Parish Study Fellowship Monday 31 May 2021 Acts 28 Paul on and in

Acts 28 (NIV) 1 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fre and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fre, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, ‘This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justce has not allowed him to live.’ 5 But Paul shook the snake of into the fre and sufered no ill efects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but afer waitng a long tme and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. 7 There was an estate near by that belonged to Publius, the chief ofcial of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. 8 His father was ill in bed, sufering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, afer prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. 9 When this had happened, the rest of those on the island who were ill came and were cured. 10 They honoured us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed. Paul’s arrival at Rome 11 Afer three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island – it was an Alexandrian ship with the fgurehead of the twin gods . 12 We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. 13 From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. 14 There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome. 15 The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they travelled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged. 16 When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him. Paul preaches at Rome under guard 17 Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: ‘My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in and handed over to the Romans. 18 They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. 19 The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. 20 For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.’ 21 They replied, ‘We have not received any leters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. 22 But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.’

1 23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning tll evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about . 24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. 25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave afer Paul had made this fnal statement: ‘The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet: 26 ‘“Go to this people and say, ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.’ 27 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”[a] 28 ‘Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvaton has been sent to the Gentles, and they will listen!’ [b] 30 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ – with all boldness and without hindrance!

Paul’s ministry on the island of Malta.

Verses 1-2: We begin, this evening, with their discovery that they had ended up on the island of Malta.

Being washed ashore on a strange beach was always worrying in history. How would the locals react? Luckily in this case the natves were friendly.

The Greek word used by Luke is “barbaric” to describe the locals and this has ofen been translated simply as barbarians. But this is wrong. The Greeks used this word to describe anyone who did not speak Greek which to them marked someone out as being uncivilised.

Verses 3-6:

The primary aim was now survival and that meant a fre to warm them and to cook some food on. We are told that when Paul placed his stcks on the fre the heat caused a sleeping snake to burst forth and bite Paul’s hand.

However God didn’t preserve Paul from the storm just to let him perish by a snake. Paul was protected.

2 It was promised he would go to Rome. It wasn’t so much that nothing would stop Paul as it was that nothing would stop God’s promise from being fulflled.

Verses 7-10:

The beach which they had washed up on was close to the estate belonging to Publius who was a leading citzen of the island.

We now learn that the father of Publius lay sick sufering from a fever and dysentery. Some think this was a malady known as Malta fever, which comes from a microorganism found in the milk of Maltese goats. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and he was healed him.

Soon many others came and were healed. It may be that Luke (who was a physician according to Colossians 4:14) served as a medical missionary on Malta.

Paul at Rome.

Verses 11-15:

They spent three months on Malta, gathering strength and waitng for the winter to end. Probably from November to February.

Sailing from Malta in a north-easterly directon they landed at Syracuse. They waited three days in Syracuse and then sailed for Rhegium.

I suspect that they were hoping for a favourable wind to allow them to cross between the toe of and the island of . I think that this is what Luke’s reference to making a circuit meant. We are then told by Luke that the wind shifed round to the south and they sailed to Puteoli on the Gulf of Naples.

Here they stayed with some Christan families probably while Julius, the centurion, was awaitng instructons from Rome regarding his prisoners.

From Puteoli they went towards Rome by land.They would have travelled to Rome along the Via Appia which was the main and well maintained road north. This road is also the one which features in the life of Peter who when feeing from Rome met Jesus on the way and posed the famous queston “Quo Vadis”. In a real sense this road has the peculiar signifcance of being the route both Peter and Paul took to their deaths.

As Paul and the others made their way northward up the Italian peninsula, they spent tme with fellow followers of Jesus they met along the way .

3 These Christans had received Paul’s famous leter to the Romans a few years before, so they probably felt like they knew him already – and they certainly wanted to honour him. It is also worthy of note that there appears to have been a very vibrant Christan presence both in Rome and elsewhere in Italy at this tme.

“Luke is far from giving the impression that Paul was the frst person to bring the gospel to Rome… the presence of those Christans – the brothers, as Luke calls them – provides evidence enough that the gospel had reached Rome already.” (Bruce)

Remember there had been Jewish people from Rome present in Jerusalem at Peter’s preaching on many years before (:10), so there had probably been Christans from and in Rome from the beginning.

Verse 16:

When Paul got to Rome we could say that fnally, the promise of Jesus was fulflled.

