Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 28:21
And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee.
21. letters out of [ R. V. from] Judea concerning thee ] This may easily be understood. For no ship starting later than that in which St Paul sailed was likely to have arrived in Rome before he reached that city, and the Jews who conducted the accusation would take a little time for drawing up all the details which they desired to lay before the court of appeal, so that their despatch would be sent later than the time of Paul’s sailing. For before it was determined that he should be sent to Rome they would see no necessity for informing the Jews there concerning his case.
neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee ] [ R. V. “nor did any of the brethren come hither and report or speak &c.”] The English of the A. V. makes the words refer to any who might have come to Rome from Juda at any time. And it is conceivable that during the time between Paul’s first arrest and his arrival in Rome many opportunities might have arisen for news about the prisoner to have been sent to Rome. But in the original it appears as if only the present time were in the minds of the speakers, and what they want to say is represented by the R.V. “Nobody has come in connection with this trial and appeal to tell us any evil about thee.” They seem not to have been at all anxious to move in the matter. At whatever time the edict of Claudius was withdrawn it could only be within the last few years (ten at the most) that the Jewish population had been again permitted to come to Rome. They were probably loath therefore to call public attention again to their nation by appearing before the court of appeal in a cause connected with their religion.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
We neither received letters … – Why the Jews in Judea had not forwarded the accusation against Paul to their brethren at Rome, that they might continue the prosecution before the emperor, is not known. It is probable that they regarded their cause as hopeless, and chose to abandon the prosecution. Paul had been acquitted successively by Lysias, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa; and as they had not succeeded in procuring his condemnation before them, they saw no prospect of doing it at Rome, and resolved, therefore, not to press the prosecution any further.
Neither any of the brethren that came – Any of the Jews. There was a very constant contact between Judea and Rome, but it seems that the Jews who had come before Paul had arrived had not mentioned his case, so as to prejudice them against him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. We neither received letters, c.] This is very strange, and shows us that the Jews knew their cause to be hopeless, and therefore did not send it forward to Rome. They wished for an opportunity to kill Paul: and, when they were frustrated by his appeal to the emperor, they permitted the business to drop. Calmet supposes they had not time to send but this supposition does not appear to be sufficiently solid: they might have sent long before Paul sailed; and they might have written officially by the vessel in which the centurion and the prisoners were embarked. But their case was hopeless; and they could not augur any good to themselves from making a formal complaint against the apostle at the emperor’s throne.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The high priest, and the rest of them that had persecuted Paul, did either despond of their cause, when it should come to be impartially heard; or were supine and negligent in a matter which they pretended so highly to concern their religion; but self-ends, their present ease and reputation, were the main matters they contended for.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21, 22. We neither received lettersout of Judea concerning thee, c.We need not suppose (withTHOLUCK and others) thatthere was any dishonest concealment here. The distinction madebetween himself, against whom they heard nothing, and his “sect,”as “everywhere spoken against,” is a presumption in favorof their sincerity and there is ground to think that as the case tookan unexpected turn by Paul’s appealing to Csar, so no informationon the subject would travel from Jerusalem to Rome in advance of theapostle himself.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they said unto him,…. That is, the chief men of the Jews at Rome, whom Paul had called together, replied; either in a lying and dissembling way, or as expressing matter of fact; which last may be allowed:
we neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee: which was very much, that the high priest and sanhedrim had not wrote to the principal men of their religion at Rome; giving an account of the apostle, and his case unto them, in order to prejudice them against him, and to furnish them with charges and accusations; which if they could not prevail by them, so as to get him condemned by the emperor, yet might be a means of preventing any of their nation giving heed unto him, and embracing his sentiments and notions concerning Jesus of Nazareth:
neither any of the brethren that came [from] Jerusalem; or any part of Judea, to Rome; meaning not the Christian Jews, for these they would not call brethren; but those who were of the same religion as well as nation, whom it was usual with the Jews to call brethren:
shewed or spake any harm of thee; so that it looks as if they did make mention of him, but did not charge him with anything that was wicked and criminal: this they said, to show that they were not prejudiced against him by any person or means; and which carried in it a very considerable testimony of the apostle’s innocence.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Letters (). Official documents from the Sanhedrin about the charges against Paul.
Any harm of thee ( ).
Evil (). The three aorists (, , ) cover the past. These Jews do not mean to say that they had never heard of Paul. It is hardly likely that they had heard of his appeal to Caesar, “for how could the news have reached Rome before Paul?” (Page).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And they said unto him,” (hoi de pros auton eipan) “Then they said to him,” the chiefs of the synagogue replied to Paul.
