Verse 5
Tertullus leveled three specific charges against Paul: a personal charge, a political charge, and a religious charge. First, he was a pest and a troublemaker in the Roman Empire having stirred up Jews wherever he went. This was a serious charge because Rome sought to preserve peace in the world, and Jewish uprisings were a perennial problem to Roman officials.
Second, Tertullus pictured Paul as the leader of a cult outside mainstream Judaism. The Roman Empire tolerated Judaism, but the "sect of the Nazarenes" was not a part of Judaism to the Jewish leaders. This title is a unique name for Christianity found nowhere else in the New Testament. Tertullus evidently used this name to make "the Way" sound as bad as possible.
"That [second charge] coupled Paul with Messianic movements; and the Romans knew what havoc false Messiahs could cause and how they could whip the people into hysterical risings which were only settled at the cost of blood." [Note: Barclay, p. 185.]
The first two charges gave the impression that Paul was guilty of sedition against Rome. The Jews had similarly charged Jesus with political sedition before Pilate (cf. Luke 23:2; Luke 23:5).
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