Acts 28:30Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

These had arisen during his two-year imprisonment in Caesarea. Paul had already written to Philemon, the head of the Colossian church, that he would come to them and stay with him (v. 22). Later, after the first examination (Phil 1:7), the future did not appear to him so consoling. The thought of martyrdom was close to his soul. Yet the hope of release prevailed over this thought, and he wrote to the Philippian church that he himself would soon be with them, although he did not yet know what would happen to him (2:23-24). During this imprisonment Paul was greatly occupied with care for the spread of the Church of God and the integrity of the churches he had founded. Since he could freely receive every kind of visitor, he used this right chiefly for preaching the Gospel. Everyone knew that he had been imprisoned not for any crime, but for preaching a new faith. This greatly served the holy cause. The teaching for which the preacher had undergone such great danger involuntarily drew attention to itself. Paul's bonds became known to the praetorium, and there were believers even from Caesar's household (Phil 1:13; 4:22). Moreover, his example stirred up zeal among the Roman Christians themselves to labor with greater effort for the spread of the Gospel (1:14). Among the churches Paul had previously founded, the churches of Asia Minor first drew his attention during his imprisonment. Paul received sufficient information about their condition from an excellent man of the Colossian church, its founder, as well as founder of other neighboring churches. To the end of Paul's imprisonment in Rome also belongs the Epistle to the Hebrews, that is, to Christians from among the Jews. This is the usual meaning of the word in the New Testament, namely, Palestinian Christians.

Finally, around the years 67-68, the Apostle was again imprisoned in Rome, and this ended in his martyrdom. During these bonds the Apostle wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy (2 Tim 1:8; 2 Tim 4:16-18). He lived at his own expense, supplied to him by the zeal of believers, for example the Philippian Christians (Phil 4:10-18). He preached concerning Christ with boldness and without hindrance. The Apostle's very position in Rome as a prisoner contributed to the success of the Gospel preaching. "My circumstances," he says to the Philippians, "have turned out for the greater progress of the Gospel, so that my bonds in Christ have become known throughout the whole praetorium and to all the rest." He adds that "most of the brethren in the Lord. Having become confident through my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear" (Phil 1:12-14). The success of the apostolic preaching was so great that even among Caesar's household there were those whom he converted to Christ (Phil 4:22).

