17:7 against the decrees of Caesar. A political charge was brought against Paul, who had spoken about the spiritual kingdom of God (14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). His opponents seemed to have distorted the message to mean political opposition to Rome. About this time, Claudius Caesar (a.d. 49–50) expelled the Jews from Rome because of riots allegedly instigated by “Chrestus,” a probable reference to Christ.