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"And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned
with them of the Scriptures . . . . . that this Jesus, Whom, said he, I proclaim unto you is
the Christ" (Acts 17: 2, 3).
Paul's preaching left so strong an impression on the mind of Luke that instead of
writing "this Jesus, Whom he preached", a normal method of recording a past event, he
records the actual words of Paul: and the Revisers, perceiving this, have inserted the
words, "said he". At Corinth we have the same insistence:--
"Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews, that Jesus was the Christ"
(Acts 18: 5 R.V.).
The Person and work of Christ are the glory of Paul's epistles, and we can easily
imagine that this blessed title, and the repeated insistence upon its meaning and worth,
soon became associated with the little gathering at Antioch.
Reference is made at the close of Acts 11: to Claudius, and in chapter 12: to the
death of Herod. As these references enable us to fix the date of Acts 12: with
reasonable accuracy we will deal with them here, in order that the way may be left clear
for the commencement of our study of the ministry of Paul in Acts 13:
There is ample confirmation of the accuracy of the record that a famine befell the
inhabitants of Judæa in the reign of Claudius. In his Antiquities, Josephus refers to it in
three places, namely, 3: 15, 3; 20: 2, 5; and 5, 2.
Acts 12: records the tragic
death of Herod, and Josephus gives us a vivid description of his dreadful end.
We further learn for Josephus that Herod Agrippa died on 6th August, A.D.44, in the
fifty-third year of his age, and in the seventh of his reign, having reigned four years under
Caligula, and three years under Claudius.
"Now when Agrippa had reigned three years over Judæa, he came to the city of
Cæsarea, which was formerly called Strabo's tower; and there he exhibited shows in
honour of Cæsar, upon his being informed that there was a certain festival celebrated to
make vows for his safety."
Claudius had just returned from completing the conquest of Britain. His son received
the name Britannicus in honour of this acquisition to the Empire. The date of the return
to Rome from Britain was January, A.D.44, and the festival held at Cæsarea "for his
safety", during which Herod died, enables us to fix the date of Acts 12: Accordingly we
close this article with the following diagram which shows the Acts of the Apostles in
relation to secular dates.
---Illustration---
(BE-XXVII.29).