Issachar_Acts28 - The Visual Bible Explorer Series

Chapter 28 Acts 28

Ashore on Malta (vv.1-10)

When we were safely ashore, we learned that the island was called Malta. ^{a 2} The natives b there were very friendly to us. It had started to rain and was cold, so they built a fire and made us all welcome. ³ Paul gathered up a bundle of sticks and was putting them on the fire when a snake ^c came out on account of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. ⁴ The natives saw the snake hanging on Paul’s hand and said to one another, “This man must be a murderer, but Fate d will not let him live, even though he escaped from the sea.” ⁵ But Paul shook the snake off into the fire without being harmed at all. ⁶ They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after waiting for a long time and not seeing anything unusual happening to him, they changed their minds and said, “He is a god!” ^e
⁷ Not far from that place were some fields that belonged to Publius, ^f the chief ^g of the island. He welcomed us kindly and for three days we were his guests. ⁸ Publius’ father was in bed, sick with fever and dysentery. ^h Paul went into his room, prayed, placed his hands on him, and healed him. ⁹ When this happened, all the other sick people on the island came and were healed. ¹⁰ They gave us many gifts, and when we sailed, they put on board what we needed for the voyage.

Interesting Stuff:

^a Malta is an island and was included in the Roman province of Sicily. It was located 93 km (58 miles) south of Sicily. In Paul’s day the island was known for its prosperity and residential architecture, and its native population spoke a Phoenician dialect.

^b The word used was ‘barbarians’, a word that simply meant ‘people who spoke a foreign tongue, who did not speak Greek’.

^c The Greek word literally means a ‘viper’. It must have been known to the islanders as a poisonous snake. Thus they expected Paul to die from the snake bite.

^d Other versions translate this word as ‘Justice’. They could be thinking of the Greek goddess of Justice. The Maltese might have their own similar deity. When Paul was bitten by the viper, the islanders concluded he was a murderer whom Justice had at last caught up with since he had not died at sea.

^e This was similar to the people at Lystra’s attempt to worship Paul and Barnabas (14:11-18). In Lystra, the crowd was so fickle that they called them gods first and then later stoned them. Here, Paul was first called a murderer, and then a god.

^f This was a Roman name, and he was most likely the Roman governor of the island.

^g He was the ‘first man’ of Malta, a technical term for the top authority.

^h This was probably what doctors have diagnosed as ‘Malta fever’, caused by a micro-organism in the milk of Maltese goats. The fever lasts an average of four months and sometimes persists even for two or three years.

Questions:

What was the name of the island they landed on (v. 1)?

2. How did the natives respond to their presence there (v. 2)?

3. Describe what happened to Paul as he was gathering sticks and the response of the natives to the incident (vv. 3-6).

4. What was the name of the chief of the island (v. 7)?

How did he receive them (v. 7)?

5. Explain what Paul did for the chief’s father and the reactions of the people on the island (vv. 8-10).

6. Explain how Paul won the respect of the people of Malta (you must describe at least two incidents).

Summary of Section:

When they were safely ashore, they discovered that the island was called Malta.
The natives there were very friendly to them. They built them a fire because it was raining and was cold and made them welcome.
Paul gathered up a bundle of sticks and was putting them on the fire when a snake came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.
When the natives saw the snake hanging on Paul’s hand, they said to one another that Paul must be a murderer. Although he had escaped from the sea, Fate would not let him live.
Paul, however, shook the snake off without being harmed at all.
After waiting a long time for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead, and nothing happened, they concluded that he was a god.
Not far from there lived Publius, the chief of the island. He welcomed them kindly and they were his guests for three days.
Publius’ father was in bed, sick with fever and dysentery.
Paul went to his room, prayed, placed his hands on him and healed him.
When this happened, all the other sick people on the island came to Paul and were healed.
The natives gave them many gifts and when they sailed, they gave them whatever they needed for the voyage.

Nuggets of Wisdom

The people of Malta were of Phoenician descent and probably spoke more of their language than Greek. Thus Luke refers to them as ‘barbarians’ as translated in some versions, which simply meant ‘ignorant of Greek’. However, they showed ‘unusual kindness’ (as translated in some versions) to these strangers who were shipwrecked showing that they were not rough ‘savages’.
The place where Paul landed was near to an estate which belonged to a man whom Luke calls the island’s ‘first’ or most prominent person. He was most likely its chief official, chief magistrate or governor.
The governor opened his home to them, though most likely to a select group and not all 276 of them.
Luke does not state clearly that Paul was bitten by the snake, although perhaps his statements that the snake fastened itself on his hand (v. 3) and was hanging on his hand (v. 4) are meant to suggest that it did. Certainly the islanders took it for granted that he had been bitten.

