(AN: New chapter which, of course, has a dual meaning, as usual.)
Freedom
Macedonia. Once the capital of the known world, it too was now just a pawn in the hands of the Roman Empire. A smaller country held in sway of the Eagle of the West. It's greatest city, named after Alexander's father, sat near the coast of the Aegean sea. Here a ship from Troy sailed to their shores, carrying three men of the sons of Israel from the shores of Anatolia to where they had never gone before: the land of Europa, the home of Greeks and Romans.
The ship had set first in the island of Samothrace to avoid bad weather, then settled in Neapolis, several miles south-west of Philippi, before making the final leg of their sea voyage. At last they set their ship upon the coast and the three disembarked, ready to begin their mission of peace and salvation.
On the Sabbath, since there were no synagogues in Philippi, Paul led Silas, Lucas and Timothy, who had joined their company after they passed through Lystra, to the side of the rugged hill-country outside of the city, near the river Strymonas. Here they would gather on the Sabbath to pray, since the view was breath-taking and the land about them serene and peaceful.
"Pardon me, sirs," a woman's voice announced. Paul was about ready to spout off something angry when Lucas held him back. The woman who spoke was not a Jewish woman, that much was certain. The way she looked at them, dead on, with eyes fixed on his, proved that she had not been raised in a society that said 'better that the Torah be burned with fire than read by a woman'. She was a proud Greek woman, who could speak to a man without fear of being called a whore.
"I did not mean to disturb your meditation," she said. "But I am curious."
"As to what?" Paul asked.
"Is not the temple the place for prayers?" she asked. "What brings you out to the fields?"
"We do not pray to the gods of the city," Paul said. "But to the One True God and His Son Jesus the Christ."
"I could see from your faces," she said. "That what you have to offer is different."
"Why do you say that?" Lucas asked.
"From your clothes," she said. "You appear Jewish, yet I know that no Jew would even speak with a Greek. I should know, I'm a dyer, I handle cloth all the time. What is it you bring to our shores?"
"Salvation," Paul said. "Freedom from the bonds of blind superstition and the hope of everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ."
At once, the woman sat down at their feet, a hungry look in her eyes the likes of which they had not seen since they were first brought into the faith.
"Please, sirs," she said. "Tell me more about this Christ, whom you call Jesus."
And so Paul began by telling her the story of Jesus as it had been revealed to him. One by one he saw more and more women join their group, sitting in a loose circle around them while he expounded on the story. Lucas read portions of his account, concerning the healing that Jesus had done in His ministry.
"My name is Lydia," the woman who had first met them said to Paul, with tears in her eyes. "Tell me, what must I do to be saved?"
"Believe that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God," Paul said. "And receive His baptism, and you shall be saved."
"I believe," she said. "And look! There lies the Strymonas river! Can I not now be baptized?"
Paul smiled. "So it shall be done."
So it happened, as so many times before in the past nine years, that another was brought into the fold of the believers. Many of the other women who were present at this sermon were also baptized, and when it was finished, Lydia approached Paul and the others.
"If my faith in Christ is enough," she said. "Come and stay at my house. My family and the rest of my household will be delighted to hear the words you have to speak!"
And so, with one accord, they decided to stay at Lydia's house. With her at the lead, and Paul, Silas, Lucas and Timothy following after, they made their way through the streets of the very Greek city of Philippi. They were not but a few feet away from her door when they heard a hoarse, ungodly cry aimed directly at them.
"Kristianos!" a voice shouted. Frightful eyes turned in the direction and saw a young woman, scantily clad and with a look in her eyes as one who is mad or possessed. Her hand was pointed in their direction as she roared at them. Behind her, they espied, several wealthy Greek men in purple togas with gold upon their hands and around their necks.
"Quickly!" Lydia said, ushering them into her house as quickly as possible and shutting the door fast behind them.
"What was that?" Lucas asked.
"Her name is Harmonia," Lydia said. "To put it quite frankly, good sirs, she's not the kind of person you should be asking about."
"Why?" Timothy asked. "What's wrong with her?"
"For one thing," Lydia stated. "She's a whore, and a witch at that! Those men you saw behind her?"
"Who were they?" Timothy asked.
"You don't get out much, do you, lad?" Lydia asked him with a smile. "They're her owners. They keep her in the city because they pay off the prefect from the revenue she gets for her prophecies and other services."
