Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 28:1
And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.
Act 28:1-10. The shipwrecked company hospitably entertained in Malta. Paul, bitten by a viper, feels no hurt. Cure of the father of the chief magistrate
1. And when they were escaped ] The oldest MSS. give the first person plural in this verse. Render (with R. V.) “when we were we knew.”
Melita ] They would at once learn what the land was from the natives whom they found on the shore. Tradition has from the earliest times identified Melita with the modern Malta. But Constantine Porphyrogenitus ( de Adm. Imp. p. 36) and others after him have attempted to shew that Meleda, a small island in the Adriatic Sea, not far from the coast of Illyria, was the scene of the shipwreck. They have supported this opinion by confining the sense of Adria (Act 27:27) to the modem Adriatic Sea, by their explanation of “barbarians” in the next verse of this chapter, and by the absence of vipers at the present time from the island of Malta. But the latter circumstance is not without a parallel. The advance of cultivation and alteration of temperature have destroyed poisonous beasts out of other districts besides Malta, and the two first arguments are founded on mistakes. Moreover it is hardly possible to conceive that a ship should be driven for fourteen days in the Adriatic without going ashore, and the direction in which they sailed after finding a fresh vessel (Act 28:11-12) is also completely opposed to the idea that they were wrecked in the Gulf of Venice.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They knew – Either from their former acquaintance with the island, or from the information of the inhabitants.
Was called Melita – Now called Malta. It was celebrated formerly for producing large quantities of honey, and is supposed to have been called Melita from the Greek word signifying honey. It is about 20 miles in length from east to west, and 12 miles in width from north to south, and about 60 miles in circumference. It is about 60 miles from the coast of Sicily. The island is an immense rock of white soft freestone, with a covering of earth about one foot in depth, which has been brought from the island of Sicily. There was also another island formerly called Melita, now called Meleda, in the Adriatic Sea, near the coast of Illyricum, and some have supposed that Paul was shipwrecked on that island. But tradition has uniformly said that it was on the island now called Malta. Besides, the other Melita would have been far out of the usual track in going to Italy; and it is further evident that Malta was the place, because from the place of his shipwreck he went directly to Syracuse, Rhegium, and Puteoli, thus sailing in a direct course to Rome. In sailing from the other Melita to Rhegium, Syracuse would be far out of the direct course.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 28:1-14
And when they were escaped then they knew.
Tomorrow, a revealer
A great many things are clearer today than they were last night. Tomorrow will clear up some of the mysteries of today. Weird shapes of the darkness take a matter-of-fact form when the sun rises. Doubts and fears which oppress us during the storm are found to be baseless after the clouds are scattered. This ought to comfort us when we most need cheer. What we do not know now, we shall know hereafter. If now we see as in a glass darkly, we shall then see face to face; we shall then know even as we are known. In our patience possess we our souls. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)
That the island was called Melita.
Paul at Malta
I. The value of hospitality.
1. Esteemed and practised even by the heathen.
2. Much more suitable and blessed among Christians.
II. The perniciousness of superstition.
1. How it is united with all manner of uncharitableness.
2. How it leads to all manner of idolatrous worship.
III. The home that the Christian finds everywhere. Everywhere–
1. He experiences the love of God.
2. He finds loving hearts.
3. He has the opportunity of doing good.
4. He is respected and honoured. (Lisco.)
Paul at Malta
I. The apostle surviving. Lessons: The Christian worker–
1. Often receives better treatment from the lowly than from the great. Paul was assaulted by the Jews, and assisted by the barbarians; Christ was accepted by many of the people and rejected by their rulers.
2. May be called to testify before kings; again, he may be called to pick up sticks to build a fire: and circumstances may make the two tasks equally noble in Gods sight. Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws, makes that and the action fine.
3. Must expect that vipers of opposition will come out to fasten upon his hands so soon as those hands are occupied in earnest Christian work.
4. Must shake off these vipers of sinful opposition even as Paul shook off this viper. And he must be careful even as Paul was to shake the viper into the fire, where it can do no further harm.
5. Will be misjudged by appearances, just as Paul was. Happy is that Christian whose righteousness is attested by the fact that the vipers of sin cannot harm him!
6. Who in this sinful world shakes off the deadly vipers of sin and feels no harm, need assuredly feel no harm from the petty bites of those who call him murderer, or bigot, or fanatic.
7. Wins final respect, if he is faithful. The world will in the end call him godly, even as it called Paul a god.
II. The sufferers reviving.
1. Blessings come through association with the godly.
2. Blessings come beyond our expectation when they come from Gods hand.
3. Blessings come in no sense as a repayment, but in a certain sense as a remembrance, of righteousness. Publius befriended Paul, and was in turn himself abundantly blessed.
4. As Paul prayed for the fever-smitten body of Publiuss father, we should pray for the sin-sick souls about us.
5. As Paul brought new life to these island dwellers, so we should endeavour to bring a new spiritual life to all those with whom we come in contact.
6. As the islanders honoured him who brought them bodily healing, so should we honour those who make it their special effort to bring spiritual renewal–the ministers, the missionaries, all the devoted workers for Christ. (S. S. Times.)
Paul at Malta
1. It is an ill wind which blows nobody good. Here is a case in point. The sailors regarded it an ill wind that wrecked their ship, but had it sunk them in mid-ocean it would have been a worse wind. It blew good to the islanders, for they got healing for the body and gospel for the soul. It blew good to the apostle, for he was received with an angels welcome and became a dispenser of rich blessings. Indeed, can we call any wind an ill one? The stormy wind is ever fulfilling Gods word. It is better than the south wind blowing softly, but often bringing peril. Mysterious providences is a phrase we ordinarily affix to unpleasant things, but in the light of accomplished facts our view of what is good or ill may be corrected. Our partial knowledge leads us to misjudgments. Wait till tomorrow. All will be well. Impatience is rebuked by the revelations of Providence.
2. Luke speaks here of barbarians, a people who did not speak Greek. We Englishmen have something of this feeling towards aliens, but we call it patriotism. Worst of all is this clannish spirit when shown by some portion of the Church who say, The temple of the Lord are we! The Lord Jesus requires us to put away such exclusiveness. No common kindness was shown by these barbarians, who were really friends, aye, Christians in a large sense, for did they not realise the Spirit of the Master? I was ahungered, etc. Id rather stand with them, at last, than with many robed and titled ones.
3. To feed the welcome fire and strengthen the blaze, Paul gathers wood in his hands. Those hands were always ready for service: to gather golden coin to the coffers of the Church, or to make tents for his own support; to raise the dead, or gather converts to Christ; to quell a mob, or, beckoning, hold an audience with a wizards spell. He now gathered sticks, for he was all things to all men, and had no respect for the blue blood which looks disdainfully on meaner men. He flung the faggots on the fire, and soon a frozen viper warmed by the heat, leaped forth and fastened itself on the apostles hand.
4. The bystanders infer that Paul is a criminal, saved from the flood to die by the vipers fang. Notice, that even heathen have a conviction of the retributive justice of God. It is only the civilised fool who says, No God, and he says it in his heart. How ready people are to jump at conclusions. Pauls chain settled the fact that he was a guilty criminal, and so we unjustly judge the accused and arrested before he is proved culpable. The innocent are often overshadowed. Charity believeth all things. The proverb is, We guess eggs when we see egg shells, but there is a barn-door fowl as well as a cockatrice. Isaac Watts advises us always to Endeavour to believe a story to be wrong which ought to be wrong. Remember the moral effect upon ourselves of the judgment we pass upon others.
5. The viper on Pauls hand produced no fatal harm. Paul must stand before Caesar. Neither the high priest, the Jewish Parliament, the conspirators, the devil himself, the storm-lashed Mediterranean Sea, nor the venomous viper, can prevent his going to Rome. So we are going to heaven, and God is our continual guard. All nature is used by Him for our good and we need not fear.
6. There are different classes of vipers. Ingratitude is one. Its fangs are sharp, but may be shaken off. Slander is another. It would be venomous if its power were as good as its will.
7. But integrity comes out unharmed. The barbarian cried out, He is a god! It would have been truer to say, He has a God. That was the secret of his safety. Have you one? If God be for us, who or what can be against us? (J. Jackson Wray.)
Paul at Malta
Observe here–
I. The nature and rewards of hospitality. It is a comfort to find that all races do not art the part of plunderers. This event occurred before the civilising influences of Christianity had been felt.
1. Hospitality is called forth by misfortune. A feast spread for those who daily sit at one is little worth as a token of regard. It is all well enough to bid our rich neighbours now and then, if not thinking thereby to show a noteworthy virtue. But the world is full of the wretched and the hungry. Stranded at our very doors we cannot but see them. These, and not the full, elicit everything that deserves to be known as charity.
2. The hospitable provides for the needy of what he himself has. In this instance it was the cheering, invigorating warmth of a great fire, and the gathering of the drenched and shivering castaways around it. Afterwards, it was doubtless the bringing food and clothing, and providing shelter. The grace of hospitality is within the exercise of all. Few homes are so barren that from them relief may not go forth to brighten some wan face, some famished body, some cheerless spirit. The street gamin, sharing his crust and tattered blanket with his mate, who is not so rich, illustrates the virtue. It is an old proverb, When one poor man relieves another, God Himself laughs for joy.
3. Hospitality is bestowal without thought of return. It is self-forgetful. What gain could these islanders expect from the impoverished mariners? The fact of inability to repay begets in the donor the greatest satisfaction. Jesus pointed out, those who cannot recompense thee, for us to seek with saving offerings.
4. There are, however, rewards in waiting for all who obey the noble prompting. The father of the governor was seriously ill. Paul, hearing of it, went to him with remedies of which no medical school knew. The cure was immediate and complete. The news spread. The diseased from every quarter flocked about the wonder worker, and went away healed. To save the ill-fated boats company was to save themselves, though ignorantly. So always, by methods we could never predict, the return for any deed of real hospitality is made. The cup of cold water given in a disciples name, insures the reward.
II. The folly of human judgment. A viper fastens on to the apostles hands, He is a murderer, say the bystanders, No, see he shakes it off unhurt–he is a god. People are still under the impression that signal calamity finds its deserving victim, and ask, What has he done to merit it? Equally true is it, when by some unparalleled act one seems to be lifted out of the sphere of ordinary life, the multitudes are ready to bow down before him. The successful general, politician, merchant, scholar, is gazed at as if the secret of his mastery lay in supernatural gifts. The mistake of trusting the common opinion is plain. We rely more than we know upon our prejudices. Our tribunals are seldom fair. Often the impartial verdict of history shows how fallible the earlier judgment was. Hence modesty, rather than assurance, is becoming when we pronounce upon anothers doing or purpose, when all the details have not been open to us. (D. S. Clark.)
Paul at Malta
Here we have:–
I. Men getting out of one trouble only to get into another. There is a mysterious law of succession in the difficulties of human life. It never rains but it pours. There is a mystery of grace also in this succession. We do not know the best side of trouble until we have had a great deal of it. One trouble is of no use. You must get into the rhythm of sorrow, the rise and fall of the melody of discipline. It is marvellous how trouble can make the house comfortable with a strange sense of its being there at Heavens bidding and under Heavens order. It is not so with the first trouble–that always upsets a man. The second trouble is accepted in rather a better spirit; then the third comes like an expected guest. It is better–when trouble has wrought out its most sacred mystery–to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. Different nationalities have different salutations. The Greek would say, Rejoice! He lived in the region of the senses; he delighted in high art, in high feasting. The Hebrew spoke in a nobler bass; he said, Peace be with you! The Hebrew was the man of soul, the man of tragic experience. So trouble leads us into these deeper mysteries of experience; it takes away the merry shout, but fills the mouth with a nobler salutation. So Christ, in all His sorrows, said, My peace I give unto you.
II. The rough judgments which men are always prone to pass upon men. When the viper fastened on Pauls hand, the simple Punic people said, No doubt this man is a murderer, etc. Alas! how many murderers there would be if we had to judge of sin by apparently penal circumstances! How ready we are to form the ungracious judgment of one another Who ever failed in business, even in the most honourable way, without some friends knowing that this very collapse would take place, and without their taking morals from it intended to magnify their own better business capacity? Who ever pitied the man upon whom the viper fastened? Be more discriminate in judgment. Christ would see in the very worst man something to recognise, in a way that would give him another chance. There is no man quite so bad as he appears to be, even though the viper be on his hand. But some men do not look out for the mitigating qualities. Circumstances are sometimes against men. We have seen the viper of a false accusation fastening upon the hand that never did mischief to a human creature. I would pray for the spirit that pities the hand, rather than praises the viper; that would rather be deceived than willingly accept the ungenerous judgment. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
III. The mystery of intuitive religion. It would seem as if religion were born in the human mind and heart. Here is a sense of a Presence in the universe that means righteousness. The heart instinctively says when wrong is done, This must be punished. Christianity never uproots that, but sanctifies it. Who wrote that law? It is written upon the tablets of the mind by an invisible penman. The universe is against murder. We cannot give up the thought that the bad man will one day have the worst of it. The universe would fall to pieces if we could relinquish that doctrine.
IV. A point of progress in the religion of these barbarians. They who could not understand a sermon could comprehend the treatment of a viper, and reason upon it. They were observant people: they made religious deductions from ordinary facts (verse 6). What was this? A direct contradiction of so-called experience. Here was the greater law setting itself in noble sovereignty over the common daily law. They were a frank people; they had attained a high point in education, in being able to shake out of the mind prejudices which opposed themselves to the startling fact which immediately appealed to their vision. If we could persuade modern nations to act in the same way, we should have no unbelievers. If every viper shaken off the hand proved the nobleness of the character so destroying it, and led to the higher reasoning that such a character is a Divine creation, we should have no theological controversy. All Christian history may be summed up in this one line: that the Christian hand has always shaken off the viper and flung it into the fire. It is part of the great original mystery; the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head. The viper is on us now; the poison has touched the red current of the blood; but, by the grace of Christ, we will shake it off, and it shall be destroyed. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Maltese,
an expressive representation of the heathen world.
I. In their need of redemption.
1. Their dark superstition (verses 4-6).
2. Their manifold misery (verses 8, 9).
II. In their capability of redemption.
1. Their friendly hospitality (verse 2).
2. Their dim knowledge of God (verse 4).
3. Their lively susceptibility for the impressions of the Divine (verse 6).
4. Their earnest desire of assistance (verse 9).
5. Their childlike gratitude (verse 10). (K. Gerok.)
The worlds judgments foolish
The world is foolish–
1. In its uncharitable judgments (verse 4).
2. In its favourable judgments (verse 6).
3. Therefore, undisturbed by the judgments of the world, do thy duty, and be not weary in well doing (verses 7-10). (Lisco.)
Good in heathendom
It is common to regard all men outside of Christendom as utterly destitute of goodness. This is untrue to fact, and a libel on human nature. Observe in these barbarians:–
I. A sympathy with human suffering (verse 2, 9).
1. This social love dwells in men of every colour and clime. How can this be maintained, it may be said, in the presence of cannibalism, human sacrifices, bloody wars, etc.?
(1) These cruelties are perversions of this very social sympathy.
(2) The very existence of tribes implies it; men could not exist at all in unity without this social and kindly affection.
(3) Cruelties exist even in Christendom, where this goodness is patent to all.
2. That this kindly sympathy does, as a rule, exist in all hearts, however deeply sunk in ignorance and depravity, is proved–
(1) By modern travellers. Livingstone found it in the dark regions of South Africa.
(2) By the Bible. The Bible is a revelation of love, and unless men have the element of love in them they would be as incapable of understanding it or feeling its power as the ravenous beast. You may as well bring the magnet to clay as take the gospel to men who have no love in them.
II. A sense of retributive providence (verses 3, 4). Here is a fine subject for a picture. This sense of the connection between crime and punishment is so universal that it must be regarded as instinctive. It is a feeling that underlies all religions. Their mistakes were–
1. That punishment for crime came in a material form. Men have ever thought thus. The fall of the tower of Siloam was thought to be a judgment, and so now is the burning down of a theatre: whereas nature in her operations pays no attention to moral distinctions. Vipers will sting apostles as well as apostates.
2. That it followed flagrant crimes only. This man is a murderer. But there is a spirit which often possesses men, that calls for greater punishment even than a material murder.
III. A faith in a supreme being (verses 5, 6). The rapidity with which these men changed their opinion concerning Paul is only an example of that fickleness of soul which ever characterises the uncultured. The most noteworthy point, however, is, that what brought up to them the idea of God was the marvellous. The natural tendency of the vipers sting was death. Because Paul did not die, they thought him a god. They felt that the laws of nature could only be counteracted by God. It was in the wonderful, not in the good, that they saw God. Thus men generally feel. Conclusion: Several things may be fairly deduced from this subject:–
1. The identity in authorship of human souls and Divine revelation. The grand rudimental subjects of the Bible are love, retribution, God; and these are written on the human heart. What Christ put into His book, he put first into the soul, and thus He is the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
2. The impossibility of atheism ever being established in the world. Systems that are inconsistent with the intuitions of the human soul can never stand. The human soul is essentially religious.
3. The responsibility of man wherever he is found. The heathens, with this inner light of goodness, are bound to walk according to their light.
4. The duty of missionaries in propagating the gospel. Let them not ignore the good in the human heart, but–
(1) Recognise it.
(2) Honour it.
(3) Appeal to it.
(4) Develop it. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The barbarian
Twice St. Paul came in contact with barbarians–twice he was counted as a god. Once at Lystra–once here at Melita. It is the Carthaginian or Phoenician religion which moulded the barbarian life that we examine.
I. Barbarian virtues.
1. Two errors have been held on the subject of natural goodness.
(1) That of those who deny to fallen man any goodness at all. This is the effect of a system. No man in his heart believes it. Men are better than their creed. We find here the natural barbarian virtues of hospitality and sympathy. And a Christian contemplating this, gave this distinct testimony, The barbarous people showed us no little kindness.
(2) That of placing too high a value on the natural virtues. We hear much of early unsophisticated times, when wild in woods the noble savage ran. According to this, civilisation is the great corrupter. But the truth is, the natural good feelings of human nature are only instincts: no more moral than a long sight or a delicate sense of hearing. You may travel among savages who treat you, as a stranger, with courtesy: but yet feed on the flesh of their enemies. And these Melitans, who showed no little kindness, belonged to a stock who, in the most civilised days of Carthage, offered human sacrifice.
2. The advent of Christ brought a new spirit into the world. Love your neighbour, hate your enemy. Carthaginians obeyed that. Christ said, Love your enemies. Remark, too, the principle on which this is taught. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh, etc. So He converted rude barbarian instincts into Christian graces, by expanding their sphere and purifying them of selfishness–causing them to be regulated by principle, and elevating them into a conscious imitation of God in His revealed character.
II. The barbarian idea of retribution.
1. Paul was one of those who are formed to be the leaders of the world. Foremost in persecution–foremost in Christianity–foremost in the shipwreck–foremost too, when all was over, in gathering the sticks to make the fire. From those sticks a viper sprung and fastened on his hand, and the first impression of the barbarians was, No doubt this man is a murderer, etc. This is the basis of all natural religion, and underlies all mythologies. The Nemesis who presides over retribution–the whips and scorpions of the Furies–it seems the first instinct of religion. In the barbarian conception of it, however, there was something gross and dangerous; because–
(1) They misinterpreted natural laws into vengeance. There is a proneness in man to judge so. We expect that nature will execute the chastisements of the spiritual world. Hence all nature becomes to the imagination leagued against the transgressor. The walls of Siloam fell on guilty men. On this conviction nations constructed their trial by ordeal. The guilty mans sword would fail in the duel: and the foot would strike and be burnt by the hot ploughshare. Some idea of this sort lurks in all our minds. We picture the spectres haunting the bed of the tyrant. But experience corrects all this. The tyrants sleep is often as sweet and sound as the infants. The viper stings the innocent turf cutter. Only in poetry does the fire refuse to burn the innocent, and Purity lay her band on the fawning lions mane. If we ask where these Melitans got their idea of retribution, the reply is, out of their own hearts. They felt the eternal connection between wrong-doing and penalty.
(2) They expected vengeance for flagrant crime only. This man is a murderer. There is a common feeling now to that effect, Murder will out. The truth is, we think much of crime, little of sin. There is many a murderer executed whose heart is pure compared with those of many a man who lives a respectable life. David was a murderer. The Pharisees had committed no crime; but their heart was rotten at the core.
2. As information increased, this idea of retribution disappears. Natural laws are understood, and retribution vanishes. Then often comes Epicureanism or Atheism. All things come alike to all: there is one end to the righteous and to the sinner. If so, then the inference suggests itself–Let us eat and drink–it is all the same. Or the sceptical feeling comes thus: Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. Therefore why do right instead of wrong?
3. The Advent of Christ brought deeper and truer views. It taught what sin and suffering are. It showed the Innocent on the Cross bearing the penalty of the worlds sin, but still the Son of God, with whom the Father was well pleased. The penal agonies of sin are chiefly those which are executed within. Vengeance, said the Melitans, suffereth not the murderer to live. Whosoever slayeth Cain, said God, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. Cain the murderer lives–Christ, the holy, dies. Cain is to us the dread type of hell. To live! that is hell, to live when you would fain die. You may escape the viper and the wreck. You may by prudence make this world painless, more or less. You cannot escape yourself. Go where you will, you carry with you a soul degraded, its power lost, its finer sensibilities destroyed. Worse than the vipers tooth is the punishment of no longer striving after goodness, or aspiring after the life of God. Just as the man cannot see through the glass on which he breathes, sin darkens the windows of the soul. You are safe, go where you will, from the viper: as safe as if you were the holiest of Gods children. The fang is in your soul.
III. The barbarian conception of deity.
1. When the viper fell off, and Paul was left uninjured, they changed their mind and said that he was a god.
(1) This implied a certain advance in religious notions. Man finds himself helpless among the powers of nature, and worships them. The highest is the worship of the host of heaven. With some it is the adoration of lifeless things. Evidently there can be no holy influence in this. Men worship by fear, and fortify themselves by charms and incantations: do not try to please God by being holy, but defend themselves from danger by jugglery. The Christians of the early ages carried about bits of consecrated bread to protect themselves from shipwreck. Besides this men have worshipped brute life. It is quite clear that the Melitans were beyond all this. It is a step when men rise from the worship of lifeless things to that of animals–another when they rise to worship human qualities; for they are nearest the Divine.
(2) But this worship of the human was the adoration of the marvellous–not the reverence for the good. It was not Pauls character to which they yielded homage. It was only his miraculous escape. So too at Lystra. It was the miracle which they chiefly saw. All that would pass away when they knew that he was a man of like passions with themselves, or when they were informed that it was a providential escape which might have happened to any ordinary man. When the savage sees the flash of European firearms, he kneels as to a god; but when he has learned its use, his new religion is gone. And thus science is converting the religion of mere wonder into atheism. As you teach laws, you undermine that religion. Men cease to tremble. The Laplander would no longer be awed by the eclipse if he knew how to calculate it with accuracy. The savages dread of lightning as the bolt of God is over when he sees the philosopher draw it from the clouds, and experimentalise on it in his laboratory. And the Romanist, whose flesh creeps when he sees a miracle in the consecration of the sacraments, ends in infidelity, when reason has struck the ground of false reverence from beneath his feet.
2. Therefore has the Redeemers advent taught a deeper truth to man. Paul spoke almost slightingly of the marvellous. Covet earnestly the best gifts: yet show I unto you a more excellent way, etc. Love is diviner than all wondrous powers. So too the Son of God came into this world, depreciating the merely mysterious. An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, etc. It was not the supernatural in His miracles which proved them Divine. It was their goodness, their love, which manifested Deity. Faith stands serenely far above the reach of the atheism of science. It does not rest on the wonderful, but on the eternal wisdom and goodness of God. The revelation of the Son was to proclaim a Father, not a mystery. No science can sweep away the everlasting love which the heart feels. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Paul at Malta; or, the insufficient creed of natural religion
The most important subject in our paragraph is what we may call the Creed of Natural Religion, as it may be inferred from the judgments of the barbarians about Paul–first judging him to be a murderer when they saw the viper fastening on him, then going to the other extreme of judging him to be a god because it did him no harm. But, before we come to speak of this, I wish to call your attention to one or two points of practical interest. The first of these is the kindly hospitality which these islanders showed to the shipwrecked men who had been cast so destitute on their shore. This was in very marked contrast to what has frequently happened on the coasts of Great Britain–where men who, I suppose, would call themselves Christians, have held out false lights to a ship labouring in a storm, in order to lure her on to destruction, so that the wreckers, as they are called, may plunder the dead bodies cast ashore, and share the spoil of the wreck. Such diabolical conduct has not unfrequently been displayed by so-called Christian men in Christian Britain, while these barbarians, who never heard of the name of Christ, or of the gospel of kindness and charity which He preached, showed uncommon kindness to the victims of the shipwreck east upon their shores. We admire them, do we not? And why? Just because, after all, kindness, notwithstanding much of the selfishness and cruelty which is in our world, is one of those touches of nature which makes the whole world kin. It is a plant in the heart of the natural man of Gods own planting; part of our nature which shows that, after all, we are children of the heavenly Father, bearing still some traces of the Divine image in which we were created. But while we thus admire and rejoice in kindness as displayed by others, and while we do so because it speaks of the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God, and while we recognise it as a plant of the Heavenly Fathers planting, we must remember that if it is to thrive in our nature, in our homes, in our congregations and Churches, in our communities and social life, like all other plants, it must be cultivated or it dies. The only true way to cultivate any moral plant, whether good or evil, is by exercising it. We often meet with men and women who, in sailing over lifes sea, have been shipwrecked by misfortunes which they could no more have helped than Paul could have helped the storm which blew him and his companions on the shores of Malta. We meet with others whom the wild assault of temptation, or whom the strong storm of their own passions, had driven to moral ruin and shipwreck. What is our attitude towards these? Is it not too often the case that the cruelty and selfishness of our hearts have smothered up the natural kindness which God had implanted in us, so that instead of pitying and helping and showing kindness–a kindness which might be their salvation at last–we stand aloof from them, blaming them unsparingly, judging them harshly, and condemning them fiercely, taunting them with their folly, and accusing them with their sin–so that instead of helping them by our kindness, we, by our cruelty and heartlessness, drive them back to perish in the angry, all-devouring sea of misfortune and sin from which they sought to escape. Shall the conduct of the barbarians of Malta shame us Christians of today? And now to turn for a moment to Pauls conduct on this occasion. We are told he had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire. Instead of standing whining and complaining, and expecting all help from others when misfortune overtakes him, he, with the true manliness which was so characteristic of him, sets about to help himself. Some people, when misfortune comes to them, seem to think that all that they should do is merely to appeal to the kindly compassion and help of others. These are the people whom kindness, charity, help makes paupers of–to whom help is more often a curse than a blessing, for it takes away all manliness and self-respect–whereas the truest and surest way to win the kindly feeling and help of others is that men in misfortune even should do what they can to help themselves, for I do not suppose anyone comes so low in means or in morals but that he can put forth, Paul-like, some effort of self-help, which shall be more effective to raise him back to that position from whence he has fallen, than all the help and kindness which can be shown him. Again, Paul shows that it is never beneath true dignity to stoop to any useful service. If Paul had been like many of us, he would have stood on his dignity as the great apostle, and would expect others to stoop to the menial service of gathering sticks for the fire. But he had the spirit of his Master, who did not think it beneath His dignity to stoop to wash the feet of the fisherman of Galilee–who did not think it beneath His dignity to stoop lower still, and not only wash away the dust stains from His disciples feet with water, but to wash away the infinitely foul stain of mens sins with His blood. There are some people who are quite willing to do open public service, if only they can win applause to themselves, and they think they have been serving Christ, or the cause of their fellow men, but they will not condescend to do an humble obscure act for Christ or for men, because it does not attract to them the applause or notice of others. These must be told they are mere hollow-hearted servants, men pleasers, rendering only eye service, and that their prominent services are not services for Christ or man, but for low, paltry, mean, selfish ends, serving self only; and Christ, aye, and men too, will value their service accordingly. Let us, Paul-like, Christ-like, serve not only in what brings glory and praise and eclat and popularity to ourselves, but let us be willing to serve in what is obscure and insignificant, then we shall prove that we are not self-seekers, but truly Christs servants. And now an incident occurred which opens up a wider train of thought than I have time to devote to the following of it fully out today. When Paul had cast his bundle of sticks on the fire, a viper, which had been lying torpid being revived by the heat, fastens on his hand, but he shakes it off as does a healthy bodily constitution shake off the disease which fastens with deadly effect on others, or as the man who is morally sound at the heart can throw off the deadly temptation which seeks to fasten itself upon him, but can easily spit its poison into the veins of others less morally sound. The more superstitious barbarians came to the usual conclusion in such cases. This man is a murderer, whom vengeance had pursued on the sea, but failed to overtake, but whom vengeance now shall not let escape. After watching for some time and not seeing any symptoms of harm–not seeing, as they expected, that he should drop down dead–they rushed to the opposite extreme, and said, He is a god. Now, underlying this superstition there was this solemn, awful, and eternal truth, that guilt will, sooner or later, by some means or other, be overtaken by punishment. That, as the Scriptures put it, Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished. This is the creed, or at least a part of the creed, of natural religion. An element in the religious belief of all men in all ages, in all stages of civilisation, is the faith that sin shall not go unpunished. It is belief as natural to the human heart, and as keenly felt in the conscience, as that wrong is wrong and right is right. So that the conviction which lay at the bottom of their false judgment of Paul was a true conviction. But there is a deeper truth underlying this conviction–that sin is always followed by punishment. For that conviction assumes that the world must therefore be governed by righteousness–that a universal law of righteousness rules the world when men believe because they see it and feel that it is right, that sin is always followed by punishment–punishment, mind you, not in the world to come only, but in this world of ours. The creed of natural religion is right so far, but then, as exhibited by these barbarians, it was accompanied by the false idea that every accident that befalls a man, every misfortune that comes to him, is punishment for sin. Even at the present day there is a false idea abroad that such accidents as the Tay Bridge disaster was a judgment from God for travelling on Sunday–instead of looking at the true facts that it was bad engineering and bad workmanship–the real cause of the disaster. Many an innocent, good, upright man suffers misfortune and what; we call evils because of the evil doings of others, while many a rogue and scoundrel thrives and is prosperous, and seems to have peace and happiness, notwithstanding his evil-doing. But it is eternally true, as God is true, that sin is followed by punishment, by the inward debasing and demoralising of the man, by the gnawings of a biting remorse, by the eating into his secret heart and life of the worm that never dieth, by the burning in his soul of the hell fire that may never be quenched. While again the good man, the godly man, though outward circumstances may be against him, though he may be in poverty and sickness and sorrow often, aye, even though the viper tongue of slander may fasten on him, and men may suspect him to be a murderer or worse, yet in his innermost being he enjoys the peace of God–the peace that passeth all understanding. He carries about with him the peace of a pure conscience, the consciousness of Gods favour, the grand feeling that he has wronged no man, and the assurance that, notwithstanding his many faults and failings, which no one knows so well, or blames so keenly as he does himself, yet that through the all-pervading mercy of God in Christ, through the infinite merit of Christs great sacrifice–he will be at last received into Gods ever lasting habitation. (J. A. Fletcher.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXVIII.
St. Paul, and the rest of the crew, getting safely ashore, find
that the island on which they were shipwrecked is called
Melita, 1.
They are received with great hospitality by the inhabitants, 2.
A viper comes out of the bundle of sticks, laid on the fire, and
seizes on Paul’s hand, 3.
The people, seeing this, suppose him to be a murderer, and thus
pursued by Divine vengeance, 4.
Having shook it off his hand, without receiving any damage, they
change their minds, and suppose him to be a god, 5, 6.
Publius, the governor of the island, receives them courteously,
and Paul miraculously heals his father, who was ill of a fever,
c., 7, 8.
He heals several others also, who honour them much, and give
them presents, 9, 10.
After three months’ stay, they embark in a ship of Alexandria,
land at Syracuse, stay there three days, sail thence, pass the
straits of Rhegium, and land at Puteoli find some Christians
there, tarry seven days, and set forward for Rome, 11-14.
They are met at Appii Forum by some Christians, and Paul is
greatly encouraged, 15.
They come to Rome, and Julius delivers his prisoners to the
captain of the guard, who permits Paul to dwell by himself only
attended by the soldier that kept him, 16.
Paul calls the chief Jews together, and states his case to them,
17-20.
They desire to hear him concerning the faith of Christ, 21, 22;
and, having appointed unto him a day, he expounds to them the
kingdom of Christ, 23.
Some believe, and some disbelieve; and Paul informs them that,
because of their unbelief and disobedience, the salvation of
God is sent to the Gentiles, 24-29.
Paul dwells two years in his own hired house, preaching the
kingdom of God, 30, 31.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXVIII.
Verse 1. They knew that the island was called Melita.] There were two islands of this name: one in the Adriatic Gulf, or Gulf of Venice, on the coast of Illyricum, and near to Epidaurus; the other in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and Africa, and now called Malta. It is about fifty miles from the coast of Sicily; twenty miles long, and twelve miles in its greatest breadth; and about sixty miles in circumference. It is one immense rock of white, soft freestone, with about one foot depth of earth on an average, and most of this has been brought from Sicily! It produces cotton, excellent fruits, and fine honey; from which it appears the island originally had its name; for , meli, and in the genitive case, , melitos, signifies honey. Others suppose that it derived its name from the Phoenicians, who established a colony in it, and made it a place of refuge, when they extended their traffic to the ocean, because it was furnished with excellent harbours: (on the E. and W. shores:) hence, in their tongue, it would be called Meliteh, escape or refuge, from malat, to escape.
The Phaeacians were probably the first inhabitants of this island: they were expelled by the Phoenicians; the Phoenicians by the Greeks; the Greeks by the Carthaginians; the Carthaginians by the Romans, who possessed it in the time of the apostle; the Romans by the Goths; the Goths by the Saracens; the Saracens by the Sicilians, under Roger, earl of Sicily, in 1190. Charles V., emperor of Germany, took possession of it by his conquest of Naples and Sicily; and he gave it in 1525 to the knights of Rhodes, who are also called the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. In 1798, this island surrendered to the French, under Bonaparte, and in 1800, after a blockade of two years, the island being reduced by famine, surrendered to the British, under whose dominion it still remains (1814.) Every thing considered, there can be little doubt that this is the Melita at which St. Paul was wrecked, and not at that other island in the Adriatic, or Venitian Gulf, as high up northward as Illyricum. The following reasons make this greatly evident:
1. Tradition has unvaryingly asserted this as the place of the apostle’s shipwreck.
2. The island in the Venitian Gulf, in favour of which Mr. Bryant so learnedly contends, is totally out of the track in which the euroclydon must have driven the vessel.
3. It is said, in Ac 28:11, that another ship of Alexandria, bound, as we must suppose, for Italy, and very probably carrying wheat thither, as St. Paul’s vessel did, (Ac 27:38,) had been driven out of its course of sailing, by stress of weather, up to the Illyricum Melita, and had been for that cause obliged to winter in the isle. Now this is a supposition which, as I think, is too much of a supposition to be made.
4. In St. Paul’s voyage to Italy from Melita, on board the Alexandrian ship that had wintered there, he and his companions landed at Syracuse, Ac 28:12-13, and from thence went to Rhegium. But if it had been the Illyrican Melita, the proper course of the ship would have been, first to Rhegium, before it reached Syracuse, and needed not to have gone to Syracuse at all; whereas, in a voyage from the present Malta to Italy, it was necessary to reach Syracuse, in Sicily, before the ship could arrive at Rhegium in Italy. See the map; and see Bp. Pearce, from whom I have extracted the two last arguments.
That Malta was possessed by the Phoenicians, before the Romans conquered it, Bochart has largely proved; and indeed the language to the present day, notwithstanding all the political vicissitudes through which the island has passed, bears sufficient evidence of its Punic origin. In the year 1761, near a place called Ben Ghisa, in this island, a sepulchral cave was discovered, in which was a square stone with an inscription in Punic or Phoenician characters, on which Sir Wm. Drummond has written a learned essay, (London, Valpy, 1810, 4to.,) which he supposes marks the burial place, at least of the ashes, of the famous Carthaginian general, Hannibal. I shall give this inscription in Samaritan characters, as being the present form of the ancient Punic, with Sir Wm. Drummond’s translation: –
[Samaritan MSS. majuscule]
[Samaritan MSS. majuscule]
[Samaritan MSS. majuscule]
[Samaritan MSS. majuscule]
Chadar Beth olam kabar Chanibaal
Nakeh becaleth haveh, rach-
m daeh Am beshuth Chanib-
aal ben Bar-melec.
