To Die For the Name of the Lord Jesus

As Paul traveled to Jerusalem after his many missionary journeys, he told the Elders from Ephesus, “And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24). He knew he had to go to Jerusalem, and he knew that suffering awaited him there. He arrived at Tyre and the disciples there “said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.” They then came to Cæsarea where “a certain prophet, named Agabus… took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.” His friends “besought him not to go up to Jerusalem,” but despite these prophecies and pleadings, Paul was unmoved in his determination. He said to them, “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:4, 10-13). He knew he was going up to suffer and be bound, and yet he was also certain that it was what the Savior wanted him to do. He went willingly in the name of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem, affirming his desire even to die there.

                Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem caused a great uproar, and he was eventually imprisoned and sent back to Cæsarea. Luke recorded, “And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Cæsar, have I offended any thing at all.” Festus, the Roman leader there, asked Paul, “Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?” Given Paul’s recent declaration to his friends—while in Cæsarea itself—that he was ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus, it seems surprising that he answered this way: “I stand at Cæsar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Cæsar” (Acts 25:7-11). Here it seems, contrary to what he had previously declared, he was unwilling to go to Jerusalem where it was likely that he would have been given his chance to “die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” What had changed? When the moment came, was he afraid to go through with the ultimate sacrifice he had verbally offered? While that would be understandable, I don’t believe that was the case. Paul was not afraid to suffer even death for Jesus Christ. But something had changed since he declared in Acts 21 that he was ready to give his life in Jerusalem.   

I believe that the reason Paul refused in Acts 25 to go back to Jerusalem to die was that he was trying to be obedient to the instruction from the Savior he had received after his declaration of Acts 21. Shortly after his initial arrival in Jerusalem, Paul was imprisoned in “the castle” to protect him after his speech that caused a great stir among the people there. Luke recorded, “And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome” (Acts 23:10-11). I believe that this was not only consolation the Savior was giving Paul, but it was also instruction to His apostle. Jesus was telling Paul, I believe, that he should do everything in his power to not die at Jerusalem and to make it to Rome so he could preach there. And so, later in Cæsarea Paul saw his opportunity to fulfil the command he had received from the Savior to make it to Rome. He officially appealed unto Cæsar, which as a Roman citizen meant that they were forced to send him there. Festus responded to Paul, “Hast thou appealed unto Cæsar? unto Cæsar shalt thou go” (Acts 25:12). Paul’s ticket to Rome was secured. And the final verse of the book of Acts confirmed that he fulfilled the Savior’s commandment to testify of Him there: “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (Acts 28:30-31). And it is very likely that he also gave his life there, with extrabiblical sources suggesting that Paul was beheaded under the persecutions by Nero. He was no coward, and he gave his all, both in life and death, to the Savior Jesus Christ.