"I hope we don't have any more encounters with her," Silas said. "I don't know about you, but I could have sworn I saw something white dripping from her lips as she..." He saw Lydia give him a disapproving look and mouthed "Not in front of him." as she jabbed a finger in Timothy's direction. "I meant spit! She was foaming at the mouth like a dog."
"It sounds like she was possessed," Lucas said. "It's just as the others told me as I was working on this book." He indicated to the letter to Theophilus.
They spent several days more in the city, preaching to whoever would listen, and staying at the house of Lydia the dyer. Every Sabbath they would go out into the hills and pray. However, their steps seemed to be dogged by this witch Harmonia. There was not a day where she wouldn't interrupt whatever they were doing, even if it was walking to and from Lydia's house, and cry out to whoever was there who they were and what their purpose was. Of course, those who heard their sermons, somehow found a way to deposit gold into the hands of the purple-clad panderers who were always a few steps behind Harmonia.
One day they were on their way to their prayer spot, though Paul was rather annoyed as they walked. Lucas and Timothy stayed behind at Lydia's house, not willing to bear another embarassing escapade featuring Harmonia the witch-whore.
"Maybe she will be busy," Silas stated.
"Yes, busy mocking and making a profit through her witchery," Paul retorted.
"It might not have been her fault," Silas returned.
"You speak as if you were a baby chicken with your head stuck in its shell to this very day!" Paul retorted. "Are we not given every chance to escape from evil? Therefore it is our fault if we fall into it, not that of the LORD."
"I only meant," Silas replied defensively. "That those panderers were probably responsible. They made promises to her and then, when she was within their power, they broke their word and made her their slave."
"Just like sin," Paul stated. "Forgive me, Silas, I spoke too hastily. Everyone deserves to have a chance to be free."
As with before, there was a sudden, guttural cry and hither came Harmonia, scratches all over her half-exposed body and a look of pure insanity in her glazed over eyes.
"Kristianos!" a voice that was not her own roared. "These two!" She pointed at them. "They are the servants of the Most High God! They show us the way to salvation!"
Suddenly, Paul turned around, righteous fury in his eyes as he held one hand out before the young woman. "Evil spirit, I command you in the name of the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth: come out of her!"
A horrible, ear-splitting groan issued from out of her parched lips, and suddenly all was quiet and she fell forward onto the ground before them.
"What is the meaning of this?" a man's voice shouted angrily. From where Paul and Silas stood, they saw the men dressed in their gold and their fine robes approach them with angry looks on their faces.
"This woman deserves to be free!" Paul said, indicating to the woman who was now lying at his feet.
"This b*tch is our property!" one of the rich men said.
"And our livelihood!" another added.
"Did you hear that, people?" another shouted to the people who were now gathering around them. "These two have come to destroy our way of life, the ways of our fathers!"
"Take them to the prefect!" some began to cry. "Let's kill them now!", "Kill them before they cause any more harm!" and other such threats were repeated. Very shortly a mob was gathering and the two were dragged off to the prefect. Meanwhile, poor Harmonia was forsaken by her panderers and the blood-thirsty crowd: only Lydia remained to take her into her house.
The angry mob brought the two forward to the prefect and threw them down at his feet, spitting at them and shouting hateful words in their direction.
"What be the cause of this uproar?" the prefect asked.
"Those two!" one of Harmonia's panderers said. "Filthy, money-grubbing Jews here to rob us in our sleep and destroy our entire economy!"
"These men?" the prefect laughed. "Surely they can't be as bad as all that! They look rather harmless..."
"They preach a new doctrine," another added. "That is opposed to the faith of our fathers! Our sacred traditions!"
"And against the laws of the Empire!" one of the mob shouted.
"Kill them! Kill them!" one particularly blood-thirsty one added.
"It might serve them right to be put to death!" the prefect announced. "For now, let's just give them a sound thrashing and toss them into the jail-house, eh?"
Some cheered at this, others were shouting for an even worse punishment. The prefect then summoned Scamander, the captain of the Philippine city guard, and told him to give the two Jews thirty-nine lashes and have them into the dungeons.
-~-|-O-|-~-
That evening, Paul and Silas sat in the dungeon of the Philippine magistrate. Naked they were, their backs covered with stripes and their feet shackled, they could not move without causing themselves great pain, nor could they remain still, for that also brought much pain as well.
"How goes it with you?" Paul asked.