“The inner chamber of the sanctuary of the sepulchre
of Hannibal,
Illustrious in the consummation of calamity.
He was beloved;
The people lament, when arrayed
In order of battle,
Hannibal the son of Bar-Melec.”
As this is a curious piece, and one of the largest remains of the Punic language now in existence, and as it helps to ascertain the ancient inhabitants of this island, I thought it not improper to insert it here. For the illustration of this and several other points of Punic antiquity, I must refer the curious reader to the essay itself.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The island; this was foretold by Paul, Act 27:26; and therefore though the mariners knew not the land, Act 27:39, and were not able to direct the ship, as Act 27:15, yet God so ordered it, that not a word spoken by Paul did fall to the ground, but the wind and sea obey him.
Melita; now called Malta, a little island between Sicily and Africa. There is another obscure island in Illyricum that was called by this name, which some have mistook for this place of Pauls shipwreck, by reason that this tempest was in the Adriatic Sea: but not only the Gulf of Venice, but the sea about Sicily, and this coast, was so called, as Strabo witnesseth. See Act 27:27.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. knew the island was calledMelita(See on Ac 27:39).The opinion that this island was not Malta to the south of Sicily,but Meleda in the Gulf of Venicewhich till lately had respectablesupport among Competent judgesis now all but exploded; examinationof all the places on the spot, and of all writings and principlesbearing on the question, by gentlemen of the highest qualification,particularly SMITH (see onAc 27:41), having set thequestion, it may now be affirmed, at rest.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when they were escaped,…. From the danger they were exposed to by shipwreck, and were got safe to land; this is omitted in the Syriac version:
then they knew that the island was called Melita; an island toward the African shore, where it is placed both by Pliny g, and Ptolomy h; in which, the latter says, was the city Melita: it lies between Sicily and Tripolis of Barbary, and is now called Malta: it was famous for the knights of Rhodes, which are now called the knights of Malta: it has its name from , “to escape”, it being formerly a refuge to the Phoenicians, especially in stormy weather, in their long voyage from Tyre to Gades; and was indeed a place of escape to the Apostle Paul, and those that were with him. And perhaps it might be so called from its being a refuge for pirates; for Cicero i says, here pirates used to winter almost every year, and yet did not spoil the temple of Juno, as Verres did: though some say it was so called from the great abundance of honey found in it; for it was a very pleasant and fruitful island, bringing forth great plenty of wheat, rye, flax, cummin, cotton, figs, wine, roses, thyme, lavender, and many other sweet and delightful herbs, from whence bees did gather great plenty of honey. It was, according to Pliny, distant from Camerina eighty four miles, and from Lilybaeum a hundred and thirteen; and it is said to be distant from the promontory of Sicily an hundred miles, though others say sixty; and that it was so far from Syracuse, which is the next place the apostle came to in this voyage, was from Africa an hundred and ninety miles. On the east side, a little from the chief city of it, now called Malta, was a famous temple of Juno, spoiled by Verres, as before observed; and on the south side another of Hercules, the ruins of both which are yet to be seen. The compass of the island is about sixty miles, the length twenty, and the breadth twelve, and has in it five ports, and about sixty villages.
g Nat. Hist. l 3. c. 8. h Geograph. l. 4. c. 3. i Orat. 9. in Verrem, c. 17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Paul’s Voyage towards Rome. |
| |
1 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. 2 And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. 3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. 7 In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. 8 And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. 9 So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed: 10 Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary.
What a great variety of places and circumstances do we find Paul in! He was a planet, and not a fixed star. Here we have him in an island to which, in all probability, he had never come if he had not been thrown upon it by a storm; and yet it seems God has work for him to do here. Even stormy winds fulfil God’s counsel, and an ill wind indeed it is that blows nobody any good; this ill wind blew good to the island of Melita; for it gave them Paul’s company for three months, who was a blessing to every place he came to. This island was called Melita, lying between Sicily and Africa, twenty miles long, and twelve broad; it lies furthest from the continent of any island in the Mediterranean; it is about sixty miles from Sicily. It has been famous since for the knights of Malta, who, when the Turks overran that part of Christendom, made a noble stand, and gave some check to the progress of their arms. Now here we have,
I. The kind reception which the inhabitants of this island gave to the distressed strangers that were shipwrecked on their coast (v. 2): The barbarous people showed us no little kindness. God had promised that there should be no loss of any man’s life; and, as for God, his work is perfect. If they had escaped the sea, and when they came ashore had perished for cold or want, it had been all one; therefore Providence continues its care of them, and what benefits we receive by the hand of man must be acknowledged to come from the hand of God; for every creature is that to us, and no more, that he makes it to be, and when he pleases, as he can make enemies to be at peace, so he can make strangers to be friends, friends in need, and those are friends indeed–friends in adversity, and that is the time that a brother is born for. Observe, 1. The general notice taken of the kindness which the natives of Malta showed to Paul and his company. They are called barbarous people, because they did not, in language and customs, conform either to the Greeks or Romans, who looked (superciliously enough) upon all but themselves as barbarians, though otherwise civilized enough, and perhaps in some cases more civil than they. These barbarous people, however they were called so, were full of humanity: They showed us not little kindness. So far were they from making a prey of this shipwreck, as many, I fear, who are called Christian people, would have done, that they laid hold of it as an opportunity of showing mercy. The Samaritan is a better neighbour to the poor wounded man than the priest or Levite. And verily we have not found greater humanity among Greeks, or Romans, or Christians, than among these barbarous people; and it is written for our imitation, that we may hence learn to be compassionate to those that are in distress and misery, and to relieve and succour them to the utmost of our ability, as those that know we ourselves are also in the body. We should be ready to entertain strangers, as Abraham, who sat at his tent door to invite passengers in (Heb. xiii. 2), but especially strangers in distress, as these were. Honour all men. If Providence hath so appointed the bounds of our habitation as to give us an opportunity of being frequently serviceable to persons at a loss, we should not place it among the inconveniences of our lot, but the advantages of it; because it is more blessed to give than to receive. Who knows but these barbarous people had their lot cast in this island for such a time as this! 2. A particular instance of their kindness: They kindled a fire, in some large hall or other, and they received us everyone–made room for us about the fire, and bade us all welcome, without asking either what country we were of or what religion. In swimming to the shore, and coming on the broken pieces of the ship, we must suppose that they were sadly wet, that they had not a dry thread on them; and, as if that were not enough, to complete the deluge, waters from above met those from below, and it rained so hard that this would wet them to the skin presently; and it was a cold rain too, so that they wanted nothing so much as a good fire (for they had eaten heartily but just before on ship-board), and this they got for them presently, to warm them, and dry their clothes. It is sometimes as much a piece of charity to poor families to supply them with fuel as with food or raiment. Be you warmed, is as necessary as Be you filled. When in the extremities of bad weather we find ourselves fenced against the rigours of the season, by the accommodations of a warm house, bed, clothes, and a good fire, we should think how many lie exposed to the present rain, and to the cold, and pity them, and pray for them, and help them if we can.
II. The further danger that Paul was in by a viper’s fastening on his hand, and the unjust construction that the people put upon it. Paul is among strangers, and appears one of the meanest and most contemptible of the company, therefore God distinguishes him, and soon causes him to be taken notice of.
1. When the fire was to be made, and too be made bigger, that so great a company might all have the benefit of it, Paul was as busy as any of them in gathering sticks, v. 3. Though he was free from all, and of greater account than any of them, yet he made himself servant of all. Paul was an industrious active man, and loved to be doing when any thing was to be done, and never contrived to take his ease. Paul was a humble self-denying man, and would stoop to any thing by which he might be serviceable, even to the gathering of sticks to make a fire of. We should reckon nothing below us but sin, and be willing to condescend to the meanest offices, if there be occasion, for the good of our brethren. The people were ready to help them; yet Paul, wet and cold as he is, will not throw it all upon them, but will help himself. Those that receive benefit by the fire should help to carry fuel to it.
2. The sticks being old dry rubbish, it happened there was a viper among them, that lay as dead till it came to the heat, and then revived, or lay quiet till it felt the fire, and then was provoked, and flew at him that unawares threw it into the fire, and fastened upon his hand, v. 3. Serpents and such venomous creatures commonly lie among sticks; hence we read of him that leans on the wall, and a serpent bites him, Amos v. 19. It was so common that people were by it frightened from tearing hedges (Eccl. x. 8): Whoso breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him. As there is a snake under the green grass, so there is often under the dry leaves. See how many perils human life is exposed to, and what danger we are in from the inferior creatures, which have many of them become enemies to men, since men became rebels to God; and what a mercy it is that we are preserved from them as we are. We often meet with that which is mischievous where we expect that which is beneficial; and many come by hurt when they are honestly employed, and in the way of their duty.
3. The barbarous people concluded that Paul, being a prisoner, was certainly a murderer, who had appealed to Rome, to escape justice in his own country, and that this viper was sent by divine justice to be the avenger of blood; or, if they were not aware that he was a prisoner, they supposed that he was in his flight; and when they saw the venomous animal hand on his hand, which it seems he could not, or would not, immediately throw off, but let it hang, they concluded, “No doubt this man is a murderer, has shed innocent blood, and therefore, though he has escaped the sea, yet divine vengeance pursues him, and fastens upon him now that he is pleasing himself with the thoughts of that escape, and will not suffer him to live.” Now in this we may see,
(1.) Some of the discoveries of natural light. They were barbarous people, perhaps had no books nor learning among them, and yet they knew naturally, [1.] That there is a God that governs the world, and a providence that presides in all occurrences, that things do not come to pass by chance, no, not such a thing as this, but by divine direction. [2.] That evil pursues sinners, that there are good works which God will reward and wicked works which he will punish; there is a divine nemesis–a vengeance, which sooner or later will reckon for enormous crimes. They believe not only that there is a God, but that this God hath said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, even to death. [3.] That murder is a heinous crime, and which shall not long go unpunished, that whoso sheds man’s blood, if his blood be not shed by man (by the magistrate, as it ought to be) it shall be shed by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, who is the avenger of wrong. Those that think they shall go unpunished in any evil way will be judged out of the mouth of these barbarians, who could say, without book, Woe to the wicked, for it shall be ill with them, for the reward of their hands shall be given them. Those who, because they have escaped many judgments are secure, and say, We shall have peace though we go on, and have their hearts so much the more set to do evil because sentence against their evil works is not executed speedily, may learn from these illiterate people that, though malefactors have escaped the vengeance of the sea, yet there is no outrunning divine justice, vengeance suffers not to live. In Job’s time you might ask those that to by the way, ask the next body you met, and they would tell you that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction.
(2.) Some of the mistakes of natural light, which needed to be rectified by divine revelation. In two things their knowledge was defective:– [1.] That they thought all wicked people were punished in this life; that divine vengeance never suffers great and notorious sinners, such as murderers are, to live long; but that, if they come up out of the pit, they shall be taken in the snare (Jer 48:43; Jer 48:44), if they flee from a lion, a bear shall meet them (Amos v. 19), if they escape being drowned, a viper shall fasten upon them; whereas it is not so. The wicked, even murderers, sometimes live, become old, yea, are mighty in power; for the day of vengeance is to come in the other world, the great day of wrath; and though some are made examples of in this world, to prove that there is a God and a providence, yet many are left unpunished, to prove that there is a judgment to come. [2.] That they thought all who were remarkably afflicted in this life were wicked people; that a man on whose hand a viper fastens may thence be judged to be a murderer, as if those on whom the tower in Siloam fell must needs be greater sinners than all in Jerusalem. This mistake Job’s friends went upon, in their judgment upon his case; but divine revelation sets this matter in a true light–that all things come ordinarily alike to all, that good men are oftentimes greatly afflicted in this life, for the exercise and improvement of their faith and patience.
4. When he shook off the viper from his hand, yet they expected that divine vengeance would ratify the censure they had passed, and that he would have swollen and burst, through the force of the poison, or that he would have fallen down dead suddenly. See how apt men are, when once they have got an ill opinion of a man, though ever so unjust, to abide by it, and to think that God must necessarily confirm and ratify their peevish sentence. It was well they did not knock him down themselves, when they saw he did not swell and fall down; but so considerate they are as to let Providence work, and to attend the motions of it.
III. Paul’s deliverance from the danger, and the undue construction the people put upon this. The viper’s fastening on his hand was a trial of his faith; and it was found to praise, and honour, and glory: for, 1. It does not appear that it put him into any fright or confusion at all. He did not shriek or start, nor, as it would be natural for us to do, throw it off with terror and precipitation; for he suffered it to hang on so long that the people had time to take notice of it and to make their remarks upon it. Such a wonderful presence of mind he had, and such a composure, as no man could have upon such a sudden accident, but by the special aids of divine grace, and the actual belief and consideration of that word of Christ concerning his disciples (Mark xvi. 18), They shall take up serpents. This it is to have the heart fixed, trusting in God. 2. He carelessly shook off the viper into the fire, without any difficulty, calling for help, or any means used to loosen its hold; and it is probable that it was consumed in the fire. Thus, in the strength of the grace of Christ, believers shake off the temptations of Satan, with a holy resolution, saying, as Christ did, Get thee behind me, Satan; The Lord rebuke thee; and thus they keep themselves, that the wicked one toucheth them not, so as to fasten upon them, 1 John v. 18. When we despise the censures and reproaches of men, and look upon them with a holy contempt, having the testimony of conscience for us, then we do, as Paul here, shake off the viper into the fire. It does us no harm, except we fret at it, or be deterred by it from our duty, or be provoked to render railing for railing. 3. He was none the worse. Those that thought it would have been his death looked a great while, but saw no harm at all come to him. God hereby intended to make him remarkable among these barbarous people, and so to make way for the entertainment of the gospel among them. It is reported that after this no venomous creature would live in that island, any more than in Ireland; but I do not find that the matter of fact is confirmed, though the popish writers speak of it with assurance. 4. They then magnified him as much as before they had vilified him: They changed their minds, and said that he was a god–an immortal god; for they thought it impossible that a mortal man should have a viper hang on his hand so long and be never the worse. See the uncertainty of popular opinion, how it turns with the wind, and how apt it is to run into extremes both ways; from sacrificing to Paul and Barnabas to stoning them; and here, from condemning him as a murderer to idolizing him as a god.
IV. The miraculous cure of an old gentleman that was ill of a fever, and of others that were otherwise diseased, by Paul. And, with these confirmations of the doctrine of Christ, no doubt there was a faithful publication of it. Observe, 1. The kind entertainment which Publius, the chief man of the island, gave to these distressed strangers; he had a considerable estate in the island, and some think was governor, and he received them and lodged them three days very courteously, that they might have time to furnish themselves in other places at the best hand. It is happy when God gives a large heart to those to whom he has given a large estate. It became him, who was the chief man of the island, to be most hospitable and generous,–who was the richest man, to be rich in good works. 2. The illness of the father of Publius: He lay sick of a fever and a bloody flux, which often go together, and, when they do, are commonly fatal. Providence ordered it that he should be ill just at this time, that the cure of him might be a present recompence to Publius for his generosity, and the cure of him by miracle a recompence particularly for his kindness to Paul, whom he received in the name of a prophet, and had this prophet’s reward. 3. His cure: Paul took cognizance of his case, and though we do not find he was urged to it, for they had no thought of any such thing, yet he entered in, not as a physician to heal him by medicines, but as an apostle to heal him by miracle; and he prayed to God, in Christ’s name, for his cure, and then laid his hands on him, and he was perfectly well in an instant. Though he must needs be in years, yet he recovered his health, and the lengthening out of his life yet longer would be a mercy to him. 4. The cure of many others, who were invited by this cure to apply to Paul. If he can heal diseases so easily, so effectually, he shall soon have patients enough; and he bade them all welcome, and sent them away with what they came for. He did not plead that he was a stranger there, thrown accidentally among them, under no obligations to them and waiting to be gone by the first opportunity, and therefore might be excused from receiving their applications. No, a good man will endeavour to do good wherever the providence of God casts him. Paul reckoned himself a debtor, not only to the Greeks, but to the Barbarians, and thanked God for an opportunity of being useful among them. Nay, he was particularly obliged to these inhabitants of Malta for the seasonable shelter and supply they had afforded him, and hereby he did in effect discharge his quarters, which should encourage us to entertain strangers, for some thereby have entertained angels and some apostles unawares. God will not be behind–hand with any for kindness shown to his people in distress. We have reason to think that Paul with these cures preached the gospel to them, and that, coming thus confirmed and recommended, it was generally embraced among them. And, if so, never were any people so enriched by a shipwreck on their coasts as these Maltese were.
V. The grateful acknowledgement which even these barbarous people made of the kindness Paul had done them, in preaching Christ unto them. They were civil to him, and to the other ministers that were with him, who, it is likely, were assisting to him in preaching among them, v. 10. 1. They honoured us with many honours. They showed them all possible respect; they saw God honoured them, and therefore they justly thought themselves obliged to honour them, and thought nothing too much by which they might testify the esteem they had for them. Perhaps they made them free of their island by naturalizing them, and admitted them members of their guilds and fraternities. The faithful preachers of the gospel are worthy of a double honour, especially when they succeeded in their labours. 2. When we departed, they loaded us with such things as were necessary; or, they put on board such things as we had occasion for. Paul could not labour with his hands here, for he had nothing to work upon, and therefore accepted the kindness of the good people of Melita, not as a fee for his cures (freely he had received, and freely he gave), but as the relief of his wants, and theirs that were with him. And, having reaped of their spiritual things, it was but just they should make them those returns, 1 Cor. ix. 11.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Then we knew ( ). Second aorist (ingressive) active indicative of . Then we recognized. See 27:39.
Was called (). Present passive indicative retained in indirect discourse.
Melita (). Not as only B reads, a clerical error, but retained in the text of Westcott and Hort because of B. Page notes that the island was Malta as is shown from the name, the location, the presence of a ship from Alexandria bound for Rome wintering there (verse 11), and the mention of Syracuse as the next stop after leaving (verse 12).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
They knew. The best texts read we knew : ascertained or recognized : with a reference to ver. 39.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
HOSPITABLE RECEPTION OF PAUL and SNAKE-BITE EXPERIENCE ON MELITA V. 1-6
1) “And when they were escaped “ (kai diasothentes) “And when we were all safely on land,” escaped drowning from the commercial grain ship of Alexandria, Egypt.
2) “Then they knew,” (tote epgnomen) “We then found out,” learned, came to know, or recognize, as likely told to them by the inhabitants of the Island.
3) “That the island was called Melita.” (hoti Melite he nesos kaleiti) “That the island was called (known as) Melita,” the “certain or particular island,” as foretold by Paul, after the angel of the Lord had disclosed it to him in the night, during the storm at sea, Act 27:26. The island was doubtless that one now known as Malta, as it appears yet to meet the description of Act 27:39.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
−
1. That doleful spectacle is described in the beginning of the chapter, when so many men being wet, and also all berayed with the foam and filth of the sea, and stiff with cold, did with much ado crawl to the shore; for that was all one as if they had been cast up by the sea to die some other death. After that, Luke declareth that they were courteously entertained of the barbarians, that they kindled a fire that they might dry their clothes, and refresh their joints, which were stiff with cold, and at length that they were saved − (654) from the shower. Therefore, in that Paul commendeth these duties, he showeth his thankfulness; and so great liberality toward strangers is for good causes advanced, whereof there be rare examples in the world. And though common nature doth wring out of the barbarous Gentiles some affection of mercy in so great necessity; yet undoubtedly it was God which caused the men of Melita to handle these men so courteously, that his promise might be sure and certain, which might seem imperfect if the shipwreck had caused the loss of any man’s life. −
A viper coming out of the heat. The very event did prove that Paul was a true and undoubted prophet of God. Now, that God may make him famous as well by land as by sea, he sealeth the former miracles − (655) with a new miracle; and so he ratifieth his apostleship among the men of Melita. And though there were not many which did profit thereby, yet the majesty of the gospel did shine even among the unbelievers; also this did greatly confirm the oracles to the mariners, which they had not sufficiently reverenced. Neither did the viper come out of the sticks by chance; but the Lord did direct her by his secret counsel to bite Paul, because he saw it would turn to the glory of his gospel. −
(654) −
“
Protectos,” protected.
(655) −
“
Oracula,” predictions.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
RINGING DOWN THE CURTAIN
Act 28:1-31.
WITH this study, we conclude the Book of the Acts. It has proven a volume replete with interest and big with spiritual suggestion. It is doubtful if any volume in the entire Bible could so profit the present church as would the careful study of the Book of the Acts. To be sure, many of the Pauline Epistles deal with church problems, but even the inspired pen of a Paul does not so fully present both those problems and their adequate solution as does the administration of the Spirit in this early church life.
Years ago, we published a volume entitled, The Perennial Revival. The second edition of that volume is now well-nigh exhausted. Its fifteen chapters were largely deduced from Acts I and II, and the phenomenal growth of the First Baptist Church, Minneapolis, and its child, the Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School, are largely the product of emphasis upon the principles discovered in those two chapters and applied in the problems of this twentieth century church and school.
It is our conviction that the Book of the Acts not only points the way for local church work, but equally suggests the method of home and foreign missions, and involves the true foundation for all forms of Christian social service. It should be understood, also, that while the book seems to conclude with the twenty-eighth chapter, very important addenda is added in the form of the Pauline Epistles. This Book, then, is only a partial history of the Apostles life and Christian labors. When it closes, he carries on, and between the last sentence of Acts and that day when he is formulating his farewell, I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith (2Ti 4:6-7), years intervene, and notwithstanding the limitations of prison, those years are years of fruitful labor, for some of the finest of the Apostles Letters emanated from the Roman cell.
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform. May it not be that Pauls imprisonment was even providential, just as the imprisonment of Joseph was providential, and the imprisonment of John Bunyan was providential? The fact is that the prison cell provides opportunity for consecutive thought, opportunity for undisturbed expression, that is almost unknown to a fully free life; and as this chapter moves the Apostle Romeward, it also brings him on his way to a climax of Christian service; for, after all, Paul lives, possibly not so much as a preacher, as he does as a writer.
The Pauline Epistles make up a large proportion of New Testament literature and constitute a major section of early Christian teaching. But with them we shall deal in detail in later volumes.
Turning to the text of this twenty-eighth chapter, we ask the readers thought to The Double Mis-judgment, The Incidents of Journey, and The Gospel in Rome.
THE DOUBLE MISJUDGMENT
And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.
And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth mot to live (Act 28:1-4).
They thought evilly of him oh slight occasion. This is an evidence of their barbarity. Ignorance is addicted to both partial and poor judgment. There is not a heathen people in the world but over-emphasize the meaning of misfortune, and almost without exception they misjudge its occasion and its significance. Barbarous people very generally feel that dire afflictions are judgments from offended gods. At this point, both Judaism and Christianity have always contrasted heathenism. When the Book of Job is reached in this study, it will be seen that it is from almost every standpoint a masterpiece. Its literary merit, its scientific insight, its explanation of suffering, its philosophy of life these all combine to give it prominence even in an inspired library, and every reader knows that that Book was written to show the folly of the barbarous judgment that affliction is, in itself, a positive proof of its subjects sin.
What the Book of Job is to the Old Testament, in this matter, the life, sufferings and death of Jesus are to the New Testament. If misunderstanding, opposition and suffering were proofs of sin, then Christ would be the incomparable sinner of all centuries. On the contrary, the same volumes that record these bitter experiences, affirm that He was without sin.
The superficiality of society is often shown at this point. The poor man, the sick man, the unfortunate man, is often judged as the unworthy man; but the judgment is unjustified. Saintliness and suffering are not inharmonious. The fact is, that vipers take particular pleasure in striking saints. The true man, the observing woman, will not, therefore, think evilly of you because some viper has hissed in your direction, or even sought to drive his fangs into your flesh. The wise among men, particularly those who are wise unto salvation, will not give ready credence to the scandal-monger. They will not believe the worst of him who is bitten. They will wait, and watch, and listen, and reserve judgment.
Seeing their mistake, they swung to an opposite extreme.
And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god (Act 28:5-6).
It is very easy for civilized people to elevate a remarkable man to the level of a God. It is far more easy for a barbarous folk to do the same. The capable, or even the favored man, rises rapidly in the judgment of his fellows. A Tunney defeats the worlds heavyweight champion, and men go wild over him, women fall at his feet, newspapers and magazines devote hundreds of columns to his honors. Gertrude Ederle swims the English channel and instantly her name is blazoned the world around and throngs seek a sight of her face. George Young conquers the Catalina Island and his fortune is made. A Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic, and kings and queens, preacher and populace combine to do him honor. And yet, the fact remains that these exceptional people are people, none the less. They are not gods, and, fortunately, no one of them assumes or professes any supernaturalism.
One day Peter and John were on their way into the Temple, and there sat at the gate Beautiful an impotent man asking alms.
Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
And he gave heed unto them, Expecting to receive something of them.
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the Temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
And all the people saw him walking and praising God:
And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the Temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.
And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomons greatly wondering.
And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why took ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus Christ (Act 3:4-13).
It was Peters disclaimer of supernaturalism. Paul, also, had often to do the same. At Lystra, he found a certain man,
impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mothers womb, who never had walked:
The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed
Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet And he leaped and walked.
And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
Which when the Apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein (Act 14:8-15).
In the last analysis, it is the wonderful man, and only the man who is blessed of God whose strength is not inherent; it is imparted.. It is not the divinity in man that flashes forth, but it is divinity above man that comes upon him and makes him conqueror. There was nothing in Pauls veins that proved an antidote to the bite of this venomous beast, but there was a sure promise from God kept, now, to the Apostle:
These signs shall follow them that believe; In My Name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mar 16:17-18)
The worlds noblest men, and the worlds greatest women uniformly resent the extravagant phrases of their fellows. They know their own weaknesses; they understand their own frailties, and their well nigh uniform language is, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy Name, give glory (Psa 115:1). Thats why Christ could say, Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth (Mat 5:5).
Further acquaintance here produced the same view.
In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.
And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.
So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed;
Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary (Act 28:7-10).
The wonder-working Paul did not decline in power. The healing of Publius was even more remarkable than the escape from the viper. Many bitten of poisonous serpents have survived; but few, indeed, ever recovered from a bloody flux instantly, and still fewer are the cases where one healing follows another until the whole island is brought to health; and yet, at the consummation of such a marvel, the islanders ceased to worship and came only to honor and to contribute. This was due to the Apostles teaching, to the emphasis laid upon the weakness and sinfulness of man, and the power and holiness of God. In other words, his days at Melita turned the people from idol worship to a knowledge of the true God. No people ever come to know God in His true nature and character without also better comprehending man. It is in the knowledge of His sinlessness that we see our own sinfulness. It is in the comprehension of His infinite power that we appreciate mans weakness. It is before His infinite wisdom that we feel our consummate folly.
And yet, it is also true that when we come to know God, we come to appreciate His children and to expect great things from those who have access to the Father, and to take pleasure in sharing with them the sacrifices essential to their successful labors.
We should not leave this point, however, until we have emphasized some precious, but now often neglected truths. Our Christ is a Healer! He is the Great Physician! No disease was ever malignant enough to baffle His skill, and no serpent was ever poisonous enough to render His promise impotent.
The other truth here emphasized is: His servants are yet humanly dependent. Food and clothing may come from the Lord, but the medium is the human hand; and when these Melitans honored Luke and Paul, and others with many honors, and laded them with the things necessary to life, they gave good evidence of the fact that they, too, had become Christian. Christianity is a giving religion, and to date, it is practically the only religion the world has ever seen that involved self-sacrifice in behalf of others. False religions almost uniformly teach the sacrifice of self as a means of self-salvation, while Christianity partakes of its Masters spirit. It saves others! Self it will not save!
THE INCIDENTS OF JOURNEY
This is an interesting record! It sounds like a travel diary.
After three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, winch had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux.
And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli:
Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we went toward Rome.
And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appiiforum, and the three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage (Act 28:11-15).
The route is recorded! in the interest of stopping places. The particulars mentioned here are also a vital part of the report. Such incidents provide for a proper test of historic statement. If it were needful, in order to convince the skeptical, we doubt not that every single item of this report could be scientifically demonstrated.
Ancient history knows this island. Alexandria was undoubtedly a shipping point, and in all probability there could be found in secular literature somewhere a reference to this name, Castor and Pollux. E. W. Maunder tells us that Castor and Pollux are the Dioscuri (i. e. sons of Zeus), or the two chief stars in the constellation of the Twins. Some 4,000 years B. C. they served as pointers to mark the beginning of the new year by setting together with the first new moon of springtime. The constellation of the Twins was supposed to be especially favorable to sailors, hence ships were often placed under the protection of the twin gods.
The towns of Syracuse, Rhegium and Puteoli are no more in dispute than was the town of Rome; and it is known that their locations were along the line of just the travel here described. It is one of those remarkable facts that should eventuate in faith in the accuracy and authenticity of the Bible, that such reported incidents are never proven false and impossible. It gives occasion, indeed, to the statement, Thy Word is truth.
There is a vast deal of so-called history that is pure fiction, and there is a vast deal of so-called fiction that is pure history. But the Christians faith rests on facts, not on fictions. The simple, plain, straightforward presentation of this trip carries to the reader a profound conviction that it occurred, and only a scofferthe man whose prejudices makes it impossible for him to accept aught from the sacred Wordwould ever write an interrogation point into this section, Act 28:11-15. There is a very similitude about it alla straightforward story that compels both interest and consent. It is likely, also, that if one retraced Paul one hundred years later, he would find believers at every stopping point. And that very thought leads us to our next statement!
Each delay was doubtless a Christian opportunity. Can anybody imagine the Apostle Paul in Syracuse for three days without a convert? If so, upon what does such an imagination rest? When did he ever stay so long at any point without winning some to his Saviour? Joseph Parker, speaking of Paul at Athens, says that he failed there, but the record refutes the statement, for it plainly reads,
So Paul departed from among them.
Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damans, and others with them (Act 17:33-34).
The reach of this mans influence is also felt in the fact that when Puteoli was reached, certain brethren were found there, and with them he tarried seven days. Who doubts that their number was increased when he went, and that the hearts of all believers had been profoundly encouraged by his presence, and the little church, constituted of but a few, Christ in the midst, was mightily strengthened?
What right has any Christian to spend a day anywhere and leave the people of the place as he found them? You are going on your vacation and you have decided to leave labors of all sorts behind and give yourself to pleasure and ease and healthful outing. But what constitutes pleasure? Is there any incident of a Christians journey that could equal for pleasure a word spoken in the Name of Christ? The man who drives you from point to point; the guide who takes you into his boat and paddles you off to the chief fishing placewhat an opportunity! At your hotel will probably be an elevator, and a man or a woman, or a boy, or girl will be running the same. Is not that equally your chance?
I have a frienda ministerwho is remarkably a duplicate of Woodrow Wilson. One day in New York he entered an elevator, and the thing did not run to suit the lad manipulating it, and he poured out a volley of oaths. My friend said, Son, do you feel it is right to talk after that manner in the presence of your President? The youngster looked up, his face all clouded with confusion, and with utter humility he said, May I beg your pardon, sir, I had not noticed who it was. I am truly ashamed. Half an hour later, my friend descended in the same car, and once more the youngster looked him over and profusely apologized for his uncouth speech.
How oftentimes an oath gives us an opportunity to kindly suggest that Jesus Himself, and God the Father, are worthy of better treatment.
Mr. Moody tells the story of visiting a man in Californiaa man many times a millionaire. Asking him bluntly what he had against God, the man said, Mr. Moody, why do you put a question like that to me? Because, answered the mighty evangelist, you would not use His Name as you do if you did not have occasion to hate Him. They tell me you are the profanest man on the Coast! The charge not only opened the way for a conversation, but brought blushes to the face of the guilty, and that day he turned forever, not alone from profanity, but from infidelity, and gave his heart to God.
One of the chief joys of the writers life is a beautiful letter from an elevator lad to whom enough was said between the first and third floors of a hotel to lead him to Christ, and fifteen years later the letter arrived, bringing a joy beyond any that was experienced on that same pleasant Southern trip.
Yes, every place is an opportunity; every hour is big with the same. Preach the Word; he instant in season, out of season (2Ti 4:2).
Again, this trip was for the Apostles encouragement. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appiiforum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage (Act 28:15).
Does anybody imagine that strong men never sag? Does any one think that the great soul, who goes his way strengthening others, never needs himself to be strengthened? Can we be so poorly acquainted with human nature as not to know that the courageous need encouragement? There are those who seem to think that a prophet of God is a spiritual reservoir upon which to draw. They unthinkingly turn the faucet at their pleasure and take from His strength to supply their own need and never imagine that it means exhaustion for Gods man.
Would you give me fifteen minutes of your time today? Could you fix an hour that I could come up and lay my difficulties before you and seek your advice? Would you come out to my home some time and spend the evening with me and let me tell you my tale of sorrow? Would you go with me to the man who once employed me and then dismissed me, and plead my cause with him? Could you lend me $10 or $50 to help me out of my present financial difficulty? These are the repeated appeals made to every true prophet of God, and those who make them seem to forget that the prophet himself is limitedlimited in the time at his disposal; limited in the strength that he can employ; limited in the means at his command.
But, in the good providence of God, there are Christians who almost uniformly duplicate the conduct of these brethren who came to meet the ship from Alexandria, and to ask nothing of Paul, but to contribute something to him; to express their love; to assure him of their prayers; to lift up his sagging spirit and to send him on his way, conscious that there are those who care, and become courageous in consequence.
The man never lived who was above such needs. Jesus Christ Himself was not an exception here.
That night in the Garden of Gethsemane, oh, how he needed the presence, the prayers, the love, the sympathy, of the three that lay just outside the gate sound asleep! In all literature, there is nothing more pathetic than His question that night, What, could ye not watch with Me one hour (Mat 26:40)? And if Gods Son, with all the resources of infinity at His command, had need of human affection, had need of human prayers, had need of the cheer of human presence, what man is independent of the same? Thank God for men who love, comfort and encourage!
THE GOSPEL IN ROME
And when we came to Rome, What a sentence! This has been the destiny of the Apostle for some time. This, also, is of Divine appointment. The angel assured him that he should preach the Gospel there, and when the angel of the Lord gives assurance, the thing is certain. The centurion could do nothing else than deliver Paul to the captain of the guard at Rome.
And now watch him at his work! Does a prison end his ministry? By no means! All the prisons of the earth would not have ended his ministry. If they had shut him in an innermost cell and sent his food to him by some mechanical contrivance, and permitted him not the sight of a human face, it would not have ended his ministry. Like John Bunyan, he would have sat down in that cell to pen his Epistles, and, sending them out from the same, he would have moved the world and reached millions. But as it was, with liberty given him, he went straight about the work in direct appeal, as well as about the plans of letter-writing.
He made his first appeal to the Jew.
And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.
But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.
For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
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.
But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.
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.
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not (Act 28:17-24).
This is the old orderthe Jew first. It was the Divine program from the day of Abrahams call. Gods promises fail not, and Gods people are never forgotten. He had said to Abraham,
I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that cur set h thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Gen 12:2-3).
That promise is never ignored! Thats why Paul, when he writes to the Jew, says,
I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom 1:16).
And thats why he emphasizes this same truth in the sentences,
Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile (Rom 2:9-10).
There are those who believe that this is still the Divine program. We are not among them! We believe the Jews rejection of Jesus changed that order, and that for this present age, another prophecy is being fulfilled. Israel is suffering from the edge of the sword. It is captive in all nations and Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled (Luk 21:24).
The Jew, therefore, in his rejection of Jesus, and in his refusal to hear those Apostles of the faith who had seen the Lord, had brought upon himself a chastening judgment which will only end when the King shall come in all His glory, and the Jew shall look upon Him whom he has pierced, and mourn on account of it, and in his repentance come to redemption.
How wonderfully the closing verse of Acts sets this all before us, for though Paul called together the people of his own nation and
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 (Act 28:23).
only some believed and others believed not.
And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost, by Esaias the Prophet unto our fathers,
Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should he converted, and I should heal them.
Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it (Act 28:25-28).
