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The End of
the Way

If Paul and his companions really did set foot on the streets of Porto Dubris (Dover) on a day in early A.D. 64, the Apostle must have been conscious that he had at last reached the farthest end of the known world. This was the "extremities of the west", as the Romans called Britain at that time. This had to be the end of his journeying and after this he must retrace his steps to Antioch and home.

In practice, of course, if he came at all, he must have stayed some time, perhaps a year. As a Roman citizen he travelled under the protection of the armed might of Rome, and as he and Luke and Aristarchus passed out of the city gate of Dover and headed along Watling Street to the city of Londinium (London), the capital of Britain, they must have felt as much at home as in their native East. The Romans had made Colchester the political capital but the British Queen Boadicea had put a stop to that four years earlier. The relatively short journey of eighty miles, passing Canterbury and Rochester on the way, would mean nothing to these well seasoned travellers. On the third or perhaps the fourth day, still following the ancient Watling Street, they would cross the last sizeable stream at Crayford and commence the long five‑mile ascent to the summit of Shooters Hill where a Roman garrison kept ward over the south eastern approaches to the city.

From this vantage point Paul would have had his first view of London. Below him, four or five miles away, he could see the wide silver loops of the River Tamesis—the Thames—and on its northern bank the city itself, a city of traffickers and merchants. Paul's custom was to concentrate on the commercial centres, and as he traversed the last few miles and crossed the bridge which even then spanned the river where London Bridge now stands he must have been eager to commence his witness, here in this strange land, to the Gospel which was the passion of his life.

If thus he entered London there is nothing improbable in the tradition that he preached on Ludgate Hill, where St. Paul's Cathedral now stands. From time immemorial it has been a sacred spot. In later Roman times a Temple to Diana was built there; in Paul's day it was sacred to the British god Lud—the name London is derived from "Lud's city", and the impulse which led him to stand on Mars Hill in Athens would direct him similarly here. From London he would have travelled the country to Colchester, St. Albans, Leicester, Lincoln, Chester, Worcester, Bath, Lewes, Chichester, Dorchester, Exeter. These were the chief cities of Roman Britain. Nothing definite or dogmatic can be affirmed except the known fact that Christianity was in Britain before AD 40 and Paul must in that case have found Christians ready for his ministry. His travels through the country would have consisted, in part, of a missionary tour similar to those of his earlier years, setting up little groups of converts from the primitive British paganism and the later Roman idolatry which was beginning to permeate the land, and in part, of sessions with the Celtic Christian communities which had been growing in numbers during the previous few decades, to instruct and confirm them in the faith. He must, too, have had considerable contact with the native British priesthood, the Druids.

He must have had his difficulties. The country was still in a state of war with Rome. Since the invasion some twenty years earlier the Britons had put up a stout resistance and the war went on for many years after Paul himself had finished his course. At this time the Roman commanders Aulus Plautius and Vespasian — future Emperor of Rome — with their troops were finding the conquest of the island a well‑nigh hopeless task. Paul's earlier missionary journeys had been undertaken in countries enjoying the benefits of a Roman peace; here it was a case of preaching the Gospel of Christ against a background of continuing war. Perhaps that very fact was one of the causes leading to the rapid spread of the faith in Britain, and, too, the continuing adherence to the original Apostolic faith manifested in later years when the doctrines of the Roman church came to this country with St. Augustine. Be all this as it may, there has been an independence in the British understanding of the Christian faith which was manifested in the Reformation and the subsequent rise of the Protestant faith and endures still.

The missionaries could go no farther, for there was nowhere else to go. They had reached the end of the known world; beyond this land lay nothing but raging seas, intense cold and Stygian darkness in which dwelt monsters and horrors unimaginable. At least that was what the geographers of their day told them. This was the end of the outward journey; it was time to set course for home. At some time in AD 65, it might be, the valiant three were on another vessel heading across the Channel for Gaul. The seed had been sown and watered; they must leave the increase to God.

