To Antipas, seeker of truth and promoter of the good;
From Luke, your faithful friend and follower of Jesus Christ;
Grace be with you.
Your report on recent events in Pergamum has greatly troubled us, and I together with Calpurnius and others who worship with us continue to pray for all those who are caught up in these events. We have prayed that God’s Spirit will move in your heart and enlighten your thoughts so that you might know the course he would have you follow in this time of testing. Although your last letter identified me as a faithful guide in your search for truth, I fear I can offer no words for your guidance other than my prayers for you to the most high God. You have read my volume on Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, having studied it and its implications more closely than many. You are more aware of what is at stake than most. You have come to know the Christians of Antonius’s house. With them you have worshiped, eaten, studied, served others, laughed, and grieved. Some of them you have taken to your heart as if they were your own family. Now it seems you are being forced to decide whether you will stand alongside them in a dark hour. That decision, dear friend, is a matter for you only. I know your mind to be clear, your wisdom to be noble, and your heart to be generous. I will continue to support you in friendship no matter what decision you act upon.
You are not alone in these troubled times, dear Antipas. I have recently heard unfortunate news about a Christian prophet who has paid a heavy penalty for giving voice to views deemed unacceptable by the local leaders of the imperial cult here in Ephesus. This man, whose name is John, was recently deported by the local Ephesian authorities in an effort to stifle his testimony that the one who sits upon the eternal and sovereign throne is not the emperor but Jesus Christ, whom we Christians proclaim as Lord. Although an elderly man, this John is now in exile, subjected to house arrest on the nearby island of Patmos [Rev. 1:9]. In this manner he has been silenced and made an example.
I fear these are dark days for many of us, but we are not the first to experience testing of this sort. In the second volume of my historical monograph, I mention others who met similar fates, including Stephen, martyred for his faith in Jerusalem, and James, a disciple of Jesus who was beheaded by the tetrarch Herod Agrippa I [42 CE]. The great apostles Paul and Peter met similar ends, although I did not record those matters in that second volume. I have instructed my scribe to begin a new copy of that volume, which I will happily send to you once it is finished, as we have already agreed.
In the meantime, virtuous Antipas, continue to consider the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, and may his Spirit live in your heart and life. You are in our prayers at all times. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you, to the eternal glory of the most high God.1
1. The events for this letter collection are likely to be dated as follows: Antipas left Caesarea on 13 August, arriving in Ephesus on 26 or 27 August (traveling against the prevailing winds). After staying one night at the house of Calpurnius, he left for Pergamum on 27 or 28 August, arriving in Pergamum on 31 August. He met with Demetrius and others on 1 September and moved to Attaea on 2 September, writing to Luke on 4 September. Stachys left Attaea with Antipas’s letter on the morning of 5 September, arriving in Ephesus in the afternoon of 9 September. If Luke replied immediately (and his letter is short enough for that), Stachys would have left Ephesus on 10 September, arriving in Attaea on 14 September. The Pergamene gladiatorial games were scheduled to be held on 15 September.