The Gospel, rejected by the Jew, was now offered to the Gentile. The phrase, They will hear it, was prophetic indeed. The conquest with the Gospel has been with the Gentilesnot with the Jew. There is nothing strange about that. It is not even in opposition to the Divine will. In Abraham, God found a faithful man and does what He always does made promises of grace to him and to his after him. But that was not to say that he had interest in no other. It is significant that Paul, himself a Jew, appreciated this fact, and when to the Romans he had written of Gods plans of grace, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile, he added, There is no respect of persons with God (Rom 2:11).
Gods program is never a temporal one. In all his labors he keeps his eyes on eternity. He did not experiment with the Jew, intending, if he failed there, to try out something with the Gentiles. From the first, He had the Jew and Gentile alike in mind, and proposed to proffer salvation to both. There was never a time when His plan was other. Had He found among Gentiles a man of the Abraham spirit, He would have begun His work with them as early as He did with Israel.
God is forever waiting to be gracious. His purpose toward Africa and His willingness to save the black continent was just as positive before Livingstone was born as it could have been when Livingstone offered himself as a prophet to that people. His purpose toward China was as gracious twenty centuries since as when Morrison arose. His purpose toward India preceded the birth of Carey by millenniums. There is a statement of Scripture, Apart from Me ye can do nothing. The lives of men have illustrated the truthfulness of it a thousand times. There is an axiom of the Divine behavior, Apart from us He will do nothing, and the whole history of missions involves multiplied illustrations of that truth. He is the vine; we are the branches. The vine provides the life, the power; the branches bear the fruit. Beyond all question, it is a truth that the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. But it is equally true that the vine will not bear fruit apart from the branches.
Israel was once a fruitful bough, but it abode not in Him and so was cast forth as a branch and is withered. That is why He cursed the barren fig tree. It was to show Israel her coming experience and justify the Divine conduct. Does Gods plan fail, then, when men fail Him? Never!
The preaching of the Kingdom closes the Book.
And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,
Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him (Act 28:30-31).
The gravest mistake of the twentieth century is at this point. In fact, the modern apostasy takes this form. Men have quit preaching the Kingdom; they have gone about preaching the church. But when was ever any man commanded to preach the church? And where is there a record of any true apostle that ever did the same? Paul preached
Christ, as did all the other Apostles, and Paul preaches the Kingdom in accordance with the prophetic Word
This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come (Mat 24:14).
This gospel of the church is another gospel, and consequently no gospel. Overlords in the various denominational movements of the day are demanding of men who would enter the ministry that they be loyal to the church and to the denomination; that they preach the church and adopt the denominational program. They are not asking that they preach Christ, and as for the Kingdom, they know not the meaning of it. They identify the church and the kingdoma thing the Bible never does. The church is a called-out companyan ecclesia. The Kingdom is the coming reign of the ChristBasilea. For entrance into the church, only a credible profession is required; for entrance into the Kingdom, new birth is a necessity. The rich find easy access to the church. It is as difficult for them to enter the Kingdom as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. The church is here already. For the coming of the Kingdom, we are taught to pray. The church is largely apostate in the faith. The church is made up of flesh and blood men and no others. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom. When the kingdom comes, it will be made up of incorruptible and immortal men.
The most amazing feature of modernism is its utter failure to distinguish here, and it is also a revelation of its utter ignorance of the plainest, simplest teachings of the Word of God. This is not due to lack of scholastic attainments. These men, many of them, are Hebrew and Greek scholars. It is due to the deadening effects of infidelity. It refuses to take account of the meaning of words. It will not so much as compare the word ecclesia and Basilea.
The New Testament view of the Kingdom does not fit in with the plans and policies of modernism. In order to make it do so, it identifies that marvelous word with the present apostate movement, and speaks of them as if they were one. The concern of an apostate church is to keep its own machinery in movement, the purses of its salaried men filled, and lend potency to the hands of its ecclesiastical overlords.
But the text changeth not. Paul preached, rather, the Kingdom of God, and taught those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding, and the true Apostle of the faith will forever duplicate his ministry and method.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act. 28:1. The best authorities read, And when we were escaped, then we knewlit., And having been saved, then we knew, or learned (by intercourse with the inhabitants) Melita.Not Meleda, an island off the Illyrian coast in the Gulf of Venice, but the modern Malta.
Act. 28:2. The barbarous people, , were not savages, but natives who spoke neither the Greek nor the Roman tongue (compare Rom. 1:14; 1Co. 14:11; Col. 3:11), but most likely the Punici.e., Phnician as used by the Carthaginians. No little kindness.Meant kindness not to be met with every day, uncommon (compare Act. 19:11). They received us.Not to their fire (Meyer), but to their regards, as in Rom. 14:1. The present rain.Not the rain which came on suddenly (Meyer), but the rain then falling.
Act. 28:3. But when Paul had gatheredlit., twisted togethera bundle, large quantity, or heap, of sticks.It does not militate against the truthfulness of this part of the narrative, that Malta now shows a great absence of wood; since the growth of population in the island may have led to the destruction of the forests, while, as an additional consideration, the sticks collected by Paul may have been driftwood from the wreck. A viper., the female adder, the male being . The reptile here referred to, the Vipera aspis, was common in the Mediterranean isles (Tristram). Out of. pointing to the local source. The best MSS. read which might signify by reason of (compare Act. 20:9; Luk. 19:3). The heat.According to Agassiz vipers become torpid when the warmth of the air sinks below the mean temperature of the place they inhabit. The fact that poisonous serpents are not now found in Malta was formerly adduced (Coleridge) as a difficulty connected with the present narrative; but the disappearance of noxious reptiles from Malta may be satisfactorily accounted for by the increase of population and the cutting down of the timber in the island. In this way vipers have almost entirely disappeared from the island of Arran in Scotland (The Landsboroughs: Arran, its Topography, etc., p. 242).
Act. 28:4. The venomous beast.Aristotle (Eth. Nic., Act. 7:1) uses the word to denote any animal below the nature of man; Dioscorides Physicus (A.D. 60) to designate a reptile. (from which comes our word treacle) mean antidotes against the bites of poisonous animals. Hanglit., hangingon his hand.The newer critics (Ewald, Lekebush, Hausrath, and others) suppose either that the viper curled itself round and hung from the Apostles hand without biting, or that though it fastened itself by biting, it was not poisonous; but this opinion neither the natives nor the writer entertained (Holtzmann). A murderer.This the natives probably supposed Paul to be, not because the viper had fastened on his hand (Kuinoel), or because a serpents bite was the Maltese punishment for murder (Heinsius), but because they observed his chains (vincula videbant), and concluded him to be a notorious criminal (Bengel). Vengeance.Better, Justice, or Nemesis, . The goddess Dike who avenged crimes was no mere poetical personification, but a divinity honoured with a special sanctuary in the harbour town of Megaris. Her mother was Themis, the ruling world power; her sisters were Irene (Peace) and Eunomia (Good order) (Holtzmann).
Act. 28:5. Felt or took no harm.A fulfilment of Mar. 16:12 (compare Luk. 10:19).
Act. 28:6. Swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly.Sudden collapse and death often ensue from the bite of serpents (Hackett). Both these, the inflammation of the body and the falling down dead suddenly, are recorded as results of the bite of the African serpents (Alford). Lucan, 9:790, describes the bite of an African serpent, Prester, named from the verb
Nasidium Marsi cultorem torridus agri
Percussit Prestes. Illi ruber igneus ora
Succendit, tenditque cutem, pereunte figur.
which may thus be rendered
Nasidius toiling in the Marsian fields
The burning Prestes bita fiery flush
Lit up his face and set the skin astretch,
And all its comely grace had passed away.
And said that he was a god.Compare Act. 14:13-15. Aut latro, inquiunt, aut deus: sic modo tauri, modo lapides. Datur tertium; homo deo (Bengel). What god the Maltese imagined Paul to be, whether Hercules (Grotius) or sculapius (Wetstein), cannot be determined.
Act. 28:7. In the same quarters.Better, in the parts about, or in the neighbourhood of (R.V.) that place. Possessions.Estates or lands, , as in Act. 4:34. The chief (or first , as in Act. 28:17; Act. 13:50; Act. 25:2) man of the island was the Roman governor, the legate or deputy of the prtor of Sicily, to which, as in the time of Cicero (4 Ver., c. 11) the smaller island was most propably annexed. The use of this official designation, , has justly been regarded as a striking proof of Lukes historical accuracy (Baumgarten, Tholuck, Ebrard, Lardner, Paley, Howson), two inscriptions, one in Greek and another in Latin, having been discovered in Malta at Citta Vecchia, in which this title is similarly employed. Moreover, as the person named on the inscription is called Prudens, a Roman knight, it has been inferred that Publius may have belonged to this class. Publius could hardly have been called the first of the Melitans, , from his social rank or wealth, so long as his father lived. The us whom he received were probably, besides Paul and his companions, Luke and Aristarchus, Julius the centurion. The notion can scarcely be entertained that Publius provided for the whole ships company of two hundred and seventy-six persons.
Act. 28:8. The specification of the disease under which Publiuss father suffered as a fever and bloody flux or dysentery, besides according with Lukes professional character as a physician, was another testimony to his accuracy as a narrator of facts. Whereas formerly the dry climate of Malta was supposed to be unfavourable to dysentery and inflammation of the lower bowels, physicians resident in the island now report these diseases as by no means uncommon among the inhabitants. Laid his hands on himas in Jas. 5:14-15and healed him.Whether through the co-operation of Luke the physician is not statedthough the probability is not. Yet the healings in Act. 28:9 may have been affected partly through Lukes aid.
Act. 28:10. They laded us with such things as were necessary.Better, they put on board such things as we needed for our journey.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.Act. 28:1-10
Three Months in Malta; or, Two Remarkable Incidents.
1. The Preservation of Paul
I. The fire upon the beach (Act. 28:2).
1. The name of the island on which they had been cast ashore, the shipwrecked voyagers ascertained, presumably, by inquiring of the natives. Formerly believed to be the island of Meleda, in the Gulf of Venice, and near the coast of Illyricum, the scene of Pauls shipwreck is now universally considered to have been the modern Malta (according to some ancient authorities, Melitene) in the Mediterranean, about sixty miles south of Sicily. The argument on which this conclusion rests one may sum up thus: Malta lies in the track of a vessel driven by a north-east wind, such as the Euroclydon or Euraquilo was; the reputed locality of the wreck, as mentioned in the apocryphal acts of Peter and of Paul, agrees with Lukes account; the Alexandrian ship in which re-embarkment was made would naturally winter there, rather than at Meleda; the subsequent course of the voyage to Puteoli was that which a vessel would pursue in going from Malta, but not from Meleda (Hackett, Zckler).
2. The kindness of the natives showed them to be barbarians in speech only, but not in heart. The tongue they used was that of neither Greece nor Rome, but most likely Funic, or a Carthaginian dialect of Phnician. Nevertheless the service they rendered to the cold and shivering sailors and soldiers whom Providence had cast upon their coast, proved them to be less degraded than many who have borne the Christian name, but by their cruel treatment of shipwrecked mariners and passengers have placed themselves outside the pale of humanity. Observing the hapless plight of the two hundred threescore and sixteen souls who had been rescued from the waves, and who, besides being drenched with brine, were exposed to the combined severity of a strong north-east wind and a steady rain, the natives proceeded to light a fire for their comfort. It was a small thing to do, but it was the right thing at the right time, and evinced the thoughtful consideration of those who did it.
3. The co-operation of Paul was almost what might have been expected from one who had previously taken part in lightening the ship (Act. 27:19). The writer represents him on this occasion as actively engaged in assisting the barbarians by gathering up and twisting together into a bundle a quantity of sticks to cast upon the flame. Some have objected to the truthfulness of the story on the ground that the Malta of to-day is distinguished by a great absence of wood, but the Malta of Pauls time must have been a barren spot indeed if it contained no brushwood; and in any case there must have been within easy reach, strewed along the beach, pieces of the wreck, which could have been made available for the purpose of keeping up the fire when once it had been lighted.
II. The viper on Pauls hand.
1. The possibility of the incident. That no such venomous reptiles are now to be found in Malta does not prove that none such existed there in Pauls day, any more than the fact that vipers are now almost extinct in Arran in the Frith of Clyde shows they were not formerly numerous in that island. That Paul should have grasped a snake in the handful of brushwood he collected is explainable by remembering that in consequence of the coldness and lateness of the season the reptile may have been in a torpid state, it being characteristic of such creatures that they sink into this condition when the warmth of the air falls below the mean temperature of the place they inhabit. That the beast was restored to activity by the heat of the fire into which it was flung goes without saying, while that it could easily have leaped high enough to fasten on Pauls hand as he stood in the vicinity of the flames is quite credible, since vipers are accustomed to lurk in rocky places, from which they dart out upon their enemies (Ecc. 10:8), rising sometimes several feet at a bound.
2. The danger arising from the incident. Though not expressly stated that the viper bit Paul, this was probably the case, and was evidently believed to be the case by such of the natives as were standing round and observed what had taken place. Knowing well the deadly nature of the reptiles sting, they expected every moment to behold the apostle either swelling up in his arm with strong inflammation, or dropping down suddenly to the ground, as Shakespeare (Antony and Cleopatra, Act v., sc. 2) says when speaking of the asp-bitten Cleopatra and her maid Charmian
If they had swallowed poison, twould appear
By external swelling;
and of Charmian, who, following Cleopatras example, applied the asp to her bosom
Tremblingly she stood
And on the sudden dropped.
(See Critical Remarks.)
3. The termination of the incident. Neither of the results anticipated by the spectators followed. Calmly the apostle shook the beast back into the fire, out of which it never again rose; and, though the wondering natives kept on in momentary expectation that something amiss would happen to the apostle, he suffered no evil effects whatever. Rationalist interpreters would like, if they could, to ascribe this either to the non-poisonous character of the reptile or to the fact that it did not bite the apostle, but it is certain that whether the creature bit him or not Paul would see in his preservation a result due to the providential care and special mercy of God. Nor does it seem unreasonable to suppose that Paul was enabled to behave throughout with the calmness he displayed, because he recalled the promise which his Master had given to the eleven, and of which he must have heard (Mar. 16:18), and bethought himself of the twice-given assurance (Act. 23:11; Act. 27:24) that he would see Rome, and therefore could not perish in Malta.
III. The thoughts of the Maltese.These were various and deep, but mistaken.
1. A wrong conclusion. When they saw the reptile springing from the flames and fastening on Pauls hand, they reasoned, probably observing his fettered wrists, that he must be some notorious criminala murderer, for instancewhom, though he had escaped the waves, Divine Justice, that awful minister of high Heavens wrath that ever follows on the heels of crime, would not permit to live. This suspicion, which they whispered to each other, bore a striking testimony to the sense or apprehension of Divine justice which sleeps in every man, even the most degraded; supplied a signal instance of mans readiness to lapse into error when interpreting providential occurrences or pronouncing upon the characters of others; and gave a salutary reminder to all that even the best of men may be misjudged by their fellows.
2. A disappointed expectation. When the natives remembered what the bite of a viper signified they expected to witness the apostle either dropping down before them a dead man or swelling up along his arm and throughout his body with a strong inflammation; but in this also they were at fault, because of not knowing Him who had promised, They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall in no wise hurt them. Verily there were more things in heaven and on earth than had been dreamt of in their philosophy!
3. A superstitious exclamation. When they found, as they kept looking on to witness the final collapse of the apostles vitality, that nothing happened, and certainly that nothing amiss befell him, they changed their minds, and ejaculated again to themselves and to each other, He is a God!whether sculapius, the god of physicians, who ruled over the serpent, or Hercules, who crushed serpents in his cradle (Stier), for both were worshipped in Malta, cannot be determined. Once more they were as sadly astray as when they had pronounced him a murderer. Thus the multitude know no moderation; it either exalts one to heaven, or thrusts him down to hell (Starke). If Paul understood what the natives said about him, it need hardly be doubted he would correct their misapprehension, as he did that of the men of Lycaonia (Act. 14:13).
Learn.
1. That human nature at its worst estate is not wholly lost. Soft places exist even in the hardest hearts.
2. That Christs people should always be forward in helping their fellows. Paul, though an apostle, disdained not to assist in collecting sticks for the fire.
3. That God is able to protect His people in the midst of greatest dangers. Paul, who had been rescued from the waves, was again shielded from the serpents bite.
4. That the best of men are often mistaken for the worst. Paul was looked upon as a notorious criminal. Pauls master had been condemned as a malefactor.
5. That ignorance and superstition are exceedingly unstable in their judgments. The one moment Paul was shunned as a murderer, the next moment honoured as a God.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act. 28:2. No common kindness. The behaviour of the natives of Malta to Paul and his fellow-voyagers was
I. A testimony to Gods providential care in providing for their wants in a time of urgent necessity, in raising up for them friends in a place where, and at a time when, these could least have been expected.
II. A proof of the. remnant of goodness to be found in the hearts of even the most degraded, which renders their ultimate recovery neither impossible nor hopeless.
III. A rebuke to many Christians whose conduct in showing kindness to their fellow-men falls far behind that of these untutored islanders. Christian dwellers at the coast may learn a Samaritan love from these strangers (Besser).
Two Fires upon the Beach.
I. On the shore of the Galilean Lake (Joh. 21:9).Prepared by Christ for His disciples. An emblem of Christs love towards, thoughtful care of, and bounteous provision for, His people.
II. On the shore of St. Pauls Bay in Malta (Act. 28:2).Prepared by the islanders for the shipwrecked voyagers. An emblem of the kindness which men, and more especially Christs followers, should show towards one another, in sympathising with and assisting one another.
Act. 28:3-6. The Incident of the Viper; or, Faith and Superstition.
I. The barbarians eyes of superstition beheld in the incident four things:
1. An ordinary occurrence, the bite of a serpent, which they expected to be followed by the usual result, the death of the bitten one.
2. A supernatural detection of an evildoer as they supposed, whom Divine justice would not allow to live.
3. An inexplicable phenomenon, which led them to as erroneous a conclusion as that they abandoned.
4. The presence of a Divine being, in which thought they were right, though the Divine presence was not that of Paul, but of Pauls Master and Lord.
II. Pauls eye of faith beheld in the incident four things:
1. A miracle of Divine power. Either in preserving him from being bitten by the adder, or, if bitten, in protecting him against hurt.
2. A token of Divine goodness in thus shielding him from being injured by what might otherwise have proved his death.
3. A proof of the Divine faithfulness. Christ having promised to His disciples before His ascension that they should take up serpents and not be hurt (Mar. 16:17-18).
4. A mark of Divine honour. Put upon Paul in presence of the islanders, not for his sake alone, but for theirs as well, to open for him a door of usefulness among them so long as he remained in the island.
Act. 28:1-7. The Necessity of the Advent for the Barbarian World. Exemplified by the barbarian life and religion of the inhabitants of Melita.
I. Barbarian virtues.Two errors held on the subject of natural goodness:
1. That of those who deny to fallen man any goodness at all, and refuse to admit even kindness of feeling, contradicted by the virtues of hospitality and sympathy which were found among the islanders.
2. The opposite error of placing too high a value on those natural virtues. These Melitans, who showed no little kindness to the wrecked crew, belonged to a stock who, in the most civilised days of Carthage, offered human sacrifice, and after every successful battle with the Romans burnt the chief prisoners alive as a thank-offering to Heaven.
3. The advent of Christ brought a new spirit into the world. A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another. That was not the new part. The Melitans would not have disagreed with that. As I have loved you. That makes all new.
II. Barbarian ideas of retribution.In some form or another the idea of retribution underlies all mythologies, and constitutes the basis of all natural religion.
1. In the barbarian conception of it, however, there was something gross, corporeal, and dangerous; because they misinterpreted natural laws into vengeance. If we ask where these Melitans got their idea of retribution, the reply is out of their own hearts. They felt the external connection between wrongdoing and penalty. The penalty they would have executed on murder was death. They naturally threw this idea of theirs into the character of God, and blended together what was theirs and what is His. This is valuable as a proof of the instinctive testimony of mans heart to the realities of retribution. It is utterly worthless as a testimony to the form in which retributive justice works, because it is not borne out by the facts of life.
2. As information increased this idea of retribution disappears. Natural laws are understood and retribution vanishes. Assuredly there is no vengeance such as this which suffers not the murderer to live, but arms the powers of nature against him. So the idea of retribution goes for those who can see no deeper than the outward chance of penalty.
3. The advent of Christ brought deeper and truer views. It taught what sin is and what suffering is. It showed the innocent on the cross bearing the penalty of the worlds sin, but Himself still the Son of God, with whom the Father was not angry but well pleased.
III. Barbarian conception of Deity.They changed their minds and said that he was a god.
1. This implied a certain advance in religious notions. There is a stage of worship prior to that of man-worship. Men have worshipped the powers of nature and even brute life. The Melitans were a stage beyond this.
2. In this worship of the human, however, it was adoration of the marvellous, not reverence for the good, which they displayed. It was not Pauls character to which they yielded homage, but the wonderful mystery of his miraculous escape. The mere worship of the mysterious has but a limited existence. As you teach laws you undermine that religion.
3. The Redeemers advent taught a deeper truth to man. The apostle spoke almost slightingly of the marvellous (1Co. 13:1). Love is diviner than all wondrous powers. The revelation of the Son was to proclaim a Father, not a mystery.Robertson, of Brighton.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.Act. 28:7-10
Three Months in Malta; or, Two Remarkable Incidents.
2. The Healing of Publiuss Father
I. The subject of the healing.The father of Publius, the chief, or first man, of the island, whose estates lay in the vicinity of the scene of the shipwreck. That Publius was designated the first of the Melitans was due neither to his wealth, which was presumably great, nor to his rank, which was obviously high, but to his office, which was that of representative, legate, or deputy of the Roman prtor of Sicily, to which the smaller island of Malta was annexed as an appanage. Two inscriptions found in Malta, at Citta Vecchia, belonging to the time of Augustus, one in Greek and the other in Latin, show that the term first was frequently so usedthe Greek inscription running, Lucius Caius, son of Quirinus, a Roman knight, first of the Melitans. That his father lived with him was probably a testimony to his filial affection.
II. The motive of the healing.A threefold desire on the part of Paul.
1. Philanthropical. To relieve, if he could, the suffering of the patient, who lay sick of fever and dysentery. Paul was never unmindful of his own preceptAs therefore ye have opportunity, do good unto all men (Gal. 6:10; compare Heb. 13:16). Like his Master, who went about continually doing good (Act. 10:38), he was ever on the watch for occasions to serve. Nor can one more closely resemble either Christ or Paul than by ministering to the infirm and afflicted.
2. Evangelical. To find an opening for the gospel, which he believed and was always anxious to preach. Paul was ever ready to enter with his message of salvation into any door that Providence might open, whether in Ephesus or in Rome, in Cyprus or in Malta. Like Jesus Christ, who was always about. His Fathers business (Luk. 2:49), and whose meat and drink it was to do His Fathers will (Joh. 4:32-34), Paul was one that never missed a chance of publishing the good news of grace and eternal life to those who would hear (Rom. 1:15).
3. Eucharistical. To make some return for the generous hospitality which for three days had been exhibited towards Paul and his companions, which was only common gratitude, a virtue in which the apostle never failed (2Ti. 1:16-18). It is not absolutely certain that Publiuss hospitality was extended to the whole ships company, though possibly the meaning of the historian may be just this, that for three days Publius was engaged in showing kindness to the shipwrecked voyagers, having them up in relays to his mansion or grounds, and sumptuously feeding them. Others, however, suppose that the entertainment referred to Paul and his companions, Luke and Aristarchus, with perhaps Julius, the centurion, and the master of the ship. But in either case Paul would naturally feel that such generosity would demand some return.
III. The nature of the healing.
1. Ordinary. The cure of a fever and dysentery, and yet the only cure of its kind reported of Paulindeed, only the third work of healing ascribed to him in the Acts, the other two having occurred at Lystra (Act. 14:1-10) and at Philippi (Act. 16:16-18), unless the healings and exorcisms attributed to Paul in Ephesus (Act. 19:11-12) be taken into account. That the malady from which Publiuss father suffered was not impossible, even in a dry climate like that of Malta, physicians resident in the island have shown.
2. Miraculous. It is evident that though Luke was a physician, it was not by him but by Paul that the cure was wrought. It was Paul and not Luke who entered into the sick mans chamber. Yet Paul had no power in himself to cure.
IV. The method of the healing
1. Prayer. The apostle followed the usual practice of Peter in attempting the sick mans cure (Act. 9:40). It is possible that on entering the patients chamber Paul had no idea beyond that of praying for his restoration to health (Jas. 5:14), and that the impulse to perform a miraculous act of healing was communicated to his mind during prayer. If he contemplated a miracle from the first, then the precedence of the prayer would assist the patient to detect the source whence his cure proceeded.
2. Imposition of hands. In so acting Paul imitated the method of Christ (Mar. 6:5; Luk. 4:20; Luk. 13:13). The action would in part serve to connect the healing and the prayer as well as to aid the faith of him on whom the miracle was wrought.
V. The effect of the healing.Threefold.
1. Spread of fame. The rest of the islanders who had diseases on them came to Paul for assistance, which, like his Master, he denied not, but freely granted, laying his hands upon them and healing them all (Luk. 4:40), but whether in every instance miraculously, or with the assistance of Luke, is not told.
2. Increase of honour. The patients whom he cured honoured him and his companions with many honoursnot rewards for their services, which Paul would hardly have accepted (Act. 20:33; Php. 4:17), but attentions, marks of favour, in attestation of the kindly feelings with which they were regarded.
3. Supply of need. When the time arrived for departure from the island the natives put on board ship everything they could think of that might be needful for the voyage of Paul and his companions, as once before the friends at Sidon had done (Act. 27:3).
Learn
1. That Christians should never allow themselves to be surpassed in courtesy by men of the world, though they sometimes are.
2. That Christs people should be distinguished for their gratitude to those who show them kindness, which they sometimes are not.
3. That wherever Christians go they should endeavour to leave those they meet the better for their society, which they do not always do.
4. That Christians will lose nothing either in this world or in that which is to come by doing good, which they frequently forget.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act. 28:7. The First Man in Malta: a Sermon on true Greatness.Exemplified in Publius.
I. First in rank.The deputy of the Sicilian prtor, the representative of Imperial Rome. Exalted station a great talent, conferring great powers and creating great responsibilities.
II. First in wealth.A reasonable inference from the mention of lands. Like social dignity, riches a splendid endowment which, when rightly used, may be productive of immense good to their holder as well as to his less fortunate fellows in society around.
III. First in goodness.Which after all is the only greatness. Publius, it is obvious, was distinguished by at least three virtues which are rare.
1. Filial devotion. The presence of his aged father in his official mansion probably spoke well for his respect for and attention to his parents (Eph. 6:1-2).
2. Humble condescension. Though a great man, he did not shrink from condescending to men of low estate like the shipwrecked sailors and prisoners who had been cast upon his island (Rom. 12:16).
3. Generous hospitality. A wealthy landowner, he freely parted with his means to supply the necessities of the poor voyagers whose whole goods had been devoured by the sea (Pro. 21:26; Psa. 112:9; 1Ti. 6:18).
Act. 28:1-10. The People of Malta: an Expressive Representation of the Heathen World.
I. In their need of redemption.Their dark superstition (Act. 28:4-6), their manifold misery (Act. 28:8-9).
II. In their capability of redemption.Their friendly hospitality Act. 28:2); their dim knowledge of God Act. 28:4); their lively susceptibilities for impressions of the Divine (Act. 28:6); their childlike gratitude for kindnesses received (Act. 28:10).
III. In their relation to redemption.The gospel which Paul carried with him to the island and doubtless preached to its inhabitants having been intended for them, adapted to them, offered to them, and to some extent, it may be hoped, believed and enjoyed by them, as it is in the heathen world to-day.Enlarged from Gerok.
Act. 28:4-10. The Mistakes of the Maltese.
I. They misinterpreted the providence of God (Act. 28:4).
II. They misjudged the character of Paul (Act. 28:4; Act. 28:6).
III. They misunderstood their own needs (Act. 28:9).
Act. 28:7-10. The Beauty and the Profit of Kindness. Illustrated by and in Publius and Paul.
I. The beauty of kindness.Shown by
1. The courteous entertainment of Paul and his companions by Publius.
2. The unstinted philanthropy of Paul in healing not only Publius father, but all the diseased islanders who came to him.
II. The profit of kindness.Experienced by
1. Publius, who must have felt his generosity to the apostle more than repaid by the healing of his father.
2. Paul, who doubtless also owned himself abundantly recompensed for his labours among the islanders by the tributes of affection he bore away with him from Malta.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
12.
MELITA. Act. 28:1-10.
Act. 28:1
And when we were escaped, then we knew that the island was called Melita.
Act. 28:2
And the barbarians showed us no common kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us all, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
Act. 28:3
But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out by reason of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
Act. 28:4
And when the barbarians saw the venomous creature hanging from his hand, they said one to another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped from the sea, yet Justice hath not suffered to live.
Act. 28:5
Howbeit he shook off the creature into the fire, and took no harm.
Act. 28:6
But they expected that he would have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but when they were long in expectation and beheld nothing amiss come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
Act. 28:7
Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius; who received us, and entertained us three days courteously.
Act. 28:8
And it was so, that the father of Publius lay sick of fever and dysentery: unto whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laying his hands on him healed him.
Act. 28:9
And when this was done, the rest also that had diseases in the island came, and were cured:
Act. 28:10
who also honored us with many honors; and when we sailed, they put on board such things as we needed.
Act. 28:1-6 The natives of the island were doubtless as intent upon seeing what was in the sea before their island as those on board were in seeing what lay before them.
The first passenger had hardly come out of the water until the natives began to gather sticks and brush for a fire. It was cold and these strangers were wet. Thus in a short time a great bonfire, was blazing and the thankful survivors were standing around it trying to warm themselves.
Paul again shows his humility and helpful spirit. Up into the wooded area went the apostle to gather an armful of furzeroots and laid them on the fire, but even as he did so he knew that he had gathered more than roots in that armload. Because of the heat, the snake that had hidden there came out. Paul evidently was yet in the position of putting the fuel on the fire when the viper slithered out and immediately struck at him and fastened itself to his hand. The creature so firmly fastened itself that it hung from Pauls hand. All could see it. The Maltese were seen whispering among themselves. Luke learned that they were saying of Paul
Surely this man was a murderer (possibly having learned that there were prisoners among the strangers), that even though he has escaped the sea yet justice is giving him his just deserts.
But the snake did not hang on Pauls hand long for it was shaken off into the fire. Then were the barbarians the more intent upon watching this stranger, but he neither fell over dead nor did they see him swell up at all. Then in a few moments they repeated in reverse what had happened to the apostle at Lystra. They called him a god!
1005.
What was the first act of kindness on the part of the natives?
1006.
What caused the snake to come out of the roots?
1007.
How were the Maltese like and unlike those of Lystra?
Act. 28:7-10 Following the episode on the beach they were taken to the governor of the island whose name was Publius. He was a wealthy land owner and was very kindly disposed toward these unexpected visitors. For three days they were treated royally by Publius. The unusual escape of Paul from the bite of the serpent was probably noised about but the islanders were to have even more proof of the power and presence of God with this man.
They had not been any time with the governor until they were told of the severe sickness of his fathervery probably he was confined to his bed in his sons house. He was suffering from dysentery in the aggravated form. Paul doubtless saw an opportunity to repay some of the kindness shown them and at the same time an opportunity to give testimony for his Saviour. Going into the room where the sick man lay, Paul placed his hands upon him and prayed; he was healed. This exciting and wonderful incident was soon told in every part of the island. In no time at all Paul had a business of healing on his hands. Those with all types of diseases came to be curedand were they? Ah, yes! Like in the days of the Saviour (and so unlike today) there were no disappointments. These persons were not without a deep sense of gratitude. Paul, Luke, Aristarchus and others were honored with many honors. And when they sailed, the natives put on board the ship as many things in foodstuffs and other gifts as they thought they could use.
1008.
How did Paul repay the natives for their kindness and at the same time open a door for the gospel?
1009.
How are the cures of Paul and Jesus unlike those of today?
PUTEOLI
A famous watering place of the Romans, located in a sheltered part of the Bay of Naples. Its Greek name was Dicaearchia. It was the most accessible harbor near to Rome. So Paul was brought to this port with other prisoners (Act. 28:13). Vespasian conferred great privileges upon the city. Cicero had a villa here, and Hadrian a tomb. Portions of its famous baths remain to this day, and a part of the pier at which St. Paul must have landed on his way to Rome. The present name is Pozzuoli. (Ungers Bible Dictionary, P. 904, 905.)
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXVIII.
(1) Then they knew that the island was called Melita.There is no ground for questioning the current belief that this was the modern Malta, It was the only island known as Melita by the Greeks and Romans. The gale, which had been blowing for fourteen days since the ship left Crete, would drive her in that direction. The local features of St. Pauls Bay agree closely, as has been seen, with the narrative in the Acts. There has from a very early date been a local tradition in favour of the belief. The Bay bears St. Pauls name. A cave is pointed out as having given him shelter. There has, however, been a rival claimant. In the Gulf of Venice, off the coast of Illyria, there is a small island, Meleta (now Meleda), which has been identified by some writers with the scene of St. Pauls shipwreck. The view is first mentioned by Constantino Porphyrogenitus, a Greek writer of the tenth century, and was revived in the last century by Padre Georgi, an ecclesiastic of the island. There is, however, not a shadow of evidence in its favour, beyond the similarity (riot identity) of name, and the mention of Adria in Act. 27:27. It has been shown, however, that that term was used with far too wide a range to be decisive on such a question; and against the view there are the facts (1) that it would almost have required a miracle to get the ship, with a north-east gale blowing strongly, up to the Illyrian coast of the Gulf of Venice; (2) that a ship would not naturally have wintered on that coast on its way from Alexandria to Puteoli (Act. 28:11); (3) that there has been no local tradition in its favour, as at Malta. The island of Malta was originally a Phoenician colony. It came under the power of Carthage in B.C. 402, and was ceded to Rome in B.C. 242. Its temple, dedicated to Juno, was rich enough to be an object of plunder to Verres, the Prtor of Sicily (Cic. In Verr. vv. 46).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 28
WELCOME AT MALTA ( Act 28:1-6 ) 28:1-6 When we had been brought safely to shore, we recognized that the island was Malta. The natives showed us quite extraordinary kindness for they lit a bonfire and brought us all to it because of the rain which had come on and the cold. When Paul had twisted up a faggot of sticks and placed it on the fire, a viper came out of it because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the natives saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer and, although he has been rescued from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and took no harm. They stood waiting for him to swell up or suddenly to fall down dead; and when they had waited expectantly for a long time and saw that nothing untoward was happening to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.
It was upon the island of Malta that Paul and the ship’s company were cast. The King James Version is a little unkind to the Maltese. It calls them the barbarous people. It is true that the Greek calls them barbaroi ( G915) ; but to the Greek the barbarian was a man who said bar-bar, that is, a man who spoke an unintelligible foreign language and not the beautiful Greek tongue. We come nearer to the meaning when we simply call them the natives.
This passage sheds vivid little side-lights on the character of Paul. For one thing, there is the lovely and homely touch that he was a man who could not bear to be doing nothing; there was a bonfire to be kept alight and Paul was gathering brushwood for it. Once again we see that for all Paul’s visions he was an intensely practical man; and more, that great man though he was, he was not ashamed to be useful in the smallest thing.
It is told that Booker Washington in his youth walked hundreds of miles to one of the few universities which took in negro students. When he got there he was told that the classes were full. He was offered a job at making beds and sweeping floors. He took it; and he swept those floors and made those beds so well that before very long they took him as a student and he went on to become the greatest scholar and administrator of his people. It is only the little man who refuses the little task.
Further, we see Paul as a man cool and unexcited. In one of his bundles of brushwood was a torpid viper which was wakened by the heat and fastened itself to his hand. It is difficult to tell whether this was a miraculous happening or not. Nowadays at least there is no such thing as a poisonous snake in Malta; and in Paul’s time there was a snake very like a viper but quite harmless. It is far more likely that Paul shook off the snake before it had time to pierce his skin. In any event he seems to have handled the whole affair as if it was of little account. It certainly looked to the Maltese like a miracle but clearly Paul was a man who did not fuss!