As they returned through Gaul to Lyon they may have met travellers who told them of dark happenings in Rome and of the great Fire which in the summer just past had virtually destroyed the city. They would hear that the Christians had been blamed, and of the scenes of persecution and martyrdom which were being enacted. There may even have been some of the Roman Christians who had escaped the holocaust, taking refuge with the believers at Lyon. If such there were, the missionaries would learn that the Apostle Peter had proved a tower of strength to the Church in Rome during this time of trial, John Mark and Silvanus still there with him, as yet unhurt. Perhaps at that point Paul realised that the quiet days were over and the time of testing had begun. Perhaps already the shadow of his own approaching end fell across his mind.

From Lyon the route would take them across Northern Italy and through Dalmatia and Illyricum towards Greece. Here at last Paul could meet with companies of converts he had made on previous journeys and here we begin to find Scriptural clues to his movements. 1 Tim. 1.3 is best understood by supposing that upon leaving the borders of Illyricum he headed across Macedonia to Berea from where he sent a message to Timothy urging him to remain at Ephesus. Perhaps Aristarchus left him here and went home to Thessalonica near by and later went on to Ephesus with the message. From here Paul could get a ship to Crete, where he seems to have found Titus, unless he met Titus at Berea and took him along. After a stay in Crete he returned to the Greek mainland and made his way to Nicopolis on the west coast where he had decided to spend the winter (Titus 3.12). This must have been the winter of AD 65, doubtless spending some time with the churches at Cenchrea and Corinth on the way. At this time the First Epistle to Timothy and that to Titus were written and despatched. With the advent of springtime, this desire of Paul to 'lay up' for the winter, so unlike his old self, is an indication that the weight of years was beginning to tell. He set out for the churches of Macedonia, Berea, Thessalonica and Philippi, thus at last fulfilling his promise in Phil.2.24. Thence he took ship to Troas in Asia and did so probably feeling that he had seen his fellow-believers in Greece for the last time. So far the journey had gone according to plan and within another year he would have re-visited all the Asiatic churches and come to rest at last in his home church at Antioch. After meeting with the brethren at Troas he would have had a few days' sea voyage along the coast to Miletus and then a forty-mile journey overland to Ephesus where he would at last meet his beloved Timothy from whom he had been separated the past four years. Next to Antioch.

Paul had more to do with Ephesus than any other centre and it must have been with quickening anticipation that he looked for the reunion in the familiar city. But Paul never went to Ephesus and he never saw Timothy. Troas was the last place where he was to know freedom. Just what happened is obscure. It is fairly clear, that he was apprehended by the authorities either at Troas or at Miletus, a hundred and fifty miles down the coast. In the Second Epistle to Timothy, written from his prison in Rome, he asks for the cloak and books and parchments that he left with Carpus at Troas to be brought to him. It has been inferred that his arrest was so sudden, he had no time to collect his personal belongings. In the same Epistle, he tells how Trophimus had to be left behind at Miletus, being sick, from which it is plain that although only forty miles from Ephesus he did not visit the city or have any communication with the believers there, and that can only be accounted for by supposing that upon arriving at Miletus he was already in custody. It is probable therefore that he was arrested at Troas and taken to Rome by sea, the vessel calling at Miletus on the way, but that Paul was not allowed to contact any of the Ephesian believers.

A few weeks later he was in prison at Rome awaiting trial. The nature of the charge is unknown but since Paul's last appearance the situation had changed. The Neronian persecution of Christians lasted only six months in AD 64 but its effects were still felt. Christianity was now an illegal religion and any Christian was an object of suspicion. The fact that Paul was an acknowledged leader among them was in itself a factor in ensuring an adverse verdict. In addition, he was a Jew, and Jews also were now anathema at Rome. Judea was in open rebellion against the Empire and at this very time, or at most but a few months later, Rome had been infuriated by a great military catastrophe. The Twelfth Legion under Cestius Gallus with auxiliary forces totalling twenty thousand men, had been defeated by the Jews defending Jerusalem, pursued to Beth‑horon (where in times past Joshua defeated the Canaanites), and ruthlessly massacred. Six thousand Romans perished and the rest only escaped by headlong flight. It was one of the greatest disasters Roman arms had ever suffered and Rome was eager to avenge herself. The consequence was the despatch of Vespasian from Britain to Judea and the war that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. These happenings would have made matters no easier for the Apostle. The Christian expectation that the Second Advent was at hand and their dire predictions of the imminent fall of Rome before the coming King were taken by the authorities as incitement to rebellion. In all probability the charge against Paul was one of treason, and in the then state of public and official opinion the verdict was an almost foregone conclusion.