2) “We neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee,” (hemeis oute grammata peri sou edeksametha apo tes loudaias) “We have neither received letters about you from Judea,” of either complaining or complimentary nature. There was no official information from synagogue chiefs in Judea, to those in Rome, regarding Paul or his ministry.
3) “Neither any of the brethren,” (oute paragenomenos tis ton adelphon) “Nor any of the arriving brethren,” of the racial Jewish brethren of the council of the Sanhedrin.
4) “That came shewed or spake any harm of thee.” (apengeilon e elalesen ti peri sou poneron.) “Told or spoke anything evil concerning you,” at all. Perhaps the Judean synagogue chiefs would have been overly cautious about such letters or verbal messages after King Agrippa had acknowledged Paul’s innocence, Act 26:31-32. The Jews did not assert that they knew nothing about Paul, but that they had received no official report on him, or against him.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
−
21. Neither by letters. The priests and scribes did not hold their peace, because they were become more gentle towards Paul, or to the end they might spare him; that proceeded rather of contempt, or else of despair, because they neither knew how to oppress him when he was so far from them, and his carrying into Italy was − (679) to them instead of a grave. For they did lord it no less carelessly than proudly, so that nobody did trouble them at home. Furthermore, though the Jews come not altogether rightly prepared to hear, yet they show some desire to learn, when as they do not refuse to hear the defense of his doctrine, which is spoken against everywhere. For many do stop the way before themselves with this prejudice, because they cannot abide to hear that which is refused by common judgment, but subscribe to the opinion of other men to the condemning of doctrine which they know not. Nevertheless, this is not without fault (as I said) that they object gainsaying to cause hatred, or to procure evil suspicion; as if it had not been said before by Isaiah, that God should be a stone of offense to all the people. It is uncertain, whether upon the day appointed Paul disputed all the day, or they reasoned one with another; save only, because we may guess, by the circumstance of time, that Paul did not continue speaking still. − (680) For he could scarce have framed a speech which could have continued from morning to night. Wherefore I do not doubt, but that after the apostle had briefly expounded the sum of the gospel, he granted liberty to the hearers to propound questions, − (681) and did make answer to the questions which were objected to him. −
But we must note the state of the disputation, which Luke saith is double. For Paul taught first, after what sort the kingdom of God was amongst them, and principally what manner [of] chief felicity and glory that was which was promised to them, which the prophets do so highly extol. For seeing that many of them did dream of a frail estate of the kingdom of God in the world, and did place the same falsely in idleness, pleasure, and in plenty of present good things, it was necessary that it should be rightly defined, that they might know that the kingdom of God is spiritual, whose beginning is newness of life, and the end thereof blessed immortality and the heavenly glory. Secondly, Paul exhorted them to receive Christ, the author of the promised felicity. −
And, again, this second point had two members, for it could not be handled profitably and soundly unless he did expound the office of the promised Redeemer; secondly, unless he did show that he is already given, and that the Son of Mary is he in whom the fathers hoped. It was indeed a common maxim among the Jews, that the Messias should come and restore all things into perfect order. −
But Paul labored another point, which was not so well known; that the Messias was promised, who should, with the sacrifice of his death, make satisfaction for the sins of the world; who should reconcile God to men; who should purchase eternal righteousness; who should fashion men after the image of God, being regenerate with his Spirit; who should, finally, make his faithful servants heirs with him of eternal life; and that all those things were fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ crucified. He could not intreat of those things; but he must needs call back the Jews from gross and earthly inventions into heaven, and also take away the stumbling-block of the cross, seeing he taught that there was no other way or means whereby we are reconciled with God. −
And let us note, that (as Luke doth testify) Paul took all that which he spake of Christ out of the law and prophets. For true religion differeth from all feigned religions, because the word of God alone is the rule thereof. Also the Church of God differeth from all profane sects in this, because it heareth him speak alone, and is governed by his commandment. And now by this we see the agreement that is between the Old and the New Testaments to establish the faith of Christ; secondly, that double profit of the Scripture which the same Paul commendeth in another place, to wit, that it is sufficient as well to instruct those which are willing to learn, as to refute the stubbornness of those which set themselves against the truth ( Tit 3:16; Tit 1:9). Therefore, let those who desire to be wise with sobriety, and to teach others well, appoint themselves these bounds, that they utter nothing but out of the pure fountain of the word. The philosophers deal otherwise, who contend only with reasons, because they have no sound authority, whom the Papists imitate too much, who set apart the oracles of God, and lean only to the inventions of man’s brain, that is, to mere folly. −
(679) −
“
Videri poterat,” might seem.
