Some of the same group of Jewish leaders who had accused Jesus before Pontius Pilate, now traveled to Caesarea to bring accusation against the apostle Paul before the Roman governor, Felix. This time, they hired a Roman orator and attorney named Tertullus to represent their case. He began his accusation by complimenting “noble” Felix and the Romans for the Pax Romana that they had brought to Judea. And in contrast, he named Paul, with ad hominem disdain, a “plague,” a pestilence, among the Jews throughout the Roman world. Yet, his climatic charge was that Paul was a “ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,” using the same name that they had given Jesus, namely, Jesus of Nazareth.
The Greek word translated “sect” is the origin of our word for “heresy.” So, the Jews called the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, a heretical sect called “Nazarenes.” Muslims picked up this name and have called Christians by this same name since their invasion of Christian lands in the 7th century. Recently, the Christians in Mosul, Iraq, were labeled with the Arabic letter “nun” (“N” in our alphabet) by members of ISIS to show that they were “Nazarenes,” a name meant to shame them, but instead worn as a mark of faith by those so labeled.
The apostle Paul was essentially marked with the letter “N” for Nazarene. Yet he too, wore it not with shame, but with humble faith in the One who was first called the Nazarene.