“Now, at the very end of the book, the apostle comes to Rome. Thus Jesus’ prophecy that his disciples would be his witnesses ‘to the ends of the earth’ is fulflled.” (Boice)

Paul was not placed in a normal prison. He was accorded the conditon known as “custody militaris”. He was allowed to dwell by himself and provide his own living space - a rented house.

Yet he was constantly under the supervision of a Roman guard, and ofen chained to the guard. The rotaton of the guards gave him a constant supply of people to talk to.

“To this soldier he would be lightly chained by the wrist…the soldier would be relieved every four hours or so, but for Paul there was no comparable relief.” (Bruce)

Verses 17-20:

Paul now called the leaders of the Jews together. Paul followed his consistent practce of going to the Jews frst in every city he came to as an evangelist.

He appears to have had a large degree of freedom:

- He can speak to who he wants. - He can write - He can have visitors - He must be able to use his guards as messengers.

Paul wanted the Jewish leaders to know that he had not forsaken Israel and that they were stll brethren to him.

4 So to summarise his positon Paul stressed that:

1. Paul had done nothing against the jew. 2. The Romans had done nothing against Paul. 3. He was a loyal Jew. 4. He was a prisoner because of the Messianic hope of Israel, fulflled in Jesus

Verses 21-22:

His audience now told Paul that they had not received leters from Judea concerning him. This demonstrates that the religious leaders who accused Paul in Jerusalem and Caesarea knew their case was hopeless. Nor, they said, have any of the brethren who have come from Jerusalem reported or spoken any evil of him. Paul wanted to know what they heard from Jerusalem about him. The Jewish people of Rome had not yet heard anything about Paul.

The leaders now told Paul that they desired to hear from him concerning this sect for they knew that it is spoken against everywhere.

Verses 23-24:

Paul now painstakingly explained and solemnly testfed of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning tll evening.

Verses 25-27:

At the end of the day the Jews departed afer Paul had said one fnal word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers.”

Verses 28-29:

Paul now issues a sort of warning to them. He said that if some of them rejected the salvaton of God, it did not make that salvaton of no efect. It just meant that God would fnd those who would hear it – in this case, the Gentles.

The preacher of the gospel really preaches two messages.

To those who respond to the gospel with faith, he is a messenger of life.

But to those who reject Jesus, the preacher adds to their condemnaton.

So we can imagine the closing scene of Luke’s narratve.

5 This mixed group – some who believed, some who did not – lef Paul arguing with each other.

Verses 30-31:

Luke fnishes by telling us that Paul dwelt two years in Rome. “The two years’ prolongaton of Paul’s stay in Rome could be accounted for adequately by congeston of court business. It took that tme for his case to come up for hearing.” (Bruce)

Paul was permited to live in his own rented house. Probably, Paul contnued his work as a tentmaker (leatherworker) to supply the rent for his house.

Paul was always a hard-working man and he received all who came to visit him. As Luke does not stpulate who he meets it is fair to assume that he welcomed both Jews and gentles into his house.

One example of someone who he received in Rome was a convert of Paul’s, a runaway slave named Onesimus (Philemon 1:10), who Paul told to go back to his master Philemon. In these two years Paul contnued to preach the kingdom of God.

Though Paul could not travel, he could teach and preach to all who came to him – and this he did.

He also wrote leters; we have these two years of Roman custody to thank for the leters to the Ephesians, the Philippians, and the Colossians.

These two years were not wasted, and God didn’t waste Paul’s tme in Rome.

Paul eventually had his appearance before Nero.

It’s entrely reasonable to believe that he boldly and powerfully proclaimed the gospel to him – as God had promised he would (:15 and 23:11).

It seems likely that Paul was acquited of these charges, and by most estmates was free for another four or fve years untl he was arrested again, imprisoned, condemned, and executed in Rome at the command of Nero in A.D. 66 or 67 – as the historical traditons of the early church state.

Probably, Luke did not record Paul’s appearance before Caesar because the and the Book of Acts were writen to give the Roman court the background and facts of Paul’s case in his trial before Caesar.

So we see that: Nothing stopped Paul from contnuing his work.

6 Luke says nothing hindered him. Paul’s chains and custody matered nothing. The word of God was unhindered. As Paul came to Rome, the sea, the soldiers, and the snake all threatened his life. But God delivered him from them all.

Through Paul, God shows that God’s man, fulflling God’s will, cannot be stopped – though all kinds of difculty may come in the way.

