Acts 28

So the song, Speak O Lord, is a big encouragement to me.

Alex and I have a long history with that song.

He sang it many years ago when he was like a freshman in college up here at our college Bible study.

That's actually a modern hymn.

That wasn't written hundreds of years ago.

That was written in the early 2000s.

I commend Keith and Christy Getty to you.

They're modern-day hymn writers.

They're from Ireland.

They're from northern Ireland, actually, County Armagh.

So they write some really good songs.

So dive into those, look them up.

They also wrote the music to End Christ Alone.

They're really well-known, so good gospel songs.

Okay.

We have made it to the end of Acts.

How many people were here at the start of Acts five years ago?

Oh, wow, okay.

So a few of you.

So some of you college students are kind of coming in at the end of the movie.

So go back and read.

Go back and read Acts and enjoy the whole story.

But Paul has finally made it to Rome.

All right?

He finally made it.

That's kind of where we're looking today.

The gospel has gone out from Jerusalem and into the nations around the Mediterranean.

And finally, it kind of brings us to the close of Acts and just kind of stops right there.

So we're just going to read the text.

Acts 28.

And we're just going to start in verse 11.

Just kind of rewind a little bit.

After three months, we set sail on a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin guys as the figurehead.

Putting in at Cerro Cruz, we stayed there for three days.

And from there, we made a circuit and arrived at Ridium, which is the bottom tip of the Italian peninsula.

And after one day, a south wind sprang up.

And on the second day, we came to Petioloi.

There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days.

And so we came to Rome.

And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the forum of Appius and three taverns to meet us.

On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

And when he came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

After three days, he called together the local leaders of the Jews.

And when they had gathered, he said to them,

Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the custom of our fathers,

yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty,

because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.

But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar,

though I had no charge to bring against my nation.

For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you,

since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.

And they said to him,

We have received no letters from Judea about you,

and none of the brothers coming here have reported or spoken any evil about you.

But we desire to hear from you what your views are.

For with regard to this,

know that everywhere it is spoken against.

When the appointed day had come,

they came to him at his lodging in great numbers.

From morning till evening he expounded to them,

testifying to the kingdom of God,

and trying to convince them about Jesus,

both from the law of Moses and from the prophets.

And some were convinced by what he said,

but others disbelieved.

And disagreeing among themselves,

as they departed after Paul had made one statement.

The Holy Spirit was right.

And saying to your fathers,

to the prophet Isaiah,

Go to this people and say,

You will indeed hear,

but never understand.

You will indeed see,

but never perceive.

For this people's heart has grown dull,

and with their eyes 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 heart,

and turn that I would heal them.

Therefore let it be known to you

that this salvation of God

has been sent to the Gentiles.

They will listen.

He lived there two whole years

at his own expense,

and welcomed all who came to him,

proclaiming the kingdom of God,

and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ

with all boldness and without hindrance.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you that

we have such a rich heritage

in our faith in Christ,

that we have many,

a multitude,

a great host that has

gone before us

and have

carried their crosses,

who have made disciples,

who have preached the gospel,

who have planted the church

in dark areas.

And God, I pray that today

you would

encourage us

as those who

are also a part of your church

to live lives

worthy of the gospel

and to surrender all

to Christ.

I just ask that

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So we're going to

do a little bit of introduction

and then we're going to

go kind of unpack things

a little bit

by way of questions

kind of about the text.

But first of all,

I think it's amazing

that when you look

in these,

the first few verses here

in 11 through 16,

you see that amazingly

Paul, Luke,

and the traveling party,

they were met by believers

three times

along the way to Rome.

And I think

that would be

an overwhelmingly

encouraging thing to do.

Just imagine

the pressure

and anticipation

and intensity

that Paul must have felt

just going

to Rome.

And then

to have people

coming out

all along the way

to greet them

who are already

in the faith,

brothers and sisters

that are already

there.

They met him

at Peteloi,

which was

130 miles

like south.

Then they met him

at the Forum of Appius.

Then at Three Taverns,

which was about

12 miles away.

And so,

I have some visual aids

for you today.

Again,

I won't bore you

with too much,

but you can go ahead

and put the first one up.

