of the Old Testament faith.
Elsewhere he identified the faith of Abraham and the faith of David with his own faith and with ours.
The Hope of Israel was the Messiah, and Jesus of Nazareth was and still is that Messiah.
Yes, the Christians had chosen to have a different opinion about Jesus, but it was the correct opinion.
In fact it was the original opinion.
Somewhere along the line, it was the Jews who had diverged from the truth and become the heretical sect.
If the Lord says that one thing is true and another thing is false, then that is the way that it is and the opinions of men mean nothing.
We can understand why these men said that Paul was a part of a divergent sect, but they were wrong.
It had started before Paul became a Christian; in fact he had spoken against it.
He knew it very well before he left Damascus and when he had to flee from Jerusalem the first time.
He knew it to be true when the Jews attacked him in Antioch in Pisidia and when they turned the people of Lystra against him.
It was true throughout Macedonia as the Jews dogged his every step.
It was true in intellectual Athens when the Areopagites rejected his testimony at Mars Hill.
It was true again in Ephesus when nearly the whole city rioted against the truth.
And it was true in Jerusalem when the people nearly killed him while he was worshipping in the temple.
Throughout the world the sect of Jesus was spoken against and His disciples were hated and attacked.
If it those attacks didn’t come from the Jews, then they came from the Gentiles.
In the earliest days there was great gulf between Christianity and every other religion in the world.
In the early days there was no denying it.
So what has happened in our day, when the lines between the truth and error have been so blurred?
Why is it that to attend a Christian church is often no different than going to a comedy club or night club?
How is it that people like the “great” Baptist leader Jerry Falwell is praised by the homosexuals for his positive stand on their behalf?
How is it that a Newsweek poll says that 79% of the people who call themselves “Evangelical Christians” believe that people of any faith can go to Heaven, if they are morally good people.
How is it that the pastor of University Baptist Church of Waco, Texas,
teaches Open Theism – that God does not know the future and that he sometimes makes mistakes?
Isn’t it because it is against our human nature to enjoy being spoken against?
We don’t like being called heretics, cultists and sectarians.
So in order to silence the opposition, we compromise and compromise until there is no opposition.
But that we ARE different and that we SHOULD BE different was declared at the very beginning.
When the baby Jesus was brought into the temple for the first time,
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against.”
But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
It SHOULDN’T BE that people hate the Truth, but that is the way it is.
And it’s not just that people hate the Truth as a principle, it’s that they hate the One Who is the Truth.
Part of the reason that modern Christianity is NOT everywhere spoken against, is that the Christ which is preached in many pulpits is not the Christ of the Bible.
He is made out to be a friend of sin, which is definitely not the truth.
“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
That no flesh should glory in his presence.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
But that was not what they said to the true prophets.
They spoke evil of Jeremiah, Elijah and Elisha, Daniel and even David.
And the world spoke evil of our Saviour.
Perhaps these Roman Jews should have checked their scriptures in regard to this phenomenon.
Why is this sect described as evil?
And perhaps our neighborhood churches should do the same.
As our Baptist forefathers learned: it’s okay to be called “heretics,” if the people calling us heretics are themselves heretics.