Finally, even the disbelief of some of the Jews – or anyone else’s rejecton of Jesus – will not hinder the gospel. The gospel will go forth and fnd those who will believe. There is no end to the story, because the history of the church contnues this story on and on through the centuries.

Trustng in Jesus, relying on the power of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Father, the word of God will contnue to spread without hindrance and contnue to change lives for the glory of God.

The Book of Acts really is a never-ending story.

7 A Summary

Introducton

The book of Acts was writen about AD 63 by Luke who was also author of the gospel of Luke. He was a doctor and a travelling companion of Paul.

Acts chronicles the history of the Church immediately afer Jesus’ ascension. It tells how the Church was able to spread out from Jerusalem to other parts of the Roman Empire.

It records the transiton of the Church from being an almost exclusively Jewish insttuton into becoming a Gentle and internatonal insttuton.

The Holy Spirit orchestrates everything for good in this book.

Main events

The gif of the Holy Spirit

On the day of Pentecost there were many people from many natons in Jerusalem.

The Holy Spirit comes on the disciples who are able to speak to the people in diferent languages.

Peter preaches about Jesus and many believe and are baptsed. A fellowship of believers is formed sharing possessions.

Peter and the disciples encounter oppositon and Stephen is stoned.

Philip preaches in Samaria and encounters the .

Paul

Chapter 9 tells the story of Paul’s conversion and subsequent preparaton for his ministry

Peter has a vision where God tells him to take the gospel message beyond the Jews. Cornelius,a Roman commander and some of his men are converted.

Gospel message goes to Europe.

The missionary journeys.

First journey:

Paul and his companions travel to and Minor spreading the news of Jesus.

8 It ends with the important meetng of the apostles back in Jerusalem to discuss the spread of the Gospel beyond the Jews.

Second journey:

The disciples travel through Asia Minor and then into Ancient Greece.

3rd journey:

Asia Minor again and Greece concluding with Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem.

The fnal chapters:

The fnal chapters describe Paul’s journey to Jerusalem where he is arrested afer being atacked by angry Jews who feel that their very orthodox beliefs are being atacked. Afer declaring himself to be a Roman citzen he is sent to Rome for trial and is put in house arrest.

Prison tme was not ultmately a set back. It gave him tme to write the most important apostolic leters and these ensure that his legacy is carried on long afer he dies.

Important themes

Contnued mission to Israel.

Paul always goes to the synagogue frst when entering a city.

There are a lot of converts but also angry oppositon from those who think that he is opposing the Jewish traditon.

Non Jewish Christans are asked to stop partcipatng in pagan temple sacrifces but are not required to adopt an ethnically Jewish identty or obey the laws of the Torah.

The relatonship is now based on trustng and obeying Jesus.

Clash of cultures

Mult-ethnic, monotheistc Jesus communites did not ft into any cultural boxes known to the Roman and Jewish people. The Christan way of life was a challenge to many.

They are accused by Jewish leaders of incitng rebellion but every tme Paul is brought before Roman ofcials and interrogated he is regarded as being no threat.

The Paradox of the early church

9 Ethnically diverse communites where men/women, rich/poor, slave/free are all equals and giving allegiance to Jesus and no other god or king.

They posed no military threat but they just did not conform to the status quo.

Paul as teacher and pastor.

Paul did not just make converts he also grew disciples, teaching, encouraging and praying with new Christans and advising on church leadership.

What do we learn from Acts?

1. The apostles and disciples in Acts are full of evangelistc zeal.

Do we have a real burden for souls and do we always remember that the Gospel is for every one and not always easy or convenient?

2. Acts tells us that the Holy Spirit is a gif to every believer.

Do we allow Him access to our lives and listen to His leading?

3. In a real fellowship of believers the early Christans met together regularly to worship and pray and be taught about their faith.

Prayer was very central to their lives.

They shared with each other as needed and were a very unifed body.

Are we worshipping, praying and studying to make sure we grow as Christans?

What next?

“Just as Luke’s Gospel ended with the prospect of a mission to the natons, so the Acts ends with the prospect of a mission radiatng from Rome to the world. Luke’s descripton of Paul preaching ‘with boldness’ and ‘without hindrance’ symbolises a wide open door, through which we in our day have to pass. The Acts of the Apostles have long ago fnished. But the acts of the followers of Jesus will contnue untl the end of the world, and their words will spread to the ends of the earth.” John Stot.

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