(680) −
“
Uno tenore,” without stopping.
(681) −
“
Vicissim,” in their turn.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) We neither received letters out of Judsea concerning thee . . .It seems strange at first that no tidings should have come from Jerusalem of what had passed there in connection with St. Pauls imprisonment. There was, however, hardly likely to have been time for any letters since his appeal. He had sailed somewhat late in the autumn, immediately after he had made it (Act. 25:13; Act. 27:1), and all communication by sea was suspended during the winter months. And it may be noted further that the Jews do not say that they had heard absolutely nothing about him, but that those who had come had spoken nothing evil of him. What they had heard by casual rumour may well have been consistent with St. Jamess statement that he walked orderly, and observed the Law (Act. 21:20). It has been urged that the decree of Claudius had suspended the intercourse between the Jews of Rome and those of Jerusalem; but as the former had returned before he wrote the Epistle to the Romans, this is hardly a tenable explanation. It may, however, be taken into account that among the Jews who had returned to Rome would be not a few of those who had known St. Paul at Corinth, and were willing to bear their testimony to his character.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Neither received letters Paul’s voyage from Jerusalem to Rome was latest in fall and earliest in spring, so that probably he outstripped any other intelligence to the Roman Jews.
That came In the same ship with Paul. His fellow passengers brought no charge against him. This does not imply that his career as a leader of a sect is unknown to them, but that no charge of a judicial nature had been reported to them. As the head of a sect they desire to hear his thinkings. This does not imply, as some have inferred, that there was little or no Christian Church now at Rome, or that these head Jews were unaware of its existence; but that in their view Paul, the celebrated pupil of Gamaliel, was such an expositor as had never been at Rome, such an expositor as it might be worth their while to hear.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judaea concerning you, nor did any of the brethren come here and report or speak any harm of you.” ’
They then informed him that no letters had arrived at the synagogues concerning him, nor had any visitors come and reported anything or in any way spoken evil of him. As far as they were concerned he was in the clear. Their words seem to suggest that that would be how they would like it to remain. They did not want any more trouble with the Roman authorities. They had had enough under Claudius. We should note that they are being wary and giving him the benefit of the doubt. They are only claiming not to have had any official complaints. They are not talking of private ‘rumours’. With regard to those they were ready to wait and see.
The news that no charges had come through must have quite surprised him, for he would have expected the Jews in Jerusalem to have made some efforts to bring charges against him in Rome. They had had sufficient time. Were they not to do so within eighteen months the charge against him would probably be dropped for lack of evidence.
Had we only had this to go by we may have surmised that there had simply been a delay in messengers getting through. After all it had taken him and his fellow travellers a good while to make the journey, although any accusations could have left Caesarea earlier than he did. But Luke then describes the passage of two years, and the impression we are given is that there were still no charges against him.
However, that should not necessarily surprise us. They had got rid of him from Palestine, and it was one thing to bring charges not backed by evidence to a provincial governor whom they could lean on, it was quite another to bring them before Caesar. That could bring them into disrepute where it mattered.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul testifies of the kingdom of God:
v. 21. And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee.
v. 22. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest; for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.
v. 23. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning till evening.
v. 24. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. When Paul had made his appeal for a square deal at their hands, the Jews frankly told him that they had received neither any written nor verbal communications which were unfavorable to him personally; letters they had not received from Judea, and none of the brethren that had come to Rome during the last years had reported anything bad against him. But they thought it good and proper to hear from Paul himself what he thought, to get his ideas on the whole situation, for so far as this new sect was concerned, it was known to them that it was finding contradiction and opposition everywhere. The report had been spread that the Christians were an atheistical and wicked sect, to be detested and abhorred by all mankind. But with the idea of being fair and of hearing Paul’s story in his own way, the leading Jews of Rome fixed a date on which they would come to his place of lodging in larger numbers. To all of them Paul explained and expounded, not so much in vindication of his own conduct as in testimony for Christ, the kingdom of God, showing them what the term meant, in what manner they might enter into this wonderful kingdom, what faith was, always placing into the center of his persuasive discourse Jesus the Savior. From morning till night he tried his best to convince them concerning Jesus, from the Law of Moses, from the historical books of the Old Testament, from the books of the prophets, proving by a comparison with the life of Jesus that He must be the promised Messiah. It was a day of blessings from the Lord, of His merciful call to all those that were present. But the result was the usual one under similar circumstances. Some were convinced by what Paul said, but others were obstinate and refused to believe. So matter how emphatic and overpowering the evidence, some people will persist in hardening their hearts against the gracious influence of the Gospel and thus in spurning the grace of God which is offered to them.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Act 28:21 . This answer of the Jews makes it probable that Paul in his discourse had definitely suggested that they might perhaps have received written or oral insinuations concerning him from Judaea.
