2 Timothy 4:16 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Art my first answer, &c.— Apology, or defence. Heylin, Doddridge, &c. Upon our Lord's being apprehended, all his disciples forsook him and fled;—and yet he forgave, and interceded for them. When St. Paul became a Christian, he put off his fierce and persecuting spirit; and after that, the charitable and benign spirit of our Lord manifested itself in him to the very last;—as appears among other instances from the benevolent prayer in this verse; which, it is remarkable, was the very prayer of the dying Stephen, Acts 7:60. We may also furtherobserve, that this apostle had, upon some occasions at least, the gift of discerning the spirits of men; and could perhaps thereby know, that what Alexander did, was out of malice; but that what his companions had done, was out of fear of suffering, rather, than aversion to the truth. He therefore speaks very differently of them. But this will not warrant any man, who is destitute of apostolic authority, and of the gift of discerning spirits, to denounce or foretel the like evil to any man whatever. Manycircumstances make it extraordinary that St. Paul should have been deserted by the Christians at Rome in this extremity: when he wrote his epistle to the church there,—which must have been ten years before this,—hespeaks of their faith as celebrated through the world: he salutes a vast number of illustrious persons byname, and mentions many of them as his particular friends; and we may be assured, that during the two years he spent there, in his own hired house, the number, and probably the zeal, of the Christian converts would be greatly increased. See Philippians 1:12-14; Philippians 4:22. We are ready then to say, How was it possible that he should be thus forsaken?—But there is a material circumstance, seldom taken notice of in this connection, which accountsin a great measure for what might otherwise appear so strange. Clement, the companion of St. Paul, informs us, that he suffered martyrdom under the governors; that is to say, when Nero was gone into Greece, and had left the government of the city to Tigellinus and Sabinus, praefects of the praetorian guard, and that monster Helius Caesarianus. If this be allowed, it fixes the death of St. Paul to the year 66 or 67. But the cruel persecution which Nero had raised against the Christians at Rome, was at least two years before this. It is possible, therefore, that many of the excellent persons referred to above, might have suffered death for their religion; or, according to our Lord's advice, Matthew 10:23 have retired to a distance from Rome. The Asiatic Christians, who came with St. Paul, acted a most mean part in deserting him, as the other Christians of the place did.