From Malta to Rome (vv. 11-16)

¹¹After three months ⁱ we sailed away on a ship from Alexandria, called “The Twin Gods,” ^j which had spent the winter in the island. ¹² We arrived in the city of Syracuse ^k and stayed there for three days. ¹³ From there we sailed on and arrived in the city of Rhegium. ^l The next day a wind began to blow from the south, and in two days we came to the town of Puteoli. ^{m 14} We found some believers there who asked us to stay with them a week. ⁿ And so we came to Rome. ¹⁵ The believers in Rome heard about us and came as far as the towns of Market of Appius ^o and Three Inns ^p to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was greatly encouraged.
¹⁶ When we ^q arrived in Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself ^r with a soldier guarding him.

Interesting Stuff:

ⁱ They had to remain here until the sailing season opened in late February or early March.

^j Ships, like inns, took their names from their figureheads, i.e., figures carved on the bow or front part of the ship. This one had the painted carving of Castor and Pollux, the twin ‘sons of Zeus’, the Greek gods of navigation and the guardian gods of sailors.

^k Syracuse was the leading city on the island of Sicily, situated on the east coast.

^l Rhegium was a town on the coast of Italy, near the southwestern tip.

^m Puteoli was almost 322 km (200 miles) from Rhegium. It was the chief port of Rome, though 121 km (75 miles) away. The population included Jews as well as Christians. The last part of the journey was by land. After a few km from Puteoli, they would have joined the Appian Way which led straight north to Rome. This was the oldest, straightest and most perfectly made of all the Roman roads.

ⁿ For some reason Julius found it necessary to stay at Puteoli for a week, and during that time he allowed Paul the freedom (though undoubtedly accompanied by a guard) to seek out his fellow believers and enjoy their hospitality.

^o A number of Christians from Rome set out to meet him and escort him to Rome. Some of them got as far as the Forum or Market of Appius, one of the ‘halting stations’ built every 16 km (10 miles) to 24 km (15 mile) along the entire length of the Roman road system. It was 69 km (43 miles) from Rome, and a market- town had grown up around it.

^p Others only got as far as the Three Taverns or Inns, another halting station about 53 km (33 miles) from Rome. The term ‘tavern’ or ‘inn’ was used to designate any kind of shop. Paul’s gratitude to God for the delegation that met him must have been unusually fervent, for Luke makes special mention of it.

^q With this verse (v. 16), the last ‘we’ section in Acts closes. To judge by Paul’s greetings in Col 4:10-14 and Phm 23-24 (assuming a Roman origin for these letters), Luke and Aristarchus remained with Paul through most, if not all, of his detention at Rome, being joined from time to time by such friends as Epaphras, John Mark, Demas, and Jesus (surnamed Justus).

r He had committed no terrible crime and was not a politically dangerous rival. So he was allowed to live in private quarters, though a soldier guarded him at all times. The chain he wore (v. 20) was probably attached to his wrists. Yet in Luke’s eyes Paul entered Rome in triumph. Through his coming the gospel penetrated official circles in the capital of the empire, and God used his detention there for two years to spread the proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the city.

Questions:

Describe briefly Paul’s journey to Rome (vv. 11-15).

2. Who came to meet Paul when he was on the road to Rome (v. 15)?

How did Paul react on seeing them (v. 15)?

3. What was Paul’s living arrangement in Rome (v. 16)?

Summary of Section:

After three months on Malta, we sailed away on a ship from Alexandria called ‘The Twin Gods’ which had spent winter on the island.
We arrived in Syracuse and stayed there for three days.
We sailed to Rhegium, and the next day sailed to the town of Puteoli. There we found some believers who asked us to stay with them for a week.
From there, we went on to Rome. On the way, we passed through the towns of Market of Appius and Three Inns. There believers from Rome came as far as these towns to meet us.
When Paul saw them he thanked God and was greatly encouraged.
When we arrived in Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with a soldier guarding him.

Nuggets of Wisdom

Three months represents the time during which sailing was at a stand- still. Other ships had been caught by the onset of winter and forced to wait in the harbours of Malta before they could continue their journeys in the spring. Thus it was not surprising that they found another ship from Alexandria waiting at Malta. It was probably engaged in the transport of wheat.
Puteoli was the principal port for the wheat trade and with its cosmopolitan population, it is not surprising to find Christians there as well as a colony of Jews.
It must have been an emotional experience for Paul to meet personally the believers from Rome, the city of which he had long dreamt of going to visit. Thus at the sight of them, Luke says that he thanked God and was greatly encouraged.