It appears almost incredible that neither took place, but we have to weigh the following considerations: (1) Before the appeal the Jews had no ground inducing them to make communications regarding him to the Rom in Jews in particular, because they could not conjecture that Paul, then a prisoner in Caesarea, and whom they hoped to destroy presently, would ever come into contact with their brethren in the distant West. (2) After the appeal it was hardly possible for the Jews to forward accounts to Rome before his arrival there. For the transportation of the apostle, which followed at any rate soon after the entering of the appeal (Act 25:13 , Act 27:1 ), occurred so late in autumn, and so shortly before the closing of the navigation (Act 27:9 ), that there is extreme improbability in the supposition of another vessel having earlier opportunity of reaching Italy than Paul himself, whose vessel in spring, after the opening of the navigation, had to sail only the short distance between Malta and Puteoli, and that, too, with a favourable wind (Act 28:13 ). (3) There remains, therefore, only the possible case, that during Paul’s two years’ imprisonment at Caesarea evil reports concerning him might have come to the Roman Jews in some accidental way (not officially) by means of private letters or Jewish travellers. Indeed considering the lively intercourse between Judaea and Rome, and the great noise which the labours of the apostle had made for many years, as well as the strong opposition which he had excited among the Jews it can by no means be supposed that these labours and this opposition should have continued unknown to the Roman Jews. [180] But the of the Roman Jews here proceed with reserve under dread of possible eventualities, and prudently fall back upon the official standpoint; and so they affirm what, taken in all the strictness of the literal sense, might certainly be no untruth that they on their part ( ) had neither received letters concerning him, nor oral notification or statement ( .: “in sermone quotidiano”) of anything evil concerning him . The more impartial they thus appear and maintain a politic spirit of frankness, the more openly, they at the same time hope, will Paul express his mind and disclose his purposes (Act 28:22 ). Zeller therefore too rashly seizes on the seeming contradiction to truth in Act 28:21 , as warranting the inference that the non-historical character of the narrative is evident. [181] The explanation also to which Olshausen has recourse appears erroneous: that by the expulsion of the Jews from Rome under Claudius, the connections, which the Jews of Jerusalem had with them, were broken off; that only very slowly and secretly the Roman Jews returned in the first years of Nero; and that therefore those who were in Palestine were not properly informed of this situation of matters in Rome, and accordingly made no notification concerning Paul to that quarter. Even a priori , such a strange ignorance of the Jews as to the fortunes of their very numerous countrymen (Dio Cass, xxxvi. 6; Suet. Tib . 36; Philo, leg. ad Caium , p. 568; Tac. Ann . ii. 85) in the capital of the world is very improbable; and, from a historical point of view, that expulsion of the Roman Jews had occurred so many years before, and the edict of banishment was at all events only of such temporary force (see on Act 18:2 , and Anger, temp. rat . p. 118 f.), that the renewed toleration of the Jews, permitted either expressly or tacitly, is to be placed even under the reign of Claudius. See, moreover, on Rom . Introd. 2.
[180] It has indeed been thought that the Jews, in their plot against the life of the apostle, might have had a motive for not allowing their exasperation against him to become notorious, least of all at Rome (see Lange, apostol. Zeitalt . I. p. 106). But even granting this arbitrarily assumed calculation on their part, the hostile disposition in Judaea was much too general (Act 21:21 ) to admit of control over the spread of the hostile report to a distance.