Before it was written the Epistle to the Colossians, that is, to the inhabitants of the city of Colossae. Colossae is nowhere mentioned in the history of the Apostle's missionary labors. Thus it is unknown exactly when the Apostle visited this city, or whether he ever visited it during his missionary journeys. It was an ancient but declining city of Phrygia, lying on the great road between Ephesus and the Euphrates. Situated on the bank of the river Lycus, it was near the cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis, which in time overshadowed it. The Church there was probably founded by one of the Apostle's closest fellow workers. Yet he himself regarded it with unusual attention and joyfully received every report that testified to the good condition of the Church. Such a report, among others, was brought to the Apostle in Rome by Epaphras, a citizen of Colossae. He was apparently a minister of the Church and "always struggling for its members in prayers, that they might stand perfect and fully assured in all that is pleasing to God." But along with the good news, the Apostle also heard from Epaphras about dangers threatening the Church from various false teachers. These were Judaizers, who used every opportunity to destroy the Apostle's work and to bring his converts back under the abolished yoke of bondage beneath the Law. At the same time, the Judaizers preached to the Colossians some sort of gnostic philosophy. The Apostle warns against it as "empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ" (Col 2:8). Then the Apostle gives a series of instructions in the sphere of religious, moral, and social life. In conclusion he sends greetings from himself and his closest fellow workers. Among them are mentioned Epaphras, Luke "the beloved physician," Aristarchus, Mark, and others. The epistle was sent with Tychicus and Onesimus, who were to convey orally the details of the Apostle's life in Rome. The epistle ends with the Apostle's usual greeting in his own hand, in which he says: "The greeting is by my own hand, Paul's. Remember my chains. Grace be with you all. Amen." To deliver the epistle to its destination, Onesimus was sent together with Tychicus. The Apostle calls him his "faithful and beloved brother," one of the Colossians themselves. He also carried another letter from the Apostle to a private person, namely to his former master Philemon, and he trembled for his fate. He had been Philemon's slave, but after wronging him in some way and fearing punishment, he fled from him. As a runaway slave, he sought refuge in the filthy slums of Rome. There he wandered for some time and soon, of course, spent whatever he could have stolen from his master. Inevitable destruction from hunger and universal rejection lay before him. But in this extreme misery he turned to the great Apostle, who received and cherished him with true fatherly love. Thus he saved not only his body, but also his soul. The worthless Phrygian slave, who by Roman law deserved only lifelong hard labor or even crucifixion, was received into the company of Christians and became a "beloved brother." In order finally to restore him in his human rights, the Apostle sent him to Colossae with a letter to his former master Philemon. Philemon was a distinguished and wealthy man, who held a prominent position in the Colossian Church. In this epistle the Apostle movingly persuades him to forgive Onesimus, whom he calls his son, "begotten in his chains." "He was," writes the Apostle, "unprofitable to you, but now he is profitable both to you and to me. I am sending him back." Then the Apostle persuades Philemon to receive Onesimus again, but "no longer as a slave, but more than a slave. As a beloved brother." The degree to which the loving Apostle cared for Onesimus is shown by the fact that in the epistle he personally undertakes to pay for Onesimus everything he is found to owe Philemon. The Apostle concludes his epistle by expressing confidence that Philemon will fulfill the request addressed to him and will do even more than it. At the same time, he asks him to prepare lodging for him, since he already hopes for a speedy release. Despite its brevity, the Epistle to Philemon had immense social significance in clarifying the relation of Christianity to the greatest evil of the pagan world, slavery. Until then, the laws of almost all peoples of the civilized world divided people into two classes: free and slaves, those with rights and those without rights. Human dignity was acknowledged only for the former. This view had become so rooted in the consciousness of ancient humanity that it could not imagine a society without slaves. It regarded them as special working beings, obligated to fulfill the will of their masters without contradiction. Even the greatest thinkers, such as Plato and Aristotle, considered such a division of people necessary and viewed slaves as soulless instruments. Rome realized this view in all its force and developed slavery to terrifying proportions. The houses and estates of rich and noble people were filled with slaves. The law treated them with such inhumanity that it allowed cruel and capricious masters to mock them in every way. At personal whim or for the slightest offense, masters could execute them, crucify them, or even give them to be eaten by dogs in the kennel and fish in the ponds. There were cases in which, for the slightest offense of some slave against his master, his whole family was beaten. This occurred even if none of its other members had the slightest relation to the offense. Such cruelty was directly confirmed by a special law. This state of affairs deprived slaves, who were twice as numerous as the free, of every human dignity. It reduced them to the level of voiceless working cattle. On the other hand, it corrupted masters by developing in them a false consciousness of immeasurable superiority over people like themselves. From this, slavery became the greatest social evil. By it the very foundations of the social, political, and moral life of ancient humanity were decomposed. Terrible upheavals and bloodshed arose from it, as happened especially in the last period of the Roman Republic. And now the Apostle proclaimed a truth to which the greatest minds of antiquity could not rise. A slave is the same kind of man as his master. The same kind of soul lives in him as in others. Under beneficent moral influence, even the most worthless slave can become a beloved brother, as happened with Onesimus. By this, a decisive blow was dealt to slavery, precisely at its very foundation. Christianity did not proclaim the abolition of slavery, which would have led to fruitless slave uprisings and bloodshed. On the contrary, this same Apostle who wrote the Epistle to Philemon often exhorted slaves in his other epistles to obey their masters. Yet the very idea of the spiritual equality and brotherhood of slave and master destroyed the very foundations of slavery. From then on this evil inevitably had to diminish and disappear, as ice diminishes and disappears beneath the ever more burning rays of the spring sun. Those sent to Colossae had to travel through Ephesus. The Apostle used this circumstance to write an epistle also to his beloved Ephesians. With their presbyters he had spoken and taken leave so movingly when passing through Miletus. Since it was written almost at the same time as the Epistle to the Colossians, the Epistle to the Ephesians has much in common with it in content. Besides clarifying the chief truth that Christ is the head of the Church and of all that exists, the author of our salvation and the pledge of our future inheritance, it explains in detail the essence of the New Testament Church. It also explains her hierarchical order and the relation within her between pastors and the flock. In the last chapters various moral instructions are given to husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves, and in general to all members of the Christian Church. All these epistles were evidently written shortly before the Apostle's release from his two-year stay in chains. In some of them, as in the Epistle to the Philippians and especially in the Epistle to Philemon, the Apostle expresses a clear hope for a speedy decision of his case, and specifically in his favor. Thus he asked Philemon even to prepare lodging for him. But the matter was not resolved quickly. One could even fear the worst, because the state of affairs in Rome was worsening more and more. With each year Nero became an ever more cruel and dissolute despot. He removed from himself all the more or less honorable servants of the throne, such as the well-known philosopher Seneca. He entrusted power to close favorites, who in every way encouraged the emperor's vile inclinations. In such a state of affairs it was hard to hope for justice. This was all the more so because Nero, after killing his wife Octavia, then married his concubine Poppaea. As a proselyte to Judaism and under Jewish influence, she could have inclined her imperial husband against the Apostle hated by them. Fortunately, with respect to the Apostle's case, Nero's better feelings prevailed in him. Despite all his madness, Nero, who had been brought up under the influence of Seneca's strict discipline, partly retained a sense of justice and Roman conscientiousness. Therefore, when the Apostle's case was presented to him, he probably regarded him as a simple compatriot and fellow believer of Poppaea. Without further investigation of the case, he acquitted him.