HELP AND HEALING ( Act 28:7-10 ) 28:7-10 In the neighbourhood of that place there were estates which belonged to the Chief of the island, who was called Publius. He welcomed us and hospitably entertained us for three days. It so happened that Publius’ father was lying ill, in the grip of intermittent attacks of fever and of dysentery. Paul went to visit him. He prayed and laid his hands on him and cured him. When this happened,. the rest of the people in the island who had ailments kept coming and being cured. So they heaped honours upon us and when we left they gave us supplies for our needs.
It seems that in Malta the Chief of the island was a title; and Publius may well have been the chief Roman representative for that part of the island. His father was ill and Paul was able to exercise his healing gift and bring him relief. But in Act 28:9 there is a very interesting possibility. That verse says that the rest of the people who had aliments came and were healed. The word used is the word for receiving medical attention; and there are scholars who think that this can well mean, not only that they came to Paul, but that they came to Luke who gave them of his medical skill. If that be so, this passage gives us the earliest picture we possess of the work of a medical missionary. There is a poignant thing here. Paul could exercise the gift of healing; and yet he himself had always to bear about with him the thorn in the flesh. Many a man has brought to others a gift which was denied to him. Beethoven, for instance, gave to the world immortal music which he himself, being stone-deaf, never heard. It is one of the wonders of grace that such men did not grow bitter but were content to be the channels of blessings which they themselves could never enjoy.
SO WE CAME TO ROME ( Act 28:11-15 ) 28:11-15 After three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered in the island, the figure-head of which was The Heavenly Twins. We landed at Syracuse and stayed there for three days. From there we sailed round and arrived at Rhegium; and, after one day, when the south wind had sprung up, we made Puteoli in two days. There we found brethren and were invited to stay amongst them for seven days; and so we came to Rome. When the brethren had received news about us, they came from there to meet us, as far as Apii Forum and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage.
After three months, Paul and the ship’s company managed to get passages for Italy on another corn ship which had wintered in Malta. In those days ships had figure-heads. Two of the favourite gods of sea-faring folk were The Heavenly Twins, Castor and Pollux; and this ship had carved images of them as its figure-head. This time the voyage was as prosperous as the previous one had been disastrous.
Puteoli ( G4223) was the port of Rome. There must have been tremors in Paul’s heart for now he was on the very threshold of the capital of the world. How would a little Jewish tentmaker fare in the greatest city in the world? To the north lay the port of Misenum where the Roman fleets were stationed; and as he saw the warships in the distance Paul must have thought of the might of Rome. Nearby were the beaches of Baiae which was the “Brighton of Italy,” with its crowded beaches and the coloured sails of the yachts of the wealthy Romans. Puteoli, with its wharves and its store-houses and its ships, has been called the “Liverpool of the ancient world.”
For once there must have been a catch at Paul’s heart as he faced Rome almost alone. Then something wonderful happened. Apii Forum is 43 miles from Rome and the Three Taverns, 33. They were on the great Appian Way which led from Rome to the coast. And a deputation of Roman Christians came to meet him. The Greek word used is that used for a city deputation going to meet a general or a king or a conqueror. They came to meet Paul as one of the great ones of the earth; and he thanked God and took courage. What was it that so specially lifted up his heart? Surely it was the sudden realization that he was far from being alone.
The Christian is never alone. (i) He has the consciousness of the unseen cloud of witnesses around him and about him. (ii) He has the consciousness of belonging to a world-wide fellowship. (iii) He has the consciousness that wherever he goes there is God. (iv) He has the certainty that his Risen Lord is with him.
UNSYMPATHETIC JEWS ( Act 28:16-29 ) 28:16-29 When we arrived in Rome, permission was given to Paul to stay in his own house with the soldier who was his guard. After three days he invited the leaders of the Jews to come to see him. When they had assembled, he proceeded to say, “Brethren, although I have done nothing against the People or against our ancestral customs, I was given over as a prisoner into the hands of the Romans from Jerusalem. When the Romans had investigated my case, they wished to release me because there were no grounds which could be made a capital charge against me. When the Jews objected to my release, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation to make against my nation. It is for this reason that I have invited you to come to see me and talk things over with me, for it is for the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” They said to him, “We have received no letter about you from Judaea and none of the brethren has arrived to report or say anything evil about you. We think it right to hear from you what opinions you hold, for, regarding this party of yours, it is a known fact to us that everywhere it is objected to.” They fixed a day for him and a considerable number of them came to accept his hospitality. He expounded the matter to them, testifying concerning the kingdom of God and trying, from early morning until evening, to persuade them about Jesus with arguments based on the Law of Moses and the Prophets. Some were convinced by what he said and some refused to believe. When they could not agree with one another, they began to break up, after Paul had made one last statement, “It was rightly,” he said, “that the Holy Spirit spoke to your fathers through the prophet Isaiah saying, ‘Go to this people and say, “You will certainly hear and you will surely not understand; you will certainly look and you will surely not see; for the heart of this people has grown heavily insensitive and they hear dully with their ears and they have closed their eyes, so that they cannot see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn that I should heal them.”‘ Let it be known to you, this salvation of God has been sent out to the Gentiles; and it is they who will hear.”
There is something infinitely wonderful in the fact that to the end of the day, wherever he went, Paul began with the Jews. For rather more than thirty years now they had been doing everything they could to hinder him, to undo his work, and even to kill him: and even yet it is to them first he offers his message. Is there any example of undefeatable hope and unconquerable love like this act of Paul when, in Rome too, he preached first to the Jews?
In the end he comes to a conclusion, implied in his quotation from Isaiah. It is that this too is the work of God; this rejection of Jesus by the Jews is the very thing which has opened the door to the Gentiles. There is a purpose in everything; on the helm of things is the hand of the unseen steersman–God. The door which the Jews shut was the door that opened to the Gentiles; and even that is not the end, because some time, at the end of the day, there will be one flock and one shepherd.
WITHOUT LET OR HINDRANCE ( Act 28:30-31 ) 28:30-31 For the space of two whole years, Paul remained there, earning his own living; and it was his custom to receive all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching them the facts about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete freedom of speech and without let or hindrance.
To the end of the day Paul is Paul. The King James Version obscures a point. It says that for two years he lived in his own hired house. The real meaning is that he lived at his own expense, that he earned his own living. Even in prison his own two hands supplied his need; and he was not idle otherwise. It was there in prison that he wrote the letters to the Philippians, to the Ephesians, to the Colossians and to Philemon. Nor was he ever altogether alone. Luke and Aristarchus had come with him and to the end Luke remained ( 2Ti 4:11). Timothy was often with him ( Php_1:1 ; Col 1:1; Phm 1:1). Sometimes Tychicus was with him ( Eph 6:21). For a while he had the company of Epaphroditus ( Php_4:18 ). And sometimes Mark was with him ( Col 4:10).
Nor was it wasted time. He tells the Philippians that all this has fallen out to the furtherance of the gospel ( Php_1:12 ). That was particularly so because his bonds were known throughout all the Praetorian Guard ( Php_1:13 ). He was in his own private lodging but night and day a soldier was with him ( Act 28:16). These headquarters soldiers were members of the picked troops of the Emperor, the Praetorian Guard. In two years many of them must have spent long days and nights with Paul; and many a man must have gone from his guard duty with Christ in his heart.
And so the Book of Acts comes to an end with a shout of triumph. In the Greek without let or hindrance are one word and that one word falls like a victor’s cry. It is the peak of Luke’s story. We wonder why Luke never told us what happened to Paul, whether he was executed or released. The reason is that this was not Luke’s purpose. At the beginning Luke gave us his scheme of Acts when he told how Jesus commanded his followers to bear witness for him in Jerusalem and all over Judaea and Samaria and away to the ends of the earth ( Act 1:8). Now the tale is finished; the story that began in Jerusalem rather more than thirty years ago has finished in Rome. It is nothing less than a miracle of God. The Church which at the beginning of Acts could be numbered in scores cannot now be numbered in tens of thousands. The story of the crucified man of Nazareth has swept across the world in its conquering course until now without interference it is being preached in Rome, the capital of the world. The gospel has reached the centre of the world and is being freely proclaimed–and Luke’s task is at an end.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
FURTHER READING
Acts
F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (NLC; E)
E. Haenchen, Die Apostelgeschichte (G)
F. J. Foakes Jackson and K. Lake, The Beginnings Of Christianity (A five-volume work; especially useful are Vol.
IV, The Commentary and Vol. V, Additional Notes)
W. Neil, The Acts of the Apostles (NCB; E)
Abbreviations
NCB: New Century Bible
NLC: New London Commentary
E: English Text
G: Greek Text
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
Paul on the Isle of Malta , Act 28:1-11 .
1. Escaped The wreck of a great merchantman, and the escape of two hundred and seventy-six persons to the shore, would attract a large company of the rural population to the shore. The city of Valetta, the present capital, was but five miles distance.
They knew Either because some of them recognised some aspects of the place, or because they learned it from the inhabitants.
Melita Malta. (See map.) It is about sixty miles south of Sicily. Originally peopled by the Phoenicians, it was conquered by the Greeks, and subsequently, as in Paul’s time, belonged to the Romans. In the ninth century it was conquered by the Saracens, from whom it was won, with a heroism celebrated in history, by “the Knights of Malta.” It now is owned by England. (Note Act 27:27.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
PART THIRD.
CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE GENTILES. From Chapter Act 13:1, to End of Acts.
Through the remainder of his work Luke’s subject is the evangelization of the Gentiles, and his hero is Paul. His field is western Asia and Europe; his terminal point is Rome, and the work is the laying the foundation of modern Christendom. At every point, even at Rome, Luke is careful to note the Gospel offer to the Jews, and how the main share reject, and a remnant only is saved. And thus it appears that Luke’s steadily maintained object is to describe the transfer of the kingdom of God from one people to all peoples.
I. PAUL’S FIRST MISSION From Antioch, through Cyprus, into Asia, as far as Lystra and Derbe, thence back to Antioch, Act 13:1 Act 14:28.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And when we had escaped, then we knew that the island was called Melita.’
Once ashore having escaped the sea they learned that the island on which they had landed was Malta. Malta, also called Melita (meaning refuge) which it was for many a sailor, lies about 60 miles south of the island of Sicily, and about 500 miles west of Crete. It Isaiah 18 miles long and 8 miles wide. The people who inhabited it in Paul’s day were of Phoenician origin. Luke calls them “barbarians” (Gr. barbaroi – one who says ‘bar-bar-bar’) because of the difficulties that he had in understanding some of them because in the excitement they favoured their own native tongue. But there is no suggestion of their being uncivilised.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
PAUL’S JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM AND THEN TO ROME (19:21-28:31).
Here we begin a new section of Acts. It commences with Paul’s purposing to go to Jerusalem, followed by an incident, which, while it brings to the conclusion his ministry in Ephesus, very much introduces the new section. From this point on all changes. Paul’s ‘journey to Jerusalem’ and then to Rome has begun, with Paul driven along by the Holy Spirit.
The ending of the previous section as suggested by the closing summary in Act 19:20 (see introduction), together with a clear reference in Act 19:21 to the new direction in which Paul’s thinking is taking him, both emphasise that this is a new section leading up to his arrival in Rome. Just as Jesus had previously ‘changed direction’ in Luke when He set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luk 9:51), so it was to be with Paul now as he too sets his face towards Jerusalem. It is possibly not without significance that Jesus’ ‘journey’ also began after a major confrontation with evil spirits, which included an example of one who used the name of Jesus while not being a recognised disciple (compare Act 19:12-19 with Luk 9:37-50).
From this point on Paul’s purposing in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem on his way to Rome takes possession of the narrative (Act 19:21; Act 20:16; Act 20:22-23; Act 21:10-13; Act 21:17), and it will be followed by the Journey to Rome itself. And this whole journey is deliberately seen by Luke as commencing from Ephesus, a major centre of idolatry and the of Imperial cult, where there is uproar and Paul is restricted from preaching, and as, in contrast, deliberately ending with the triumph of a pure, unadulterated Apostolic ministry in Rome where all is quiet and he can preach without restriction. We can contrast with this how initially in Section 1 the commission commenced in a pure and unadulterated fashion in Jerusalem (Act 1:3-9) and ended in idolatry in Caesarea (Act 12:20-23). This is now the reverse the same thing in reverse.
Looked at from this point of view we could briefly summarise Acts in three major sections as follows:
The Great Commission is given in Jerusalem in the purity and triumph of Jesus’ resurrection and enthronement as King. The word powerfully goes out to Jerusalem and to its surrounding area, and then in an initial outreach to the Gentiles. Jerusalem reject their Messiah and opt for an earthly ruler whose acceptance of divine honours results in judgment (Act 19:1-12).
The word goes out triumphantly to the Dispersion and the Gentiles and it is confirmed that they will not be required to be circumcised or conform to the detailed Jewish traditions contained in what is described as ‘the Law of Moses’ (Act 13:1 to Act 19:20).
Paul’s journey to Rome commences amidst rampant idolatry and glorying in the royal rule of Artemis and Rome, and comes to completion with Paul, the Apostle, triumphantly proclaiming Jesus Christ and the Kingly Rule of God from his own house in Rome (Act 19:21 to Act 28:31).
It will be seen by this that with this final section the great commission has in Luke’s eyes been virtually carried out. Apostolic witness has been established in the centre of the Roman world itself and will now reach out to every part of that world, and the command ‘You shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth’ is on the point of fulfilment.
This final section, in which Paul will make his testimony to the resurrection before kings and rulers, may be analysed as follows.
a Satan counterattacks against Paul’s too successful Ministry in Ephesus and throughout Asia Minor and causes uproar resulting in his ministry being unsuccessfully attacked by the worshippers of ‘Artemis (Diana) of the Ephesians’. This city, with its three ‘temple-keepers’ for the Temple of Artemis and the two Imperial Cult Temples, is symbolic of the political and religious alliance between idolatry and Rome which has nothing to offer but greed and verbosity. It expresses the essence of the kingly rule of Rome. And here God’s triumph in Asia over those Temples has been pictured in terms of wholesale desertion of the Temple of Artemis (mention of the emperor cult would have been foolish) by those who have become Christians and will in the parallel below be contrasted and compared with Paul freely proclaiming the Kingly Rule of God in Rome (Act 19:21-41).
b Paul’s progress towards Jerusalem is diverted because of further threats and he meets with disciples for seven days at Troas (Act 20:1-6).
c The final voyage commences and a great sign is given of God’s presence with Paul. Eutychus is raised from the dead (Act 20:7-12).
d Paul speaks to the elders from the church at Ephesus who meet him at Miletus and he gives warning of the dangers of spiritual catastrophe ahead and turns them to the word of His grace. If they obey Him all will be saved (Act 20:13-38).
e A series of maritime stages, and of prophecy (Act 19:4; Act 19:11), which reveals that God is with Paul (Act 21:1-16).
f Paul proves his true dedication in Jerusalem and his conformity with the Law and does nothing that is worthy of death but the doors of the Temple are closed against him (Act 21:17-30).
g Paul is arrested and gives his testimony of his commissioning by the risen Jesus (Act 21:31 to Act 22:29).
h Paul appears before the Sanhedrin and points to the hope of the resurrection (Act 22:30 to Act 23:9).
i He is rescued by the chief captain and is informed by the Lord that as he has testified in Jerusalem so he will testify in Rome (Act 23:11).
j The Jews plan an ambush, which is thwarted by Paul’s nephew (Act 23:12-25).
k Paul is sent to Felix, to Caesarea (Act 23:26-35).
l Paul makes his defence before Felix stressing the hope of the resurrection (Act 24:1-22).
k Paul is kept at Felix’ pleasure for two years (with opportunities in Caesarea) (Act 24:23-27).
j The Jews plan to ambush Paul again, an attempt which is thwarted by Festus (Act 25:1-5).
i Paul appears before Festus and appeals to Caesar. To Rome he will go (Act 25:6-12).
h Paul is brought before Agrippa and gives his testimony stressing his hope in the resurrection (Act 25:23 to Act 26:8).
g Paul gives his testimony concerning his commissioning by the risen Jesus (Act 26:9-23).
f Paul is declared to have done nothing worthy of death and thus to have conformed to the Law, but King Herod Agrippa II closes his heart against his message (Act 26:28-32).
e A series of maritime stages and of prophecy (Act 19:10; Act 19:21-26) which confirms that God is with Paul (27.l-26).
d Paul speaks to those at sea, warning of the dangers of physical catastrophe ahead unless they obey God’s words. If they obey Him all will be delivered (Act 27:27-44).
c Paul is delivered from death through snakebite and Publius’ father and others are healed, which are the signs of God’s presence with him, and the voyage comes to an end after these great signs have been given (Act 28:1-13).
b Paul meets with disciples for seven days at Puteoli and then at the Appii Forum (Act 28:14-15).
a Paul commences his ministry in Rome where, living in quietness, he has clear course to proclaim the Kingly Rule of God (Act 28:16-31).
Thus in ‘a’ the section commences at the very centre of idolatry which symbolises with its three temples (depicted in terms of the Temple of Artemis) the political and religious power of Rome, the kingly rule of Rome, which is being undermined by the Good News which has ‘almost spread throughout all Asia’ involving ‘much people’. It begins with uproar and an attempt to prevent the spread of the Good News and reveals the ultimate emptiness of that religion. All they can do is shout slogans including the name of Artemis, but though they shout it long and loud that name has no power and results in a rebuke from their ruler. In the parallel the section ends with quiet effectiveness and the Good News of the Kingly Rule of God being given free rein. This is in reverse to section 1 which commenced with the call to proclaim the Good News of the Kingly Rule of God (Act 1:3) and ended with the collapse of the kingly rule of Israel through pride and idolatry (Act 12:20-23).
In ‘b’ Paul meets with God’s people for ‘seven days, the divinely perfect period, at the commencement of his journey, and then in the parallel he again meets with the people of God for ‘seven days’ at the end of his journey. Wherever he goes, there are the people of God.
In ‘c’ God reveals that His presence is with Paul by the raising of the dead, and in the parallel His presence by protection from the Snake and the healing of Publius.
In ‘d’ we have a significant parallel between Paul’s warning of the need for the church at Ephesus to avoid spiritual catastrophe through ‘the word of His grace’ and in the parallel ‘d’ the experience of being saved from a great storm through His gracious word, but only if they are obedient to it, which results in deliverance for all.
In ‘e’ and its parallel we have Paul’s voyages, each accompanied by prophecy indicating God’s continuing concern for Paul.
In ‘f’ Paul proves his dedication and that he is free from all charges that he is not faithful to the Law of Moses, and in the parallel Agrippa II confirms him to be free of all guilt.
In ‘g’ Paul give his testimony concerning receiving his commission from the risen Jesus, and in the parallel this testimony is repeated and the commission expanded.
In ‘h’ Paul proclaims the hope of the resurrection before the Sanhedrin, and in the parallel he proclaims the hope of the resurrection before Felix, Agrippa and the gathered Gentiles.
In ‘i’ the Lord tells him that he will testify at Rome, while in the parallel the procurator Festus declares that he will testify at Rome. God’s will is carried out by the Roman power.
In ‘ j’ a determined plan by the Jews to ambush Paul and kill him is thwarted, and in the parallel a further ambush two years later is thwarted. God is continually watching over Paul.
In ‘k’ Paul is sent to Felix, to Caesarea, the chief city of Palestine, and in the parallel spends two years there with access given to the ‘his friends’ so that he can freely minister.
In ‘l’ we have the central point around which all revolves. Paul declares to Felix and the elders of Jerusalem the hope of the resurrection of both the just and the unjust in accordance with the Scriptures.
It will be noted that the central part of this chiasmus is built around the hope of the resurrection which is mentioned three times, first in ‘h’, then centrally in ‘l’ and then again in ‘h’, and these are sandwiched between two descriptions of Paul’s commissioning by the risen Jesus (in ‘g’ and in the parallel ‘g’). The defeat of idolatry and the proclamation of the Kingly Rule of God have as their central cause the hope of the resurrection and the revelation of the risen Jesus.
We must now look at the section in more detail.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul On the Island of Malta Act 28:1-10 gives us the account of Paul’s ministry on the island of Malta.
Act 28:2 “And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness” Comments – The term “barbarous” is comparable to the Jewish term “Gentiles” in the sense that a barbarian was anyone who did not speak the Greek language. The Romans used in to refer to anyone who was not a Roman citizen. Note how Paul the apostle uses this same term to contrast it with the Greeks and as a person who does not understand the spoken language of the people.
Rom 1:14, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians ; both to the wise, and to the unwise.”
1Co 14:11, “Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian , and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.”
Col 3:11, “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian , Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”
Luke would not have used this term in Act 28:2; Act 28:4 in a derogatory manner after the kindness that the people of Malta had showed them.
Act 28:3 Comments – Paul was a hard worker with a servant’s heart.
Act 28:4 Comments Donald Guthrie and others note the suggestion by David Ladouceur that it was a pagan belief in New Testament times that survival of a shipwreck proved a man’s innocence. Perhaps Luke included this lengthy story as a defense for Paul’s innocence. [327]
[327] Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction (Downers Grover, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1990), 373; see David Ladouceur, “Hellenistic Preconceptions of Shipwreck and Pollution as a context for Acts 27-28,” Harvard Theological Review 73, 1980, pp. 435-449 and G. B. Miles & G. Tromph, “Luke and Antiphon: The Theology of Acts 27-28 in the Light of Pagan Beliefs about Divine Retribution, Pollution and Shipwreck”, Harvard Theological Review 69, 1976, pp. 259-267.
This view finds support from a verse in Act 28:4 which alludes to such a belief when it says, “ No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live .”
We also see this believe alluded to in Jon 1:4-10 when the men of the ship sought the cause of the storm in their belief that someone on board had sinned against his god.
Jon 1:7, “And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Church’s Organization (Perseverance): The Witness of the Church Growth to the Ends of the Earth Act 13:1 to Act 28:29 begins another major division of the book of Acts in that it serves as the testimony of the expansion of the early Church to the ends of the earth through the ministry of Paul the apostle, which was in fulfillment of Jesus’ command to the apostles at His ascension, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Act 1:8) However, to reach this goal, it required a life of perseverance in the midst of persecutions and hardship, as well as the establishment of an organized church and its offices.
Outline – Here is a proposed outline:
1. Witness of Paul’s First Missionary Journey (A.D. 45-47) Act 13:1 to Act 14:28
2. Witness to Church at Jerusalem of Gospel to Gentiles (A.D. 50) Act 15:1-35
3. Witness of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (A.D. 51-54) Act 15:36 to Act 18:22
4. Witness of Paul’s Third Missionary Journey (A.D. 54-58) Act 18:23 to Act 20:38
5. Witness of Paul’s Arrest and Trials (A.D. 58-60) Act 21:1 to Act 26:32
6. Witness of Paul’s Journey to Rome (A.D. 60) Act 27:1 to Act 28:29
A Description of Paul’s Ministry – Paul’s missionary journeys recorded Acts 13-28 can be chacterized in two verses from 2Ti 2:8-9, in which Paul describes his ministry to the Gentiles as having suffered as an evil doer, but glorying in the fact that the Word of God is not bound.
2Ti 2:8-9, “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.”
Paul followed the same principle of church growth mentioned in Act 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” He first placed churches in key cities in Asia Minor. We later read in Act 19:10 where he and his ministry team preaches “so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks”.
Act 19:10, “And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”
In Rom 15:20-28 Paul said that he strived to preach where no other man had preached, and having no place left in Macedonia and Asia Minor, he looked towards Rome, and later towards Spain.
Rom 15:20, “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:”
Rom 15:23-24, “But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.”
Rom 15:28, “When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Witness of Paul’s Arrest, Imprisonment, and Trials (A.D. 58-62) The final major division of the book of Acts (Act 21:1 to Act 28:31) serves as Luke’s testimony of the arrest and trials of Paul the apostle, his trip by sea to Rome, and preparation for a hearing before the Roman emperor, the highest court in the Roman Empire. G. H. C. MacGregor notes that this large portion of material devoted to Paul’s arrest, imprisonment and journey to Rome fills about one fourth of the book of Acts. He suggests several reasons. (1) Luke was an Eyewitness of these Events Luke was an eye witness of these dramatic events of Paul’s arrest, trials and journey to Rome. The nature of such events must have created a strong impact upon his life. (2) The Gospels are Structured with a Similar Disproportion of Jesus’ Arrest, Passion and Resurrection – By comparing this large portion of material to a similar structure in the Gospels, MacGregor suggests that Luke draws a parallel plot with the story of Paul. (3) Luke is Writing an Apology for Paul Many scholars believe Luke is writing an apology in defense of Paul. MacGregor bases this view upon the five speeches of Paul’s defense that are recorded in this section of Acts: Paul’s speech to the Jewish mob (Act 22:3-21), to the Sanhedrin (Act 23:1-6), to Felix, the Roman governor (Act 24:10-21), to Festus, the Roman governor (Act 25:8-11), and to King Herod (Act 26:2-23). A number of scholars support the proposition that the impetus behind these events was an effort to legalize Christianity in the Roman Empire, which leads to the suggestion that Luke-Acts was prepared by Luke as a legal brief in anticipation of Paul’s trial before the Roman court. MacGregor argues that this motif is woven throughout Paul’s missionary journeys when Luke carefully records his encounters with Roman authorities in various cities. He notes that Luke records statements by Lysias, Festus, and Felix regarding the failure by the Jews to prove Paul’s guilt under Roman Law. He adds that Luke ends the book by portraying Paul as a peaceful man entertaining guests while imprisoned in Rome, in stark contrast to the zealous violence of the Jews that Rome was accustomed to encountering. [258] We may add that Luke’s opening to his Gospel and Acts serve as a petition to Theophilus.
[258] G. H. C. MacGregor and Theodore P. Ferris, The Acts of the Apostles, in The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 9, ed. George A. Buttrick (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1954), 284-285.
The accounts of Paul’s five trials and apologetic speeches recorded in Act 21:1 to Act 26:32 show that Paul had exhausted the judicial systems in Palestine, both Jewish and Roman, before departing for Rome. In each of these trials, Luke proves Paul’s innocence. The only court left was an appeal to the highest court in Rome. These five trials serve as a testimony that Paul had a legal right to appeal unto Caesar, and that he was beyond doubt innocent of his allegations by the Jews.
One more important aspect of this passage is that divine oracles are embedded within the narrative material of Act 21:1 to Act 28:31. For example, Paul received divine oracles from the seven daughters of Philip the evangelist and the prophet Agabus (Act 21:8); he testifies of his divine vision on the road to Damascus and of the prophecy of Ananias (Act 22:6-16); Luke records Paul’s angelic visitation while in prison at Caesarea (Act 23:11); Paul testifies again of his divine vision on the road to Damascus (Act 26:12-19); Luke records Paul’s angelic visitation at sea (Act 27:20-26).
Outline – Here is a proposed outline to Act 21:1 to Act 28:31:
1. Prophecies of Paul’s Arrest in Jerusalem Act 21:1-14
2. Paul’s Arrest and First Speech to Jewish Mob Act 21:15 to Act 22:29
3. Paul’s Second Speech Before the Sanhedrin Act 22:30 to Act 23:35
4. Paul’s Third Speech Before Felix the Governor Act 24:1-27
5. Paul’s Fourth Speech Before Festus the Governor Act 25:1-12
6. Paul’s Fifth Speech Before King Agrippa Act 25:13 to Act 26:32
7. The Witness of Paul’s Trip to Rome Act 27:1 to Act 28:29
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Witness of Paul’s Journey to Rome (A.D. 60-62) – Act 27:1 to Act 28:29 gives us the testimony of Paul’s perilous journey to Rome by sea which many scholars estimate took place around A.D. 60. This was not Paul’s first shipwreck. His second epistle to the Corinthians, written prior to his arrest in Jerusalem, testifies of three shipwrecks that he suffered as well as a night and a day floating in the sea (2Co 11:25). Thus, we can assume that the shipwreck recorded in Acts is Paul’s fourth life-threatening experience at sea.
2Co 11:25, “Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;”
Luke organizes the narrative material of Paul’s arrest, trials, and journey to Rome (Act 21:1 to Act 28:31) as testimony of Paul’s innocence, perhaps as a legal brief to be presented at Paul’s first trial in Rome. Paul has been brought to trial five times leading up to his journey by sea to Rome. Within this context, this narrative account in the book of Acts records at least three events that testify to Paul’s innocence. He is visited by an angel in the midst of the storm, he is bitten by a snake and suffers no harm, and he is given liberty in Rome to minister to those who visit him.
Outline – Here is a proposed outline of Act 27:1 to Act 28:29
1. Paul Sails for Rome Act 27:1-12
2. The Storm at Sea Act 27:13-38
3. The Shipwreck Act 27:39-44
4. Paul on the Island of Malta Act 28:1-10
5. Paul Arrives in Rome Act 28:11-16
6. Paul Ministers in Rome Act 28:17-29
The Historical Details Provided in the Account of Paul’s Voyage to Rome – This story of Paul’s voyage and shipwreck at sea provides more detail about ancient navigation than any other work of Latin or Greek literature. It reveals the historical reliability of the book of Acts as well as the support that the author of Acts was an eyewitness of this event. No less than sixteen technical terms are used by Luke to describe the navigation and management of an ancient ship at sea, all of them found to be accurate. Luke is also accurate is his description of the locations of numerous islands and cities that were encountered on this voyage.
The Time of Year When Paul Sailed to Rome – It becomes clear in these final two chapters that Paul embarked on this journey by sea during the late fall or early winter months (Act 27:9). Most shipping ceases in the Mediterranean Sea during the winter because of the unpredictable weather conditions.
Act 27:9, “Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Journey from Melita to Rome.
Paul again in peril:
v. 1. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.
v. 2. And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness; for they kindled a fire, and received us, every one, because of the present rain and because of the cold.
v. 3. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
v. 4. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
v. 5. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
v. 6. Howbeit, they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly; but after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. When the people on the wrecked vessel had reached the land in safety, then only did they find out that Melita, or Malta, was the island’s name. They had therefore, in the two weeks, been driven a matter of almost five hundred miles; for the island is due south of Sicily, forming, with Gozo and several other smaller island, a group now known as the Maltese Islands. Luke calls the islanders barbarians, not as a term of reproach, but because that was the name given to all foreigners, to all such as did not speak Greek, by the Greeks and Romans. The people of the island were of Phoenician descent and had come under the dominion of Rome after the Second Punic War. They here proved themselves hospitable in an unusual degree; they showed the shipwrecked company extraordinary kindness. It must have been with some difficulty that they kindled a Eire and received them all: gave them a warm welcome, which no doubt was rendered doubly so because they were all cold and wet to the skin; besides, there was a continued driving rain. and the cold chilled to the bone. Paul by no means stood back when the others were all engaged in replenishing the fire. but cheerfully gathered fagots with the rest of them. When, however, he was just heaping up a bundle of sticks and then laying them on the fire. a serpent, awakened by the warmth, glided out through the sticks, and, before Paul could withdraw his hand, bit him, and held fast to the wound. When the islanders saw the creature suspended from his hand thus, they were greatly shocked and expressed their opinion of the matter by saying that certainly this man must be a murderer, whom Justice had not permitted to live, though he had been saved from the sea. They knew that Paul was a prisoner because he was under guard, and their conclusion was as rash as that of most people under like circumstances. From experience they knew the virulence of the poison of these serpents, and in their eyes Paul was already dead; the goddess of justice, in whom they believed, had taken vengeance upon him. But Paul shook off the viper into the fire by a jerking movement of his hand and suffered no evil, no disagreeable consequences, of any kind. But the islanders watched him, sure that he was destined to swell up or to drop down dead suddenly. But neither of these effects took place. Luke, as a physician, being fully acquainted with such symptoms. And when they had waited a long time and watched, and yet nothing unusual happened, then the inhabitants changed their minds and said that he was a god. Their superstitious minds could reach no other conclusion; it was the way which their training had taught them to follow. Note: Modern people may want to smile deprecatingly over this show of superstition, but with almost the entire world guilty of similar beliefs in one form or another, there certainly is no room for casting Stones upon others. It was the Lord that had held His sheltering hand over His servant; according to His promise, Mar 16:18.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Act 28:1
We for they, A.V. and T.R. (twice). Was called. It reads as if it was the answer to their question to the natives, “What is this island called?” Melita. That Melita is the island of Malta, and not Meleda off the coast of Dalmatia, is demonstrated in Smith’s ‘ Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul,’ and it is not worth while here to consider the arguments in favor of Meleda. Melita appears to be a Phoenician name, from the root in Hebrew , to escape (Bochart, ‘Canaan,’ Act 1:26), meaning, therefore, a “refuge,” a harbor of refuge so called from sailors often running into Valetta during a gale; or possibly from , clay, in Italian malta, from the clay which forms the bottom of the sea as you approach Malta, and which makes the anchorage so safe. It was originally colonized by Phoenicians, whether from Tyre or Carthage cannot be pronounced with certainty, though we know it was a Carthaginian possession at the time of the first Punic War. It fell into the hands of the Romans B.C. 218, and at the time of St. Paul’s shipwreck was annexed to the province of Sicily. The population, however, was Phoenician or Punic, and probably knew little Greek or Latin. The name of a fountain in St. Paul’s Bay, Ayn tal Razzul, “The Apostle’s Fountain,” is said to be Phoenician. But this is extremely doubtful. It is far more probably, not to say certainly, the corrupt Africano-Arabic dialect of the island, as I venture to affirm on the high authority of Professor Wright. Gesenius is also distinctly of opinion that there are no remains of Phoenician in the Maltese, and that all the words in the Maltese language which have been thought to be Phoenician are really Arabic. Four genuine Phoenician inscriptions have, however, been found in the island.
Act 28:2
Barbarians for barbarous people, A.V.; common for little, A.V.; all for every one, A.V. Barbarians; i.e. not Greeks or Romans, or (in the mouth of a Jew) not Jews. The phrase had especial reference to the strange language of the “barbarian.” See St. Paul’s use of it (Rom 1:14; 1Co 14:11; Col 3:11); and compare Ovid’s saying (‘Trist.,’ 3.10, 37), “Barbarus hic ego sum, quia non intelligor ulli;” and that of Herodotus, that the Egyptians call all barbarians who do not speak the Egyptian language(Kuinoel). The word is thought to be formed onomate-poetically, to express the confused sound which a strange language has in a man’s ears. Kindness; , here and Tit 3:4 (comp. Act 27:3). Received us all. The whole party, numbering two hundred and seventy-six. The present rain, and cold; showing that the gale still continued, and the wind was still north-east. The plight of the shipwrecked party must have been lamentable, drenched to the skin, with no change of clothes, a cold wind blowing. Probably the hearty meal they had taken on beard ship was the means of saving their lives.
Act 28:3
But for and, A.V.; a viper came for there came a viper, A.V.; by reason of for out of, A.V. Had gathered; , only here and in the LXX. of Jdg 11:3 and Jdg 12:4, for “to collect,” “gather together.” But (Act 19:40; Act 23:12) means “a concourse,” “a conspiracy.” In classical Greek is “to twist up together,” to “form into a compact body,” and the like. A bundle of sticks; . The word only occurs in the New Testament here; it means “dry sticks,” “kindlers,” any combustible material. In the LXX. it is used as the equi- valent of , straw or stubble (Isa 40:24; Isa 41:2, etc.), and for “nettles” (Job 30:7). Theophrastus seems to use it for plants smaller than a shrub (‘Hist.,’ Plant., 1.3, 1, quoted by Hobart). Lewin writes as follows:”When in Malta in 1853, I went to St. Paul’s Bay at the same season of the year as when the wreck occurred . We noticed eight or nine stacks of small faggots, they consisted of a kind of thorny heather, and had evidently been cut for firewood.” This is a conclusive answer, if any were needed, to the objection to Melita being Malta, drawn from the absence of wood in the island. But besides this, it is not a fact that even now there is no wood at all (see Lewin). A viper came out. It is objected that there are no vipers in Malta. But it is obvious that the condition of Malta now, a very thickly inhabited island, is very different from what it was with a sparse population in the days of St. Paul. Vipers may well have been destroyed during one thousand eight hundred and sixty years. Lewin mentions that his traveling companions in 1853 started what they thought was a viper, which escaped into one of the bundles of heather. Came out. is the reading of Tischendorf, Alford, Meyer, eta., “came out through the sticks.” It is a frequent medical term. The heat; . This form of the word is only used here in the New Testament, instead of the more common . It occurs, however, repeatedly in the LXX. (Job 6:17; Psa 19:7; Ecclesiasticus 38:34, etc.), and was the usual medical word for feverish heat. Fastened; , here only in the Bible; but not uncommon in classical Greek, and of general use among medical writers.