[181] Comp. Holtzmann, Judenth. u. Christenth . p. 785, who suggests that the author wished to evade touching on the wide opposition between Paul and Jewish Christianity. But merely to evade this point, he would have needed only to suppress vv. 21, 22, instead of putting such a surprising expression into the mouth of the Jews.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
21 And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee.
Ver. 21. We neither received letters ] Not because the priests and elders were now grown better minded toward Paul than they were wont to be (for malice is like the crocodile, that groweth as long as it liveth; and, as we used to say of cheeze, the older it is, the stronger), but that they could not so well deal with him at such a distance; and besides, being so far off them, he could be no such eye sore to them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21. ] It may seem strange that they had received no tidings concerning him. But, as Meyer well remarks, (1) before his appeal, the Jews in Juda had no definite reason to communicate with the Jews in Rome respecting him, having no expectation that Paul, then a prisoner in Juda, and the object of their conspiracies there, would ever go to Rome, or come into connexion with their brethren there. And (2) since his appeal, it would have been hardly possible for them to have sent messengers who should have arrived before him. For his voyage followed soon after his appeal (ch. Act 25:13 ; Act 27:1 ), and was so late in the year , that for the former reason it is as unlikely that any deputation from them should have left before him, as for the latter, after him. Had any left within a few days, the same storm would have in all probability detained them over the winter, and they could not certainly have made a much quicker voyage than Paul’s ship to Puteoli. Still, as casual, non-official tidings might have reached them, Paul shewed this anxiety. It appears, however, that none had come . Olshausen’s view, that the banishment of the Jews from Rome under Claudius had interrupted the relations between the Roman and Judan Jews, is hardly probable: see on Act 28:17 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 28:21 . : the emphatic position of the words may indicate, as Weiss suggests, that as Paul had spoken to them up to this point of a personal matter, so they in reply spoke with a like reference. , i.e. , no official letters from the Sanhedrim this was practically impossible, for it is not likely that any ship had left Csarea before Paul’s departure with such intelligence (so Weiss, Blass, Hackett). ., i.e. , of the Jewish nation, cf. Act 28:17 . The Jews do not assert that they know nothing of Paul, but only that with reference to the statement which he had just made they had received no report ( ., cf. R.V., so Act 4:23 ), or had any of his countrymen spoken evil of him. The aorists point to this limitation of the assertion (Page’s note, and Nsgen, in loco ), and this view prevents us from seeing any contradiction between Act 28:21-22 , for if the statement in the former verse be taken quite generally of Paul’s work, the Jews contradicted themselves in Act 28:22 , where they evidently include Paul in this sect ( ), of which they knew that it was everywhere spoken against. : the stress need not be laid on this word, as if the sentence meant that they had heard something about Paul, but nothing evil; it may well have been chosen with reference to the Apostle’s own expression, .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
neither. Greek. oute.
letters. Greek. gramma, a letter of the alphabet. In plural “writings”. This and Gal 1:6, Gal 1:11 are the only places where it is used of an epistle, the usual word being epistole.
out of = from. Greek. apo. App-104.
concerning. Greek. peri. App-104.
shewed = reported. Greek. apangello. See Act 4:23.
spake. Greek. laleo. App-121.
any harm = anything evil (Greek. poneros. App-128.)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
21.] It may seem strange that they had received no tidings concerning him. But, as Meyer well remarks, (1) before his appeal, the Jews in Juda had no definite reason to communicate with the Jews in Rome respecting him, having no expectation that Paul, then a prisoner in Juda, and the object of their conspiracies there, would ever go to Rome, or come into connexion with their brethren there. And (2) since his appeal, it would have been hardly possible for them to have sent messengers who should have arrived before him. For his voyage followed soon after his appeal (ch. Act 25:13; Act 27:1), and was so late in the year, that for the former reason it is as unlikely that any deputation from them should have left before him, as for the latter, after him. Had any left within a few days, the same storm would have in all probability detained them over the winter, and they could not certainly have made a much quicker voyage than Pauls ship to Puteoli. Still, as casual, non-official tidings might have reached them, Paul shewed this anxiety. It appears, however, that none had come. Olshausens view, that the banishment of the Jews from Rome under Claudius had interrupted the relations between the Roman and Judan Jews, is hardly probable: see on Act 28:17.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 28:21. , neither) It had been the winter time: and Paul had not long before appealed to Csar.- , of the brethren) Jews.-, hath announced) professedly and formally.-, hath spoken) viz. in every-day conversation.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Preaching in the Worlds Capital
Act 28:21-31
It was one of the earliest cares of Paul to summon the leading members of the Jewish community, that he might explain to them his position. He made clear that he had not opposed or injured his own people, and that he was suffering because of his devotion to the Hope of Israel, by which he obviously referred to Christ. The Jews replied cautiously, declaring that they had not as yet received the formal charge against him. But as they professed a wish for further information, he begged them to fix their own day and come. This they did in considerable numbers. All day long he set before them arguments from Scripture and the story of his own experience. A few were convinced; the rest disagreed. Probably the debate toward its close became somewhat stormy, and the Apostle felt at liberty to quote Isa 6:9-10.
