Acts 28
- Who wrote it
- Traditionally Luke, a doctor and companion of Paul
- Who it was for
- Theophilus and other followers of Jesus
- What was happening
- Malta, the road to Rome, and Paul preaching under guard
What’s happening
When we have escaped, we then learn that the island is called Malta. The foreign people show us uncommon kindness, for they kindle a fire and receive us all, because of the present rain and because of the cold. When Paul has gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper comes out because of the heat and fastens on his hand. When the foreigners see the creature hanging from his hand, they say to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed to live." However he shakes off the creature into the fire and suffers no harm. But they expect that he will have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly. But when they have looked for a long time and see nothing unusual happen to him, they change their minds and say that he is a god. In the neighborhood of that place are lands belonging to the chief man of the island, whose name is Publius, who receives us and entertains us courteously for three days. The father of Publius lies sick of fever and dysentery, and Paul enters in to him and prays, and laying his hands on him, heals him. After this the rest also who have diseases in the island come and are cured. They also honor us with many honors, and when we sail, they put on board whatever we need. After three months we set sail in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered in the island, whose sign was The Twin Brothers. Touching at Syracuse, we stay there three days. From there we circle around and arrive at Rhegium, and after one day a south wind blows, and on the second day we come to Puteoli, where we find brothers, and are invited to stay with them seven days. So we come to Rome. From there the brothers, when they hear of us, come to meet us as far as the Market of Appius and Three Taverns. When Paul sees them, he thanks God and takes courage. When we enter into Rome, Paul is allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guards him. After three days he calls together those who are the leaders of the Jews, and when they have come together, he says to them, "I, brothers, though I had done nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, still was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined me, desired to set me free, because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spoke against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything about which to accuse my nation. For this cause therefore I asked to see you and to speak with you, for because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain." They say to him, "We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor did any of the brothers come here and report or speak any evil of you. But we desire to hear from you what you think, for as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against." When they have appointed him a day, many come to him at his lodging, to whom he explains, testifying about the Kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening. Some believe the things which are spoken, and some disbelieve. When they don't agree among themselves, they depart after Paul has spoken one word: "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying, 'Go to this people, and say, in hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; and in seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive: for this people's heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, and I would heal them.' Be it known therefore to you, that this salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles. They will also listen." Paul stays two whole years in his own rented dwelling, and welcomes all who come to him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance.
Why the setting matters
Malta lies about sixty miles south of Sicily, and a traditional site in St. Paul's Bay fits Luke's description of a bay and a beach with a reef (27:39-41). Luke calls the Maltese "foreigners" (barbaroi), a Greek term for non-Greek speakers, and they treat the shipwreck survivors with unusual kindness (philanthrōpia). The snake bite and the people's change of mind recall Lystra (14:11-18), where Paul was first taken for a god and then stoned. "Justice" (Dikē) is a Greek goddess, and the islanders think she has caught up with him. Publius is called "chief man" (prōtos), a title found in inscriptions from Malta. The Alexandrian ship with "Twin Brothers" (Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri) as its figurehead, protectors of sailors, shows how much of the ancient world lived with pagan symbols. Puteoli was the main port for the Egyptian grain trade; Appii Forum and Three Taverns were stations on the Appian Way, about 43 and 33 miles from Rome. The believers in Rome had heard of Paul from his letter to the Romans, and their meeting him is a high moment. Paul is under house arrest, chained to a soldier. His closing quotation from Isaiah 6:9-10 echoes the end of Jesus' parable of the sower, and "this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles" sets up the final note. Acts ends abruptly, two years into the house arrest, without saying what happened to Paul at trial; why Luke stops there is debated (whether the book was written then, or whether the story's point was reached). Tradition says Paul was later executed in Rome under Nero, in about AD 64 to 67. The last word of the book in Greek is "unhindered" (akōlytōs), and the story it tells runs from Jerusalem to the center of the empire, with the word of God still going out.
Who’s in this chapter
Paul
Bitten by a viper, heals on Malta, and reaches Rome.
Luke
The narrator, still traveling with Paul.
The people of Malta
Show unusual kindness, and think he is a god.
Publius
The chief man of Malta, whose father Paul heals.
The brothers at Puteoli
Invite them to stay seven days.
The brothers from Rome
Meet Paul at Appii Forum and Three Taverns.
The soldier guarding Paul
With him in his lodging.
The Jewish leaders in Rome
Hear him, some believe and some don't.
Talk it through
- The islanders' first and second judgments about Paul are both wrong. What does Luke say about how people read the signs?
- Paul greets the Roman believers, and takes courage. What does that scene tell you about what he needed?
- Paul quotes Isaiah 6 and says the salvation of God has gone to the Gentiles. How does that sentence close one thing and open another?
- Acts ends with "without hindrance." Why do you think Luke stops there?
Read Acts 28
World English Bible
1When we had escaped, then they learned that the island was called Malta. 2The natives showed us uncommon kindness; for they kindled a fire and received us all, because of the present rain and because of the cold. 3But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Justice has not allowed to live.” 5However he shook off the creature into the fire, and wasn’t harmed. 6But they expected that he would have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but when they watched for a long time and saw nothing bad happen to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
7Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us, and courteously entertained us for three days. 8The father of Publius lay sick of fever and dysentery. Paul entered in to him, prayed, and laying his hands on him, healed him. 9Then when this was done, the rest also who had diseases in the island came and were cured. 10They also honored us with many honors, and when we sailed, they put on board the things that we needed.
11After three months, we set sail in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered in the island, whose sign was “The Twin Brothers.” 12Touching at Syracuse, we stayed there three days. 13From there we circled around and arrived at Rhegium. After one day, a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli, 14where we found brothers, and were entreated to stay with them for seven days. So we came to Rome. 15From there the brothers, when they heard of us, came to meet us as far as The Market of Appius and The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. 16When we entered into Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
17After three days Paul called together those who were the leaders of the Jews. When they had come together, he said to them, “I, brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, still was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, 18who, when they had examined me, desired to set me free, because there was no cause of death in me. 19But when the Jews spoke against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything about which to accuse my nation. 20For this cause therefore I asked to see you and to speak with you. For because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”
21They said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor did any of the brothers come here and report or speak any evil of you. 22But we desire to hear from you what you think. For, as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.”
23When they had appointed him a day, many people came to him at his lodging. He explained to them, testifying about God’s Kingdom, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening. 24Some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. 25When they didn’t agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had spoken one word, “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, 26saying,
‘Go to this people and say, in hearing, you will hear, but will in no way understand. In seeing, you will see, but will in no way perceive. 27For this people’s heart has grown callous. Their ears are dull of hearing. Their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, then I would heal them.’
28“Be it known therefore to you, that the salvation of God is sent to the nations, and they will listen.”
29When he had said these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.
30Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house and received all who were coming to him, 31preaching God’s Kingdom, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance.
Text: World English Bible, Public domain. About our sources