I Appeal To Caesar!

Saul is now twenty-five, deeply established in the religious life of Jerusalem and Judea, very active in the Pharisee community. His father died when Saul was twenty, and his uncle took over the family business in Tarsus and continues a partial support for Saul. Saul has become the shining student of Jerusalem studies, a great debater, and the ultimate answer for every Torah question from any student, older Pharisee, or any of the seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin. Gamaliel continues as a personal friend and personal confidant. Saul partially supports himself by working a portion of his time in the tent- making trade taught him by his father. Judea and Galilee are not peaceful settings at this time. There are frequent uprisings among the Jews themselves or between the Jews and the Romans. Temple taxation and Roman taxation weigh heavily on all the people of Israel, and the Roman rule adds an extra, irritating, burden on every citizen, especially those with sincere religious convictions. During this time, Pharisees commonly make trips to outlying synagogues to lecture and encourage the local people, traveling as far as Galilee. Saul, however, concentrates his efforts on the synagogues within Jerusalem, especially the Greek-speaking synagogues. So far, Saul really has no close, personal friends other than his distant cousin Barnabas that had helped him get settled at the beginning of his studies. Several Sanhedrin In this milieu of physical, social, religious unrest, Jesus of Nazareth begins his three-year ministry in Israel. * * * * *