He, thereafter, turned to the Roman Christians, who had already been addressed in his memorable Epistle, in the last chapter of which is a list of names of those whom he loved in Christ. They were constantly coming in to cheer his loneliness and to hear his words, while Tychicus, Epaphras, Epaphroditus, and others brought news, greetings, and gifts from the churches he had founded.
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
83. “SOME BELIEVED AND SOME BELIEVED NOT”
Act 28:21-24
Wherever Paul went, he had but one errand. He was a gospel preacher, a messenger, an ambassador sent from God with a message to deliver to eternity bound sinners. Being “separated unto the gospel” (Rom 1:1), he allowed nothing to turn him aside from his great work, not even imprisonment! He was sent of God to deliver the message of redemption and grace in Christ to perishing souls. He considered nothing to be of equal importance. Being God’s messenger, his message was always the same. His subject, his theme never changed. He was determined to know nothing among men except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1Co 2:2). He considered it his solemn duty, whenever and wherever he preached, to preach the gospel 1Co 9:16). He was a man of one subject. He was radically, fanatically committed to that one subject. He preached Christ and him crucified (1Co 1:23). Whatever ability he possessed, whenever he had opportunity, this great exemplary preacher expounded to men and women the doctrine of the cross (Gal 6:14). In the passage before us, Luke gives us an example both of the great apostle’s message and his method of preaching.
PAUL PREACHED EXPOSITIONALLY. “He expounded both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets.” All true preaching involves the faithful exposition of Holy Scripture. Preaching is not the exposition of a creed or confession of faith. That is denominational indoctrination. Preaching is declaring with simplicity and clarity that which is written in Holy Scripture. “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Rom 10:17). It is not possible for anyone to trust the Lord Jesus Christ until he is taught of God. And the method by which God teaches chosen sinners is the preaching of the gospel (1Co 1:21; 1Pe 1:23-25). It is the responsibility of those who preach the gospel to unfold the wondrous mysteries of the gospel, faithfully expounding the message of the Bible. Many preachers and teachers like to dazzle their hearers with their knowledge and understanding of facts and times and their ability to answer foolish questions and unravel the knots of endless genealogies. God’s servants studiously avoid getting caught up in that snare of the devil (2Ti 2:23; Tit 3:9). Those men who are faithful to God, faithful to the souls of men, and faithful to the Word of God expound the message of Scripture. Essentially, the message of the Bible is threefold.
The first message of the Bible is a message of ruin, the total spiritual ruin of our race by the sin and fall of our father Adam (Rom 5:12). What happened in the garden? Let a man find the answer to that question and he will have little difficulty understanding anything else in the Bible. Adam was much more than the progenitor of our race. He was, by God’s decree, the federal head and representative of all men. God made Adam in his own image, holy and righteous, and gave him dominion over all the works of his hands. Adam and his children might have lived forever in that happy condition, had he simply lived in the acknowledgement of God’s righteous dominion over him. God gave Adam everything except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:15-17). That one tree stood as a constant reminder to Adam of God’s rightful, sovereign dominion. You know what happened. Adam did not stand in his uprightness. In time, his heart swelled with pride. He could not stand the thought of God being God. Because of his pride, he stole the fruit of God’s tree. By that act, Adam attempted to usurp God’s authority and dominion as God. Immediately he died spiritually, came under the curse of legal death, began to die physically, and became liable to eternal death in hell; and so did we! When Adam sinned, we sinned in him. When he died, we died. Now we all bear the image of our father Adam. All the sons of Adam are born sinners, rebels against God, going astray as soon as they are born speaking lies (Psa 51:5; Psa 58:3; Rom 3:9-19; Rom 8:7; Eph 2:1-3). This is the doctrine of total depravity. It simply means man is so sinful and so completely helpless in spiritual death that he is incapable of changing his condition, or even assisting in the change of his condition before God (Jer 13:23; Jer 17:9). “Man is a double dyed villain. He is originally corrupted by nature and afterwards by practice” (A. H. Strong).
The second message of the Bible is a message of redemption, redemption by the precious blood of Christ, the second Adam (2Co 5:18-21; Gal 3:13; 1Pe 1:18-20; 1Pe 2:24). Thank God there is a second Adam, another representative Man, another Substitute! In exactly the same way that all men were made sinners by Adam’s disobedience, all God’s elect are made righteous by Christ’s obedience unto death as their Substitute (Rom 5:17-21; 1Co 15:21-22). By his obedience to the law as our Representative, Christ brought in perfect righteousness, which is imputed to all who trust him. By that righteousness, we are completely justified in God’s sight (Jer 23:6; Rom 3:28-31; Rom 4:21-25). Our works have nothing to do with our righteousness. We are justified by his work being imputed to us. By pouring out his life’s blood unto death, our Savior made a complete atonement for sin, satisfying the justice of God for all who believe on him (Rom 3:24-26). Now, God freely forgives all who trust his Son, justly removing from us both the guilt of sin and the curse of the law (Joh 3:14-18; Rom 8:1; Rom 8:33-34).
