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Sketches from the Life of Paul
stay where he was, and permit them to go to Jerusalem to deliver the
contributions from the Gentile churches. The brethren at Caesarea
also united their prayers and tears with those of his companions: Why
should he face this great peril? Why expose his precious life to the
malice of the Jews? Would it not be presumptuous to go, after receiving
definite warning from the Spirit of God?
The apostle was deeply moved by the entreaties of his beloved
brethren. To human judgment he had sufficient reason to relinquish
his plan as unwise. But he felt that he was moving in obedience to
the will of God, and he could not be deterred by the voice of friends,
or even the warning of the prophet. He would not swerve from the
path of duty to the right hand nor to the left. He must follow Christ,
if need be, to prison and to death. His tears fell not for himself, but
in sympathy with his brethren, upon whom his determination had
brought so great sorrow. “What mean ye to weep, and to break mine
heart?” he exclaimed; “for I am ready not to be bound only, but also
to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Seeing that they
caused him pain, without changing his purpose, the brethren ceased
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their importunity, saying only, “The will of the Lord be done.”
The time soon came for the brief stay at Caesarea to end, and,
accompanied by some of the Caesarean brethren, Paul and his company
set out for Jerusalem, their hearts deeply shadowed by the presentiment
of coming evil. The crowd at the annual feasts was so great that
strangers often failed to find shelter within the city, and were obliged
to resort to booths outside the walls. But, according to previous
arrangements, the apostle and his attendants were to be entertained at
the house of “one Mnason, of Cyprus, an old disciple.”
Since his conversion, Paul’s visits to Jerusalem had always been
attended with anxiety, and with a feeling of remorse as he gazed
upon scenes that recalled his former life. There was the school of
Gamaliel, where he had received his education, the synagogue in
which he worshiped, the house where the high priest had given him
his commission to Damascus, the spot where the blood of Stephen
had witnessed for Christ. As the apostle gazed upon the place for
martyrdom, the scene in all its vividness rose up before him. Was
he going forward to a similar fate? Never had he trod the streets of
Jerusalem with so sad a heart as now. He knew that he would find few
friends and many enemies. In the crowds around him were thousands