Act 28:4
Beast for venomous beast, A.V.; hanging from for hang on, A.V.; one to another for among themselves, A.V.; escaped from for escaped, A.V.; justice for vengeance, A.V.; hath not suffered for suffereth not, A.V. The beast ( ). It is peculiar to medical writers to use as synonymous with , a viper. So also , bit by a viper, , an antidote to the bite of a viper (Dioscorides, Galen, etc.). Justice ( ). In Greek mythology Dice (Justitia) was the daughter and assessor of Zeus, and the avenger of crime. In her train was Poena, of whom Horace says,” Rare antecedeutem scelcstum Deseruit pede Poena claude” (‘Od.,’ 3.2, 32). “The idea of Dice as justice personified is most perfectly developed in the dramas of Sophocles and Euripides” (article “Dice,” in ‘Dict. of Greek and Roman Biog. and Mythol.’). It does not appear whether the islanders had learned the name and office of Dice from the Greeks in Sicily, or whether they had any native divinity whose name St. Luke translates into that of Dice. The gods whose names are found in ancient Maltese inscriptions are Melkarth, another name of Hercules, the tutelar god of Tyre; Osiris, and Baal. Other Phoenician divinities are named in the Carthaginian inscriptions (see Gesenius, ‘Monument. Phoenic.’). Had not suffered. They assume that death will certainly follow from the bite.
Act 28:5
Howbeit for and, A.V.; look for felt, A.V.
Act 28:6
But they expected that he would for howbeit, they looked when he should, A.V.; when they were long in expectation for after they had looked a great while, A.V.; beheld nothing amiss for stay no harm, A.V. They expected; . This word is used eleven times by St. Luke, twice by St. Matthew, and three times in the Second Epistle of Peter (see Act 3:5; Luk 1:21, etc.). It is also common in the LXX. But it is a word much employed by medical writers in speaking of the course they expect a disease to take, and the results they look for. And this is the more remarkable here because there are no fewer than three other medical phrases in this verse, , and , besides those immediately preceding (according to several good manuscripts anti editions) , and . So that it looks as if, having once got into a medical train of thought from the subject he was writing about, medical language naturally came uppermost in his mind. Have swollen; , only here in the Bible, and not found in this sense in older classical writers. But it is the usual medical word for “inflammation” in any part of the body. Fallen down; , only here and in Act 26:14, and twice in the LXX.; but common in Homer and elsewhere, and especially frequent in medical writers of persons falling down in fits, or weakness, or wounded, or the like. Nothing amiss ( ). Mr. Hobart quotes a remarkable parallel to this phrase from Damocrites, quoted by Galen. He says that whosoever, having been bitten by a mad dog, drinks a certain antidote ( ), “shall suffer no harm.” It is used in medical writers in two sensesof” unusual symptoms,” and of fatal consequences. In the New Testament it only occurs elsewhere in Luk 23:1-56. 41, “Nothing amiss;” and 2Th 3:2, . It is also used in the LXX. for wickedness, doing wickedly, etc. They changed their minds; as in an opposite direction the Lycaonians did (Act 14:11, Act 14:19). It is a graphic picture of the fickleness of an untutored mind yielding to every impulse. The impunity with which St. Paul endured the bite of the viper was a direct fulfillment of our Lord’s promise in Mar 16:18.
Act 28:7
Now in the neighborhood of that place for in the same quarters, A.V.; lands belonging to for possessions of, A.V.; named for whose name was, A.V.; entertained for lodged, A.V. Lands (); so Joh 4:5; Actsi. 18,19; Joh 4:34; Joh 5:3,Joh 5:8. The chief man of the island ( ). It appears that, with his usual accurate knowledge gained on the spot (see Act 16:22. note), St. Luke here gives to Publius his peculiar official title of primus. For Ciantar, quoted by Smith, gives a Greek inscription on a marble, which in his day was standing near the gates of Citta Vecehia, in Malta, in which are the words, …, “Prudens, a Roman knight, chief of the Maltese.“ The Latin inscription, which was discovered in 1747, has the same title, MEL PRIMUS. “chief of the Maltese.” It may not improbably be the Greek and Latin translation of the old Phoenician title of the “headman,” in Hebrew , in Chaldee , as in the title , the chief of the Captivity. When the Romans succeeded the Carthaginians in the possession of the island, they would be likely to perpetuate the title of the chief magistrate. In this ease the chief was also a Roman, as his name of Publius indicates. Alford says that he was legatus to the Praetor of Sicily, and so ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ Kuinoel, Meyer, ere.’ Received us; , only here (and Heb 11:17 in a different sense) for the more common . Kuinoel quotes from AElian, ‘Var. Hist.,’ 4, 19, the similar phrase, : and from 2 Macc. 3:9, . Entertained us (); see Act 10:6, Act 10:18, Act 10:23, Act 10:32; Act 21:16; and in the active voice in Heb 13:2. Courteously; , only here in the New Testament, but we find , courteous, in 1Pe 3:8. We must understand the “us” probably to include the centurion, St. Paul, St. Luke, Aristarchus, and possibly one or two others, but not the whole two hundred and seventy-six. Heb 13:2 had a striking fulfillment here. During the three days they would have opportunity to procure suitable winter quarters.
Act 28:8
It was so for it came to pass, A.V.; fever for a fever, A.V.; dysentery for of a bloody flux, A.V.; unto for to, A.V.; and laying, etc., healed for and laid, etc., and healed, A.V. The father of Publius. The fact of the father of Publius being alive and living in Malta is a further indication that the term is an official title. Lay sick. is also the usual medical expression for being taken sick of any disease. It is used by St. Luke, with (Luk 4:38), and in the same sense in Mat 4:24. Lay. is used especially of lying in bed from sickness. It answers to decumbo in Latin. Sick of fever and dysentery ( ). The terms here used are all professional ones. , in the plural, is of frequent occurrence in Hippocrates, Aretaeus, and Galen, but elsewhere in the New Testament always in the singular; , only found here in the New Testament, is the regular technical word for a “dysentery,” and is frequently in medical writers coupled with or , as indicating different stages of the same illness. Laying his hands on him. So Mar 16:18, “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover”. It is also spoken of as an accompaniment of prayer in confirmation, ordination, etc. It has been remarked as curious that the two actions of taking up serpents and healing the sick by the laying on of hands should be in such close juxtaposition both hero and in Mar 16:18. It suggests the thought whether Luke had seen the passage in St. Mark; or whether the writer of Mar 16:18 had seen Act 28:8. Or is the coincidence accidental, arising out of the facts?
Act 28:9
And for so, A.V. and T.R.; the rest for others, A.V.; cured for healed, A.V.
Act 28:10
Sailed for departed, A.V.; put on board for laded us with, A.V.; we needed for were necessary, A.V. Honored us with many honors. Kuinoel understands this in the sense of “gifts, presents,” which of course their destitute condition, after losing all they had in the ship-wreck, would make very acceptable. But there is nothing in the words to suggest this meaning, and, had it been so, Luke would have simply stated it, as he does immediately afterwards, when he says that they put on board such things as we needed. When we sailed (); see Act 13:13; Act 16:11; Act 18:21; Act 20:3, Act 20:13; Act 21:1, Act 21:2, Act 21:4, Act 21:12, Act 21:21, and notes. It is touching to see the kindness of the Maltese, and we may hope that they had to thank God for light and grace and life through the ministry of St. Paul and his companions.
Act 28:11
Set sail for departed, A.V.; island for isle, A.V.; The Twin Brothers for Castor and Pollux, A.V. After three months. At the very earliest period when the sailing season began after the winter. It would be, perhaps, about the middle of February, or, as Alford thinks, about March 10. If the weather was fine, having so short a voyage before them, they would venture to sail without further delay. Set sail (see preceding verso, note). A ship of Alexandria. Some ship, better fated than that one (Act 27:6) which was wrecked in St. Paul’s Bay, which had weathered or avoided the gale, and probably got into the harbor of Valetta in good time. One would have thought that this ship wintering at Malta on its way from Alexandria to Italy, via Sicily, would be of itself a sufficient proof that Melita was Malta. Which had wintered (); see Act 27:12, note. Whose sign was The Twin Brothers (, Latin the constellation Gemini). The twin sons of Jupiter and Leda, Castor and Pollux, brothers of Helena (“fratres Helenis, lucida sidera,” Horace, ‘Od.,’ 1.3, 2), were called by the Greeks Dioscuri, the sons of Jove. It was their special office to assist sailors in danger of shipwreck. Hence Horace, in the ode just quoted, prays that Castor and Pollux, in conjunction with other deities, would carry the ship in which Virgil sailed safe to Attica. And in Ode 12.27, etc., he describes the subsidence of the storm, and the calming of the waves, at the appearance of the twin stars, of Leda’s sons. It was, therefore, very natural to have the Dioscuri for the , the sign of the ship. Every ancient ship had a , “a painted or carved representation of the sign which furnished its name on the prow, and at the stern a similar one of their tutelary deity.” (Alford), which was called the tutela. These were sometimes the same, and perhaps were so in this instance. Ovid tells us that Minerva was the tutela of the ship in which he sailed, and that her painted helmet gave it its name (‘Trist.,’ 1 9.1), Galea, or the like. We may notice the continual trial to Jews and Christians of having to face idolatry in all the common actions of life.
Act 28:12
Touching for landing, A.V. Touching (); Act 21:3; Act 27:3, note. The way in which Syracuse is hero mentioned is another redundant proof that Melita is Malta. “Syracause is about eighty miles, a days’ sail, from Malta” (Afford). Tarried there three days. Perhaps wind- bound, or possibly having to land part of their cargo there.
Act 28:13
Made a circuit for fetched a compass, A.V.; arrived at for came to, A.V.; a south for the south, A.V.; sprang up for blew, A.V.; on the second day we came for we came the next day, A.V. We made a circuit; . St. Luke only uses this word in one other passage, Act 19:13,” The strolling [or, ‘vagabond’] Jews;” and it has the same sense of “wandering” in the only other passages where it occurs in the New Testament (1Ti 5:13; Heb 11:37). If it is the right reading here, the meaning must be “tacking,” the wind not allowing them to sail in a direct course. “I am inclined to suppose that the wind was north-west, and that they worked to windward, availing themselves of the sinuosities of the coast. But with this wind they could not proceed through the Straits of Messina . They were, therefore, obliged to put into Rhegium But after one day the wind became fair (from the south), and on the following day they arrived at Puteoli, having accomplished about one hundred and eighty nautical miles in less than two days”. But Meyer explains it, “after we had come round,” viz. from Syracuse, round the eastern coast of Sicily. Lewin thinks they had to stand out to sea to catch the wind, and so arrived at Rhegium by a circuitous course. The other reading is , as in Act 27:40; but this seems to give no proper sense here. A south wind sprang up. The force of the preposition in shows that there was a change of wind. The south wind would, of course, be a very favorable one for sailing from Reggio to Puzzuoli. Hobart remarks of (which is also found in Act 27:27, according to some good manuscripts) that it “was a favorite medical word constantly employed to denote the coming on of an attack of illness.” It occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, but is common in Diodorus Siculus, Xenophon, Herodotus, Thucydides, etc., for the coming on of a storm, wind (adverse or favorable), or any other change. On the second day; . This particular numeral occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, but the analogous is used in Joh 11:39. And Herodotus has , “he went away on the third day.” is also common in medical writers with , a tertian ague, a fever that recurs on the third day; , a quartan fever; , one recurring on the fifth day; , on the seventh day; , on the ninth day. The forms , etc., “doing anything on the tenth, the fiftieth day,” also occur. Puteoli; now Puzzuoli. The Italian port to which ships from Alexandria usually came. Smith quotes a passage from Seneca (Epist., 77) describing the arrival of the Alexandrian wheat-ships at Puteoli. The whole population of Puteoli went out to see them sail into harbor with their topsails (supparum), which they alone were allowed to carry, in order to hasten their arrival, so important to Italy was the corn trade with Alexandria.
Act 28:14
Intreated for desired, A.V.; came to for went toward, A.V. Brethren. It is very interesting to find the gospel already planted in Italy. The circumstances of Purcell as the great emporium of African wheat made it a likely place for Christianity to reach, whether from Rome or from Alexandria (see Act 18:24). Luke calls them , not (Act 11:26). Perhaps the name of Christian was still rather the name given by those without, and that of “brethren,” or “disciples,” the name used by the Christians among themselves. What a joy it must have been to Paul and his companions to find themselves among brethren! Seven days. Surely that they might take part in the service and worship of the next Sunday (see Act 20:6, Act 20:7). It is implied that the philanthropy of Julius (Act 27:3) did not now fail. So we came to Rome. The R.V. is undoubtedly right. ‘We can trace in the anticipatory form of speech here used by St. Luke, simple as the words are, his deep sense of the transcendent interest of the arrival of the apostle of the Gentiles at the colossal capital of the heathen world. Yes; after all the conspiracies of the Jews who sought to take away his life, after the two years’ delay at Caesarea, after the perils of that terrible shipwreck, in spite of the counsel of the soldiers to kill the prisoners, and in spite of the “venomous beast,”Paul came to Rome. The word of God,” Thou must bear witness also at Rome” (Act 23:11), had triumphed over all “the power of the enemy” (Luk 10:19). And doubtless the hearts both of Paul and Luke beat quicker when they first caught sight of the city on the seven hills.
Act 28:15
The brethren, when, etc., came for when the brethren, etc., they came, A.V.; The Market of Appius for Appii forum, A.V. The brethren, when they heard of us. During the seven days’ stay at Putcoli, the news of the arrival of the illustrious confessors reached the Church at Rome. The writer of that wonderful Epistle which they had received some three years before, and in which he had expressed his earnest desire to visit them, and his hope that he should come to them in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ (Rom 1:11, Rom 1:12, Rom 1:15; Rom 15:22, Rom 15:24, Rom 15:28-32), was now almost at their gates as a prisoner of state, and they would soon see him face to face. They naturally determined to go and meet him, to honor him as an apostle, and show their love to him as a brother. The younger and more active would go as far as Appii Forum, “a village on the Via Appia, forty-three miles from Rome” (Meyer). The rest only came as far as The Three Taverns, ten miles nearer to Rome. Alford quotes a passage from Cicero’s letters to Atticus (it. 10), in which he mentions both “Appii Forum” and the “Tres Tabernae;” and refers to Josephus (‘Ant. Jud.,’ 17. 12.1) for a similar account of Jews at Rome, who, on hearing of the arrival of the pretended Alexander at Puteoli, went out in a body to meet him ( ). He also quotes from Suetonius the passage in which he tells us that, on Caligula’s return from Germany, “populi Romans sexum, aetatem, ordinem omnem, usque ad Vicesimum lapidem effadisse se” (‘Calig.,’ c. 4). Appii Forum was not far from the coast, and was a great place for sailors and innkeepers (Horace, ‘Sat.,’ 1.5, 3). The Via Appia was made by Appius Claudius, B.C. 442. It led from the Ports Capena in Rome through the Pontino marshes to Capua.
Act 28:16
Entered into for came to, A.V. and T.R.; the words which follow in the T.R. and the A.V., the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but, are omitted in the R.T. and R.V., following , A, B, and many versions; Alford retains them, Meyer speaks doubtfully; abide for dwell, A.V.; the soldier that guarded him for a soldier that kept him, A.V. The captain of the guard (A.V.); : in Latin praefectus praetorio (, was the Greek name for the castra praetoriana). There were usually two great officers so called, and it was their special duty to take charge of prisoners sent from the provinces to be tried at Rome. ‘Vinctus mitti ad praefectos praetorii met debet” (Pliny, ‘Epist.,’ 10.65). It has been argued, from the mention of “the captain of the guard,” that Paul’s imprisonment must have occurred when Burrus was sole prefect, as related by Tacitus (‘Annal.,’ 12.42, 1), and that hence we get a precise date for it (so Wieseler, ‘Chronologic de Apostolisch. Geshichte’). But this can hardly be depended upon. Luke might speak of “the prefect,” meaning the one to whom the prisoners were actually committed, just as we might speak of a magistrate writing to “the secretary of state,” or an ambassador calling upon “the secretary of state,” the matter in hand determining which of the three secretaries we meant. With the soldier that guarded him. It appears from verse 20 that St. Paul was subjected to the custodia militaris, i.e. that he was fastened by a single chain to a praetorian (), but, as a special favor, granted probably on the good report of the courteous Julius, was allowed to dwell in his own hired house (verse 30); see Act 24:23.
Act 28:17
He for Paul, A.V. and T.R.; called together those that were the chief for called the chief together, A.V.; I, brethren, though I had done for men and brethren, though I have committed, A.V. and T.R.; the customs for customs, A.V.; was I for was, A.V. After three days. He could but just have got into his hired house, but he would not lose a day in seeking out his brethren to speak to them of the hope of Israel. What marvelous activity! what unquenchable love! The chief ( ). The expression , for the principal people of the district or neighborhood, occurs repeatedly in Josephus. The Jews. They had returned to Rome, after their banishment by Claudius (Act 18:2), some time before this (Rom 16:3, Rom 16:7). I had done nothing against the people, or the customs (comp. Act 23:1, Act 23:6; Act 24:14-16, Act 24:20, Act 24:21; Act 25:8; Act 26:6, Act 26:7, Act 26:22, Act 26:23).
Act 28:18
Desired to set me at liberty for would have let me go, A.V. Had examined me ( ); see Act 4:9; Act 12:19; Act 24:8; Act 25:26. Desired to set me at liberty (see Act 25:18, Act 25:19, Act 25:25; Act 26:31, Act 26:32).
Act 28:19
When the Jews spake against it. This is a detail not expressly mentioned in the direct narrative in Act 25:1-27., but which makes that narrative clearer. It shows us that Festus’s proposal in Act 25:9 was made in consequence of the opposition of the Jews to the acquittal which he was disposed to pronounce. I was constrained to appeal. Nothing can be more delicate, more conciliatory, or more truly patriotic than Paul’s manner of addressing the Jews. Himself a Hebrew of the Hebrews, devoted to his kinsmen according to the flesh, never even putting forward his own privilege as a Roman citizen till the last necessity, he shows himself the constant friend of his own people in spite of all their ill usage. Undazzled by the splendor of Rome and the power of the Roman people, his heart is with his own despised nation, “that they might be saved.” He wishes to he well with them; he wants them to understand his position; he speaks to them as a kinsman and a brother. His appeal to Caesar had been of necessityto save his life. But he was not going to accuse his brethren before the dominant race. His first desire was that they should be his friends, and share with him the hope of the gospel of Christ.
Act 28:20
Did I entreat you to see and to speak with me for have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you, A.V.; for because of for because that for, A.V. To see and to speak with me. Meyer, followed by Alford, rightly prefers the rendering of the A.V. and the margin of the R.V. is here in its primary sense of calling any one to come to you, and the two infinitives express the object for which he called them, viz. to see and speak with them. Because of the hope of Israel (see Act 23:1-35. 6; Act 24:14, Act 24:15, Act 24:21; Act 26:6, Act 26:22, Act 26:23). I am bound with this chain (). In Mar 9:42 and Luk 17:2 the millstone ‘hangs about’ () the neck. But here and Heb 5:2 the construction is different, and the subject and the object are reversed. Instead of the chain encompassing Paul, Paul is said to be bound with the chain. (For the chain, see verse 16, note, and Act 24:23.) The force of this saying seems to be this, “I have asked you to come to me because this chain which binds me is not a token of a renegade Israelite who has come to Rome to accuse his nation before the heathen master, but of a faithful Israelite, who has endured bondage rather than forsake the hope of his fathers.”
Act 28:21
From for out of, A.V.; nor for neither, A.V.; did any of the brethren come hither and report or speak for any of the brethren that came showed or spake, A.V. Nor did any of the brethren come hither, etc. This is no improvement on the A.V.; for it implies that they denied that any special messenger had been sent to speak harm of Paul, which nobody could have thought had been done. What they meant to say is exactly what the A.V. makes them say, viz. that, neither by special letters, nor by message nor casual information brought by Jews coming to Rome from Judaea, had they heard any harm of him. This seems odd; but as the Jews had no apparent motive for not speaking the truth, we must accept it as true. The expulsion of the Jews from Rome by Claudius (Act 18:1) may have slackened the intercourse between Judaea and Rome; the attention of the Jews may have been absorbed by their accusation of Felix; there had been a very short interval between Paul’s appeal and his departure for Rome; he had only been at Rome three days, and so it is very possible that no report had yet reached Rome concerning him at this early season of the year.
Act 28:22
It is known to us for we know, A.V. We desire (); or, we are willing; literally, think it right (so Act 16:38). , followed by a negative, means “was unwilling.” It has this sense frequently in Xenophon, AElian, Josephus, and other Greek writers (see Kuinoel, on Act 16:30). This sect ( ); see Act 24:5, Act 24:14, notes. It is known to us; i.e. though we have heard nothing against you Paul, we have heard of the sect of the Nazarenes and have heard nothing but harm concerning it. Spoken against (); see Act 13:45; Act 13:19; Rom 10:21; Tit 1:9. It is called a “superstitio prava, malefica, exitiabilis” (Pliny, ‘Ep.,’ 10.96; Suetonius, ‘Nero,’ 16; Tacitus, ‘Annal.,’ 15.44; ‘Speaker’s Commentary’).
Act 28:23
They came to him into his lodging in great number for there came many to him into his lodging, A.V.; expounded the matter for expounded, A.V.; testifying for and testified, A.V.; and persuading for persuading, A.V.; from for out of (twice), A.V. His lodging; , elsewhere only in Phm 1:22. It may well be the same as the “hired dwelling” in verse 30. Expounded (). The verb governs the accusative , as in Act 18:26, and is not intransitive, as in Act 11:4. Testifying; , a favorite word of St. Luke’s, most commonly intransitive, and so to be taken here. It qualifies the verb (see Luk 16:28; Act 2:40; Act 8:25; Act 10:42; Act 20:23; Act 23:1-35. 11). It is transitive in Act 20:21, Act 20:24; doubtful in Act 18:5. The kingdom of God. The great subject-matter of the gospel in all its partsgrace, righteousness, glory, through Jesus Christ. From the Law of Moses and from the prophets (see Luk 24:27, Luk 24:44). From morning till evening. So do the Jews frequent the houses of the missionaries to this day, and listen with great interest and apparent earnestness to their teaching.
Act 28:24
Disbelieved for believed not, A.V. The usual division of the hearers of the Word.
Act 28:25
Isaiah for Esaias, A.V.; your for our, A.V. and T.R. When they agreed not; , only here in the New Testament; but to agree, occurs repeatedly (Luk 5:36; Act 5:9; Act 15:15; and Matthew, pass.); also and (1Co 7:5; 2Co 6:15). occurs in Wis. 18:10 and in classical writers. Probably the disagreement led to some altercation, and to the exhibition of the usual bigotry and prejudice and bitter opposition on the part of the unbelieving Jews. They departed; , the proper word for the breaking up of an assembly (Mat 14:15, Mat 14:22, Mat 14:23; Mat 15:32, Mat 15:39; Act 15:30; Act 19:41, etc.). Well spake the Holy Ghost. Note the distinct assertion of the inspiration of Isaiah. Compare the words of the Creed, “Who spake by the prophets;” and for similar statements, see Mar 12:36; Heb 3:7; Heb 10:15, etc. Note also how resolutely St. Paul maintains his own standpoint as the faithful and consistent Israelite in accord with Moses and the prophets, while his adversaries, with their boasted zeal for the Law, were really its antagonists. The attitude of the true Catholics, in protesting against the corruptions and perversions of the Church of Rome, and showing that they are the faithful followers of Scripture and of apostolic tradition, and the true up holders of the primitive discipline and doctrine of the Church, is very similar.
Act 28:26
Go thou for go, A.V.; by hearing for hearing, A.V.; in no wise for not, A.V.; shall in no wise for not, A.V. Go thou, etc. The quotation is all but verbatim from the LXX. of Isa 6:9, Isa 6:10. This particular chapter was evidently deemed one of great importance, since our Lord quotes from it (Mat 13:14, Mat 13:15), and St. John (Joh 12:37-41), as well as St. Paul in the passage before us. By hearing (). Why the LXX. translated by the substantive () instead of by the participle (), as in the precisely similar phrase which follows does not appear. The Hebrew reads, as it is rendered in the A.V.,” Hear ye, and see ye,” etc., in the imperative mood, not differing much in sense (in prophetical language) from the future. It is impossible to give the force in English exactly of the repetition of the verb in the infinitive mood , and by a very common Hebrew idiom. It is done imperfectly by the word “indeed.” Rosenmuller quotes from Demosthenes (‘Contr. Aristogit.,’ 1.) the proverbial saying,
Act 28:27
This people‘s heart for the heart of this people, A.V.; they have for have they, A.V.; lest haply they should perceive for lest they should see, A.V.; turn again for be converted, A.V. This people’s heart, etc. So the LXX. But the Hebrew has the imperative form, “make fat.,” “make heavy . shut,” in the prophetical style (comp. Jer 1:10). They have closed (). The verb , contracted from (, to close, from the action of the lips in pronouncing the sound ), means “to shut” or “close” the eyes. It is found repeatedly in the LXX., and, in the form , in classical writers. The word “mystery” is etymologically connected with it. The word hero expresses the willfulness of their unbelief: “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.”
Act 28:28
This salvation for the salvation, A.V. and T.R.; they will also hear for and that they will hear it, A.V. The A.V. gives the sense better than the R.V. This salvation; . This form, instead of the more common , is found in Luk 2:30; Luk 3:6; and Eph 6:17. The Gentiles (see Act 13:46; Act 18:6; Act 22:26; Act 26:1-32. 17, 20, 23). But even at Rome the apostle of the Gentiles was faithful to the rule, “To the Jew first.”
Act 28:29
(A.V.).This verse is entirely wanting in the R.T. and R.V. It is omitted in many good manuscripts and versions. It is condemned by Grotius, Mill, Tischendorf, Lachmann, and others; but is not absolutely rejected by Meyer, Alford, Plumptre, and others. Great reasoning ( see Act 15:2, Act 15:7; and Luk 22:23; Luk 24:15; Act 6:9; Act 9:29). The phrase is in St. Luke’s style, and the statement seems necessary to complete the narrative.
Act 28:30
He abode for Paul dwelt, A.V. and T.R.; dwelling for house, A.V.; went for came. A.V. Two whole years. occurs also in Act 24:27, and in Mat 2:16; in Act 20:31. These forms are frequent in the LXX. His own hired dwelling; , only here. The word properly means “hire,” the price paid for the use of anything, and then by metonymy “the thing which is hired.” It occurs frequently in the LXX. in the sense of” hire” or” wages;” e.g. Hos 2:12; Deu 23:18, etc. This may be the spoken of in Deu 23:23, or he may have removed from thence into stone house more commodious for gathering Jews and Christians around him.
Act 28:31
The things for those things, A.V.; concerning for which concern, A.V.; boldness for confidence, A.V.; none for no man, A.V. Boldness (); see above, Act 2:29; Act 4:13, Act 4:29, Act 4:31. The verb also occurs frequently (Act 9:27; Act 13:46; Act 14:3, etc.). The boldness and freedom with which he spake the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ would naturally increase more and more, as he found himself day by day unchecked by enemies, and encouraged by the number and earnestness of his hearers. None forbidding him; , only here in the New Testament; but the adjective is found in Symmachus’s version of Job (Job 34:31), and in the LXX. of Wis. 7:22; and both adjective and adverb are occasionally used in classical Greek. But the most common use of the adverb is by medical writers, who employ it “to denote freedom, unhindered action, in a variety of things, such as respiration, perspiration, the pulse, the muscles, the members of the body” (Hobart). In two passages quoted from Galen (‘Meth. Med.,’ 14.15; ‘Usus Part.,’ 2.15) the sentence ends, as here, with the word Some derive the word “acolyte” hence, from their being admitted to holy functions, though not in full orders.
And so ends this lively and beautiful and most faithful sketch of one of the greatest men, and one of the greatest works, the world has ever seen. “In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft,” is seen, as we read this history, to be no empty boast, but a simple statement of the truth. The springs of that mind and of that zeal were ever ready to rise to fresh work, however crushing a strain had been put upon them. “I count not my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God,” is the true description of that life as delineated by the beloved physician. And yet how remarkable it is that in the whole of the Acts there is not one single word of panegyric! The portraiture is a bare photograph, without a single additional touch to enhance its beauty. Nor must we forget the singular brevity with which some episodes are passed over. Had we only Luke’s history, we should not know that the apostle was an authoran author whose writings have moved the world of mind and spirit more than all the writings of Plato, and Aristotle, and Cicero, and Bacon combined, through a period of eighteen hundred years. Thus, to glance at the “two whole years” with the record of which the book closes, think of the work clone in that time. What gatherings of holy men and women within the walls of that “hired dwelling” are we sure must have taken place! Prisca and Aquila, and Epaenetus, and Mary, and Urban, and Apelles, and Persis, and Hermas, and Olympas, and all their compeers, we may be sure were often there. What wrestlings in prayer, what expositions of the Scriptures, what descriptions of the kingdom of God, what loving exhortations, what sympathetic communings, must have made that “hired dwelling” a very Bethel in the stronghold of heathenism! We think of the praetorian soldiers to whom he was successively chained; perhaps of the courteous Julius; of the inmates of Nero’s palace (Php 4:22); perhaps of Eubulus, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia (2Ti 4:21); of Epaphras and Epaphroditus, and of Luke, and Mark, and Timothy, and Aristarchus, and we know not how many more besides; and there rises before our minds a crowd of agencies and sober activities directed by that master mind to the advancement of the kingdom of God. We feel, indeed, that, though he was chained, “the word of God was not bound;” but that through the marvelous energy and unfailing wisdom of the great prisoner, his prison turned out rather to the furtherance of the gospel. And then we turn to the Epistles written at this time. What a contribution to the literature of the kingdom of heaven!-the Epistles to the Ephesians, to the Colossions, to Philemon, and to the Philippians, and probably much help given to Luke in the composition of the Acts of the Apostles. Truly they were two years of infinite moment to the Church of God. What followed those two years, what became of Paul, and what of his saintly biographer, we shall never know. It has pleased God to draw a curtain ever the events, which we cannot penetrate. Here our history ends, because nothing more had happened when it was given to the Church. Instead of vain regrets because it reaches no further, let us devoutly thank God for all that this book has taught us, and strive to show ourselves worthy members of that Gentile Church, whose foundation by St. Peter and St. Paul, and whose marvelous increment, through the labors of him who once laid it waste, has been so well set before us in the Book of THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.
HOMILETICS
Act 28:1-10
Kindness.
Genuine kindness is a pleasant thing to see by whomsoever and under whatsoever circumstances it is exercised. God has planted it in the human breast, and it is one of the distinctive attributes of man. Too often, indeed, the indulgence of bad passions is suffered to choke it, and rival interests to interfere with its action. Still, there it is, a faint reflection, it is true, of the love of God, but nevertheless a remnant of God’s image in man; pleasant to behold, sweetening the relations of man with man, and capable, if allowed to exercise its rightful sway over human actions, of increasing to an almost infinite extent the happiness of the human race. Kindness shows itself, mainly, in two ways. First, in a general inclination to promote the well-being of others. But secondly and chiefly, in sentiments of sorrow and compassion for the misfortunes of others, and in active endeavors to relieve their sufferings and supply their wants. Such was the kindness of these simple Maltese peasants. They saw before them nearly three hundred persons in the extremest destitution. Houseless, without food, drenched with wet from the sea and from the rain, without any change of raiment, shivering with cold, exhausted with fatigue, their plight was most miserable. When the kind islanders saw them they were touched with their misfortunes, nor did they rest in pitiful feelings only. They set actively to work to alleviate their sufferings. They opened their humble dwellings to receive them. They supplied them with what food they could. They helped them to dry their dripping clothes; they collected fuel to kindle fires by which to warm them; they gave themselves no little trouble and labor to give them every comfort within their reach. And what enhances the kindness is that there could be no hope of reward. The men whom they were helping had lost everything they possessed. Their whole property had gone down to the bottom of the sea. They could give nothing in return for what they received. All the more was the uncommon kindness which they showed them pure and unalloyed with selfishness. They were unconsciously obeying the precept of Paul’s Master, “Do good, hoping for nothing again.” May we not hope that they found the truth of his promise, “Your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest”? It is a great confirmation of this hope that we read in the following verses how the hand of the Lord was stretched out in signs and wonders. The miracles of Scripture are never useless or gratuitous displays of power. The most obvious purpose of those wrought in Malta was the conversion of the natives; and it is very pleasant to think that those kind men who were privileged to minister to the necessities of Paul and Luke and their companions in the faith, reaped a rich and unexpected reward, when they learned at their mouths the blessed promises of God’s grace, and were received into the number of the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Act 28:11-15
Refreshment.
What a weary time had Paul’s three last years of life been! Incessant fightings with his hard-hearted, virulent countrymen; a pitiless storm of hatred and persecution and false accusation raging incessantly against him; trial succeeding trial, yet bringing no respite from injustice; weary prison hours, while the active spirit was bound by the chain which kept him prisoner at Caesarea; and then the furious tempest, and the labors and anxieties of that terrific voyage, and the threats of the savage soldiery, and the loss of all he had in the shipwreck, and the hardships to be endured by his frail body in the cold wintry season. Save the kindness of the barbarians, there had been no rest to mind or body since he arrived at Jerusalem. And now his face was set towards Rome. But who could tell what awaited him there? He was going there as a prisoner. He was going to another trial. He was going to stand before Nero, with no protection but his innocence. He had countrymen at Rome. Would they behave towards him as his countrymen in Judaea had done? And what had he to expect from the populace at Rome? He had never seen Rome. But for a poor lone prisoner there was plenty in that city of blood and lust and unbounded power to awaken vague fears and undefined anxieties, and to trouble the firmest spirit. And so he walked on toward the goal, hopes and fears perhaps struggling within him for the mastery. And now they were just arriving at Appii Forum, when, lo! a considerable crowd advanced to meet him. Who could they be? and what was their errand? A moment or two soon explained it. They were brethren, Christian brethren, issuing from the foulness of the great heathen city in all the purity of faith and love, to come and greet and welcome the apostle. There, at a thousand miles from his native land, he was not among strangers; he was surrounded by those who had never indeed seen his face, but who loved him fervently in Christ Jesus. There, in the land of idolatry, amidst heathen temples and every form of wickedness flourishing in that hot-bed of corruption, he was in the midst of saints, by whom the Name of Jesus was loved and adored. In that stronghold of Satan there was a chosen band not ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, not ashamed of Paul his prisonera band of men to whom Paul’s arrival was a joy and a glory, and who were come upwards of forty miles, in all the warmth of love and admiration, to honor him and welcome him, and to give him proof of their obedience and devotion to him. Their presence was like a bright gleam of sunshine upon the apostle’s way. His heart leaped up in response to that welcome greeting. His bruised and wearied spirit revived. Love and joy and hope made music in his soul, and his first thought was to give God thanks for this refreshment. Then with fresh courage he went on his way like a giant refreshed with wine, ready to work or to suffer, to contend, to bear witness, to preach, to travel, to write, to spend and be spent, to live or to die for Christ, as his heavenly Father should appoint, till the set time should come when all his toil would be over, and the cress would be exchanged for the glorious crown of righteousness and of life.
Act 28:16-31
The fall.