The third message of the Bible is a message of regeneration, regeneration by the irresistible grace and power of God the Holy Spirit (Joh 3:3-8; Eph 2:1-4). This is the new birth. It is not something God offers. It is something God does. Eternal life is the gift of God. The fruit and result of the new birth, this gift of life, is faith in Christ. In order for dead sinners to live, they must be given life. And when God creates life in us, he also creates faith in us (Eph 2:8-9; Col 2:12).
PAUL PREACHED EXPERIMENTALLY AS WELL AS EXPOSITIONALLY. As he expounded the message of Holy Scripture, “He testified the kingdom of God.” He told his hearers how he had experienced the transforming power and grace of God on the Damascus road. He told his conversion experience so often that I imagine Luke and anyone else who frequently heard him preach knew it as well as he did (Act 9:1-22; Act 22:1-16; Act 26:9-19). He never tired of telling what God had done for him. Grace experienced in the heart is a tale worth telling and worth hearing. Someone once said, “No man can really preach anything until he has experienced it.” And the man who has experienced grace will preach it.
THIS EXPOSITORY, EXPERIMENTAL PREACHING WAS PERSUASIVE. When Paul preached, he was “persuading them concerning Jesus.” He pressed upon his hearers the claims of Christ in the gospel, urging them to trust him as Savior and Lord (2Co 5:11). “And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.” That is always the result of gospel preaching (2Co 2:14-16). Three things need to be understood from this fact: (1) The salvation of sinners is not determined by the gifts, abilities, and power of the preacher. Those who believed heard the same preacher as those who believed not. (2) Those who believe the gospel do so because God, who willed it from eternity, gives them faith in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Read your Bible. Faith is not the work of man’s free will, but the gift of God’s sovereign grace (Joh 1:12-13; Joh 3:8; Rom 9:16-18; Eph 1:19; Eph 2:8; Col 2:12). (3) Those who believe not, believe not because they will not come to Christ and be saved by free grace alone through the merits of his blood and righteousness (Joh 5:40). If any sinner is saved, it is God’s fault and the result of God’s work alone. If any sinner is damned, it is his fault and the result of his work alone. No one is saved because of what he does; and no one is lost because of what God does. Salvation is God’s work. Destruction is man’s work.
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
We: Exo 11:7, Isa 41:11, Isa 50:8, Isa 54:17
Reciprocal: Act 25:8 – Neither
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Act 28:21. These Jews had heard the report about the disciples in general, but had not received any news of accusations against Paul personally.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 28:21. And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Juda concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee. This reply of the Roman Jews was more courteous than honest. It was probably the fact that no official communication from the Sanhedrim had as yet been received by the Roman synagogue; for during the two years of the Csarean imprisonment there was no need for the council in Jerusalem to write to their fellow-countrymen at Rome respecting the prisoner Paul, and after his appeal to the emperor there had been no time to send information to Rome concerning him. Paul would have arrived at the metropolis before any official tidings from Jerusalem could have reached the Roman Jews. We know he left Csarea soon after his appeal; and shortly after his departure, the seaowing to the time of yearwas closed for navigation. But it was clearly disingenuous for them on their part to deny any knowledge of his evil fame among the rulers of the people. The principal charge brought against a prominent leader of the Christians like Paul must have been well known to the Roman Jews. They must in past years have often heard of the hated Paul of Tarsus, now a leading Nazarene, once known as the brilliant and admired Pharisee Saul.
The result of the earnest and impassioned pleading of the Christian apostle, told so shortly, but so sorrowfully, in the words of Act 28:24, and some believed not coupled with the evident mournful disappointment manifested by Paul at his complete failure to convince someevidently a large numberof his Jewish audience, points to the conclusion we have arrived at, that the courteous reply of the Roman Jews to Paul (Act 28:21) was hollow and false.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The advantage which the apostle had to preach the gospel to these Jews at Rome: they assure him that they had entertained no prejudice against his person; for they had received no letters out of Judea concerning him; neither had any of their brethren that came from Judea spoken any evil of him; yea, they assure him, it was their desire to hear him preach, and to understand what he had to say for the Christian religion, (which they call a sect or heresy,) that both Jews and Gentiles did generally oppose and speak against and talk hardly of.
