Under Caesar's Shadow: Romans 13:1-7

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities.

The letter arrived in Rome at a delicate moment.

Claudius had expelled the Jews five years earlier. Priscilla and Aquila had been among those forced out—caught up in disturbances about "Chrestus," the Roman historian would later write. Christ. The gospel had reached Rome and caused enough turmoil to trigger imperial action.

Now Claudius was dead. Nero was emperor—young, popular, not yet the monster he would become. Jews were returning to Rome. Jewish Christians reconnected with Gentile believers. The house churches were rebuilding.