Paul arrived in Rome in late A.D. 66 or early 67. He seems to have had two trials, the first one resulting in a remand for a season. Probably the assessors were unable to agree on the evidence and the case was put back. This was the time at which he wrote the Second Epistle to Timothy. He told Timothy of the ineffective first trial (4.16) but was under no illusion as to the ultimate outcome. He knew that his time was come and he was ready. His one desire was to see his adopted son once more before he died. "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me" he pleaded, and again "Do thy diligence to come before winter". That must have meant the winter of A.D. 67. Onesiphorus of Ephesus had visited him in Rome during his imprisonment and he noted this with gratitude; "he . . . was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome he sought me out very diligently, and found me". The defection of Demas is noted with sadness: Demas who had been with him for so long. "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica". A world of tragedy lies in those regretful words! Perhaps the terrors of the persecution had been too much for Demas and he had slipped quietly away. Titus had been sent to Dalmatia and Crescens to Gaul (not Galatia as in the AV). These two missions tend to support the view of the journey here described; if Paul had recently evangelised Gaul and Dalmatia it is characteristic of him that he should now send two of his helpers to follow up the progress of the faith in those regions. "Only Luke is with me." Luke, faithful Luke, remained with the Apostle in his last days and did not leave Rome until it was all over. Tradition says he afterwards preached in Gaul, and finally settled in Bithynia on the shores of the Black Sea, where he died twenty years later. It may be questioned how Luke himself escaped the notice of the authorities in his close association with the accused man; probably the fact that he was a Greek, and a physician apparently in constant professional attendance upon Paul, diverted suspicion. The Roman church was in close fellowship with the Apostle and he sends greetings from Linus the bishop or "elder" of the Church, and from Pudens and Claudia. Claudia was a British princess, daughter of the British king Caracos (Roman name Caractacus), who had been the mainstay of British resistance to Roman domination until he was betrayed into their hands and sent to Rome with his daughter to be kept as hostages. In Rome she married Rufus Pudens, whom she had previously known when he was a military officer serving in Britain. The sister of Caractacus, Gladys, had when in Britain married the Roman commander Aulus Plautius, and was now in Rome also. The whole family, being Christian, were in fellowship with Paul during both his sojourns in Rome.

But the sands were running out, and the busy pen was laid down. With the Second Epistle to Timothy, written some time in the summer of A.D. 67, the written word comes to an end. After that there is nothing but the memory of the Church. The recollections of men like Clement and Linus, who were there at the time and knew what happened, handed down what they knew to succeeding generations of believers, the recollection growing fainter and less definite as the years passed.

Paul appeared before the tribunal. A few months previously, Peter had been put to death in Rome after leading the Church fearlessly through the persecution, and Mark had then returned to Ephesus. Now it was Paul's turn Whatever the considerations which had given rise to doubts of his guilt at the first hearing, there was no hesitancy this time. The death sentence was passed. Paul's Roman citizenship saved him from the crucifixion which had been Peter's lot; he was to suffer beheading. Towards the end of A.D. 67 or early in 68 the valiant heart came to rest.

Did Timothy and Mark reach him in time? No one knows. They certainly must have made the attempt. When Timothy received the letter they probably had four or five months in which to reach Rome, long enough for the purpose. Perhaps, at the last, the Apostle's tired eyes did light up at the sight of these whom, with Luke, he probably loved more than any others of his fellow-labourers.

Then it was all over. An old tradition says that he was taken to a place outside the city and there led aside a few paces. The executioner stepped forward; a swift movement, and the man who had never wavered in his steadfastness to the Master he had served since the day of that vision on the Damascus road, came to the end of the way. "For I am now ready to be offered, And the time of my departure is at hand. I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing".

THE END

AOH

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