Observe, 2. How readily the apostle complies with their request in preaching to them: time and place are appointed, the people assembled. The great truth defended and approved was this, That Jesus of Nazareth was the true and promised Messiah, in whom all that desire to be saved ought to believe and trust. This argument he confirmed by testimonies out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, continuing his discourse from morning until night: so unwearied was this faithful labourer in his Lord and Master’s work.
Observe, 3. The different success of the word preached, and the contrary effects which it had upon its hearers: Some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
As the same sun that softens the wax hardens the clay, so has the gospel different effects upon those it is preached to; there are some whom no sun will tan, no heat will warm, no influence will quicken. To some we are the savour of life unto life, to others the savour of death unto death: but, blessed be God, if we his ministers be found faithful, we shall be a sweet savour unto God, as well in them that perish, as in them that are saved.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Act 28:21-22. And they said, We have neither received letters, &c. There must have been a particular providence in this; neither any of the brethren, (the Jews,) that came from Judea, showed or spake any harm of thee This was very strange if true: that the restless and inveterate rage of the Jews, which had followed Paul whithersoever he went, should not follow him to Rome also, to get him condemned there, was remarkable. But, perhaps his accusers had not yet arrived; or the Jews did not dare to pursue him with their accusations into the court, to which, by appealing to Cesar, he had now removed his cause. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest What thy opinions or sentiments are, and what thou hast to say in defence of thy doctrine, as a disciple and missionary of Jesus of Nazareth; for as concerning this sect Which professes so high regard to him; we know In the general; that it is everywhere spoken against And held in great contempt. This was not, nor is it ever a proof of a bad cause; but a very probable mark of a good one. Some think this refers to a fact mentioned by Justin Martyr, (Dialog. cum Tryph., pp. 171, and 368,) and afterward by Origen, (contra Cels., lib. 6.,) and Eusebius, (Ecc. Hist., lib. 4. cap. 18,) that the Jews at Jerusalem sent chosen men, of the most distinguished character, all over the world, representing the Christians as an atheistical sect, and charging them with the grossest calumnies, which the ignorant heathen advanced against them. The fact itself is very credible, but as the exact date of it cannot be ascertained, it possibly might take place after this period, and so not be the cause of the reproach now everywhere cast on the Christians. The carnal mind, which is enmity against God and his holy religion, will always dispose those who are only born after the flesh, to hate, despise, and persecute those that are born after the Spirit, and this circumstance sufficiently accounts for all the obloquy and ill treatment which the disciples of Jesus met with.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
21, 22. The response of the Jews was candid and becoming. (21) “And they said to him, We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of the brethren who had come reported or spoken any evil concerning you. (22) But we think it proper to hear from you what you think; though concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is everywhere spoken against.” It is rather surprising that they had heard nothing of the exciting scenes of Paul’s life in the last two years; but it often thus happens that events pass almost unnoticed by a living generation, which are destined, in subsequent ages, to figure as the leading events of history. By hearing nothing, however, they had heard nothing prejudicial to him, except that the sect of which he was an advocate had a bad reputation. If they had acted on the principle which often governs predominant religious parties, this would have been sufficient to turn away their ears. Doubtless, they had acted somewhat on this principle toward the preachers of the gospel who had preceded Paul in Rome; but the direct personal appeal which he made to them, and the conciliatory manner and matter of his address, induced them to think proper to hear what he thought. In these words, they gave good expression to an important rule of conduct; for, however a party who attempts to show us the truth may be spoken against, it is always proper to hear them before pronouncing sentence against them.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
21. Consequently they neither wrote letters nor sent delegates to Rome to assist the prosecution of Paul.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
It may be that the Jewish leaders were being completely honest and straightforward with Paul in what they said. If so, God had miraculously kept these Jews from hearing about Paul’s case since Jews in Jerusalem and Rome communicated frequently with each other.
"Very possibly the Jews in Rome preferred to remain ignorant of the case; they would not have forgotten that earlier disputes over the Messiah had led to their temporary expulsion from the city (Act 18:2 note)." [Note: Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 423.]
Perhaps the Jewish leaders realized that Paul’s release was inevitable since the Jews had no real case against him in Roman courts. They may have decided to start from scratch in their campaign to do away with him. In any case, they were eager to hear what Paul had to say.