The main feature in these concluding verses of the Acts of the Apostles, as it is one of the most momentous incidents in the history of God’s dealings with mankind, is the fall of Israel from their proper place in the Church of God. For nearly two thousand years, if we date from the call of Abraham, this one family had been separated from the rest of mankind, and eventually received institutions of such wonderful strength and vitality as to keep them separate through centuries of extraordinary vicissitudes, that they might be depositaries of God’s great promise, and his witnesses in the world. But when at length the great promise made by God to the fathers had its fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ into the world, and the time of rest and glory to Israel would seem to have arrived, another event happened, also foretold by the prophets, viz. the rejection of their Messiah by an unbelieving and stiff-necked generation. He came to his own, and his own received him not. “Who hath believed our report?” was the prophetic announcement of this unbelief. “Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive” was the prophet’s description of the gross heart of the people when the glad sound of the gospel should come unto them. And so now it came to pass. We have seen in the preceding narrative how the most gifted of men, with a profusion of love and eloquence and power which has never been surpassed, went about from country to country, and from city to city, proclaiming to his Jewish brethren the unsearchable riches of Christ. We have seen how everywhere to the mass he spoke in vain. The blessed Word of life fell on ears dull of hearing. They resented the message when they should have hailed the messenger with delight. They sought to silence that tongue in death which spoke to them of Jesus and the resurrection. And now once more a chance is given them. The generous prisoner has no sooner set his foot in Rome than he calls to him all his fellow-countrymen. Forgiving all the wrongs and injuries and violence which had embittered his life, he once more lays before them the blessed news of the kingdom of God and exhorts them to enter in. The exhortation is in vain. They judge themselves unworthy of eternal life; they will not have God’s Christ to reign over them. And so they seal their own doom. The time of their fall is comethe time when the kingdom of God must be taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. But now mark the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. See how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out. This fall of Israel, so sad in itself, so sad in relation to the great fathers of the house of Israel, so fatal, one would have thought, to the interests of the kingdom of Christ, becomes the riches of the world. From that fall emerges the great mystery of God, which had lain concealed through ages and generations, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs and partakers of the great Messianic promise. Through that fall of Israel salvation came to the breadth and length of the heathen world. “The salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles,” and they were ready to hear it. The light that had been shut up within the four walls of the commonwealth of Israel, and only shining as it were through the chinks and crannies of those walls, now that those walls were broken down blazed forth to fill the world with its heavenly brightness. The voice of Divine truth, of which only faint echoes had been heard outside those walls, now went out through all lands in all the fullness of its converting power. Now were the heathen given to Christ for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession. The fall of Israel was become the riches of the Gentiles, and their loss the world’s gain. But the mystery of God was not yet worked out. That had yet to be unfolded and shown to the world, which St. Paul told the Roman Church, “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Israel has not stumbled to his final fall. The eternal hand still holds him up through centuries of darkness; and the eternal voice will yet say to him, “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee!” The time will come, for God has spoken it, when the heart of stone, which denied the Lord of glory, will be exchanged for a heart of flesh, which will love and adore him. The time will come when the long-lost sheep will return to the good and loving Shepherd who is waiting to receive them, “and so all Israel shall be saved.” How or when that promised time will come we know not. But we know that it will come. And when it does come it will be to the whole human race as life from the dead. Watch for it, O ye Gentile Christians! Watch for it, O ye sons of Israel! Pray for it, all ye that love Christ! for it will be the day of the fullness of his glory, and the consummation of your bliss.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Act 28:1-10
A picture of the human.
In these few verses we have a graphic picture of some of the experiences of our life and of the instincts or intuitions of our nature.
I. A PICTURE OF THE HUMAN.
1. Human suffering.
(1) Trouble. Doubtless the first sentiment on escaping death by shipwreck is intense gladness and gratitude, But the next is the consciousness of loss. The man who lands on the island after battling with the waves first congratulates himself and (if he be a devout man) thanks God that his life is preserved; then he realizes what he has left behind him; and he soon becomes conscious of the exposure to which he is subjectedhe allows himself to be troubled “because of the present rain, and because of the cold” (Act 28:2). It is not shipwreck only, but many other kinds of wreck which plunge men “into the cold,” into adversity, into bereavement of the good which they had enjoyed.
(2) Sickness (Act 28:8).
2. Unspoiled human nature. Such is the dire effect of long-continued, sin upon the soul, that it often happens that nearly every vestige of the goodness with which our Creator first endowed us disappears. As God made us, it was natural that we should compassionate our fellows in misery, and that we should be grateful to them for their help. Only too often, however, man is found pitiless and thankless. The shipwrecked mariner is murdered as he strikes the shore; the benefactor reaps no blessing, no honor for his kindness. Not so, however, here. Here was
(1) pity, “the barbarous people showed no little kindness” (Act 28:2). Here, also, was
(2) gratitude (Act 28:10).
3. An ineradicable human conviction. Underlying the conclusion to which these natives of Malta came (Act 28:4), was the conviction, common to our kind, that sin merits punishment and will be overtaken by it. This is a fundamental and ultimate principle; we need not try to account for it or to “get behind it.” It is sufficient in itself; it is a conviction that comes from the Author of our spiritual nature, which will not be dislodged, which itself accounts for much that we think, say, and dothat sin deserves penalty, and sooner or later must bear it.
4. A human error, common to the unenlightened. A narrow mind and one unillumined by the teaching of God makes a great mistake in applying the truth just stated; it infers that any particular misfortune is referable to some special sin (Act 28:4; see Joh 9:3; Joh 7:24). It also falls into error of a similar kind, though conducting to an opposite conclusionit infers that a man who has an extraordinary escape is a special favorite of Heaven (Act 28:6). Taught of God, we know that, while sin brings penalty, inward and circumstantial, and while righteousness brings Divine regard and honor, God often permits or sends suffering and sorrow in fatherly love for the promotion of the highest well-being (Heb 12:5-11). We have also here
II. THE MANIFEST PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE. Christ was present:
1. In the person of his apostle. That teacher of truth who had been so influential a passenger on board ship (Act 27:1-44.), and who makes himself so useful now (Act 28:3, Act 28:8, Act 28:9), is there in his Master’s Name, and on his Master’s work.
2. In the exercise of benignant power:
(1) protection from harm;
(2) exercise of healing power. We may learn three special lessons.
(a) That true dignity is never above usefulness, even of the humblest kind; a Paul may gather sticks in time of emergency without losing honor.
(b) That Christian generosity must not be behind native kindness.
(c) That bodily benefit is an admirable introduction to spiritual help. Who can doubt that Paul used the gratitude and honor which he reaped (Act 28:10) to find a way for the truth of Christ to the minds and hearts of the Maltese?C.
Act 28:15
Human kindness.
A striking and touching instance is this of valuable human kindness. It is a positive relief to our minds to think that the faithful veteran soldier of Jesus Christ, bearing in his body such marks of lifelong conflict, worn with toil and care and suffering, having escaped from one kind of affliction and on his way to another, met with such considerate kindness as greatly comforted and cheered him. The text may remind us
I. THAT HUMAN KINDNESS IS A DIVINELY IMPLANTED DISPOSITION. As God created us “in his own image,” we were made to feel and show kindness one to another; to rejoice in one another’s success; to promote one another’s prosperity; to sympathize with one another in sorrow; to be willing to deny ourselves, to run risks, to make sacrifices, to help others in their time of need.
II. THAT UNDER THE CURSE OF SIN IT MAY RE ERADICATED FROM THE SOUL; e.g. pirates, wreckers, thugs, etc.
III. THAT IT SHOULD BE DEVELOPED BY CONSTANT CULTURE. Kindness, like all other graces, needs regular cultivation, or it will decline or even perish. It needs:
1. The nurture which comes from the utterance of truth; the reception of right thoughts into the mind.
2. The strengthening which proceeds from daily illustration; that which is derived from the practice of slight and simple acts of considerateness and good will.
3. The confirmation of larger acts of self-sacrificing love; such acts as cause trouble, as involve difficulty, as entail risk, as necessitate expenditure.
IV. THAT IT HAS RENDERED HIGH SERVICE IN THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST.
1. To the great King himself; for shall we not say that much of the ministry of those women who waited on him so kindly, and something of the attendance granted by the men who tendered him their aid, was the offering of human kindness rather than of Divine service? Yet it was not on that account unacceptable or unserviceable.
2. To his apostles. Here is one instance in which human kindness greatly comforted and heartened a valued servant of Christ, and helped him on his useful and fruitful course.
3. To his servants in all succeeding centuries. Who shall tell how much the cause of Christ has been furthered by the opportune kindness shown by tender hearts and gentle hands to those who have been its representatives and champions?
V. THAT IT IS AN ADMIRABLE THING IN ITSELF: one that is highly esteemed of God (Heb, Act 13:16; Eph 3:1-21 :32); one that is beautiful in the sight of man, that adorns the doctrine, that is to the character what the bloom is to the plant; one that has a general and precious reflex influence on those that exercise and exhibit it.
VI. THAT IT IS A BLESSING FOR WHICH WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL TO GOD. Paul “thanked God” as well as “took courage.” We have reason to thank God for human kindness as much as for any blessing we receive. For though this does not come as perceptibly from him as the sunshine and the rain, yet ultimately and actually it is as much his gift as they are. Only the loving God can originate love in the human heart and in the human life. “God is our Sun,” from whom streams every ray of human kindness that falls on our path and cheers our soul. Let us, too, thank God for it, while we take courage from it.C.
Act 28:17-28
The Christian and the Jew.
Here we have the Christian and the Jew brought into close contact; and there seems to have been as fair an opportunity for the latter to understand and appreciate the former as could ever have been granted. With calmness, with the wisdom and fullness of long study and mature experience, the most enlightened Christian apologist presented the case of Christianity to these men of the Jewish faith. We may look at
I. THE INTRODUCTION. Paul felt that his position was one which was open to misunderstanding on the part of his fellow-countrymen, and he resolved on a free and full explanation. In this we recognize
(1) his constant faithfulness; for it was in discharge of his duty to his Divine Master that he sought to conciliate those who were his enemies; also
(2) his habitual courtesy; for the whole strain of his address to the “chief of the Jews” was suave and courteous in a high degree (Act 28:17-20).
In their reply (Act 28:21, Act 28:22) we recognize
(1) a formal impartiality combined with
(2) a real prepossession of mind decidedly against the cause of which he was the advocate.
II. THE CONFERENCE. (Act 28:23-28.) We have:
1. Christian earnestness confronting Jewish curiosity. Paul “expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them,” etc., evidently with characteristic zeal. They listened, curious and wondering what he had to say. “We desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest.” Christian fervor on the one side, Jewish eagerness on the other.
2. Christian truth striving with Jewish prejudice. Paul marshaled his facts and his arguments, we cannot doubt, to the full height of his fervor and his practiced ability, maintaining his plea at great length (Act 28:23). But he spoke to men whose minds were occupied with prejudice. The “sect was everywhere spoken against,” they said to him. They probably used much stronger language in speaking to one another.
3. Christian truth prevailing over Jewish prejudice. But seldom do we read of men being “convinced against their will;” but we are glad to read here that “some believed,” etc. (Act 28:24).
4. But we have the old sad story of Jewish prejudice prevailing over Christian truth. “Some believed not.”
5. Finally we have Christian indignation uttering itself freely (Act 28:25-27). We turn to
III. THE LESSORS WE GAIN FROM IT.
1. That it is right for us to invite and address the curious as well as the devout. We should summon to the sanctuary not only those who are wishful to worship God, but those also who are solicitous to learn what we have to say on any subject with which we deal.
2. That we should exert ourselves to present truth in all its phases and with all our force. As Paul made his appeal to the Law and to the prophets, and developed and illustrated his argument at full length, so we should present the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, in all its fullness and in all its force; not being satisfied until we have “declared the whole counsel of God.”
3. That we may reasonably hope for some measure of success. We have to contend, not indeed with Jewish prejudice, but with human obduracy. Yet armed with Divine truth and aided by the Divine Spirit, we should look for success.
4. That we need not be surprised at partial failure. Where apostles were baffled we may be beaten.
5. That the hour of rebuke sometimes comes in the ministry of Christ.
6. That one sphere failing, another will open to the earnest worker (Act 28:28). The salvation of God is sent to all men, and there are those who “will hear it,” if there are many who will not.C.
Act 28:30, Act 28:31
Concerning Christ and his kingdom
“The kingdom of God,“ which Paul preached in his own hired house for two years, was none other than the “kingdom of Christ,” or the “kingdom of heaven” which Jesus announced, and conceiving which he said so much when he was on earth (see Mat 6:33; Luk 22:29; Joh 18:36; Mat 13:24-50, etc.). Christ came for the purpose of establishing, or rather re-establishing, the kingdom of God on earth, of reinstating the Divine Father on the throne of the human world. This was the end and aim of his mission; therefore “those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ” are the same things which concern “the kingdom of God” (text and also Act 28:23). We look, then, at this kingdom
I. ITS SPIRITUAL SOVEREIGNTY. He has told us with great distinctness that his kingdom is “not of this world.” We gather from all that he said and did that it is none other and nothing lower than the spiritual and universal sovereignty which God, the Divine Father, which he himself, the Divine Savior, would exercise over mankind; the domain of righteousness and love over the willing minds, the rejoicing hearts, of a redeemed and regenerated worlda kingdom in which God is to be the one Sovereign, righteousness the only accepted law, love the pervading and prevailing spirit, joy the abounding and abiding issue.
II. THE CONDITIONS OF CITIZENSHIP. From a Divine point of view the condition is that of regeneration (Joh 3:3). From that point of view which is open to us, and from which our action is possible, the conditions are humility (Mat 5:3; Luk 18:17), and faith in Jesus Christ himself, “By faith in me” (Act 26:18; Joh 6:29, Joh 6:35, Joh 6:40, Joh 6:53, etc.).
III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ITS SUBJECTS.
1. Docility (Mat 18:4).
2. Love (Joh 13:35).
3. Continued obedience to the will of Christ (Joh 8:31).
4. Faithfulness unto suffering (Luk 17:20).
5. Peacefulness of spirit (Mat 5:9; Rom 14:17).
6. Sacred joy (Rom 5:11; Rom 14:17).
IV. THE METHOD OF ITS WARFARE. Its warfare is wholly spiritual (Joh 8:36).
1. It assails spiritual evils. It does battle with sin in all its forms and in all its consequences.
2. It employs spiritual weapons (2Co 10:4); these are truth, love, faith, consistency, etc.
V. THE MANNER OF ITS COMING. Some earthly powers come with great ostentation, with sound of trumpet, with announcement of herald, with “pomp and circumstance;” but “the kingdom of God cometh not with observation.” He “did not strive nor cry, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets,” when he lived below. And now he comes in gospel privilege, in gracious invitation, in benignant influences, in Divine prompting; not as the storm comes, but as the dew; not in the great and strong wind that rends the mountains, but in the still small voice that touches the heart and makes all things new.
VI. ITS OPENNESS TO EVERY SEEKING SOUL, If there is one thing concerning the “kingdom of God, or one thing which “concerns the Lord Jesus Christ” which is a more true and faithful saying than another, which is more valuable and precious to the human world than another, it is thisthat the gates of that blessed kingdom stand open night and day, are wide open to receive the most unworthy if they will pass through in sincere humility and simple faith; that the Lord Jesus Christ stands ever waiting to receive the heart which is looking for a Savior from sin; that he is not only prepared, but eager to welcome to his side and his service every human soul that is hungering after righteousness, that will accept his mercy, that will take his yoke; that unto all of these he will give, not only present and abiding rest, but future and everlasting joy.C.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Act 28:1-10
Occurrences at Malta.
I. THE HOSPITALITY OF THE HEATHEN. The instinct of kindness is God-implanted in the human heart. Hospitality was not so much a virtue in heathendom as the refusal of it a crime. So much the more must any “shutting up of the bowels of compassion” against the needy brother or the stranger be an offence against the Son of man. The great charge which he, in his depiction of the scene of judgment, brings against the unfaithful is the neglect of the common offices of love.
II. THE CHRISTEN FINDS EVERYWHERE A HOME. For if he carries the love of God in his heart, no coast can be foreign land, no color or custom of men repel. It was a heathen who said, “I am a man, and nothing human is foreign to me.” The Christian may translate the saying, “I am a follower of the Son of man, and nothing that is dear to him is strange to me,”
III. YET HE MEETS PERIL, MISCONSTRUCTION, AND ENMITY. HOW quickly do the open brows of hospitable kindness change into scowls and frowns as the viper fastens on Paul’s hand! They reason he must be a murderer. Occurrences are full of effects without visible causes. The untrained mind makes out of coincidences chains of cause and effect which do not exist. The afflicted man is supposed to be a wicked man. In propagating Christianity we need to take the sword of the Spirit, which owes its bright temper to Divine intelligence. We must meet unreason with reason, and cast out superstitious darkness by the clear light of all accessible knowledge.
IV. THE CHRISTIAN IS DELIVERED THAT HE MAY DELIVER OTHERS. AS Paul casts off the serpent harmless, he is seen to be under the Divine protection. Here is a man who leads apparently a charmed life. The waves could not swallow him, nor the serpent sting him. The heathen mind revolts from one extreme of superstition to another. Now Paul must be a god! “The common mass know no measure; they raise a man to heaven or thrust him into hell” (Act 14:12, Act 14:18). The Christian may rapidly pass from the extreme of depreciation or shame to that of honor, feeling equally that he deserves neither. Yet both in the one and the other the business of the Christian is not to defend himself from misunderstandings, but “through good report and evil report,” as Paul said, to go on with his work and witness, leaving Providence to show the kind of work the hour and the place demand. Here Paul is entirely devoted to the healing activity of the body. There are times of silence; and the spectacle of the servant of Christ busy in doing good during his stay in the island may have wrought more on the memory of the people than many sermons would have done.J.
Act 28:11-15
The passage from Malta to Rome.
I. BLESSINGS BY THE WAY. Christian fellowship is enjoyed. Unity and relationship in Jesus Christ make the unknown as known. The heart dissolves distance and strangeness. God has everywhere hidden children. The discovery of them is the discovery of a dear bond of brotherhood, and this fills the heart with joy (comp. Rom 1:12). The coming forth of the brethren from Rome to meet the party showed that his letter to them had not been without result. So he thanked God and took heart. This slight word seems to allude to a certain failing of heart and dejection, such as the greatest souls are liable to in critical moments. His life was passed in cloud and sunshine, and the record of both has been faithfully left behind. In both there is deep encouragement for us.
II. THE ARRIVAL AT ROME. It was an epoch:
1. For him. His life-goal is at last reached. He comes, a homeless stranger, yet escorted by loving friends; as an evildoer in bonds, yet with the grace of God in his heart; as a victim doomed to sacrifice, yet as a victorious conqueror, to plant the banner of the cross in the citadel of heathendom.
2. For heathendom it was a critical moment. It is the signal for the wane of its glory and pride. For the next three centuries it was to lead a struggling existence, until all that was good in it should be absorbed into the kingdom of God, and the rest be cast away with the refuse of time.
3. For Judaism. Paul turns for the last time to his people. Exclusiveness is decaying; the priest and the doctor and their followers, who refuse to come to terms with Christ, must fold their garments about them and pass into solitude amidst the life of civilization. Rome is to replace Jerusalem.
4. For Christianity. Sanguinary struggles await her in Rome, but in the end a glorious victory.J.
Act 28:16-19
Paul and the Roman Jews.
I. A FINAL PERSONAL TESTIMONY OF INNOCENCE. It is full of manly courage and simplicity. It was no subversive teaching or conduct that had brought him into his present position. No definite charge had ever been proved against him. Like the Master, it was as a fulfiller, not as a destroyer, that he had wrought. It was for the “hope of Israel “he had suffered. Great teachers are always fulfillers. But because they see that truth is not stagnant, but living, they are accused of innovation. When we accuse others of innovation, let us ask whether it be not that our own garb of thought has grown old. The whole New Testament story is one long protest against imposing fetters on the freedom of the living spirit and the course of truth.
II. A FINAL CONFESSION. Of Jesus as the Messiah. And a final argument with his countrymen. To point back to Moses and the prophets in evidence of this was to show that the doctrine of the cross and the resurrection was the fulfillment and consummation of the ancient faith of Israel. But this was no cold statement, no perfunctory statement. From morning till evening Paul labored with his countrymen’s souls. Men are never weary of speaking of that of which their hearts are full. It is not the argumentative side of Christian truth on which every preacher or teacher can dwell. But whatever be the aspect of truth and life he conceives with force and which possesses his soul, let him speak and not be weary. The result will be the same as with Paul, and cannot be expected otherwise. Some will be persuaded, others will disbelieve. The clear expression of any positive truth will be echoed in assent and resisted in negation. Perhaps we can never be sure that we have spoken the truth until we have met opposition.
III. FINAL EFFUSION OF LOVE. He addresses them as brethren, and after telling them of the enmity and persecution he had experienced at the hands of their fathers in Palestine, he still knocks once more at the door of their hearts. The prophetic words of his close are full of a solemn pathos. The audience, disunited, falls to two sections. It is not that division begins with the preaching of the gospel, but the hidden disunion of the heart is brought to light. The sun does not produce difference, but only reveals difference, which could not be recognized in darkness. Hardness of heart is both a natural consequence of contempt of the truth, and a Divine judgment upon it. But the aurora of the future shines brightly against this dark background of Israel’s rejection. No sin, no ingratitude of man, can dim the splendor of that eternal heaven of grace. If the Jews will not come to the great supper of God, the Gentiles shall fill his house.J.
Act 28:30, Act 28:31
Paul’s preaching at Rome.
I. IT WAS A FULFILLMENT OF A PROMISE. (Act 9:15.)
II. IT WAS A PROPHECY OF THE FUTURE. Long has the world been ruled from Rome; though often through corrupt forms, the Spirit of Christ has gone forth from her to heal and to civilize. Slowly the dominion of Rome must melt to give place to the idea which she has representedthe world-wide dominion of the kingdom of God.
III. IT WAS THE REALIZATION OF THE PREACHER‘S IDEAL.
1. There is a welcome for all. Nothing inaccessible, forbidding, hard to approach, should be in the preacher’s manner. No “stand aside, for I am holier than thou!” He must make men feel that he has no reserves, no keeping back of anything they ought to know, no half-truths; that they are welcome fully to all the best of head and heart. He must not deal with people as sinners beneath him, but as his fellows, as man with men.
2. There is boldness of utterance. Parrhesia, the last word but one of the book. Without this, the preacher is nerveless and ineffective. If he fears his audience, fears public opinion, fears himself, he is undone. The pulpit is the post for a brave man, not less than the sentinel’s in wartime. “The hour is regal when he mounts on guard.” Cowardice may be fatal to himself and others. Self-surrender to God, like that of Paul, is the secret of the freedom of the preacher.
3. Unfettered external liberty. These were, perhaps, the happiest years of his life. “Unhindered” (akolutos)this is the last word of the book. How shall the preacher excuse himself, if in a free country, with every encouragement to free speech, he fails to utter himself and his message, and declare, so far as he understands it, the whole counsel of God? When shall men feel that the Jesus Christ is the Friend of all men, and that his Church is their home? When, for one thing, his ministers rise to the ideal of their high calling as it is illustrated in this final scene of the bookPaul the teacher and preacher at Rome.J.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Act 28:1-6
The instability of ignorance, and the stability of the true Christian.
The whole circumstance an apt illustration of the spiritual forces working in the midst of the natural. The shipwrecked company. Paul active in helping. The barbarians better than those who abused Divine blessings like the Jews, who violated Divine order like the Romans; but, though actuated by kindness, easily led away by superstition and ignorant prejudice.
I. THE INSUFFICIENCY OF NATURAL INSTINCTS.
1. Justice easily perverted, because misapplied.
2. The wonders of the material world both misunderstood and misemployed.
3. Reactions, both intellectual and moral, the curse of the world. Irrational depreciation and irrational homage side by side. The world’s hero-worship a sad comment on its fickleness and blindness. Ant Deus ant diabolus. We want some true guiding principles which religion alone furnishes.
II. THE STRENGTH WHICH RESTS ON GOD.
1. Calm in danger, because confident of Divine approval and mission. The records of missionary heroism supply many such facts. As much as possible we should cherish the same spirit in common life. True presence of mind the growth of moral strength.
2. He that is full of the Spirit of God will shake off vipers into the fire. The viper of detraction and calumny. The viper of personal animosity. The viper of worldly solicitation. The viper of devouring anxieties and cares. If we are doing God’s work, he will preserve us. And the world which at first has misunderstood and injured us will sweep round in its thoughts, and do us honor as God’s servants.R.
Act 28:7-10
“The healing of the nations.”
The mission of Christianity to heal both body and soul. The powerful appeal which can be made through gratitude. The necessity of a prayerful spirit in the exercise of the gifts bestowed.
I. LESSONS ON THE WORK OF THE CHRISTIAN MESSENGER.
1. Personal character a great power in the ministration of truth. “They said he was a god.” We must make a way for ourselves to men’s hearts.
2. Benevolent works an introduction for the gospel. “The rest came.”
3. The chief men should be wonnot merely the lower classes. The unconverted rulers and rich have sorrows in their homes. We may reach them through their family affections.
II. THE SPIRITUAL HEALING OF THE WORLD IS THE HOPE OF ITS FUTURE.
1. A retrospect of the beneficent influence of Christianity on the life of man.
2. A contrast between the method of the gospel and the pretentious but powerless schemes of socialists and political and scientific enthusiasts.
3. The works of Christ affect the mass through the individual. Multitudinism is delusion. But the mass of the Christian Church must be aggressive on the mass of the world.R.
Act 28:15
The break in the clouds.
“He thanked God, and took courage? Review of the apostolic history. The word of God fulfilled. The varied emotions of the ambassador’s heart, personal in view of his work, in anticipation of the results of the future in Rome. The gospel at the gates of the empire. Spiritual power before worldly power.
I. THE STUDY OF PROVIDENCE a help to the development of Christian character and life.
1. It promotes thankfulness.
2. It confirms faith.
3. It draws Christians nearer to one another, as they rejoice together.
4. It prepares for work and suffering. Paul needed all the courage he could take.
II. THE USE WE SHOULD MAKE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES.
1. Not to “rest and be thankful,” but to press on for the prize. The prosperous times of the Church, as of the individual, often precede great trials. Paul is outside Rome, but he is not out of danger.
2. The opportunity of renewed intercourse with brethren and revived life in the Church, for higher testimony. Help each other to be strong.R.
Act 28:22
The reproach which must be borne.
“As concerning this sect,” etc. The disciples of Jesus supported by his example. “Despised and rejected of men.” The tendency of human thought and life to stagnate. The strength of vested interests. To be spoken against tries faith, but strengthens principle. Individually, socially, the reproach of Christ must be borne.
I. THE JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD by the manifestation of the truth.
1. The doctrine of Christ unwelcome.
2. The prejudices of party an obstacle to the spread of truth.
3. The victories of the gospel obtained by the grace of God.
II. THE DISCIPLINE OF DISCIPLESHIP.
1. Healthy.
2. Temporary. Reactions to be reckoned for. Hold on, and the world speaks as much for, as once against.
3. The life which survives the oppositions of pride and the misrepresentations of enmity is trained to a larger sphere. The sect spoken against became the orthodoxy of the future. The first enemies of Christianity were the Jews, but the opposition of unbelief was overruled to the greater victories of truth. So now the time of transition is severe discipline, but it will be followed by a time of splendid triumph when the messengers have been prepared for it.R.
Act 28:23
The Christian advocate putting forth his pleas.
“Persuading them concerning Jesus.” Importance of the crisis. Jerusalem. Rome. A few years, and Jerusalem destroyed. Judaism brought Paul in fetters to Rome. The old Jerusalem and the new Jerusalem struggling together. Brief notice of Paul’s labors at Rome, and then the book closes. Significant of the fact that the new dispensation was inaugurated. Peculiar population of Rome, representative of the cosmopolitan Roman empire, a fitting ground for the gospel to be sown in.
I. THE MATTER OF THE MESSAGE. “Concerning Jesus.” (Compare the Epistles to the Romans and Hebrews.)
1. The righteousness of God set forth, instead of man’s righteousness.
2. The priestly office of Christ abolishing ritualism, and opening the gates of the spiritual temple.
3. Jesus the promised King, the Lifter-up of the fallen people, the Desire of all nations, the Renovator of the world. Compare with such a setting forth of Jesus, the state of the Jews and Romans, in faith, worship, and hope, both in the individual and in society, both for time and for eternity.
II. THE METHOD ADOPTED by the messenger. Persuasion.
1. The written Word of God the basis. The Old and the New Testaments harmonized. Faith is an outcome of faith: “Ye believe in God, believe also in me.”
2. Personal testimony. “I am a Christian; be such as I am.” True persuasion is personal. We must aim at the heart, and not merely at the intellect; and the heart must direct the aim.
3. Those that would persuade must be prepared to use none but spiritual means. Neither sensational excitement, nor ritualistic seductions, nor corrupt appeals to lower natures, are permissible to the Christian advocate. Let truth win its victory.R.
Act 28:24
The Word of God trying the hearts of men.
“And some believed,” etc. The end of all preaching is practical faith. Not sentiment. Not mere intellectual change. Illustrate from those who listened to Paul. What faith involved to a Jew, to a heathen. The alternative, not indifference, not neutrality, but “disbelief” (Revised Version), exemplified in the opposition of Jews. Moral responsibility for faith, as seen in the light of the Old Testament view (Act 28:26, Act 28:27). Resistance to the Spirit a moral perversion and hardening.
I. GOD‘S SPIRIT WORKS BY MEANS OF HUMAN AGENCY.
1. The truth is presented to the heart, notwithstanding infirmities of method and manner.
2. The external ministration corresponds to the internal work of grace.
3. The essential point in all preaching is the presentation of an object of faith. Jesus.
II. THOSE WHO LISTEN TO THE WORD OF GOD ARE TRIED BY IT.
1. The broad distinction between acceptance and rejection of Christ. The heart which moves towards the Savior is changed.
2. No compromise in the final result, though hearts may deceive themselves. By faith we stand.
3. While there is the opportunity of hearing, there is hope of turning the unbelief into faith. God’s people must never take it for granted that any are beyond reach. They hear not as they might hear.
4. The opportunity may be itself decisive. “Now is the accepted time.”R.
Act 28:30, Act 28:31
The watchman upon the walls of Jerusalem.
“And he abode two whole years,” etc. The last look at Paul significant of the future. The kingdom of God traced in Acts from the old Jerusalem to Rome. The apostle of the Gentiles left at his work, soon to seal it with his blood. Pauline Christianity in its relation to the spread of the kingdom. No one taught better “the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I. AN EXAMPLE OF INDIVIDUAL DEVOTEDNESS. The value of such a witness to the early Church.
1. All his strength derived from Christ.
2. All his life given to service.
3. The character of the man opened for him the way of his ministry. He longed to be at Rome, and at Rome he fulfilled his own ideal of the Christian messenger.
II. A WONDERFUL ILLUSTRATION OF OVERRULING PROVIDENCE. The prophecy fulfilled. The restraint of enemies. The provision of opportunities. The sustenance of physical and moral strength. The preparation of the man for his post. The intellectual training and world-wide experience all employed. A post is fitted for each, and each is fitted for his post.
III. A SIGNIFICANT FACT IN THE WORLD‘S HISTORY. The most momentous facts not always those which appear most startling. The palace of the Caesars beside the hired house of the apostle. The world then would have despised the day of small things. A germ of new life in the old corruption. The gospel wins its triumphs by simple methods. The Acts of the Apostles are greater in the history of the world than the annals of Rome. The kingdom of God has come, is coming, shall come. May we say in heart and life, “Thy kingdom come”!R.
HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER
Act 28:1-6
A strong family likeness.
This short episode is, in its proportion, as refreshing to the reader as to those who played the actual part in it. It is the oasis of narrative. It reads like a brief parable of the human heart. Or we may be impressed by it, as by some portrait, which presents to our view features with which we seem to be very familiar, and half hiding, half revealing a likeness to some one well known. They are the features that “half conceal and half reveal” the likeness of the human heart. And throughout the family of human heart, very strong indeed is the family likeness, above what can be found anywhere else. Notice these features, so characteristic of it.
I. ITS KINDNESS.
1. The heart loves kindnessto receive it.
2. The heart loves kindnessto do it. Both of these are deep facts of the heart, and speak not obscurely him who made it.
3. The kindness that is in the heart is touched towards bodily want, cold, hunger, thirst, shelterless exposure; and this tells the tale of all the rest (Mat 25:35-45).
4. The kindness of the heart contravenes in human life the bare action of the principle of natural selection; it tempers it with irresistibly modifying and irresistibly elevating moral influences; it determines and regulates in a way all its own “the survival of the fittest,” and it is the thing on earth likest what is habitual in heaven!
5. The kindness of the human heart is found everywhere, and in every age of the world.
II. ITS SUPERSTITION.
1. The superstition that is so often betrayed by the human heart is an unerring sign of the sense of God and the instinct of the infinite present in it.
2. It means that sense unguided, that instinct baffled.
3. It evidences deep conviction of moral distinctions inside man, and of presiding moral judgments outside men, and authoritative over them, all unfed as these may be from truth’s own springs, and unpointed to their infinitely worthy objects.
4. It is a constant rehearsal of judgment to come.
III. ITS SWIFTNESS TO TURN. Hence come
(1) the worse uses of such versatility and such swiftness, fickleness, and caprice, and waywardness, and love of mere variety; but
(2) the better uses, readiness to forgive, swiftness to run and even meet the returning prodigal;
(3) the thoroughness of contrition and conversion, that need but a momentlike those of Paul himself; and
(4) the power to recover, after sorest stricken griefs, and most fearful storms of sorrow or of passion.
IV. ITS ADDICTEDNESS TO EXTREMES. The people of Melita began with simplest, most unaffected kindness. They saw no instructing providence, but when the occasion came superstition filled their heart, and Paul is “no doubt a murderer, whom vengeance suffereth not to live, though he hath escaped the sea.” This is their short and summary theology. But it is not altogether so stiff and unopen to conviction. They are changed to the opposite pole when they find, “after a great while,” i.e. what seemed a great while for eyes fixed in one direction, but which was indeed a very little while, that vengeance does not make an end to the life of Paul. And from a pursued murderer, they exalt him to the skies of the gods! Happy if the history of every erring heart had as much of the kindness as was here, and no more of the error and the mischief and the disaster than were here. Kindness began the scene, and, when fear clouded it over awhile, the last “change of mind” was not from better to worse, but from worse to better. Yet still how mournfully plain it is that nature’s light alone, leaves the barbarian! For so he must be called justly who exalts the child of God into a god himself.B.
Act 28:7-10
A type of the beneficent action of Christianity.
Christian truth embodied in Christian men had not long been in an island to which it was quite strange before it found its footing, made its mark, and left behind it memories equally lasting and fragrant. Amid the wide group of suggestions offered by these verses, we may especially note the following as particularly worthy of a place in connection with this history:
I. THE WATCHFULNESS OF THE MASTER OVER HIS SERVANTS TO BE WELL TRUSTED. God had guided Paul and his companions, after a fierce voyage at all events, to a safe haven at last. But here also they found,
(1) in common with all the company, for very humanity’s sake, kindness, and “no common kindness” either; and
(2) they found also for themselves honored and distinguished entertainment. How often since has this been seen true! What kindness, what entertainment, has been heartily given to men as the servants of Christ, which nothing else personal to themselves would have either earned for them or entitled them to!
II. THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO KINDNESS OF HEART AND OF ACT THAT CHRISTIANITY PROMOTES. Publius showed kindness, doubtless not imagining any reward for himself. But most surely he received abundant recompense of reward. The prospect of any such return undoubtedly is not to be waited for or reckoned upon, but the bountiful hand of Jesus, whose generosity will never be outdone, ought to be noted. Generous, indeed, are the acknowledgments of Christianity. It repays kindness of heart and kindness of act with an inner satisfaction and with a practical beneficence “heaped up and flowing over,” yea, a thousandfold.
III. HOW SURELY, ESSENTIALLY, IT LIES IN CHRISTIAN WORK TO SPREAD. It might be uttered as a taunt against Christian action, or at all events against this illustration of it, that the benefits were those of miraculous help to the body. But the taunt would be most unjust, for if there be one thing plainly written on the historic pages of Christianity now these eighteen centuries, it is this, that wherever its works are foundnot simply its professionlife and inquiry and devotion are found. Whenever souls are being saved, and wherever, there and then are found a life and spirit of inquiry andthe multitude athirst.
IV. HOW DEEPLY IT SEEMS TO LIE IN THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY TO EVOKE GRATITUDE OF THE LARGEST AND STRONGEST AND MOST PRACTICAL. It is quite true that there is “all the world’s” difference between the blessings that Christianity gives and the returns that it receives from those most deeply, truly, touched by it. Yet none the less is it true that, when these bring of their best, though that best may be far as earth below heaven, it is to be accepted as a true testimony of their gratitude, “well pleasing to God.” For what Paul had done the islanders returned “many honors,” and actually “laded him with such things as were necessary.”