But again,

that's the Roman Empire,

but if you look at it,

it's amazing

that God

kind of launched

the gospel out

through the Roman world

because

the ancient world

had never been able

to be traveled

as well

as when Rome

built all these roads.

It went everywhere

all over.

We had access

to Europe,

to Asia,

and to Africa

from the Roman Empire.

And the gospel

was just shooting out

all over the place.

And it was amazing

that like in God's providence,

that's what he saw

fit to do

and so if you look

at just Italy,

I had to practice

saying Petilloi.

It didn't look

how he said that,

but it's a little bit

southeast of Rome there.

So that's the journey

that he traveled.

He eventually

would have run

into the Via Appia,

which is the main road,

one of the major roads

going into Rome.

You can go to the next slide.

It's really a picture

of like the Roman roads.

That's the Via Appia.

That would have been

the road that he would

have entered

into Rome by,

a very well-known

road through antiquity.

But I imagine

that it really

blessed his heart.

It said that

he saw them

and his heart

was encouraged

when he saw

the believers

coming to him

all along the road

and probably just

strengthened him

to go and face

whatever awaited him

in Rome.

So he probably

traveled five days

or so on the Via Appia

to Rome.

And it had been

a crazy, rough,

and often despairing

journey to get there.

But God had promised him,

if you remember,

in chapter 23,

he said,

the following night

the Lord stood by Paul

and said,

take courage,

for as you have testified

to the facts

about me in Jerusalem,

so you must also

testify about me

in Rome.

So he knew that

God had promised

he would make it there.

But if you study

the journey

that Nathan so well

taught us,

what happened

along that journey,

very difficult

to imagine.

But he finally

made it.

And three years

prior,

in Corinth,

that's where Paul

wrote the Epistle

of the Romans.

So he knew

there was a

flourishing church

in Rome.

I want you to

turn there with me,

just to Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

So he wrote this

while in Corinth.

And though he had

not personally

visited Rome yet,

he was blessed

to hear about

how the church

had been growing

there.

So it was a dream

come true

for Paul to make

it to Rome.

He was so thankful

to be there.

And just listen

to these words,

like his longing

for them,

his desire

to come and see

them.

We'll just start

reading chapter 1.

Look at verse 7.

This is him writing.

Listen to what he says

three years prior.

to all those in Rome

who are loved

by God

and called

to be saints.

Grace to you

and peace

from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First,

I thank my God

through Jesus Christ

for all of you

because your faith

is proclaimed

in all the world.

For God

is my witness

whom I serve

with my spirit

in the gospel

of his Son.

That without ceasing,

I mention you

always in my prayers

asking that somehow

by God's will

I may now

at least succeed

in coming to you.

For I long

to see you

that I may impart

to you

some spiritual gift

to strengthen you.

That is,

that we may be

mutually encouraged

by each other's faith,

both yours

and mine.

I do not want you

to be unaware,

brothers,

that I have often

intended to come

to you,

but thus far

have been prevented

in order

that I might reap

some harvest

among you

as well

as amongst

the rest

of the Gentiles.

I am under

obligation

both to Greeks

and to barbarians,

both to the wise

and to the foolish,

so I am eager

to preach the gospel

to you also

who are in Rome.

So Paul had

this great yearning,

this great longing

to go and be

with the believers

in Rome.

And I love how

you can hear

the longing,

the humility even

of like,

I am coming

to be mutually

encouraged

by your faith.

Not like I am coming

to lord over you

and tell you

I am an apostle

and just direct you

in many different ways,

but he was like,

I am blessed

to see that the gospel

has gone way beyond

where I thought

I would have carried it.

So,

we are going to

go through this

just in the form

of some questions.

All right,

so question number one,

what happened

while Paul was in Rome?

What happened

while Paul was in Rome?

Well,

as was his way,

he typically sought out

the Jewish communities

that were already

in cities.

It was a way that,

you know,

these people had

knowledge of the scriptures,

they had the knowledge

about the Messiah.

It was an easy

first step

when he came

to a new city

or town.

But Paul,

being unable

to actually go

to the synagogues,

like he invited them

to come

to his lodgings.

So,

Paul was under

house arrest,

which in Roman law

wasn't that severe.

He had a lot

of freedom,

so don't,

you know,

in this section,

don't picture him

sitting in a coal dungeon

in chains.

He uses chains

just to kind of say

that I'm kind of bound,

like I'm under arrest,

but he had a lot

of freedom.

So he invited

the Jews

to come

and hear him.

They got their leaders

and then

they came

and as we see,

typically,

he reasoned with them,

he expounded

the scripture

from the law

and from the prophets

and then I'm sure

he even told them

his story

about how Christ

met him on the road

and saved him

and how he was

a persecutor

of the church,

but now he had

been commissioned

to preach the gospel

to the Gentiles

and to the Jews.

And, you know,

as usual,

right,

most disbelieved

and said,

you're crazy,

get out of here,

but in this case

it said that some

believed and others

disbelieved.

And in his sadness,

right,

his sadness

at their rejection,

he remembered

Isaiah's prophecy

written 700 years prior

that foretold

that many of Israel's

descendants

would not believe

in the Messiah.

And that's why

he remembered Isaiah.

And that was what

he said

when they were

leaving.

When was the last

time that you taught

or explained

the gospel

to someone

from an entire

day,

pleading with them,

going into the

scriptures,

pleading them

to see Christ

for an entire day?

That's what he did.

Then when it was

finished,

Paul basically,

as usual,

again,

he turned his

undivided attention

to the Gentiles.

right?

So,

we know that

he's in Rome

for trial.

We know that

he's awaiting trial,

hopefully,

by the emperor.

But there was

apparently a very

long delay

in Paul's trial.

He was coming

to trial,

but it says that

he probably waited

about two years

at least,

and he had not

appeared before

the court.

that could be

due to a lot

of facts.

One was,

there were so

many cases

stacked up

that he would

have to have

the emperor

himself override

it to get it

near the top

at the time.

And to be honest,

like,

Rome had some

bigger issues

going on,

and in his

mind,

the emperor's

mind,

it might not

have been that

big of a deal,

so he wasn't

that concerned

about getting

Paul to the

front of the

line.

So,

what the heck,

right?

He's in Rome

to go to

court before

the emperor,

so why is

he waiting so

long?

It seems like

wasted time,

right?

Nope.

Praise God

and God's

providence

and God's

sovereignty.

During Paul's

time under

house arrest,

this is when

God inspired

him to write

many of the

letters that we

hold dear today

that have

blessed believers

throughout the

centuries.

during this

time in

church history

while Paul

was under

house arrest,

these two

years,

this is when

he wrote

Ephesians,

Philippians,

Colossians,

and Philemon,

ancient writings

that have

survived and

have been

passed down

to us and

that you

hold before

you today.

He wrote

that while

he was

there.

So,

he also

wasted no

time.

He preached

the gospel.

He preached

the gospel.

You see

that?

Go back to

Acts,

by the way,

if you're

not there.

But go back

to Acts 28.

But in

verse 30,

he says,

he lived

there two

whole years

at his

own expense.

All right?

So he had

some comfortable

lodgings for

the most part.

And he welcomed

all who came

to him,

proclaiming the

kingdom of

God and

teaching them

about the

Lord Jesus

Christ with

all boldness

and without

hindrance.

I always

thought it'd

be interesting

to wonder,

like,

I'd love to

interview that

soldier that

was, like,

around him all

the time,

just to say,

what was that

like,

to be, like,

right by Paul

all the time,

and you had to

guard his

every step.

Might have

become a

brother,

who knows?

But the law

allowed Paul

to provide his

own quarters

as a Roman

citizen,

and he had

seen a lot

of freedom

during this

time.

So it's safe

to assume

that under

guard, he

could have

walked the

streets of

Rome,

he could have

gone to the

parks,

he could

have gone

to a lot

of the

public places

and the

forum,

and he

would have

had a lot

of freedom

just to go

and come

and go

as he

pleased.

So for

two years,

roughly 60

AD to 62,

that's when

he was

believed to

have been

there.

So don't

ever, if

you feel like

you're stuck

in a place,

and you

think, if I

could just

bust out of

the situation,

I think that

God could use

me so much

more than

just if I

was stuck

here,

right?

I've felt

that way

before, over

many years

of very long

hospitalizations

where I

wanted to

be here,

I wanted

to be

ministering

to people

here, but

I tried to

remember that

that's where

God had me,

and I tried

to be a

light to

doctors,

nurses,

visitors that

came to

see me.

I was even

trying to

share Christ

in the OR

one time,

and he cut

me off and

put me in

sleep right

when I

was getting

to the

juice of

it.

So I

had to

go back

and hunt

him a

blade,

like,

hey man,

you cut

me off.

But John

Calvin wrote

of that text

where it

basically says

that Paul

lived at

his own

expense,

and he

preached

the gospel.

He said,

the apostle

shows us

an excellent

example of

constancy,

and that he

offered himself

so willingly

to all those

who were

desirous to

hear him.

he remembered

that he

was no

less the

servant of

Christ and

a preacher

of the

gospel when

he was in

prison than

if he had

been at

liberty.

He thought

it was not

lawful for

him to

withdraw

himself from

any which

were ready

to learn,

lest he

shouldn't

neglect the

occasion which

was offered

to him by

God.

And therefore

he did

more regarding

the holy

calling of

God than

in his own

life.

So he

made the

most of

that time

and he

knew that

God had

him there

for that

reason.

So as he

awaited trial,

he waited

that two

years at

least.

So when

Paul's trial

did come,

we have to

rely basically

just on

ancient writings

and church

tradition in a

lot of ways

and just what

would have

happened to

someone who

was under

trial during

this time in

the first

century AD

in Rome.

Most likely

he would

have been at

the Basilica

of Julia,

which is

the southeast

corner of

the Roman

Forum.

The Roman

Forum,

I think you

can go to

the next

slide.

What is he

I think?

Yeah,

that's the

ruins of

the ancient

forum.

That's like

the marketplace

of Rome.

A lot of

big,

big events

happened there.

You can go

and walk

there today.

And so

that's probably

where his

trial took

place,

the Basilica

of Julia.

And at

this time,

the emperor

who served

as the

judge,

he would

usually invite

six of his

close advisors

to hear

cases and

to advise

on the

judgment

and the

outcome.

But during

the first

century,

there's

evidence,

there's

writings,

of if the

emperor didn't

hear a case,

he could be

delegated to

the commander

of the

Praetorian

Guard,

which was

obviously

gladiator.

They're the

guys that

wear purple.

So that

was like

the emperor's

household guard.

So they

could be

heard by

the commander.

There's

evidence of

that during

the reign

of Tiberius.

And it

was,

the emperor

typically only

dealt with

very,

very important

cases.

Cases that

had to do

with the

state or

just the

welfare of

the empire.

So probably

Nero,

who had

been the

emperor this

time,

delegated

those cases

and then he

would confirm

with sentences

afterwards the

smaller cases.

So it's very

entirely possible

that Paul never

appeared before

the emperor.

What a showdown

that had been

though.

I kind of

loved a scene

like Paul

sitting across

looking up

at Nero

himself,

talking about

Christ and

testifying,

but we

don't really

know.

Church history

doesn't say,

the scripture

doesn't say,

but what we

know at any

rate was

Christianity as

a whole was

not seen as a

major threat by

Rome yet.

And from

what we know,

they just saw

it as like a

little sect,

a split off

of Judaism,

and they

weren't that

concerned about

it.

So we are

pretty confident

there's a

growing popularity

that Paul

was released.

He was

released after

that trial

occurred.

A lot of

evidence points

to this.

Let me give you

three reasons

why Paul

was probably

released.

First of all,

the charges

that were brought

up against him,

if you remember,

were infractions

of the Jewish

law seen

throughout Acts,

right?

And not seen

as a very

serious threat

in the eyes

of the Romans.

If you remember,

in Acts 26,

King Agrippa

said,

this man

probably would

have been

set free

if he had

not appealed

to Caesar.

Just didn't

find any real

big fallout.

Come on,

you Jews,

calm down.

This is silly.

He's not

threatening us

at all.

So it wasn't

seen as a

big deal,

a major threat

yet.

And the Jews

even said,

we've received

no documents

about you.

We have not

even heard of

you before

he got to

Rome.

Secondly,

while under

house arrest

in Rome,

Paul often

writes in

his letters

that he's

pretty confident

that he'll

be released.

Pretty confident.

He says in

Philemon

verse 22,

Philippians 1,

25-26,

and as an

example,

he's writing

to the

Philippian

church,

and he's

saying,

I'm going

to send

Timothy to

you,

and this

is what he

says,

I hope

therefore

to send

him as

soon as

I see

how it

will go

with me.

And I

do trust

that the

Lord will

send me

to you,

and I

also will

come back

to Philippi,

that is.

So he was

confident in

his letters

that he would

be released,

that he would

see brothers

and sisters

he was

writing again.

Thirdly,

and lastly,

there are

several references

indicating that

Paul had a

fourth missionary

journey.

he referred

multiple times,

particularly in

Romans 15,

that he had

really hoped

to go to

Spain via

Rome.

From Rome,

go zip up

to Spain.

And church

history does

seem to

indicate that

he was in

Spain.

So those

are a lot

of reasons

why.

And when

he was

released,

that's when

he wrote

1 Timothy

and Titus

during that

span of

time.

So he

has trial,

who knows?

He was

before the

emperor or

not,

but he

was released

eventually,

I believe.

So,

second question.

That was

all like

what happened

while Paul

was in

Rome.

Second

question,

what happened

when Paul

left Rome?

Rome.

A lot

happened when

Paul left

Rome.

As we

just referenced,

he probably

went on a

fourth missionary

journey and

planted a

very strong

church in

Spain and

other places

as he went

throughout the

empire.

So,

that's one

thing.

He wrote the

letters of

1 Timothy and

Titus.

So,

giving you a

little bit

more background,

I hope

it's not

boring.

Some of you

need to learn

to enjoy some

things like

this to get

into the

world of

the Bible.

But,

go to the

next slide.

let's talk

about the

whack job

a little

bit.

So,

Nero

reigned

from 54

AD to

68

AD.

He was

set up

basically by

his

overbearing,

conniving

mother named

Agrippina.

She was the

second wife

of the

emperor

Claudius.

And,

she had

an agenda

to basically

somehow

get her

son on

the

throne

and that

she would

kind of

rule in

a way,

share power

equally with

her son.

So,

she plotted

and then

eventually,

no surprise,

right,

the story of

Roman history

poisoned

Claudius,

her husband,

and soon

after had

Nero marry

Claudius'

daughter,

Octavia.

So,

he was in.

He was the

next emperor.

That was

around 54

AD.

So,

his mother

was definitely

overbearing,

would not

leave him

alone,

really got

on his

bad side

eventually,

and he

lost it.

And,

eventually,

this psychopath

commanded his

own Praetorian

guard to go

and kill his

mom.

And,

as the

Praetorians

came into

her room,

she kind

of stood

up really

boldly,

looked at

them and

said,

stab right

here,

because this

is what

bore Nero.

that's

pretty

dramatic.

And,

so,

she died,

and then,

to kind

of seal

his power,

he also

killed his

wife.

He killed

Octavia.

He thought

she was

behind all

that,

too.

So,

very brutal

from the

get-go.

It was said

that he was

haunted by

his mother's

ghost the

rest of

his life.

He grew

more and

more freaked

out,

schizophrenic,

as the

years went

on,

just haunted

by his

mother's

ghost

throughout

the

palace,

writers

say.

So,

Nero,

not a good

guy,

not a

friend of

the church.

He was

not a

general,

he was

not a

guy who

would go

out and

fight battles

and lead

armies.

He was

really obsessed

with drama,

with theater,

with music,

and he

loved to

play the

liar.

He would

either

excommunicate or

kill you

if you

fell asleep

near one

of his

performances.

So,

he got

his way

most all

the time,

as did

most Roman

emperors.

He also

had a

lust for

building

pleasure

palaces.

He loved

luxurious

building.

A lot

of Roman

emperors

tried to

make their

mark by

building

something

amazing

throughout

the empire.

So,

he was

pondering

his

city

and

Nero,

he hated

Rome

itself.

He was

like,

it's one

of the

dirtiest,

filthiest,

gross

cities

ever.

It smells,

and so

he would

often talk

about how

much he

just couldn't

stand

by just

the city

of Rome

itself.

So,

during his

time,

during his

reign,

two revolts

sprang up

throughout the

empire,

two huge

ones,

two of the

biggest

defeats

in the

Roman

history

by an

uprising

province.

The one

was in

Britannia,

which was

Britain,

Boudicca,

the warrior

queen,

fought against

the Roman

legions there

but eventually

lost.

And then,

if you remember

the last

time,

the Judean

revolt started

at the

same time.

And Nero

had

excommunicated

one of the

empire's best

generals,

Vespasian,

because he

fell asleep

during one

of his

performances.

Vespasian was

the kind of

guy who

would rather

watch a UFC

match than

go to an

opera.

So,

he was not

into all

that.

So,

he was

excommunicated

but he

called him

back to

go quell

the rebellion

in Judea.

And so,

as the

summer came

in 64

AD,

in July,

Nero,

I forgot

to mention

this,

one of his

favorite poems

was the

fall of

Troy.

So,

think about

that,

a burning

city that's

being destroyed,

right?

That was

one of his

favorites.

And,

seemingly out

of nowhere,

not really,

there was a

huge fire

that started

on a hot

day in

July,

64 AD,

in the city

of Rome.

And it

burned for

nine days

and huge

parts of

the city

were consumed,

including the

areas that

were the

most affluent.

Right?

And Nero

was seen

atop a tower

watching the

fire,

playing the

lyre,

and reciting

the fall of

Troy.

And,

most scholars

believe,

as to the people

in this day,

that he had

started this

fire himself

to basically

clean out

the nasty

city,

and he kind

of wanted

to wipe it

clean.

He wanted

to build,

eventually,

he built

this huge

pleasure palace

called the

Domus

Aurea.

It was a

place,

like in the

prominent

place of

the city,

and it

was all

for himself.

And it

took years

to build.

And that

was where

a lot of

the citizens

were getting

very upset.

No one

was safe

under the

reign of

Nero.

Not even

Roman generals,

like no one

was safe.

And so,

as history

goes,

Nero had

to have,

he played

the political

game,

he was like,

I have to

have someone

to blame

for this

fire,

because they're

all pointing

the finger

at me.

So the

Roman historian

Tacitus,

who lived

under the

reigns of

Tiberius

to Vespasian,

he wrote,

therefore,

to scotch

the rumor,

Nero

substituted

as culprits

a class

of men

and women

whom the

crowd calls

Christians.

Vast

numbers of

them were

convicted.

Derision

accompanied

their end.

They were

torn to

death by

dogs.

They were

fastened

on crosses.

And when

daylight failed,

they were

burned to

serve as

lamps by

night in

the emperor's

garden parties.

Go to the

next slide.

This is a

famous painting

of the

emperor's

garden parties

as believers

were being

tied to

crosses and

burned for

entertainment.

So before

this,

persecution

had not

existed

formally

throughout the

empire,

but it

started

around this

time.

Christians

and Romans

throughout the

empire,

rumors were

spread about

them that they

sacrificed their

children,

that they

were cannibals,

that they

plotted rebellion

against the

empire.

So they

were burned

out of their

homes,

imprisoned,

beaten in

the streets,

often gang

raped in

alleyways,

forced to

and put

pressured on

to renounce

Christ.

Many put to

death in the

Circus

Maximus,

which was the

big charioteer

thing in

Rome,

torn to

death by

lions,

wild dogs,

his sport.

And one of

Nero's

favorites,

you can go

to the next

slide,

if this

just doesn't

look demonic,

remember he

likes drama,

he likes

theater,

he likes

ancient history,

so his

favorite was

to get a

reenactment

of the

Greek myth

of Diorsi,

which was

the queen of

Thebes in

Greek mythology,

and she was

supposedly executed

by being tied

to the horns

of a wild

bull and

then crushed

to death.

And church

historians,

excuse me,

Roman historians,

ancient historians,

say that Nero

took young,

beautiful Christian

girls who

wouldn't renounce

Christ and

tied them to

the bull to

reenact that

Greek myth,

then smashed.

so finally,

Paul does

loop back

around,

he comes

back to

Rome,

and when he

comes back

this time,

persecution

has started,

people are

being

tortured to

death,

he's,

according to

tradition,

in prison,

and this time

it was in a

dark,

cold dungeon

at the foot

of the

Capitol

Lion Hill,

a rough,