Editor's note: Enjoy today's devotion written for Devotionals Daily by Kathie Lee Gifford with Dr. Bryan Litfin, authors of Nero and Paul.
*
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. — 2 Timothy 4:7–8 NIV
As his enemies closed in, Nero plucked thorns from his torn cloak while his companions dug an opening into the villa’s cellar. He was fearful and paranoid; every rustling in the bushes or chirping bird made him think his pursuers had arrived.
Once the hole had been opened in the wall, the five men crawled into the cellar. In a tiny room that served as slaves’ quarters, Nero lay on a cot with a dirty mattress and smelly blanket. His friends found some stale bread, but he refused to eat. At last, faced with dire realities, they began to give him some hard advice. “Your end has come,” they said. “It is time to put yourself beyond the reach of further abuse.”
Grimly, Nero nodded. “Dig a trench for my grave. Collect marble fragments to decorate it. Gather water to wash my body and firewood for my pyre.” While these things were being done, Nero wept and lamented, “By Jove! What an artist is perishing in me!” To the very end, the murderous, barbaric emperor believed he was a magnificent performer whose lost artistry would be a terrible blow for the world.
A runner arrived with a message. The citizens of Rome were rejoicing and the Senate had decreed an ancient punishment for Nero: to be stripped naked, fastened to a stake, and beaten to death with rods. Terrified, he drew two daggers. “My life is shameful — unbecoming to Nero!” he cried. “In times like this one should be decisive. Rouse yourself!” Yet he didn’t have the courage to do the deed. He commanded the other men to set an example by killing themselves first — though they politely declined.
Outside, horses galloped up to the villa. Their riders shouted, “Capture him alive!” Nero quoted a line from Homer’s Iliad — “The thunder of swift-footed horses echoes around my ears!” — then drove a dagger into his neck with the help of one of his companions. Agonized, he fell to the ground as a centurion burst in. Though the man tried to prevent the emperor’s death, he could not.
“Too…late,” Nero sputtered as blood choked his airway. His final words were “This is faith!” — but the ruler of Rome had put his faith in the wrong place. His eyes bulged, his lifeblood oozed out, and he died a horror to behold.
- On earth, a beautiful monument would later mark Nero’s grave. But beneath the earth, he had learned he was no god after all.
Earlier, in Rome, the day Nero decreed for the apostle Paul’s execution had arrived. The Acts of Paul tells the story in folkloric fashion, but some of its details are corroborated by archaeology. “Paul turned to face the east. Lifting up his hands to Heaven, he prayed for a long time. After he had communed prayerfully with the fathers in Hebrew, he offered his neck without another word.” Then the executioner lopped off Paul’s head.
While imprisoned, Paul had written,
I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death. — Philippians 3:10 NIV
As a martyr killed for His Lord, Paul’s deepest desire had now been achieved — and, through it, the gospel had advanced into all the world.
Many historians and archaeologists believe the location of Paul’s burial is still known. Around the time that Emperor Constantine came to power, a chapel was erected over the spot. Later, it was expanded into a large church whose triumphal arch proclaimed the building “sanctified by the body of Paul, teacher of the world.” That great basilica lasted from the 380s until 1823, when an accidental fire burned it down.
Yet the fire revealed a hidden sarcophagus underneath the altar, and an ancient marble slab inscribed with the words “To Paul, apostle and martyr.” Today, the rebuilt church is called the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. In June 2009, carbon-14 testing on bone fragments from the sarcophagus dated them to the first or second century AD. Amazingly, these might be the actual bones of Paul! The beautiful church gives him well-deserved honor. Of course, the apostle himself didn’t care about his grave — he cared about his gospel.
The gospel that Paul preached centered on the victory of the risen Messiah.
- The Lord Jesus had triumphed over humankind’s threefold enemy, offering deliverance from disobedience, death, and the devil.
After meeting the Savior on the road to Damascus, Paul had spent his life proclaiming to Jews and Gentiles alike that those three D’s had lost their power.
Thanks be to God! he exclaimed. He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! — 1 Corinthians 15:57
Fear has given way to exultation. Sin has surrendered to forgiveness. The Enemy is crushed. Disobedience, death, the devil and his demons — all of these have been defeated.
That was Paul’s gospel message — but actually it’s God’s message to the world, first declared through the land and people of Israel, later expanded to the ends of the earth.
Although Nero thought he had defeated the gospel when he sentenced Paul to death, in reality the deranged emperor had only decreed his own destruction. Nero took his own life, dying in cowardice and shame; Paul died with courage and peace, assured of eternal life with his Savior. The difference? One had fashioned his own gospel, a self-aggrandizing counterfeit, while the other had followed the only true gospel that leads to eternal life.
Lord God, thank You for defeating death, hell, and the grave on the Cross. By Your grace, I will follow Paul’s example, trusting in You both now and forever. Amen.
Watch the Video
Written for Devotionals Daily by Kathie Lee Gifford with Dr. Bryan Litfin, authors of Nero and Paul.
* * *
Your Turn
Isn’t that the legacy we want to leave? One sold out to Jesus Christ no matter what comes? Let’s be inspired by Paul today and go for Jesus with all that we are! ~ Devotionals Daily