Paul Is in Rome (vv. 17-31)

¹⁷ After three days Paul called the local Jewish leaders to a meeting. When they had gathered, he said to them, “My fellow Israelites, even though I did nothing against our people or the customs that we received from our ancestors, I was made a prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. ¹⁸ After questioning me, the Romans wanted to release me, because they found that I had done nothing for which I deserved to die. ¹⁹ But when the Jews opposed this, I was forced to appeal to the Emperor, even though I had no accusation to make against my own people. ²⁰ That is why I asked to see you and talk with you. As a matter of fact, I am bound in chains s like this for the sake of him for whom the people of Israel hope.”
²¹ They said to him, “We have not received any letters from Judea about you, nor have any of our people come from there with any news or anything bad to say about you. ^{t 22} But we would like to hear your ideas, because we know that everywhere people speak against this party to which you belong.”
²³ So they set a date with Paul, and a large number of them ^u came that day to the place where Paul was staying. From morning till night he explained to them his message about the Kingdom of God, and he tried to convince them about Jesus by quoting from the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets. ^{v 24} Some of them were convinced by his words, but others would not believe. ²⁵ So they left, disagreeing among themselves, after Paul had said this one thing: “How well the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your ancestors! ²⁶ For he said, ^w‘Go and say to this people:
You will listen and listen, but not understand;
you will look and look, but not see,
²⁷ because this people’s minds are dull
and they have stopped up their ears
and closed their eyes.
Otherwise, their eyes would see,
their ears would hear,
their minds would understand,
and they would turn to me, says God,
and I would heal them.’ ”
²⁸ And Paul concluded: “You are to know, then, that God’s message of salvation has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen!”
³⁰ For two years ^x Paul lived in a place he rented for himself, and there he welcomed all who came to see him. ³¹ He preached about the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking with boldness and freedom.

Interesting Stuff:

^sPaul was probably chained to his Roman guard.

^tVery possibly the Jews in Rome preferred to remain ignorant of the case. Having been expelled from Rome in A.D. 49 or 50 because of riots about Christianity in their community (see 18:2), and having only recently returned to their city after Claudius’ death in A.D. 54, they were simply not prepared in A.D. 61 to become involved in Paul’s case one way or another. They doubtless had their own opinions about it. Thus they wanted to have as little as possible to do with Paul and Christianity. But they did say that they were willing at some future time to hear his views on ‘this sect’.

^uSo they arranged a second meeting, and an even larger delegation came to Paul’s quarters.

^vThis refers to the OT scriptures.

^wThis was taken from Isa 6:9-10 which had foretold the Jews’ rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. God’s people are told that however much they hear and see, they will never understand and perceive what God is saying to them. This is His divine judgment upon them because they themselves had hardened their hearts to the word of God. They had allowed themselves to become deaf and blind for fear that they might hear and see the disturbing word of God and so receive healing from Him. He quoted this prophecy here not just to explain Israel’s stubborn- ness but also to set the stage for his second point, that because of Israel’s hardened attitude the message of ‘God’s salvation’ had been sent directly to the Gentiles who would respond positively. This quotation was one which was familiar to the early church. It had been used by Jesus (Lk 8:10) and was quoted by John in his Gospel as well.

^x Luke does not give us details about Paul’s two years in Rome because he is not writing Paul’s biography. But during the storm at sea, the angel of the Lord had assured Paul that he would stand trial before Caesar (27:24). Therefore, we can assume that Luke intends his readers to infer that Paul’s case, whatever its outcome, did come before the imperial court. The final picture given by Luke is that of Paul preaching to the Gentiles the same message he had preached throughout Acts with boldness and without hindrance. Nothing that men can do can stop the progress and ultimate victory of the gospel. In seeming to leave his book unfinished, Luke is implying that the apostolic proclamation of the gospel in the first century began a story that will continue until the consummation of the Kingdom in Christ (Ac 1:11).

Questions:

What did Paul do three days after he arrived in Rome (vv. 17-20)?

2. What was the response of the Jewish leaders (vv. 21-23)?

3. What did Paul share with them at their second meeting (v. 23)?

4. What was the outcome of this meeting (vv. 24-25)?

5. What did Paul say that caused the Jews to disagree among themselves and to leave (vv. 25-28)?

6. What happened to Paul in Rome (vv. 30-31)?

Summary of Section:

After three days, Paul called the local Jewish leaders to a meeting.
He told them that even though he did nothing against their people or the customs received from their ancestors, he was made a prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.
After questioning him, the Romans wanted to release him because they found that he had done nothing for which he deserved to die.
However, the Jews opposed this and he was forced to appeal to the Emperor even though he had no accusations to make against his own people.
He said that was why he asked to see and talk with them. He added that he was in chains now for the sake of Jesus for whom the Jews hope.
They told him that they had not received any letters from Judea about him nor had any of their people come from there with any news or anything bad about him. They added that they would like to hear his ideas because they knew that everywhere people spoke against the party that Paul belonged to.
So they set a date with Paul and a large number came to Paul’s place.
From morning till night, he explained to them his message about the Kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus by quoting from the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets.
Some of them were convinced by his words but others would not believe. So they left, disagreeing among themselves after Paul had told them about how true were the Holy Spirit’s words spoken through the prophet Isaiah to their ancestors.
He quoted from Isaiah telling the people that they would listen but not understand; they would look but not see, because their minds were dull and they had stopped up their ears and closed their eyes. If not, they would see and hear and their minds understand, and they would turn to God and He would heal them.
Paul concluded by telling them that God’s message of salvation had been sent to the Gentiles and they would listen.
For two years Paul lived in a place he rented for himself. He welcomed all who came to see him and preached and spoke about the Lord Jesus Christ with boldness and freedom.

Nuggets of Wisdom

In accordance with his principle that the gospel is God’s power for salvation, first for the Jews and then for the Gentiles, Paul spoke to the Jewish leaders first in Rome. In his meeting with them, he emphasised four points:
i) He had done nothing against the Jewish people or their ancestral customs
ii) The Romans had wanted to set him free after examining him because they found nothing against him deserving death
iii) It was because the Jews objected to his release that he had appealed to the Emperor
iv) He claimed that in every way he was a loyal Jew and it was because of the hope of Israel, Israel’s messianic expectation fulfilled in Jesus, that he was a prisoner
In Paul’s discussion with the Jews, the OT Scriptures provided the main evidence. Their debate hung on their interpretation of whether the facts concerning Jesus could be seen as the fulfillment of prophecy. This description of Paul’s message was similar to what he did in his arguments in the synagogues and obviously reflects his normal practice.
Before they left, Paul uttered one final word about them, claiming that the Holy Spirit had truly spoken about them that however much they hear and see, they would never under- stand and perceive what God is saying to them. This was a divine judgment upon them because they had hardened their hearts to the word of God.
God’s word points out our sin which is painful to hear and accept. Once a person deliberately refuses the Word, there comes a point when he is deprived of the ability to receive it. It is a serious warning to those who do not take the word of God to heart.
Because of the Jews’ deliberate rejection of the gospel, Paul wanted them to know that God’s salvation had been sent to the Gentiles who would listen with open ears. Three times before, the stubborn opposition of the Jews had led Paul to turn to the Gentiles – in Psidian Antioch (13:46), in Corinth (18:6), and in Ephesus (19:8-9). Now for the fourth time, in the world’s capital city, the Jews had done it again.
Paul’s imprisonment lasted two years and he had to pay for the place where he was staying. This implied that he had some source of income; prisoners could in certain circumstances carry on their own trades. Some have suggested that he was helped by contributions from churches.
Although Luke does not give us details about Paul’s two years in Rome, it seems proper to assume that Luke intends his readers to infer that Paul’s case, whatever its outcome, did come before the imperial court. This was because during the storm at sea, the angel of the Lord had assured Paul that he would stand trial before Caesar.
With Acts ending so abruptly, we must look elsewhere for information about Paul’s Roman imprisonment and what happened after that. From some of Paul’s letters which were assumed to be written during this time, we may surmise that Paul fully expected to stand before Caesar’s court and that, while we cannot not be certain about the outcome, he did expect to be released (cf. Php 1:19- 26; Phm 22). One suggestion was that Paul was released around A.D. 63 and then he continued evangelising the eastern portion of the empire (at least in lands surrounding the Aegean Sea) perhaps even fulfilling his desire to visit Spain (Ro 15:23- 24). From 2 Ti 4:6-18 which speaks of a second trial, some have concluded that Paul was rearrested after A.D. 64 (time of the great fire of Rome) and, according to tradition, beheaded at Rome by order of Emperor Nero.
Whatever the real situation about Paul was, his fate is secondary to that of the gospel because that was the central theme of the book of Acts. Luke paints a final picture of Paul preaching to the Gentiles the same message he had preached through- out Acts with boldness and without hindrance, especially from the Roman authorities. All the emphasis lies on that last phrase that the charges by the Jews against Paul were false and that God backed up Paul in his proclamation. Nothing that men can do can stop the progress and ultimate victory of the gospel.
The abrupt ending of Acts suggests perhaps that Luke means his readers to see that the task of worldwide evangelism was not finished. Just as Luke’s Gospel ends with the prospect of a mission to the nations, so his Acts ends with the prospect of a mission radiating from Rome, the capital of the empire, to the rest of the world. This is the task for the followers of Jesus Christ to continue what the early disciples had already begun.