"I didn't think it would be this bad," Silas said. "I expected persecution, but this? They didn't even give us a fair trial: pretty much just told the magistrate what they had against us and gave out their punishment. Even the Sanhedrin isn't this bad, eh?"
"No," Paul shook his head. "But focusing on our present condition will not make the pain go away."
"Then what will?" Silas asked.
"Joshua," he returned. "He is the Son of God, yet He suffered for us all and gave His life for us to be free. Why should this slap on the wrist bring us down?"
A moment of silence followed as Silas contemplated what Paul had said. Slowly a voice began to sing.
I will sing Thee, HaShem, with my whole heart
I will show forth all Thy marvelous deeds
I will be glad and rejoice in Thee
I will sing praises unto Thee, HaShem the Most High
There was a pause, where Paul looked at his friend, then back at his feet. In silent response, Silas' voice joined in.
When mine enemies are turned back
They shall fall and perish at Thy presence
Then sang they together:
For Thou hast maintained my right and my cause
Thou sat on Thy Throne, and Thy judgment is right
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and a horrible clank was heard throughout the dungeon halls. Chains broke off wrists and ankles, doorways collapsed and fell in on themselves. Then, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. They waited again for any after-shock of this earthquake, yet the earth was still once again. There were no sounds on the wind either...
At least, until they heard a loud voice cry out.
"They're gone!" the voice of Scamander cried in disbelief. "They're gone! I have failed my task! May the gods take me!" The sound of a sword being drawn echoed from outside the hall.
"Jailer!" Paul shouted, crawling his way up to the door of his cell, now hanging open. "Jailer, wait! We're still here!"
"Light!" Scamander shouted. "You! Get me a torch!" Moments later, captain Scamander walked into the dungeon, poking his torch into every cell. He came last to the cell that belonged to Paul and Silas, dropped the torch at his feet and knelt down before them.
"Please, stand up," Paul said. "I'm a man like you, and no more worthy of worship than anyone else."
"Tell me, good sir," Scamander pleaded. "What must I do to be saved?"
"Believe in the LORD, Jesus the Christ, and you and your entire household will be saved." Paul replied.
That morning, Scamander had Paul and Silas in his house. The hours of the morning saw his entire household baptized and Paul and Silas administered what care they could to their wounds and gave them their clothes back.
As the dawn was rising, there was a knock at the door of captain Scamander's house. A servant of the magistrate stood there and, after he was brought in, reported to the captain that the two men were free to go.
"Good," Paul said. "Let's return to our friends."
"Wait," Scamander interjected. "If you will be ruled by my council, you won't go."
"Why not?" Silas asked.
"You're Jews, yes," Scamander began. "But you're also citizens of the Roman Empire. If you appealed to Roman law, your accusers wouldn't have a chance."
"Then what should we do?" Paul inquired.
"Appeal to Roman law and have your accusers take you out of the dungeon," Scamander said. "They'll pave your way to the docks with roses and beg you to leave before they get a hell of a lawsuit on their hands."
Silas laughed, Paul simply nodded. "Thank you, captain. We will take your advice."
-~-|-O-|-~-
It was not until later that day that the self-same panderers and many of the mob they had stirred ushered Paul and Silas out of the prison cell, offering them "gifts", begging them to leave before they saw the wrath of Rome. They made their way to the house of Lydia, where Lucas, Timothy, the lady and her household were more than happy to see them again.
"We thought you weren't coming back," Lucas said.
"The work of God is not yet over," Paul replied. Just then they saw a young girl in a violet dress. Cleaned and groomed, she looked rather beautiful.
"I don't know what to say," Harmonia said to him. "You saved my life."
"It was not my power that saved you," Paul returned. "It was the power of Jesus the Christ, the One who came to set the captives free."
"I would like to know more," she said. "About him."
"Silas, Timothy," Paul said to his friends. "Tell her everything."
"Wait, what about you?" Lydia asked.
"I must pray," he responded. "I must know where we must go next."
(AN: This part has always baffled me about Paul's story. If he was a true Roman, as in a Gentile, he could not have been a Pharisee, as we know he was [and Gamaliel wouldn't take a Gentile as a servant of the Torah, as far as I could guess]. Therefore, my idea is that, since Judaea is part of the Roman Empire, the Jews are considered Roman citizens [even though they don't appeal to Roman law, since they have the Torah], and can appeal their legal cases to Roman law. This will come in handy later on in the story, I promise you.)