No. 12. >> What do we know about Paul after his journey to Rome and his house arrest as reported in Acts 28? And what do we know about his martyrdom in Rome? >>DR. ARTHUR A. JUST, JR.: When Paul gets to Rome as recorded in Acts 28, he is under house arrest. Like Caesarea Maritima, there is an opportunity for him to show hospitality to his friends. People come and visit him. And he clearly has an ability there to continue teaching and preaching. The Book of Acts is a really tragic book in some ways. I know many scholars have suggested that it's a book of a theology of glory because it shows the triumphal march of the Gospel throughout the world. And to a great extent that's true. It shows that the Gospel does bring forth fruit. But I think if you read the Book of Acts carefully and you can see this in Paul's final words in Acts 28, that there is a certain tragedy here. Because Paul, who has been reaching out to both Jews and Gentiles, recognizes that perhaps the Jews are now rejecting the Gospel once and for all. He doesn't write off the Jewish mission. He doesn't indicate that he's going to cease to go to the Jews. But he recognizes that the fruit of the Gospel is being lived out within the Gentile community. And so he quotes the prophet Isaiah in Acts 28 Verse 26. Go to this people and say: You will indeed hear but never understand. And you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull and with their ears they can barely hear. And their eyes they have closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them. Now, you may remember this from Jesus Christ quoting a very significant moment in his ministry, this very same passage from Isaiah. Which indicates that there is going to be rejection of the Gospel. And that that is always a tragedy. Now, this is what Paul says after quoting Isaiah. He says: Let it therefore be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles � they will listen. And that in fact is the truth. The Gentile church bursts forth. And certainly many Jews continue to come into the church. But it's the Gentile church that takes over from this point on. Now, we think that this is of course in the year 60, 61 when he traveled to Rome and he was imprisoned had in 61 to 63. James the brother of our Lord who I mentioned before was martyred in Jerusalem in the year 62. And in fact I think it's fair to say that all the apostles and all of the 72 with the exception of St. John the evangelist who wrote Revelation and the Gospel of John that all of them are martyred by the time the destruction of Jerusalem takes place in 70 AD. Now it says in Acts at the very end that Paul lived there in Rome for two whole years at his own expense. He welcomed all who came to him. And this shows how he is continuing to preach the Gospel. It says: Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. Clearly when Luke wrote Acts probably in the year 61 and 62 when he was in prison, Paul is continuing to preach the Gospel. There is the theory that Paul, who wanted to go to Spain, did in fact get out of prison, went to Spain, preached the Gospel and then in coming back to Rome during the Neronian persecution was martyred in 64, 65 about the same time that Peter was martyred. We don't know that for sure. But we think that that is a good possibility. I used to live in Spain back in the '70s and about three or four years ago I spent three months in Spain as a missionary of the Lutheran Church of the Missouri Synod helping them. So I have a real hope that Paul came to Spain. And being in Spain you will see that there is a desire by the Spaniards to show that Paul was in fact in Spain. But the end of Paul's life is somewhat of a mystery. The only thing we feel certain about is that both Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. And they were martyred very close to one another in terms of time. That means that the Book of Acts, which is about first Peter, the mission to the Jews, and Paul, the mission to the Gentiles, the true great apostles, Peter and Paul, found that they gave up their life for the Gospel of Jesus Christ following their Lord. Jesus, the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep. And Paul who we're going to see in Galatians talks about the wounds, the scars, the marks of Jesus that he bears in his body, he, too, lays down his life for the church. The very things that put Jesus on the cross, are the things that persecuted Paul. And so Peter and Paul, the true great apostles, are in fact those who provide the seed bed in their blood for the growth of the church.