V. HOW GREAT A PRACTICAL ADVANTAGE IT IS TO ANY GROUP OR COMMUNITY OF PERSONS TO HAVE AMONG THEIR NUMBER ONE OR TWO OF THE REAL CHRISTIAN STAMP. Probably the special reference of Act 28:10 is to Paul and his immediate collaborators, who had lodged with him at the house of Publius, and had come to be known as particularly belonging to him, as he taught or worked miracles among the people. Yet, at any rate, we are certainly not told of a single thing these said or did, till we are told how they came in for a share of all the bountiful, generous things given by the islanders, “Who also honored us with many honors; and when we departed, laded us with such things as were necessary.” There were none ever in the company of Jesus but had the opportunity of taking infinite advantage from it. And there are none in the company of the thorough, honest uncompromising servant of Christ, but get some share of the advantage.B.
Act 28:14
A week with brethren.
It cannot be that this one verse was written for nothing. Like a waif and stray on the wide waters of Scripture, to the careless eye, it is anything but really such. We may notice touching the events the verse records
I. THEIR PARTICULAR SIGNIFICANCE ON THIS OCCASION.
1. They included the heightening pleasure of a very agreeable surprise.
2. They speak the affection of a hearty invitation. Invitations are often as superficial and insincere and abased to ill purpose as many other good things. But the genius of them is good. They mean care and regard, respect and love, willinghood and an anticipation of what may be in brethren’s hearts.
3. They are tinted with a certain sacred hue. Did not a “seven days'” pressing invitation mean to make sure of one “day of the Lord” together? Those who gave that invitation longed for the opportunity it would bring for themselves and others. They wanted what the memory of it would give them to lay up as though “precious store.” Those who received that invitation would read respect to themselves in it, and what was better, the sign of religious life and love.
4. They were a most welcome contrast to the scenes and the dangers, the strife and the talk and the company of all the time since Paul and his companions set sail from Caesarea (Act 27:1).
II. THEIR STANDING AND LASTING SIGNIFICANCE. They tell of the loving, longing, purposing communion of brethren. They stamp the genuineness and even superior sort of Christian brotherhood. The communion of Christian brethren is:
1. Distinctly honoring to the Master, even him who himself once said, “One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren” (Mat 23:8).
2. It is distinctly adapted to be useful at the time to those brethren themselves, for reminding them of the relation of all of them to One; and of their mutual relations; for comparing experiences, for imparting instruction, for joining in the quickening exercises of united worship, so stirring to deepest feelings of the heart, and so stimulating to faith and love.
3. It is, further, in one particular direction specially inspiring. While by nature it takes out the painfulness of many a strong present impression, it also supersedes these by the materials and the very scenery, which are sure to abide, full of the resources of comfort and encouragement for “the future distress.” How much we live on memory! What a force holy memories have proved themselves! Those that have come out of the silence and the solitude of the closet have had their peculiar mission. Certainly not less powerful for good have those holy memories been which have seemed to come borne by “a cloud of witnesses,” the former companions of our thoughts, our prayers, and our praises.
4. It is entitled to expect special influences from above, and the special presence of the Holy Spirit (Act 1:4; Act 2:1). Those who meeting together seek by all means within their reach and by prayer, light, and knowledge, love and grace, will be those most abundantly rewarded. Light will be reflected from face to face, and love will glow from heart to heart. It is not vainly added, “So we went toward Rome.” The weeks, the days, the hours, were numbered of Christian converse for Paulof Christian help and enjoyment, whether given or received. And the surprise the Master had graciously prepared is gratefully received. It assists Paul, body, mind, and soul, in his journey “toward Rome.”B.
Act 28:15
Gratitude and courage well linked together.
Paul speaks elsewhere of the severity in some sort, at all events of the stress, laid upon his spiritual sympathies at times (2Co 11:28-30). We can well understand that any severity, any pain, felt from the claim set up by such sympathies lay not in the act of sympathizing, but in the consideration of the state of things, the sins, the errors, the inconsistencies in “all the Churches,” or in the members of them that called for both “care,” on the one hand, for the erring, and on the other sympathy with the aggrieved. The sympathy which he so ungrudgingly gave, however, at whatever expenditure, he had a wonderful heart to receive when proffered to himself. And it is among the signs of his large and susceptible heart that it was so, and that he made so much of it. Here we read of another help of this kind given him by the way. How gratefully and with what appreciation he received it! He felt it was a token of the Divine presence and the Divine goodness, and that as such it must be used and improved. Therefore first he “thanked God,” and then “took courage” afresh. Let us notice the following implications of this verse:
I. THE HIGHEST STYLE OF CHRISTIAN PURPOSE AND ENTERPRISE IS AIDED BY HUMAN SYMPATHY.
1. This is great testimony to the inartificial character of Christianity.
2. It is one of its great safeguards against superciliousness and other temptations to affect separateness from or superiority to ordinary humanity.
II. THE SIMPLEST STYLE OF SHOWING SYMPATHY AND KINDNESS STRIKES HOME ALL AS SURELY TO THE HEARTS OF THE GREATEST AS TO THOSE OF THE HUMBLER.
III. GRATITUDE IS ALWAYS DUE TO GOD, WHO, HOLDING ALL HEARTS IN HIS HAND, MOVES NOW THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO SHALL COME TO GIVE US SPECIAL HELP FOR SPECIAL NEED.
1. How often help coming at the exact crisis of need ought to count with all as great moral force as a physical miracle, for our persuasion, that a heavenly Friend is observantly and graciously watching our every step!
2. What an incentive to religious life the network of hope and fear, joy and sorrow, and all the play of light and shade, because such constitution of life finds the prized opportunities of Divine interposition, as no mere equable life, were it all light or all shade, could possibly find.
IV. THE FAITHFUL SERVANT OF CHRIST NEVER MORE FEELS HOW DUE THANKS ARE TO HIS MASTER THAN WHEN THAT MASTER APPEARS TO SHOW HIS OWN COMMANDING INTEREST IN HIS OWN WORK. How many the ways are in which Jesus does this!
1. By the occasional manifest blessing upon it that he gives.
2. By the Spirit he puts into the hearts of many to uphold the hands and arms of those who do the actual work.
3. By such more delicate methods as that now before us, when the help that the many bring to the one is seen, ay, and felt, to lie in the life and the love that the Divine work has wrought in their heart. They can bring nothing except, perhaps, that all to bring, themselves.
V. THAT THE REAL THING, COURAGE, WHICH DOES NOT BURN DOWN, AWAKENED THOUGH IT MAY BE BY HUMAN AID AND SYMPATHY, RESTS EVER STILL ON THE DIVINE. It was not in obedience to any hollow professionalism that Paul “thanked God.” Nor did his courage lack the energy that came from sincere acknowledgment of dependence on God. This was surely betokened by his “thanking God.”B.
Act 28:16-23
A unique prisoner.
With the masterliness of inspired history, exceeding brevity itself in the passage before us seems to reveal rather than conceal. A few powerful strokes of the pen portray and very strikingly a hero, and one at the same time as real and unusual as ever lived. Great, indeed, must have been the length and the fullness of detail given, if the method of detail had been the one chosen, in order to attain the result of leaving with us an equally correct and complete apprehension of the position of Paul now, the manner of man he was, and the scope of Divine providence. The intense interest for Paul of reaching Rome is lost, lost indeed without a moment’s mention of it on the part of the history, in the intenser interest that gathered round, and which he helped to make gather round, the object of his coming there. Of the one the history says nothing, but it says all of the other. And no sooner are we told the bare fact that Paul had reached Rome, than these following facts find prominent mention. We are told
I. THAT THE PRISONER IS NOT PUT INTO THE PRISON.
1. No one there wanted to put him in. He had found favor too certainly already.
2. There was no need to put him in. His word could be trusted, and “one soldier” was considered enough to save appearances.
3. Prisons and “jailors” and authorities had already had too much of haying him and others of the same sort in prison (Act 5:19; Act 12:8; Act 16:26), in Judaea; and perhaps, for the present at all events, the Romans and even the Jews in Rome were wiser for their own interest.
II. THAT FOR THE ACCUSED THERE ARE FOUND NO ACCUSERS AT ALL.
III. THAT THE MAN WHO IS TO BE TRIED IS DRIVEN TO ENDEAVOR TO FIND ANOTHER SORT OF JURY, AND ONE OF THE MORE UNMERCIFUL KIND, FOR HIMSELF.
IV. THAT THE SAME MAN IS NOT ONLY SPEEDILY RELIEVED FROM ANY IMPUTATION OF FAULT, BUT IS COURTEOUSLY ASKED FOR HIS GOSPEL, BY THIS LARGE AND INFLUENTIAL JURY. “A great door and effectual” was now at once opened for the apostle. His Lord’s promises and his own heart’s deepest wishes begin to be fulfilled (Act 23:1-35. 11). With abounding zeal Paul uses his opportunity; he draws from all “the Scriptures;” he testifies “from morning till evening;” he interests his hearers, is the means of the conversion of some, and the awakener of much inquiry and “great reasonings” among others. Nor withholds the faithful and searching rebuke. It is again “the whole counsel of God” which he does not shun to declare.B.
Act 28:24
The leading results following upon preaching.
As Jesus went before us all, in our sorrows, difficulties, and holiest joys, so, even if in less degree, his first apostles went before us in very many experiences of the first preaching of the gospel with which we are now perfectly well acquainted. The successes and the bitter disappointments of the Christian preacher are at this very time keenly felt by Paul, and other of the solemn phenomena lie open before him, and observed by him evidently with very pained observation, were treated by him in a way full of instruction for ourselves. The short but speaking comment of this verse, on Paul’s first preaching of the gospel of Christ in Rome, though no doubt on this occasion almost exclusively to his own people the Jews, is exceedingly worthy of our notice. We may notice these typical effects of the gospel of Christ faithfully preached.
I. IT EXCITES THE STIR OF LIFE.
II. IT EXCITES A PECULIAR KIND OF STIR OF LIFE. It is not the life of mind alone. It is not like the interest that gathers quickly round the finest discoveries and investigatings of science. It has another unmistakable element, and one that refuses to be at all ignored, a certain moral element. Very quickly does it beg to be informed whether men “believe” or do “not believe.” And it states that on this everything turns.
III. IT EXHIBITS INVARIABLY (?) AMID GREAT VARIETIES IN OTHER RESPECTS ONE UNIFORM PHENOMENONSOME TAKE IT, OTHERS REFUSE IT. It is then that the Christian preacher, and the Christian man whoever he is, stands in the presence of the grandest, deepest, most inscrutable mystery beneath the sunthis, that the gospel of God’s love in Christ presumably to be eagerly and intelligently seized by every man, sooner than the bread on which he feeds, is taken by some, is rejected by others. “Some believed and some believed not!”B.
Act 28:30, Act 28:31
A type and a model of the Christian preacher.
These striking, closing words of a history, than which, take it all in all, there is not a more impressive to be foundalways excepting the one historyshow the performing in right earnest of the parting injunction of the ascending Lord of the Church. For Rome is the scene, that metropolis and type of the world. “All” the various inhabitants of it, not Jews only, are now both sought and found. To these “the gospel” is preached. And the crucified but now risen Lord is the one central theme. We have, therefore, in Paul, at this most touching, most amazing episode of his career, a living example, and “by the grace of God” a truly worthy example, of “the faithful fulfilling” of the work belonging to the minister of Christ. These are the leading marks of him, as here instanced.
I. HE HAS A VOICE AND HEART FOR ALL WHOM HE CAN REACH ACCORDING TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH HE MAY BE PLACED OF PROVIDENCE. Paul cannot now go out to the highways and byways. But “his own hired house” is one kept, as very few others are kept in any analogous circumstances, with open doors. And doors open impartially to “all” who would come.
II. HE DOES NOT FEEL THAT HE HAS ANY TRUTH TO MAKE, OR EVEN TO DISCOVER, BUT ONLY TO PROCLAIM.
1. His message is to his hand. He has discovered its sum and substance long ago. He keeps to this theme.
2. This is his forte. And he does not profess another. The mind of the Christian preacher is abundantly open to any, or, if possible, to all, “arts and sciences and philosophies;” but these are not his sterling coin. They are not the matters for the pronounced deliverances of his voice. He may be beholden to them in his education, and it is a shame if he is not. He may lay them under any amount of contribution for purposes of illustration. But they are not the subject-matter of his preaching and teaching.
III. HE PROCLAIMS WITH AN UNUSUAL CERTAINTY OF SOUND, EVEN WITH BOLDNESS. This is the more remarkable, because:
(1) What he has to say is not that for which there is at first any very large spread desire.
(2) It is what is sure to be rejected by many contemptuously, by other many indifferently, while it will stir strong opposition in the heart and in the action of not a few.
But, on the other hand, the clear ring of his voice and the unstammering declaration of his thoughts result from:
(1) Strong personal convictions as to what he proclaims.
(2) Determined personal attachment to it.
(3) The spirit of loyal fidelity to itthat be it what it may, in the esteem of a thousand to one, yet he will lay it open before all as its due. It shall not suffer prejudice from suppression or from a timid partial disclosure of it.
(4) Honest and not merely boastful upliftedness above regard to the personal consequences to self. The genuine preacher of the truth of Christ is not, indeed, to hold his life in his own hand, but he is “rather” to hold thisand unmistakablythat God holds, that his Master Christ holds, that life in their hand respectively.
(5) An irresistible impulse to confront the people with his proclamation, and bring them by all means possible into such contact with it that they can no longer be ignorant of it, even if they flee from it and reject it.
IV. HE PUTS THIS HONOR ON HIS OWN WORK, ON HIS MASTER‘S WORK, THAT BE CLEAVES TO IT, YEAR AFTER YEAR, WITH PERSEVERING DILIGENCE. The work of Christ does, beyond doubt, stand in this blessed contrast with all other work, even the most necessary and the most innocent: It rewards confidence. It merits devotion. Its manifest and felt value grows with age and experience and power to gaze beyond the limits of sense. And when the use of all other work dwindles to the truer dimensions that belong to it, this justly magnifies itself and shines with brighter luster. Paul must have often addressed himself and his own soul in the words in which he addresses Christians generally, in the most inspiring connection, “Wherefore be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; forasmuch as your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”B.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
Act 28:2
Humanity
“And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness.” How that kindness found expression is further detailed. “Heavy showers had come on, and the shipwrecked men were half benumbed with fatigue and cold. Pitying their condition, the natives lit a huge fire of faggots and brushwood, that they might dry their clothes, and gave them in all respects a friendly welcome.” The “milk of human kindness” has ever made men helpful to each other in circumstances of calamity and distress, and perhaps the most painful instances of inhumanity the world has known may be found in the doings of those “wreckers” who used to entice the ships ashore, that they might plunder their cargoes. The term used here, “barbarous people,” is somewhat misleading. F.W. Robertson says, “By ‘barbarian’ was meant any religion but the Roman or Greeka contemptuous term, the spirit of which is common enough in all ages. Just as now every sect monopolizes God, claims for itself an exclusive Heaven, contemptuously looks on all the rest of mankind as sitting in outer darkness, and complacently consigns myriads whom God has made to his uncovenanted mercies, that is, to probable destruction; so, in ancient times, the Jew scornfully designated all nations but his own as Gentiles; and the Roman and the Greek, each retaliating in his way, treated all nations but his own under the common epithet of ‘ barbarians.’ The people of Malta were really of Carthaginian descent, and they probably spoke their ancient tongue, though mixed, perhaps, with Latin and Greek, since the island was on a great highway of trade.
I. HUMANITY AS A NATURAL SENTIMENT. It is the common bond uniting together mankind in helpfulness, sympathy, and charity. A sentiment which we can see is based:
1. On the fact that God hath “made of one blood all nations to dwell upon the earth.” This truth of fact is now scientifically accepted, and called the “solidarity of the human race;” but it is the earliest divinely revealed truth, declared in the parentage of the race.
2. On the ties of brotherhood which follow the division of the race into separate families. The bond which binds together the members of families, binds together also tribes and nations, which are but God’s great family.
3. On the common image of God which men share, and which applies chiefly to moral disposition. The most characteristic feature of God is his care for others, and, apart from the mischief done by sin, this image of God man still bears. Charity is God’s image on man; selfishness is the devil’s image on man.
II. HUMANITY AS A NATIONAL CHARACTERISTIC. More strikingly marked in some nations than in others.
1. Usually found in those whose country is exposed to calamity, by reason of a wide seaboard, or an unhealthy condition, or exposure to enemies. Men are bound together when a common fate hangs over them all.
2. Also found in nations marked by the milder virtues, rather than those energetic, active ones which so often lead to war. Peace-loving nations build hospitals, asylums, etc., and care for the suffering members. War tends to make men indifferent to suffering. England in later times has striven to carry humanity into her war, limiting in every way possible the distress it entails. Humanity strives for the day when war shall be a sound that men may hear no more forever.
III. HUMANITY AS A RELIGIOUS ESSENTIAL. Christian people must be humane. They cannot be Christian and wholly fail of brotherly duties. Those who are bound to God in the dear bonds of redeemed sonship cannot fail to come nearer in sympathy to their brothers of the common humanity. Illustrate fully the Christian teaching on the culture of the spirit of humanity; the New Testament is full of counsels similar to this: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”R.T.
Act 28:4
The superstitions of ignorance.
“The natives of Melita, seeing what they did, and ignorant of this prisoner’s crime, and with their rough notions of the Divine government of the world, rushed to the conclusion that they were looking on an example of God’s vengeance against murder. It was in vain that such a criminal had escaped the waves; a more terrible death was waiting for him.” These men misinterpreted natural law into vengeance; yet there is a proneness in man to judge so. We expect that nature will execute the chastisement of the spiritual world. Hence all nature becomes to the imagination leagued against the transgressor. The stars in their courses fight against Sisera. The wall of Siloam falls on guilty men. The sea will not carry the criminal, nor the plank bear him; the viper stings; everything is a minister of wrath. On this conviction nations construct their trial by ordeal. The guilty man’s sword would fail in the duel, and the foot would strike and be burnt by the hot ploughshare. Borne idea of this sort lurks in all our minds. We picture to ourselves the specters of the past haunting the nightly bed of the tyrant. We take for granted there is an avenger making life miserable. In the incident of this text, and the opinions expressed, we find the thoughts of vengeance which are cherished by those who do not know the true God. Superstitions are usually akin to truth, and contain within them some measure of truth; but they are exaggerations, fashioned 50.y men’s fears, which too often wholly distort and misrepresent the truth. Estimating the superstitious fears and sentiments of these “barbarous people,” we note that they were
I. RIGHT IS THEIR OPINION THAT WRONGDOING NEVER ESCAPES PUNISHMENT. Their idea was that Paul was a criminal, guilty of some great crime, and justice was pursuing him; if he had escaped the doom of shipwreck, he could not get away from the avenger, who now struck at him in the viper’s bite. Explain the early notion of the blood avenger, and the classical ideas associated with the Furies. It is important that men should have a deep and unquestioning conviction that the guilty never escape; but it does not seem to be absolutely and constantly true so far as this life is concerned. Show the moral and social importance of the assurance that punishment must follow sin, and impress that God’s revelation wholly confirms the testimony of natural religion.
II. THEY WERE WRONG IN THIS, THAT VENGEANCE IS A MERE THING. They thought of it as a force ever working, blindly indeed, but certainly. If baffled in one way, it set about gaining its end in another. When heathen ignorance is changed to Christian knowledge, we find:
1. That the thing which we had called vengeance is but one of the modes of the Divine working.
2. That mere calamitiesthe things that we call accidentsare not necessarily Divine vengeance (see our Lord’s teaching, Luk 13:1-5).
3. That God’s wrath on sin need not find its entire expression in this life, seeing that he has all the ages to work in. This our Lord figuratively expressed when he said, “Fear him who can cast body and soul into hell.”
4. That God’s avengings, being those of a holy Father, can never rest satisfied in the suffering of the sinful creature, but must go on to secure the creature’s redemption from the sin which issues in the suffering. Blind vengeance can rest in the destruction of the criminal. Fatherly love can never rest save in the recovery of the prodigal child. And God alone can be trusted with the avenging work. “Vengeance is mine: I will repay, saith the Lord.”R.T.
Act 28:5
Christ’s promise precisely fulfilled.
In sending forth his disciples on their first trial mission, our Lord had given them this distinct assurance (Luk 10:19), “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” And when about to pass away from them in a surprising and glorious manner, our Lord commanded them to “go and preach his gospel to every creature,” assuring them that these signs should follow them in their labors, “They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.” These may, indeed, be regarded as figurative Eastern promises that were only intended to assure the disciples of a general Divine protection while they were engaged in Christian service; but it cannot be uninteresting to notice that these promises were precisely fulfilled in the experience of the apostles. St. Paul, as narrated in our text, “shook off the beast,” the deadly viper, “and felt no harm.” From the incident it is suggested to us to consider
I. THAT CHRISTIAN LIFE IS COVERED AND HALLOWED BY DIVINE PROMISES. We learn to speak of the “exceeding great and precious promises.” They are stored for us in all parts of God’s Word. It may be shown that they are
(1) abundant;
(2) sufficient, since no conceivable Christian circumstance or need is unreached;
(3) varied, so as to suit all occasions;
(4) adapted, so as to gain gracious influence on all dispositions.
Nothing is more pleasantly surprising in a Christian life than the freshness with which the promises appear in every new season of anxiety and trouble. They come to us as if they were words just spoken by the all-comforting Father. They are the “everlasting arms,” which hold us safe. They are the wings that bear us up and on and home to God. They are all true and faithful, “Yea add amen in Christ Jesus.”
II. THAT THESE PROMISES ARE BOTH GENERAL AND SPECIAL. They assure, in large and comprehensive terms, that grace shall be given according to need; but, at least in the case of the apostles, we find them precise and definite. Illustrate from the case of taking up deadly serpents. Christians may err in two wayseither by generalizing the promises too much, or by particularizing them too much, and over-forcing their adaptation to the individual. Still, if we had a fuller faith, we might recognize a more definite character in God’s promises. Illustrate by such a promise or assurance as this, “The prayer of faith shall save the sick.”
III. THE EXACT FULFILLMENT OF THE PRECISE PROMISES ASSURE THE CERTAIN FULFILLMENT OF ALL. This is the lesson which we have to learn from the fulfillment of Christ’s definite promise in the case of his servant Paul. It may be taken as a test case, by the help of which we may know whether we may trust all the promises, even those which do not seem easy to grasp, and those which seem to promise too much for mortals and for sinners such as we are. He who is true to his word in the little thing which we can fully test will be true to the great words which assure to us both grace and glory. And, as we see the viper falling harmlessly off the apostle’s arm, we say, “Verily, he is faithful that promised.”R.T.
Act 28:8
Christian returns for kindness shown.
“Not far from the scene of the shipwreck lay the town now called Alta Vecchia, the residence of Publius, the governor of the island, who was probably a legate of the Printer of Sicily. Since Julius was a person of distinction, this Roman official, who bore the title of protos (first)a local designation, the accuracy of which is supported by inscriptionsoffered to the centurion a genial hospitality, in which Paul and his friends were allowed to share. It happened that at that time the father of Publius was lying prostrated by feverish attacks complicated with dysentery. St. Luke was a physician, but his skill was less effectual than the agency of St. Paul, who went into the sick man’s chamber, prayed by his bedside, laid his hands on him, and healed him. The rumor of the cure spread through the little island, and caused all the sick inhabitants to come for help and tendance. We may be sure that St. Paul, though we do not hear of his founding any Church, yet lost no opportunity of making known the gospel” (Farrar). In this instance the order of St. Paul’s words have to be changed. He had received their “carnal things,” and he gladly returned to them his “spiritual things.” We observe
I. CHRISTIANS CAN RECEIVE FROM THE WORLD BODILY AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL BLESSINGS. These are all that the world has at its command; but these Christians need. They may be illustrated under the headings:
1. Hospitalities.
2. Charities.
3. Sympathies.
4. Practical aids.
So the barbarous people could light a fire and show kindness to St. Paul, and Publius could offer to him and his friends generous hospitalities. Especially dwell on the virtue of hospitality, noticing that it was a characteristic excellence of ancient times; it is a virtue carefully cultivated in the East, and more particularly among tribes, in the present day; and that, while it is retained, it is set under very narrow limitations in modern civilized nations, where class prejudices are strong.
II. CHRISTIANS CAN GIVE TO THE WORLD BOTH BODILY AND SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS, They have the common powers of brotherhood and helpfulness which belong to men as set in human relations; but they can also do for their fellows what no other class of men can do. They have a new life; that life finds its own peculiar and characteristic expression. It exerts both
(1) an unconscious and
(2) a conscious influence for good.
Illustrate that Christians can save a city, as ten righteous men would have saved Sodom. They may preserve from temporal calamity by their calmness in the hour of danger, through their faith in God; as may be seen in times of shipwreck. They may have actual power to heal, as the apostles had. They can certainly witness for the living God; commend the service of the Lord Jesus Christ; carry healing balm to sin-sick souls; comfort the weary and heavy-laden; and minister truth and sympathy and love where these are needed. They can be “preserving salt; uplifted light-bearers; and upon them may hang, in full clusters, the rich ripe fruits which the world so greatly needs for its refreshing and its spiritual health. Impress that what the Christian man can be he ought to be and should strive to he. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”R.T.
Act 28:16
“Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ.”
Conybeare and Howson give very full details of the journey of the apostle and his company from Malta to Rome; reaching their destination, the following description of the place of imprisonment is given:”Here was the milliarium aureum, to which the roads of all the provinces converged. All around were the stately buildings, which were raised in the closing years of the republic and by the early emperors. In front was the Capitoline Hill, illustrious long before the invasion of the Cauls. Close on the left, covering that hill whose name is associated in every modern European language with the notion of imperial splendor, were the vast ranges of the palace‘the house of Caesar’ (Php 4:22). Here were the household troops quartered in a praetorium attached to the palace. And here Julius gave up his prisoner to Burrus, the praetorian prefect, whose official duty it was to keep in custody all accused persons who were to be tried before the emperor.” There we see the great apostle still a prisoner, in bonds for Christ’s sake. His bondage was of that kind technically known as a castodia libera, but the prisoner was fastened by a chain to a soldier who kept guard over him. For the apostle’s references to his imprisonment, see Php 1:7, Php 1:13, Php 1:17; Eph 3:1; Eph 4:1; Eph 6:20; Col 4:18, etc. The constant changing of the guard no doubt brought all the soldiers under his personal influence, and enabled him to witness for Christ in the palace and in other places.
I. ST. PAUL‘S LIMITATIONS.
1. A prisoner.
2. A sufferer.
So all Christian workers still find themselves set under limitations of ability, of time, of means, of physical strength. And the question constantly recursWill we be mastered by our limitations, or will we master them in the power of a sanctified will? No man works for God on earth with an absolute and perfect freedom. The limitations are sent to give quality and character to our service. A man’s credit lies, not so much in what he does, as in what he overcomes in order that he may do.
II. THE LIMIT OF ST. PAUL‘S LIMITATIONS. They bore relation:
1. Only to body; to restraint of bodily action, and to pain of body.
2. Not to mind; since no gyves have ever been framed that can bind this.
3. Not to character; which no sort of earthly persecutions or calamities need affect.
4. Not to will; which can maintain its set purposes, even when it is rendered helpless to carry them out.
5. Not to life-work; which the earnest man will surely carry on somehow. The Christian mastery of bodily disabilities, infirmities, and limitations, may be illustrated from the Apostle Paul, from J. Bunyan the prisoner in Bedford jail, or from such sufferers from bodily infirmity as R. Baxter, R. Hall, H. Martyn, F. W. Robertson, etc. There are martyrs who did not die, whose service for Christ has been noble and heroic.
III. ST. PAUL‘S TRUE LIBERTY UNDER SEEMING LIMITATIONS. Illustrate and impress that, with all his bonds and sufferings upon him, he could:
1. Still live Christ.
2. Still work for Christ.
3. Still write of Christ.
4. Still speak for Christ.
5. Still personally “meeten for the inheritance of the saints in the light.”R.T.
Act 28:31
The kingdom of God, and things of Jesus.
Our historical record of the great apostle closes with a picture of him fully and earnestly engaged in the loved work of his life, even under the limitations of captivity, and there is peculiar significance in the terms which Luke uses. The apostle is said to have been engaged in “preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus, with all confidence.“ Illustration may be given of St. Paul’s restless activity and consuming zeal in preaching Christ. He could say, “Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel!” He must have held and cherished the holiest convictions; he is the first and noblest instance of absorbing, inspiring enthusiasm for Christ. He was now a prisoner, but he would preach Christ with the guard beside him. He could not preach Christ in temple, church, or large room, so he would preach Christ in his own house. He could not gather the many, so he would preach Christ to the few who came to see him. Compare Adolphe Monod, who lay for months on a sick-bed, and could conduct no public services, so spoke of Christ from his bed every Sunday afternoon to the friends that gathered round him, as long as he was able. Two things are especially noted by Luke in these his closing words.
I. ST. PAUL PREACHED THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Under the figure of a Divine kingdom Messiah’s times had been prophesied by Daniel (Dan 2:44; Dan 7:14, Dan 7:27). John the Baptist stood forth as a prophet to proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Our Lord gave the same words to his apostles when he sent them forth upon their trial mission; it was the message which they were everywhere to deliver. The figure was not a new one. It was not a fresh thing for God to claim the rule of souls. The government of ancient Israel had been a theocracy, or direct rule of Jehovah. The new thing was for God to set up this government on earth in the person of his Son, the Son or man and Son of God. He came to help us more clearly and more fully to see that the kingdom of God is the rule of his loving, holy, and fatherly will; and that will may be made known in two ways.
1. By definite and express commands. In this way it had been made known to Israel.
2. By the immediate and living authority of Jesus Christ, who gives us God’s will directly, putting it into close relation with all our circumstance and need. To be in the kingdom of God now is to be directly dependent, day by day, upon the guiding, teaching, leading, of the living Lord Jesus Christ.
II. ST. PAUL PREACHED THE THINGS CONCERNING JESUS CHRIST. Those things include:
1. Trying to make the history and teachings of the Lord Jesus known, so that men might have a solid foundation whereon to rest their eternal hopes.
2. Trying to make Christ himself known, because his will is the reflection and expression of himself.
3. Trying to make the fullness and freeness of Christ’s grace known, so that men’s confidence might be won to him.
4. Trying to make Christ’s offices and relations known; because he is
(1) the Dispenser of pardon;
(2) he has the bestowment of the Spirit;
(3) he stands in the place of our High Priest; and
(4) he is to be our final Judge. The kingdom of God is come for all hearts that are fully consecrated to Christ. It will have come for the world when “every knee shall bow to him, and every tongue confess to him.” God will reign when Jesus shall be acknowledged “King of kings, and Lord of lords.”R.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Act 28:1. Escaped, That is, Got safe to land. There were two islands called Melita; this was that which lay between Africa and Sicily, being about twelve miles broad and twenty long, and sixty distant from Sicily to the south. It took its name from the abundance of honey found therein,for meli in Greek signifies honey. It also yields a great deal of cotton; and though the soil is but three feet deep above the rock, it is very fruitful. It is now called Malta; and the place where St. Paul and his company were driven on shore, is at this time shewn to travellers, and goes by the name of St. Paul’s shore, or haven. The people of Malta were originally a colony of Carthaginians, as appears from several old inscriptions in Punic characters, and from the language of the present inhabitants, the number of whom is said to be above 90,000. St. Paul’s shipwreck here engaged a kind of religious veneration for the island; in consequence of which it was given in the year 1530, by the emperor Charles V. to the knights of St. John in Jerusalem, when they had been expelled from Rhodes by the Turks: they were 1000 in number, of whom 500 always resided in the island, and were called Hospitalers, Knights Templars, or Knights of Malta. They were at one time composed out of eight nations, but afterwards of onlyseven, because the English knights became extinct on the reformation. They were, by the statutes of their order, under a vow of celibacy, were obliged to repress all pirates, and to wage perpetual war with the Turks and other Mahometans. This island now belongs to Great Britain.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 28:1 . ] then, after our rescue, we recognised ; looks back to Act 27:39 .
That by is to be understood the well-known modern Malta (Diod. Sic. v. 12; Strabo, vi. 2, p. 277; Cic. Verr . vi. 46; Ovid. Fast . iii. 567 f.: Fertilis est Melite, sterili vicina Cosyrae, Insula quam Libyci verberat unda freti) , and not as some of the older commentators, following Constantin. Porph. de administr. imper. p. 36 (see in Wolf, and in Winer, Realw .), would infer partly from , Act 27:27 , partly from , Act 28:2 , and partly from the observed fact (which, though true in the present day, cannot at all be made good for those times) that there are no venomous serpents in Malta the island now called Meleda in the Adriatic Gulf, not far from the Illyrian coast (Apoll. Rhod. Arg . iv. 572), is proved as well by the previous long tossing about of the ship, which was hardly possible with a continued storm in the Adriatic Gulf, as more especially by the direction of the further voyage, Act 28:11-12 . The local tradition, also, in Malta, is in favour of it (Beza on Act 27:41 ; Smith, Vmel, Hackett). In the Act. Petri et Pauli 1, the island is called .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
B.Experiences And Acts Of The Apostle At Malta
Act 28:1-10
1And when they [we] were escaped [ashore], then they [we1] knew [ascertained]that the island was [is, ] called Melita [Malta]. 2And the barbarous people [the strangers, ] shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled2 a fire, and received us every one [us all, ], because of the present rain [of the rain which had set in], and because of the cold. 3And [But] when Paul had gathered a3 bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire [on the pile of wood], there came a viper out of [there came forth a viper because of, ,4] the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4And [But] when the barbarians [the strangers] saw the venomous beast [the beast, ] hang [hanging] on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance [retribution] suffereth.not to live. 5And he [But he, ] shook off the beast [threw the beast off from himself, .5] into the fire, and felt [suffered, ] no harm. 6Howbeit [But, ] they looked when he should have [they expected that he would become] swollen, or fallen [or would fall] down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while [as they, however, waited long], and saw no harm come to [saw that nothing amiss befell] him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.In the same quarters [But in the neighborhood of that place] were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius [the first man of the island, named Publius, possessed an estate]; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.8And [But] it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux [a dysentery6]; to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. 9So [Now, ] when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, [done, the others ( .) also, on the island, who had diseases,] came, and were healed: 10Who also honored us with many [showed us manifold] honours; and when we departed [we again put out to sea], they laded [supplied] us with such things as were necessary7.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Act 28:1. And when they [we] were escaped [ashore]. [see note 1 above, appended to the text. We ascertained]. They probably learned the name by inquiring of the inhabitants, many of whom were doubtless drawn to the spot by the wreck of the ship. The name of the island was Melite. At a former period, Malta was not believed by every interpreter, without exception, to be the island in question; there were some who supposed that an island, now called Meleda, in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, off the coast of Dalmatia, and not far from Ragusa, was meant. This opinion was advocated, after the example of a Byzantine writer, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, at first by a Venetian, named Giorgi, and subsequently by de Rhoer of Holland, several Englishmen, especially Bryant, and also Paulus. The first argument which was advanced in favor of this opinion, proceeded from an erroneous interpretation of the name Adria, in Act 27:27. But it can no longer be doubted that Malta, on the south of Sicily, must be meant, especially when the following circumstances are duly considered:first, that Malta lies in the track of a vessel driven by a north-east wind from Crete; secondly, that the Alexandrian ship on which Paul was afterwards placed [ch. Act 28:11], would naturally winter at Malta, and not at Meleda; thirdly, that the voyage to [Rhegium, Act 28:13, and] Puteoli, does not suit a ship sailing from Meleda, but is far more intelligible, if the ship proceeded from Malta: see Hackett [Comm. on the Acts, new ed. 1863, p. 445.For a full discussion of the whole subject, and a detailed examination and refutation of the arguments of the emperor Const. Porphyr.; Giorgi, the Benedictine, of Ragusa; Bryant, Coleridge, etc., see Conyb. and H., II. p. 351357.Tr.]. The island of Malta lies in the Mediterranean, about 60 miles south from Cape Passaro, the southern point of Sicily, and about 200 miles from the coast of Africa. [It Isaiah 17 miles in length, 9 miles in its greatest breadth, and 60 miles in circumference. (Hackett).Tr.].