As a prisoner, the Apostle was unable to procure his support by his own labor as before (Acts 20:34). In Rome he was probably supported by the zeal of the faithful, not only local Christians, but also other Christian communities founded by him and devoted to him (cf. Phil 4:10 and following; Phil 4:18). "Preaching unhindered": all the more so because his defense before Caesar's tribunal (2 Tim 4:16) and subsequent circumstances served the greater progress of the Gospel. Thus his bonds in Christ became known throughout the whole praetorium and to all the rest (Phil 1:12-13). "Let us therefore," St. Chrysostom exhorts, "imitate Paul, that noble and adamantine soul. Walking in the footsteps of his life, may we sail across the sea of this present life, reach the calm harbor, and be counted worthy of the blessings promised to those who live worthily of Christ. This is by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, and honor, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen."

This was certainly not prevented by the fact that he himself had to procure food and pay for shelter. In the Epistle to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul reports that his circumstances served the greater progress of the Gospel. His bonds in Christ became known throughout the whole praetorium and to all the rest (see Phil 1:12-13). According to St. John Chrysostom's explanation, the Apostle spoke here as if saying: "God so arranged it that my bonds in Christ and for Christ did not remain unknown in the whole judgment hall. This is what they formerly called the royal palaces. And not only in the judgment hall, but also in the whole city." "The evangelical word spread both through him personally and through his fellow workers. Going farther and farther, it reached Caesar's household." Besides the Epistle to the Philippians, the Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Hebrews were also written from Rome at this time. Thus the Apostle's activity there was fervent. "Rome received Paul bound," says St. John Chrysostom, "and was freed from the bonds of error. Like a king who had been in a naval battle and had conquered, he entered the royal city. He had spoken of this beforehand in the Epistle: I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel (see Rom 15:29, 32). Rome saw him bound, and later saw him crowned and glorified. Untiring, he added trophies to trophies. Now he was not put to death. Later, when he had filled the whole world with preaching, he departed this life. With this the writer ends his narrative and leaves the thirsty reader to complete the rest by his own reasoning." "Would you like to know what followed? It was the same as what came before: bonds, sufferings, struggle, imprisonment, plots, slander, and daily death. Have you seen a small part of his deeds? Imagine the rest as being the same. This man is a heaven containing within itself the Sun of righteousness, and therefore he himself is higher than heaven." "To understand Paul, one needs a pure life. Knowing this, let us preserve the health of our soul and imitate Paul. Walking in the footsteps of his life, may we sail across the sea of this present life, reach the calm harbor, and be counted worthy of the blessings promised to those who live worthily of Christ. With Him, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, and honor, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen."