7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.
8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.
Returning to the Church in order to serve
Paul had first embarked on three missions TEN YEARS AGO from Antioch, with Jerusalem being little more than a stop on his way back to Syria along the roads of a distant mission skirting Galatia once more and bypassing Asia Minor to sail the Aegean to Macedonian and Greek cities.
~ AD 57
His FIVE YEAR THIRD MISSION now complete, the Apostle to the Gentiles now returns to Jerusalem.
Although the Lord Jesus Himself had taught in Tyre and Sidon (and also presumably the great Maccabean port of Ptolemais between them) Paul now lands in Caesarea, Herod’s great Hasmonaean port named for the Emperors they served.
1st c. Roman Cities
ROME ruled with a westward wave that had included all of the Aegean by the time its dual citizen, Saul of Tarsus, had preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to much of Syria and Hellenist cities of a former Macedonian Empire.
~ A.D. 40 – a Judean history Before Christ
NOTE: Earlier in ACTS of the APOSTLES 12 I may have slighted the historical significance of this coastal area in our transition between ACTS of the Apostle Peter and the ACTS and missions of the Apostle Paul.
Now that Paul is returning home in the year of our Lord 57, let’s take a brief look at another map in the minds of Paul and historical context of Judeans born about the time of Christ Jesus.
~ AD 37
Saul had encountered the risen Christ along a road to Damascus. At the same time the Apostle Peter had taken the Gospel to Samaria and even to the gentiles.
And Saul [Paul], who had been received the the Apostles, then fled to Tarsus from Caesarea. – Acts 9:26-30
Paul is returning to brothers and sisters in Christ in Caesarea all these years later.
Dr. Luke, who knew a gentile history of his Aegean homeland, must have been taking Paul's account of these days as they sailed toward Judea and Jerusalem.
Here is even more history familiar to the Judeans.
a Strategic Coastline even Before Christ
The Romans eventually affirmed an alliance with the Maccabean leaders and encouraged other nations in the region to do the same.
The map shown here displays this complex political world of the Near East around 90 B.C., shortly before the Romans absorbed the Seleucid Empire and the Maccabean Kingdom in 63 B.C.
After Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C., his empire was divided among his generals, including Ptolemy and Seleucus.
Seleucid Empire led Antiochus IV Epiphanes
open rebellion by faithful Jews under the leadership of Mattathias Maccabeus and his sons in 167 B.C.
The Romans eventually affirmed an alliance with the Maccabean leaders and encouraged other nations in the region to do the same. The map shown [above] displays this complex political world of the Near East ~90 B.C.,
the Romans absorbed the Seleucid Empire and the Maccabean Kingdom in 63 B.C.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes sought to unify his diverse domain by forcing Greek religious and political practices upon all his subjects (1 Maccabees 1; 2 Maccabees 6-7) – source
Division
Before Christ, the GREAT Hellenist ALEXANDER had died in the BABYLON he conquered in a world to the EAST from where Judeans had earlier returned home to Jerusalem under Nehemiah.
Alexander’s thrice-divided Kingdom would eventually leave Jerusalem divided between Maccabean and Hellenist. The ruthless and GREAT builder King Herod also left legacy of a thrice-divided Kingdom to sons upon his death [~4 BC].
The JUDEA (and Jerusalem) prominent in the times of JESUS and Paul does NOT include a separate Samaria (home of the Maccabean revolt) OR Galilee.
Herod had not only named his great harbor and fortress CAESAREA (a clear concession to a Hellenist Rome) but had built a town and fortress to the north also named for the Hellenist father of Alexander, CAESAREA PHILLIPI.
SAUL (Paulos) in Caesarea
Arriving before Saul - Philip
Jerusalem:
Now in those days, while the disciples were multiplying in number, there was grumbling from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.
.. and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.
Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the [Messiah] Christ to them.
Philip the Evangelist and deacon from Jerusalem had travelled to Gaza, then was miraculously taken up to take the Gospel north to Caesarea where he would reside.
But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
Acts 8:40 NASB
PAUL Returning 20 years later to Philip in Caesarea
we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.
9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
ACTS of the Apostles 21 – Paul’s return from his third missionary journey – To be continued…
The first thing I want to know about any letter I receive is who sent it to me. So as a leader or member of one of several churches we would want to be certain of the identity of the author of Jude and the authenticity of Jude’s message.
Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James
Letter of Jude 1:1a NKJV
To fully understand the identity of the man who’s name is translated in English as ‘Jude” we must look to both the original Greek text and the common name of its Hebrew origin in first century Judea and Galilee.
Ἰούδας
Pronounced: ē-ü’-däs — Most translations of the Greek use Jude, the Latin Iudas and Yehudah in the Hebrew Names Version. The root word of the Greek name is Yĕhuwdah from the Hebrew יְהוּדָה meaning “praised” and translated at Judas. (We understand why after Jesus’ betrayal no man wanted to be known by this name now synonymous with ‘betrayer.’)
In James – Witness of a Converted Brother we learned that Roman names derived from local languages had become Hellenized. James could be Jim, but Judas and Judah easily become, Jude.
Some fathers named their sons after a forefather of their tribe like Judah or Israel. Judah יָדָה is the familiar Hebrew root of both the Greek and English.
Brother of James
Jude means: he shall be praised.
The author of our letter identifies himself as the brother of James.
Jude refers to James, head of the church of Jerusalem, leader of the first century churches who exchanged letters throughout Asia minor, Greece, Palestine and other areas receiving the Good News of Christ. Most Biblical commentators agree that like James, Jude is is also a half-brother of Jesus.
Both James and Jude identify themselves as servants of Jesus, rather than claiming their biological relationship to the Lord. Most kings come to power via their family connection and install relatives in high positions.
One of the great Jewish controversies Jesus would take no part in was that of the legitimacies of kings and followers of certain political traditions. These political/family controversies had progressed and preceded Jude, James and Jesus by several generations back to the second century B.C.
Maccabees
Source: BibleHub.org (a hammer), This title, which was originally the surname of Judas, one of the sons of Mattathias, was afterward extended to the heroic family of which he was one of the noblest representatives. Asmonaeans or Hasmonaeans is the Proper name of the family, which is derived from Cashmon, great grandfather of Mattathias. The Maccabees were a family of Jews who resisted the authority of Antiochus Epiphanes king of Syria and his successors who had usurped authority over the Jews, conquered Jerusalem, and strove to introduce idolatrous worship.
Judas, one of the sons of Mattathias generally called in English the Maccabees, a celebrated family who defended Jewish rights and customs in the 2nd century B.C. (1 Maccabees 2:1-3{from the Apocrypha, for those unfamiliar with extra-Biblical texts.}
Herodians
The end of the era of the Hasmoneans is probably the most turbulent time in Jewish history. It is hard to imagine a “Jewish” government more antithetical to Jewish principles and ideals than that of Herod and his successors, whose murderous, tyrannical ways would eventually lead to the destruction of the Temple and the beginning of the long exile that Jews find themselves in. – Source: JewishHistory.org
Herod the Great, born in Rome around 70 B.C and known as Herodes Magnus, was appointed a governor at around age 20 (along with his brother) and appointed King by the Roman senate in 37 B.C. He became known as Judah’s great builder and built the Temple in Jerusalem.
During the time of Jesus, James and Jude and continuing into the years of the early church, the Herods wielded much power. Rome finally turned on Jerusalem and their client king appointed to help Rome defend the Empire against enemies east of Palestine. The Herodians failed to control the “Jewish problem,” which caused trouble throughout the Empire.
Bondservant of Jesus Christ
The brother of James could have begun his letter to the church as a ‘brother of the King and Messiah,’ implying his authority of position via his family. The Herodians or Maccabees made familial claims to kingdom leadership, but not these half-brothers of Jesus who had not even followed the Lord prior to His resurrection.
James begins his letter (ἐπιστολή epistle, in greek): ‘James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Jude chooses to identify in the same way as a bondservant of Christ.
Jude would have been known to his readers as the brother of James, leader of the church in Jerusalem, both related to Jesus the Messiah.
Understanding the Servant of Christ
The Bible uses the word ‘servant‘ almost 500 times. A few English translations use the word ‘bondservant,’ a concept we no longer use or understand. Furthermore, many contemporary christians resist this concept of sometime voluntary compliance.
I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.
Leviticus 26:13 KJV
עָבַד עֶבֶד – A slave or servant; to work, serve. Also used as form of address between equals.
Genesis 18:KJV
And the LORD appeared unto him [Jacob] in the plains of Mamre: … three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
Jacob served the LORD. We serve the LORD. Jude served Christ, the Lord.
Malachi 4:
About four centuries before Christ (and Jesus’ half-brothers) the prophet Malachi writes:
“Remember the instruction of Moses my servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
The closing verses of Malachi clearly point back to Moses and the Law with the Lord calling Moses, “my servant.” James and Jude are servants of Jesus just as Moses was servant to the Lord at Horeb.
עֶבֶד – `ebed
Are you, beloved follower of Christ, first a servant of the Lord?
διάκονος – diakonos
“If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Command of the Lord Jesus – Gospel of John 12:26 CSB
The servant (from the Greek context) is ‘one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master.
the servant of a king
a deacon [diakonos], one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use.
a waiter, one who serves food and drink
“The greatest among you will be your servant.
The word of the Lord – Matthew 23:11
Abraham was a servant of the Lord. Moses was a servant of the Lord. And like their forefathers in the faith, Jude and James became servants of the Lord first and servants of the Lord’s followers second.
Paul, referring to the church writes to the church at Colossae:
I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known …
Jude writes to the church
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James:
To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:1b CSB
Are you a fellow servant of Christ Jesus? If so, know that you are loved by God the Father. Know that by His grace you are kept for Jesus Christ at the day of His victorious return.
2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Jerusalem’s controversy at the time of Jesus and James continues to this day, yet goes back to the centuries before Christ.
“ירושלים, ירושלים, ההורגת את הנביאים ורוגמת באבנים את שליחי אלוהים, פעמים רבות חפצתי לקבץ את בניך כתרנגולת המקבצת את אפרוחיה תחת כנפיה, אולם לא הנחתם לי.
הבשורה על-פי לוקס 13:34 Habrit Hakhadasha/Haderekh (HHH)
And in the preceding post we discussed the probable relationship between the two brothers James and Jesus, before the Lord’s resurrection.
Jerusalem’s Controversy
Most of us know very little of the ancient history which preceded Rome’s dominance of Judea.
Jesus, the Apostles, James and first century residents of Jerusalem would have looked at Jerusalem’s controversy through contemporary eyes. Their perspective is very distant to our own understanding.
The glory of Israel under King David and Solomon from their Bible teachings were distant memories ten centuries past. Even the Second Temple dated five hundred years before the Judea of Jesus and James.
Alexander captured Jerusalem in 332 BC
Although Jerusalem was finally spared by powerful empires from the east, those same empires would fall to Alexander the Great of Macedon about three centuries before Christ.
Alexander captured the captors of Jerusalem, Egypt, Babylon and Assyria. Consequently, Hellenism and the Greek language assimilated easily into the surrounding cultures of the whole world known to Jerusalem.
This universal acceptance continued to impact all of the Mediterranean even after Rome’s dominance. Alexandria, which he founded in Egypt, would later become a strategic political center tied to the fates of Rome.
Just a few generations Before Christ
(a few generations after Alexander)
175-163 B.C. The reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes
The Seleucid king of the Hellenistic Syrian kingdom who called himself, “god manifest,” caused a revolt in Jerusalem. This overt blasphemy by a ruling emperor forced deep divisions between religious rulers and political thought among local leaders.
Jews would have taken a stance during the sieges of Tyre and Gaza, ports crucial to trade and the well-being of Jerusalem. The complexity of the political intrigue also involves Rome, Egypt and others, but for Jerusalem the rise of Antiochus IV caused the revolt of the Maccabees.
Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes & others
What do we remember of our history?
Moses, first. The Lord led Israel from captivity in Egypt, the the LORD give the Law (Torah) to us through Moses. c. 1525 BC
David unites the twelve tribes into one, capturing the promised land.
Solomon built the richest and most powerful kingdom and also the Temple. c. 966 BC
Israel and Judah separate and both eventually fall to others.
Judaism continues in Babylon and prophets predict many things.
Several ruling empires tolerated Judaism while ruling over Jerusalem.
Antiochus does not, declaring himself ‘God in the flesh’ in the Temple.
Does this controversy resonate in the conversations of first century Jews? Of course it does.
“Is Jesus the Messiah,” many would ask?
Is this man Jesus of Nazareth, brother of James and Joses, actually God Incarnate?”
Therefore, from this more recent background of Jerusalem’s controversy, James, now leader of the church in Jerusalem, must address the Good News that Jesus IS the promised Messiah.
Although not unlike today’s controversies, first century believers knew that the expected answer of a questioner could depend upon the party of their religious affiliation. Their questions came from diverse political and religious views.
At the time of Antiochus several opposing religious and political movements took root.
During the formation of the Jewish religious parties and political movements prior to the days of Jesus Christ and Herod, all debated what followers of the Lord must do in each circumstance at various times.
The question to Jesus or to James in the first century AD remains nearly the same as now in the 21st c. A.D.
Scribes & Zealots
One group with both political and religious influence chose to separate religion from politics, claiming the higher ground of religion. The Scribes reached back to the authority of the re-established Law under Ezra the founding priest of the second Temple.
Zealots took a radically different approach to the invaders taking from them the promised land of God. At various times bands of Zealots hid in the mountains, formed powerful armed communities and used terrorism to attack the invaders from their mountain strongholds. (Does this radical religious military tactic sound at all familiar?)
כִּֽי־קִנְאַ֣ת בֵּיתְךָ֣ אֲכָלָ֑תְנִי וְחֶרְפֹּ֥ות חֹ֝ורְפֶ֗יךָ נָפְל֥וּ עָלָֽי׃ because zeal for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
Additional research on Jerusalem’s controversy at this time appears below, along with a brief outline of other Jewish political/religious parties of the first century AD.
On Antiochus’ death in 164 BCE, the Seleucids offered the Jews freedom of worship, but Judas continued the war, hoping to free his nation politically as well as religiously.
The son of Mattathias, an aged priest who took to the mountains in rebellion when Antiochus attempted to impose the Greek religion on the Jews, Judas took over the rebel leadership on his father’s death and proved to be a military genius, overthrowing four Seleucid armies in quick succession and restoring the Temple of Jerusalem.
This deed is celebrated in the Jewish festival of lights, Ḥanukka.
The Hasmonean Kings of Judah
The Maccabees founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which began their rule in 167 BC. They eventually managed independence for their kingdom of Judah from 110 BC until 63 BC.
The decline of the Hasmoneans coincided with the rise of Rome, but it wasn’t coincidence, for the once great Jewish family had become a shell of its holy roots.
End of the Hasmoneans
In the year 67 BCE, Queen Salome Alexendra (also known as Queen Shelomtzion) died. With her death, the dynasty of the Hasmoneans began a steady decline. Over the next 20-25 years it would fall apart completely. – source
Jerusalem’s Controversy after the Hasmoneans
Although divisions in rabbinic thought existed from earlier times, the onslaught of Roman power into the eastern Mediterranean brought about deeper divides in political and religious alliances.
Ideally, he [Pompey the Great, of Rome] did not want to do it through war, because the Jews – the Hasmoneans/Maccabees – had a fearsome reputation. The Romans referred to the Jews as “porcupines.” Just as a porcupine is an animal that even great predators avoid, so too the Jews. Even if you ate it you would be sorry. Therefore, Pompey wanted to control the Jews without somehow going to war. Source.
Herods – Kings of Compromise
NOTE: When you see the name Herod in the Bible, always ask yourself, which one?
Herod the Great
An article in Christianity Today sheds light on a view likely held by the rich and powerful Jewish leaders in the first century AD.
In terms of wealth, power, and influence, Herod the Great rivaled King Solomon as the greatest king in the history of the Jews.
Christianity Today – Dec 22, 2015 – Alexander Stewart
Herod was born in the Roman region of Idumea (formerly Edom) around 74 BC, built the Roman port of Caesarea and expanded the second Temple in Jerusalem. Christians know Herod for his attempt to prevent an innocent baby born in Bethlehem from becoming King.
When Pompey’s ally Herod died, not only did Joseph and Mary return with Jesus to Nazareth in Israel, but politically Rome divided his kingdom between Herod’s three sons and daughter. Again, the politics and various names of the Herod’s is complex, but first century Jews became caught up in it all.
Competing Religious Parties – Jerusalem’s controversy of the Temple
Party of the Sadducees – 167 BC
The Sadducees are a Jewish group mentioned in three different contexts in the Synoptic Gospels ( Mark 12:18 ; [= Matt 22:23-34 ; Luke 20:27] ; Matt 3:7 ; 16:1-12 ) and six in Acts ( 4:1 ; 5:17 ; 23:6-8 ). They always appear as inquisitors or opponents of John the Baptist, Jesus, or the early Christians. – Baker’sEvangelical Dictionary
Rabbinic writings sometimes interchange the term “Sadducee” with “Samaritans” (here meaning “opponents”) and “Boethuians.” The latter is probably from their connection with the house of Boethus, from which came several high priests during the New Testament period.
Party of the Essenes – 167 BC
John the Baptist most likely was of one of the Essenes.
When Jerusalem’s controversy erupted in the second century BC, the Essenes withdrew into the Judean desert and formed an isolated monistic community dedicated to the word of God and obedience to the Lord.
Unlike the Zealots, the Essenes had no agenda to retake the land of the promised land ‘for God.’
History recalled little about the Essenes until shepherds recovered the buried Dead Sea scrolls in Qumran Lebanon in A.D. 1948. The slow and meticulous study of these scroll fragments has revealed more in this past century.
Qumran, between the Judean hills and the Dead Sea. Qumran,
Party of the Pharisees – 167 BC
Jerusalem’s controversy most familiar to Christians is that of the resurrection. Not all Jews believed in the resurrection of the body and soul, but the Pharisees did.
However the party of the Pharisees had already divided into many opinionated sects over the written Law, the oral law, additional regulations and many other controversies. Discussion of these among rabbis reached far beyond Jerusalem into Galilee and other regions.
In addition to OT books the Pharisees recognised in oral tradition a standard of belief and life. They sought for distinction and praise by outward observance of external rites and by outward forms of piety, and such as ceremonial washings, fastings, prayers, and alms giving; and, comparatively negligent of genuine piety, they prided themselves on their fancied good works. They held strenuously to a belief in the existence of good and evil angels, and to the expectation of a Messiah; and they cherished the hope that the dead, after a preliminary experience either of reward or of penalty in Hades, would be recalled to life by him, and be requited each according to his individual deeds.
Strong’s G5330 – blueletterbible.org
Pharisees were not of the class of the rich, but lived a modest life closer to that of many other Jews. These rabbis were likely affectionate, popular teachers similar to most rabbis today.
They believed that God would act justly based on their works and attitudes toward others. The Law of Moses and oral law designating how we should obey the Lord provided the basis of their teaching and unity of purpose for a life lived separately from evil.
First Century Pharisees – in Jerusalem’s controversy of leadership
John the Baptist called them a brood of vipers (poisonous snakes).
Matthew tells us that ‘the Pharisees went out and plotted against him [Jesus], how they might kill him.’
Jesus accepted invitations from Pharisees to publicly join them in their homes. However the Lord also rebuked them, frequently including them with their rival party the scribes.
“Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs?
John 11:47
The Apostle John speaks to the delicacy of their political dilemma within the religious leadership of Jerusalem.
Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue.
John 12:42
James, Secretive believer in Jesus?
I have never heard anyone ask if James believed in Jesus before our Lord’s personal appearance to his half-brother after the resurrection.
As Peter had denied knowing Jesus at His trial, as the Apostles had gone into hiding and even as many Pharisees and others felt obligated to keep their faith in Jesus secret out of fear for their own lives, James may have come to believe in Jesus.
James, leader of the church in Jerusalem was about to take on a new role, an important sacrificial leadership of a post-Pentecost church. He would lead and write letters to other fearful new Christians from Jerusalem.
As Jesus had become Jerusalem’s controversy for the Jews, the Herods and the Romans, so too James was about to become just one more controversial leader in Jerusalem in the first century.
God-willing, we will return to James’ Letter to the Church next.