Act 28:2. And the barbarous people [the strangers]. Luke terms the islanders , in reference to their language, as they spoke neither Greek nor Latin. [,a barbarian, i. e., pr. simply a foreigner, one who does not understand or speak the language of a particular people, etc. Rob. Lex. N. T.Comp. Rom 1:14; 1Co 14:11; Col 3:11.Tr.]. That the term is not intended to indicate moral rudeness [i.e., as to character and disposition], or a want of culture, may be distinctly seen in Act 28:2, especially in the words: . .In reference to the language, these islanders were of Phoenician descent, and their mother-tongue was, without doubt, a Punic dialect.
Act 28:3-6. There came a viper out of the heat.The serpent [ designating the female, the male [but see Passow on the latter word.Tr.]) was, without doubt, a species of adder or viper. When the temperature falls considerably below the mean temperature of the region which they inhabit, these reptiles become torpid. This serpent was probably in such a state, but was roused and irritated by the heat, and hence darted at the hand of Paul. Luke does not, it is true, say in express terms that it had bitten the apostle, and hence some interpreters assume that such was, accordingly, not the case, and that it had merely twined itself around his hand. The narrative, however, seems to assume or imply that he had actually been bitten, for it introduces the following facts: , Act 28:3 (it attached itself to, fastened on, his hand) . ., Act 28:4 (it was seen hanging on his hand [holding fast to the wound by its mouth (Meyer)])and, the islanders expected that he would swell, or fall down dead, Act 28:6; besides, their opinion was sustained by their knowledge, derived from experience, that the bite of this viper caused death. If, nevertheless, the apostle did not suffer the least injury, we must believe that the result was due to the divine protection granted to him, in accordance with the promise of Jesus, Mar 14:18.No venomous adders are at present found in any part of the island of Malta, and the modern Maltese believe that since the time when Paul threw into the fire the one which had bitten him, the whole race has lost its poison. The general fact is, indeed, well known, that in other regions also, in the same proportion in which the woods are cleared, and the cultivation of the soil extends, poisonous reptiles disappear. For example, the viper was gradually expelled from the Isle of Arran, on the west coast of Scotland, in proportion to the increase of the population (James Smith). But it would be difficult to find elsewhere a surface or soil of equal extent, which is so skilfully prepared by the hand of man, and is in such a high state of cultivation, as the modern Malta. [No doubt murderer. It was a rash judgment formed when they saw his chains. (Bengel).He was perhaps still fastened to a soldier. (Alex.). Comp. Act 12:6; Act 24:23; Act 27:3; Act 28:16. ; Vengeance, literally, justice, either as an act or an attribute of God (compare 2Th 1:9; Judges 7). There is no need of supposing a personification, or a reference to the Nemesis, or goddess of retributive justice, represented by the Greek mythology as the daughter and avenger of the supreme Deity. (Alex.).Tr.]
Act 28:7-10. Publius, the Roman, is introduced as , Act 28:7. This description cannot be intended to indicate any precedence in rank, on account of birth and wealth; for if the writer had intended to state such a fact, it would not have been Publius, but his father (who was still living, Act 28:8), who would have been represented as the first or chief man of the island. Hence the expression must necessarily be intended to specify the rank and authority of a ruler or magistrate. Publius was, without doubt, the Roman commander, that is, the legate of the prtor of Sicily to whose province Malta belonged. There is not a single passage known in any ancient writer, in which this designation is found, and from which Luke might possibly have borrowed it. But, on the other hand, two inscriptions have since been discovered in Malta, the one in Greek, the other in Latin (the latter, in the year 1747, at the foot of a pillar in Citta Vecchia), which contain the same honorary title, and from which it may be inferred that the latter was an established and official title, viz., princeps; thus the propriety of the title which Luke gives to this man, and which is otherwise unusual, is confirmed.It is not distinctly stated whom this man of rank received so hospitably. The word , which occurs in Act 28:7, is no doubt the term by which the narrative usually designates the entire company of travellers, and it is chiefly for this reason, as well as on account of the shortness of the time (only three days, Act 28:7, whereas the abode on the island extended to three months, Act 28:11) that Baumgarten concludes that Publius entertained all the 276 persons, (Act 27:37). But the word in Act 28:10, must obviously be restricted to Paul and his personal friends, inasmuch as the remark that they were honored with many honors by the islanders, becomes intelligible only when it is referred to them, and not to the whole number of 276 persons; thus, too, , in Act 28:7, will not be properly understood unless it is interpreted as also referring only to the former (Meyer). Besides, when Luke does mean the whole number, as in Act 28:2, he expressly says: , and it may reasonably be supposed that the same word () would have occurred in Act 28:7, if all were meant; indeed, the reception and entertainment of 276 persons at a farm in the country, would be far more astonishing than the gathering of the same number of persons around a fire in the open air. It is, therefore, more probable that Publius hospitably entertained for several days none but Paul, Aristarchus and Luke, and, perhaps, also the centurion Julius.With regard to the sickness of the father of Publius, the remark which others have made, may be here adduced, viz., that no writer of the New Testament employs technical terms in reference to diseases, with such precision as Luke, who is, indeed, represented as having been a physician [Luke, the beloved physician. Col 4:14.E. g., ; Hippocrates also uses the plural. It probably indicates the recurrence of fever fits. (Alford).Tr.]. It was formerly asserted that a dry climate like that of Malta, would not generate dysentery and inflammation of the bowels; but physicians resident in that island have recently furnished the testimony that these diseases are by no means uncommon there at the present day. (Hackett [New edition, 1863, p. 450.Tr.])
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. God offered a twofold testimony in favor of his servant Paulfirst, by preventing the venomous serpent from injuring him personallyand, secondly, by enabling him to aid and heal others. The honors which were, in return, paid to him and his associates, were virtually paid to his Lord.
2. There is a certain amount of moral and religious truth, which resides in the soul of every human being. That there is a or Nemesis, i.e., a moral government of the world, from which the criminal cannot escape, is ineffaceably engraved on the conscience.But, on the other hand, the truth is also most sadly distorted in the natural man. The islanders at first regard Paul as a murderer, because one misfortune after the other befalls him; afterwards, they deify him, because the bite of a serpent does not harm him. [The change in this case was the opposite of that undergone by the idolaters at Lystra, who first tried to worship Paul, and then to kill him, or at least consented to his being stoned, Act 14:11; Act 14:13; Act 14:19. (Alex.).Tr.]. The further man departs from the truth, the more easily he falls into extremes.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Act 28:1. And when they [we] were escaped, etc.The ship is lost, but Paul and his companions are saved; empires and kingdoms may perish, but the Christian Church continues to float, and is wonderfully preserved. (Starke).
Act 28:2. And the barbarous people [the strangers] shewed us no little kindness.We often receive the greatest favors from those, from whom we had least of all expected them. (Starke).Sympathy, compassion, and kindness, are such precious virtues, that when they are practised even by pagans and barbarians, they are noticed and commended by the Spirit of God; especially when, in addition, as in the present case, the Lord had, in his gracious providence, provided an alleviation of the distress of his exhausted children and servants. If God does not fail to reward him who furnishes them with a cup of cold water only [Mat 10:42], how greatly should we, who are Christians, and to whom the kindness and love of God [Tit 3:4] have appeared, excel all heathens in the practice of these virtues! (Ap. Past.).These strangers can teach Christians who live on the coast, how they should imitate the Good Samaritan. (Besser).
Act 28:3. A viper fastened on his hand.When the Lord designed to introduce his apostle to these strangers, He previously permitted an evil to befall him, which Paul overcame by faith; thereby he made an impression on the hearts of all who surrounded him. Our afflictions are thus intended, like a bell, to attract to us the eyes and attention of men; the faith which we exhibit under such circumstances, or the victory which we gain by the grace of Christ, is designed to induce others to imitate us. (Ap. Past.).The serpent hanging on the hand of Paul, was a beautiful braceleta badge of honor. (Lindhammer).O how many benevolent Christian hands are wounded by the bites of serpents! Nevertheless, God designs in this manner to manifest his glory in them; for Christians cannot be poisoned. (Besser).
Act 28:4. This man is a murderer, whom, etc.Even heathens are taught by the light of nature that God is unchangeable in his justice. (Starke).Although the truth respecting retribution remains inscribed on the conscience of men, they repeatedly fail to apply it judiciously. (Rieger).
Act 28:5. And he shook off the beast into the fire.God often exemplifies in his servants that Christ has recovered for us also the dominion over the beasts, which had been lost; Gen 1:26; Gen 1:28; Gen 9:2; 1Sa 17:34-35. (Starke).O that we could deal with sin, that old serpent [Rev 12:9], which, with Gods permission, so often fastens even on believers, as Paul here deals with the viper! (id.).Then was fulfilled the promise of the Lord: I give you power to tread on serpents, etc. Luk 10:19; Mar 16:18. No poisonous serpents are at present found in the island of Malta; and, according to the tradition of the knights of Malta, vipers and adders which are brought to the island, lose their poison. We, too, hope to reach an island at the end of our voyage, where no viper will inflict a wound (Isa 11:8); until that period arrives, let us exercise our power as Christians, and hurl the venomous beast, sin, into the fire, to which it belongs.Paul knew that he would be conducted to Rome as a witness of Him who bruised the head of the serpent [Gen 3:15], and, by faith, he deprived the serpent of its venom; Heb 11:33. (Besser).
Act 28:6. They changed their minds, and said that he was a god.The multitude observes no reasonable bounds; it either exalts an individual to heaven, or thrusts him down to hell; Act 14:12-13. (Starke).Truly, the apostle received honor, and was subjected to dishonor [2Co 6:8]; at one moment, he is regarded as a murderer; at another, he is called a god. But it is remarkable that the passage before us does not indicate that in either case the slightest emotion was produced in Paul. Such a frame of mind it is our duty to strive to acquire, so that neither the honors which the world may offer, nor the dishonor to which it may subject us, can disturb our internal repose. (Ap. Past.).
Act 28:8. The father of Publius lay sick whom Paul healed.The kindness which men show to the beloved children and faithful servants of God, is always rewarded, temporarily and spiritually; Mat 10:42.(Starke).
Act 28:9. When this was done, others also came, and were healed.It is a serious matter that no mention is here made of any communication of the special blessings of the Gospel, during Pauls abode on the island, or of any offer of salvation in Christ. We merely read that many came in order to regain their bodily health, although favorable opportunities were afforded, when they might, and, indeed, should, have inquired after the way of salvation. (Rieger).Men are willing to employ means for recovering their bodily health, but are often too slothful to seek a remedy for the disease of their souls. (Starke).A willing servant of the Lord is not only ready to speak, but he also observes silence, when the occasion requires it. As to every thing else, so there is also a season or time to the Gospel [Ecc 3:1]. (Williger).
ON THE WHOLE SECTION, Act 28:1-10.The foolish judgment of the world: I. Foolish, when it judges uncharitably, Act 28:4; II. Foolish, when it judges favorably, Act 28:6; therefore, III. Let it be thy object to fulfil thy duty and to do good, without being disturbed by the judgment of the world, Act 28:7-10. (Lisco).
The virtue of hospitality; I. It is esteemed and practised even by pagans; II. It is still more becoming and blessed, when it is practised by Christians. (id.).
The baseness of superstition: I. It is combined with all manner of uncharitableness, Act 28:1-4; II. It promotes all manner of idolatrous practices, Act 28:5-6. (id.).
That the Christian every where finds a home: I. He experiences the love of God every where; II. He finds loving hearts every where; III. He has an opportunity for manifesting love every where. (id.).
The people of Melita, a striking image of the heathen world: I. In their need of redemption; (a) gloomy superstition, Act 28:4; Act 28:6; (b) manifold misery, Act 28:8-9; II. In their capability of redemption; (a) kind hospitality, Act 28:2; (b) indistinct consciousness of God, Act 28:4. (c) lively susceptibleness for impressions made by divine things, Act 28:6; (d) earnest desire for help, Act 28:9. (e) childlike gratitude for benefits received, Act 28:10.
Paul, and the viper, or, The servant of God, viewed as a conqueror of serpents: in the power of his Lord (Mar 16:18), he casts from him, I. The poisonous viper of slander, Act 28:3-4; II. The deceitful adder of flattery, Act 28:6; III. The dangerous serpents of worldly anxieties and cares, Act 28:8-9; IV. The old serpent of sin (here applying Act 28:4, a murderer.).
Pauls arrival at Melita, a fulfilment of the divine promise: He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways, Psa 91:11; I. The angel of the Lord draws him out of the waves of the sea; II. Protects him from the poison of serpents; III. Wins for him the hearts of barbarous people; IV. Blesses the healing acts of his hands.
Paul the traveller, at Melita: his travels exhibit, I. The lights and shadows of the heathen world; II. The sorrows and joys of the apostolic office; III. The wonderful and gracious ways of the Lord.
By evil report and good report, 2Co 6:8 : such is the result, in consequence of, I. The way of the world; II. The avocation of the Christian; III. The will of the Lord.
Footnotes:
[1]Act 28:1. [of text. rec.] is better attested [viz. by A. B. C. Cod. Sin.; Vulg. (cognorimus)] than [which is found in C (second correction-margin). G. H.The first person is adopted by Lach., Tisch., Born., and Alf., the third, by Griesb., Knapp, Hahn, Theile, etc. The third person was perhaps substituted, as Meyer and Alford conjecture, in order to suit Act 27:39.Tr.]
[2]Act 28:2. [of text. rec.] is found, it is true, only in two manuscripts [G. H. most minuscules, etc.], while in the majority [of the uncials, A. B. C. Cod. Sin., and some minuscules] the simple form, , is exhibited; however, the preposition was probably only dropped [by transcribers.Lach. Born. and Alf. omit the preposition. Meyer is inclined to regard it as original, and supposes that the final letter of the preceding , was the cause of the omission of it.Tr.]
[3]Act 28:3. a. [ is inserted before by Lach., Tisch., and Alf., in accordance with A. B. C.Vulg. (aliquantam); it is omitted in text. rec. and by Griesb. and Knapp, etc. on the authority of G. H.Tisch. introduces it in the printed edition of Cod. Sin. in smaller type, and remarks: nescio an prima manu suppletum dicam.Tr.]
[4]Act 28:3. b. [after , of text. rec.] is found only in minuscules [and church fathers, e. g., Chrys., Theod., Oecum.]; all the uncial manuscripts [A. B. C. G. H.. with many minuscules] exhibit . [This is now found also in Cod. Sin., and is the reading which Lach., Tisch., Born., and Alf. adopt.In the same verse, for , of text. rec., with B (e sil). C. and Cod. Sin., the form is substituted by Lach., Tisch., Born., and Alt., on the authority of A. G. H.; the latter compound is not elsewhere found in the New Test., and as an unusual and more expressive form (. the serpent glided out through the sticks. Alford), is regarded also by de Wette and Meyer as the original reading.Tr.]
[5]Act 28:5. [Instead of , of text. rec., with B (e sil). and also Cod. Sin. which Lach. and Alf. adopt, Scholz and Tisch. read , on the authority of A. G. H., minuscules, and fathers. The middle is a correction to suit Act 13:51; Act 18:16. (de Wette).Tr.]
[6]Act 28:8. [Instead of the form , as in text. rec. and many minuscules, Lach., Tisch., and Alf. adopt , which is exhibited by A. B. G. H., and also Cod. Sin.The neuter form belongs to the later Greek. (Meyer).Tr.]
[7]Act 28:10. [Instead of the singular, of text. rec., with G. H., the plural form, is adopted by Lach., Tisch., and Alf., on the authority of A. B.: it is also found in Cod. Sin.The plural is a correction, as the wants were supposed to be many, and also in order to suit Act 20:34. (de Wette, with whom Meyer concurs: the plural is a gloss.)Tr.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The Lord disposeth the Hearts of a barbarous People, on whose Ground Paul and the Ship’s Company were cast, to receive them kindly. Paul healeth the Sick in the Island. They at length depart, and go to Rome. Paul preacheth in Rome two Years.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. (2) And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. (3) And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. (4) And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. (5) And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. (6) Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
This island on which the shipwrecked crew, Paul and his company landed, is the place that is now called Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea. We are not to understand by those islanders being celled barbarous people, that it hath respect as much to their manners, as to their language. Their courtesy to Paul, and the rest of the ship’s company, was great indeed. But it is supposed, that they are the rather called barbarous, because their dialect was a broken mixture of different tongues, so that it became difficult to understand them, or to be understood by them, when speaking in the pure language of the Latin, used at that time by the Romans; or in the Greek, by, those of Greece. But, certainly, it was the Lord which gave Paul and his company favor with this people, or they would hardly have received with so much kindness, so large a company, as two hundred, threescore, and sixteen souls; much less have entertained them so long as they remained there, and laded them with such things as they needed, on their departure, (Act 28:10-11 .) Reader! it is always blessed to observe, the Lord’s predisposing the minds of men to favor his people. On Paul’s account, the men of Malta shall treat them all kindly. For Jesus’s sake, his redeemed shall be taken care of, and fed, if it be needful, and rather than want food, at their enemies table. See Exo 12:36 ; Isa 16:4 .
The circumstance of this viper seems to have been graciously ordained by the Lord, to answer much good. By the miracle of Paul’s safety, from the bite of the venomous reptile, the Lord proved that scripture, Mar 16:18 and Luk 10:19 . And, from the different sentiments, induced in the minds of those islanders, from what they saw; first, in supposing him a murderer, and then making a transition to fancy him a God; who shall say, what might follow by grace on the hearts of some of them, during the three months Paul remained there, in bringing them to the knowledge of the truth.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Quality of Service
Act 28:2
‘No little kindness.’ The Revised Version gives us another word, perhaps a richer: ‘No common kindness’ but a kindness to be remembered, specialising itself in our memory; we can never forget the attentiveness and civility of these barbarous people; truly to the end of the chapter we shall think of all their courtesy as no common kindness. This was not an everyday affair, but wholly special, finely and highly marked by Christian courtesy, as we should say; the marvel of it being that the people who showed it were not Christians. We must take care lest these barbarians get ahead of us. They tell me now that some people say there are better people outside the Church than there are in it. We have a hard fight to conduct, and a hard race to run. If you are kind to those who are kind to you, what of it? are not even the pagans the same? If you pray for those who pray for you, what of it? what does it amount to in spiritual and Christian quality? do not even the Gentiles the same thing? Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye cannot see the kingdom of God. It is matter of common report that there are good people who do not go to your church, or to mine, or to any other church. They are full of kind deeds, sweet thoughts, charities that do not wither in the east winds. There ought to be some difference between a man who is crucified with Christ Jesus and a man who never heard of Him. The power of Christian character over every other power is in its distinctiveness. Not where Christianity is part and parcel of a common civilisation, but where it stands out in an individuality of its own, do we find its power and its grace.
Who speaks of these barbarous people? The greatest man who ever spoke of any nation or kindred or tongue. The Apostle Paul speaks of the uncommon kindness of the barbarous people of an obscure island. My Lord said they shall come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and ye yourselves shall be shut out. Let us take care how we roll our fur and silken and crimson robes about us, and think we are so much better than other people. What if at the last it should be found that the last shall be first and the first shall be last?
I. Here is an Apostle who has found an island where there is no need of missions. The people were greatly taken with their own opportunity of doing good; they showed us no common kindness. What do you think they did? ‘They kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.’ Surely they were not far from the kingdom of Him who said, Whoso shall give a cup of cold water to you in the name of a disciple shall in no wise lose his reward. Here is a people that have devised new plans and seized new opportunity. They have lighted a fire. Jesus spake about giving a cup of cold water to religious people; they seem to have made in some sort an advance on the idea of Jesus Himself.
II. We have, then, to do not with service, but with quality of service. There is service and service; there is a way of doing a thing so as to undo it; there is a reluctance that destroys all worthfulness and grace in deeds done to other people; there is, on the other hand, a way of doing a little thing which makes it great, a gracious, sweet, kindly way which multiplies the thing that is done, not only by increasing its quantity, but mainly and spiritually by refining its quality. Not what was said so much as how it was said, is an expression we often hear in some form or other. Not what he gave, but the way in which he gave.
III. It is reasonable to expect no common service from Christians because they are men and women of no common character. The Church is not a gallery of wax-works; the congregation is not a crowd of artistically made and framed bodies; the Church is a gathering of self-sacrificing souls. The character of the Christian is not a question of artifice or of fine manufacture or of school culture; the character of the Christian is a work of God, is a miracle of the Holy Ghost, is a jewel not made with hands. From such a character what do we expect? We expect no common kindness, no little, usual, offhand service; we expect service that means something, that conveys something, service that is red with an inner crimson, with the blood of Christ. We render no common service because we have no common Saviour. The saved man must in his own possible degree be of the same quality as the Saviour that redeemed him. We represent Christ. Sometimes by our misrepresentation we raise the question, Is this your Christianity? ha, ha! what do ye more than others? You say you represent Christ? Let it be so, then we have a right to examine and cross-examine you in order to know what stuff you are made of, because we want to find this Christ and to judge Him for ourselves: stand forth, witness of His, that we may vivisect and dissect you and discover your real quality.
Reference. XXVIII. 2. Expositor (6th Series), vol. viii. p. 130.
The Viper on the Hand
Act 28:3
The incident contains a lesson full of value and importance in the right guidance of all our life, social, religious, business, intellectual, or political. Everywhere in the pursuit of duty we must expect the viper to dart out upon us. Well for us if we are on our guard, and ready instinctively to shake off the attacks, and, God-protected, by Divine grace feel no harm. I. The Viper in Business Life. Business is one of the most necessary things in the world. It supplies the needs of human life. It creates some of the most valuable parts of human character. Energy, quickness, power of organisation, invention, discovery, method, calculation, experience, soberness of mind these are some of its results on character. Those engaged in such duties may well seem, like St. Paul, energetically and characteristically helping to do something in the rain and cold, easing and ameliorating the condition of human life. But how often do we see the viper dart out of the midst of the work, and fasten on a man’s hand!
II. The Viper in Knowledge. Or look at knowledge in its many branches. What is more fascinating or delightful? It moves at will up and down the history of the world, entering into all the great events, revealing the motives and actions of the greatest of mankind, making the past almost as real as the present. It penetrates into the deepest and closest recesses of man’s being. What more fascinating and delightful than knowledge as it opens up worlds on worlds, and makes us feel the truth of the Apostle’s words, ‘All things are yours’! But even here be on your guard! Even here the viper darts out and is ready to fasten on the hand. For there are spheres of truth which reason can only enter hand in hand with faith, and reason is apt to rise in rebellion, and flash scorn on that which is beyond its ken, and glory in its ignorance, or, as it prefers to phrase it, its agnosticism.
III. The Viper in the Church. The serpent has penetrated paradise, and all man’s life is henceforth lived in his presence. The Church is the paradise of God on earth. It is the nearest meeting-place of man with God. It is the Home of Grace. It is the refuge of penitent sinners. It is the resting-place of God’s revelation. It is the soul’s best and truest home. It is here that you can do the greatest works for God. It is here that you can lead others to know the happiness that you have found. It is here that you may be ‘The light of the world,’ and ‘the salt of the earth’. It is here that you may be God’s band of labourers, ‘fellow-workers with God’. Yet here, too, beware of the dart of the serpent Here he fastens upon and wounds the hand. Here sometimes narrowness, bitterness, obstinacy and self-will, proud contemptuousness, prejudice, jealousy, and littleness of spirit may mar and spoil what God has intended.
IV. To Shake off the Viper. St Paul shook off the venomous beast into the fire, and felt no harm, because he did it instinctively the moment the dart was made and because he was God-protected by the last promise of our Lord to His disciples. It is only by the religion of Jesus Christ that we can cast off the serpent.
References. XXVIII. 3. W. F. Shaw, Sermon-Sketches for the Christian Year, p. 105. XXVIII. 3-5. Church Family Newspaper, vol. xiv. p. 332. XXVIII. 5. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon-Sketches, p. 216. XXVIII. 7. Expositor (4th Series), vol. in. p. 221.
Sympathy
Act 28:15
We have here an illustration of a great principle of the Divine economy. The supernatural, the extraordinary may awaken, arouse, direct, and fix the attention; but it is the natural and the ordinary which cheers the heart and guides the conduct. St. Paul’s sense of the overruling providence of God marked out for him the work that was to be done, the course that was to be pursued; but the sympathy of men like himself, and the sense of human companionship were necessary to endow him with perfect courage, and aroused a more heartfelt gratitude to God than did even the wondrous preservation of his life from danger.
I. There are manifest dangers in the way of an attempt to acquire or exercise sympathy. The evils of its defect are obvious: the evils of its excess are not so apparent. Yet every one will recognise that sympathy is useless unless it is entirely genuine. It will not bear unlimited demands. If excessive display of sympathy is to be guarded against for the sake of him who gives, it is equally to be avoided for the sake of him who receives. There is a class of moral invalids who clamour for sympathy, just as hypochondriacs try to cure their imaginary ailments by relays of quack medicines. We have to learn, sometimes by painful experience, that our well-meant efforts to heal are only feeding a moral malady. You must not be sympathetic at the expense of truth.
II. The consideration of these limitations leads to the conclusion that sympathy is not a quality which can be pursued by itself. Fellow-feeling is an emotion which owes its direction and its guidance to the principles which it expresses. What are those principles? I cannot answer better than by following the analysis of St. Peter: ‘Be ye all like-minded, “sympathetic”. Like-mindedness is the recognition of the truth of the brotherhood of man in Christ; sympathy is the expression of this truth in our daily conduct. The tendency of this our age is strongly towards philanthropy, towards grappling with the problems of our common life. I think that an observer would conclude that these efforts were effective in proportion as they embodied the Christian Spirit. Many movements, excellent in themselves, clearly fail to influence those for whom they are designed, because they do not rest on like-mindedness, because they are not set forth in terms of sympathy.
The late Bishop Creighton, The Heritage of the Spirit, p. 19.
References. XXVIII. 15. John Watson, The Inspiration of our Faith, p. 310. H. Win dross, The Life Victorious, p. 219. XXVIII. 16. F. D. Maurice? The Acts of the Apostles, p. 337. XXVIII. 17-28. Expositor (5th Series), vol. ix. p. 416. XXVIII. 20. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. v. p. 220. XXVIII. 23. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiii. No. 1970. XXVIII. 24. D. C. A. Agnew, The Soul’s Business and Prospects, p. 178. F. Bourdillon, Plain Sermons for Family Reading (2nd Series), p. 187. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix. No. 516. XXVIII. 28. C. S. Home, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. p. 280. J. A. Alexander, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 195. XXVIII. 30, 31. A. Maclaren, The Wearied Christ, p. 9. Expositor (7th Series), vol. v. p. 277. XXVIII. 31. Bishop Drury, The Prison Ministry of St. Paul, p. 13.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Chapter 102
Prayer
Almighty God, may we stand near thee. We stand in the name of Jesus Christ and in the grace of the Cross. We may not see thy glory, but we may look upon thy goodness. Thou hast made all thy goodness pass before us, and truly it is a wondrous procession. The Lord is good unto all, and his tender mercies are overall his works. God is love. It is our joy to know that love is at the heart of things. We are not trembling under a great power: we are appealing unto a great love. It shall be well with us. The battle means victory; the running is already completed in covenant; and even now we reach the goal and seize the prize. All things are done and established in the order and decree of God, and we are but carrying out the daily process, coming nearer and nearer to the happy end, closer and closer to the radiant home. All things are settled; the world is saved, and is in the mighty arms of Christ. Jesus, our Saviour, came to seek us, to save us: he can lose none but the son of perdition. Help us to believe in the finished work of Christ; help us to see that there is no accident in his ministry, no difficulty as to the end, but that already his foot is upon the serpent’s head, and already the kingdoms of the world are the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. Thus would we see the end, and lay hold upon it, and stand in the sanctuary of its completeness, and feel within us the rising of sacred triumph, knowing that the Lord is God, and that in the answer of his fire there is the assured destruction of his foes. We bless thee for every hope we have. This hope is the summer of the soul. Having hope born within us of the Spirit of God, may we purify ourselves even as Christ himself is pure, so that our hope may be no mere sentiment, gratifying a subtle and unexpressed vanity, but a renewing, an invigorating, and a purifying power, that, answering all the music of its light and all the eloquence of its persuasion, we may be found waiting for our Lord, with all industry or with all patience, as he himself may determine. The whole world is thine, the poor, little, sinful world. It has run away from the centre, it has endeavoured to find a way for itself; today it has returned to its Shepherd and its Bishop, and is now, in all spiritual meaning and hope, set amongst the family of the stars to go out no more for ever. For all Christian hope we bless thee. It is our daily inspiration; it is a light from heaven. It operates upon the soul as most tender music; it lifts us above the clouds and causes us to live in heaven. We come to worship God, to bow down before him; to bury our pride and vanity and self-sufficiency; to mourn our sin, to hate it, and to abandon it. We come to look upon the Saviour in the agony of his soul, in the priesthood of his ministry, in the infinite sacrifice of his suffering, that so looking, we may also believe, casting ourselves in simple and unqualified trust upon a mystery we cannot explain, upon a love which we humbly adore. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for us. It is an answer mightier than the accusation of the enemy; it is our reply to angry and just law. The work of our Saviour we accept as the grace of God. We pray that we may be sanctified, body, soul, and spirit; that we may be living temples of the Holy Ghost, without sin, without fear, without pain of heart, wholly cleansed of unbelief and earthliness, and filled with the truth and grace and light of God. Surely to our prayer thou wilt send a great answer. We pray our prayer in the Saviour’s name. He takes up our little plea and expands it into his infinite intercession. Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of man, Son of God, help us every one; feed us with thy flesh; quench our thirst with thy blood; lead us into the mystery beyond all words “Except a man eat my flesh, and drink my blood, he hath no life in him.” We do not know thy meaning; we would obey thy word. We would find in obedience our peace, and in our acceptance of the mystery of thy sacrifice our present and assured heaven. Physician of man, Healer of all souls, bind up the broken heart, comfort the wounded spirit, speak peaceably to those whose souls are in tumult, and lead out by unexpected ways from difficulties which seem to bar in the pilgrim and to mock his every effort and his every hope. Amen.
Act 28:1-6
1. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.
2. And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
3. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
4. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
5. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
6. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
Unreasoning Conclusions
This is an instance of getting out of one trouble only to get into another. There is a mysterious law of succession in the coming of sorrow and difficulty in human life; hence the proverb “It never rains but it pours.” There is a mystery of grace also in this succession. We do not know the best side of trouble until we have had a great deal of it. One trouble is of no use. You must get into the music of trouble, the rhythm of sorrow, the rise and fall of the melody of discipline. There comes a time in the sufferer’s life when joy would be a kind of vexation to him; it would be in another key; it would be, so to say, a kind of foreign or forgotten language. It is marvellous how trouble can sit upon all the chairs in the house as if by right and how it can make the house happy, comfortable with a strange and weird sense of its being there at Heaven’s bidding and under Heaven’s decree and order. It is not so with the first trouble that always upsets a man; vexes and irritates him, merely tries his temper, stops the smooth rolling of life’s common machinery; it exasperates, and frets, and annoys. The second trouble is accepted in rather a better spirit; then the third comes like an expected guest, and then the door is set wide open, as if a whole procession of black visitors must pass through the hospitable dwelling. “It is better” when trouble has wrought out its most sacred mystery “to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting.” It has been pointed out that different nationalities have different salutations. The Greek would say, “Joy be with you!” The key-note of his salutation was “Rejoice! be happy! be glad! Joy be to you!” He lived in beauty, he lived in the region of the senses; he delighted in high art, in high feasting, in all social sensuousness, in the luxury of civilisation. The Hebrew never said so: he spoke in a deeper tone, in a nobler bass; he said, with mystery in his dark eyes and mystery in the minor key of his voice, “Peace be with you!” The Hebrew was the man of soul, the man of tragic experience spiritual and political the suffering man, the man who had been torn in pieces, hunted as prey upon the mountains, whose nights had been full of the darkness of terror and whose days were but half-lighted by the timid sun. He said nothing of joy: he spoke the deeper word “Peace be with you!” So trouble leads us into these deeper mysteries of experience; it takes away the laughter of childhood, the merry shout, “Joy be with you!”; it fills the heart and the mouth with a nobler salutation. Having seen what life is how deep, how narrow, how full of pain, how fretted and exasperated by a thousand mockeries it says, “Peace be with you!” not indifference, not languor, but the reconciliation of all tumults, the great and final end of all controversy and friction, the harmonisation of all laws, fellowships, experiences, and relations; the mystery so deep that men mistake its depth, the mystery of peace. So Jesus Christ, in all his agonies and sorrows, which made his soul “exceeding sorrowful, even unto death,” said, “My peace I give unto you.” Peace is the greatest, richest, fullest gift of God. May the peace of God, that passeth understanding, keep your hearts and minds, watch over you in critical and gracious guardianship, and bind up all the elements of your manhood, lest they fall out of order and true relation and you be ruined and destroyed! A noble prayer which could be prayed only by him who was cast upon this island and subjected to these successive sorrows.
Here is an instance of the rough judgments which men are always prone to pass upon men. When the viper came out of the heat and fastened on Paul’s hand, the simple Punic people said, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.” Alas! how many murderers there would be if we had to judge of sin by apparently penal circumstances! How ready we are to form the rough and ungracious judgment of one another! Who ever failed in business, even in the most honourable way for there are honourable failures as well as failures dishonourable without some friends knowing that this very collapse would take place, without their having seen it all the while, and without their deploring it with hypocritical pretence, rejoicing in it all the time, and taking morals from it intended to magnify their own better business faculty and capacity? Who ever pitied the man upon whom the viper fastened? Observers knew that, sooner or later, it would come to this. Wise men have foreseen it all the time; even when they were silent they knew the judgment was coming; they had never spoken about it; they felt quite sure that one day the viper would spring out of the heat and fasten upon the unjust and unrighteous man. Do not make a man a murderer because you thus exhaust in one phrase all possible accusations. Be more discriminate in judgment. Surely no man is quite so bad as that. Surely some who have killed men are not murderers. There is one murderer that is a murderer from the beginning from the very first psalm and fibre of him the devil. Jesus Christ would see in the very worst man something to admire, or praise, or recognise, in a way that would give the bad man another chance or bring upon him the light and warmth of a new and inexplicable hope. There is no man quite so bad as he appears to be, even though the viper be in the very centre of his palm. But some men have no moderation in judgment; they do not look out for the beautiful, the mitigating, the redeeming qualities; they rush at conclusions which sometimes they have to modify, or utterly repudiate. Circumstances are sometimes against men. The venomous beast is upon that man’s hand at this moment. For a time even stigmas attach to good names. We have seen the most brilliant of men stigmatised, the viper of a false accusation fastening upon the hand that never did mischief to a human creature. But we are loath to believe this; we are born to believe in each other’s wickedness; we like it; it suits the palate. Why should this be so? You have only to charge a man with being a murderer, a. liar, a thief, or what you please, and somebody will stand up to say he saw the viper on his hand. I would pray for the spirit that pities the hand, rather than praises the viper; that believeth all things good; that would rather be deceived than willingly accept the ungenerous judgment, the condemning and ruinous accusation. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
Yet here, even in this very judgment, so rough and undiscriminating, we have a wondrous mystery, with which we cannot part, except under a sense of great spiritual deprivation. Here is the mystery of intuitive or instructive religion. It would seem as if religion were born in the human mind and heart. The features of this inborn religion are really grand. What are they as suggested by this graphic incident? Here is a sense of a Presence in the universe that means righteousness, honourableness. The heart instinctively says when wrong is done, “This must be punished.” Christianity never uproots that intuitive perception, but ennobles it, sanctifies it, attempers it, and perfects it in holy meaning and utility. This is written in the human heart: “Murderers cannot live.” Who wrote that law? It is written upon the tablets of the mind by an invisible penman. The universe is against murder. No part of the fair creation was constituted for the accommodation of the bad man. Where can he live? Into what quarter of the universe shall he be shut? The universe does not want him; all its beams of light are darts of punishment; its purest, holiest is to him as blackest perdition. We cannot give up the thought that the bad man will one day have the worst of it. That is intuitive religion; that is a good and honest faith. It is the kind of faith that is beyond argument, and yet that is always fortifying itself by innumerable historical instances. The universe would fall to pieces if we could relinquish that doctrine; it would be no longer safe to walk out under the blue heavens, so charged with the infinite weight of the stars. But our hearts tell us that the bad man will get the worst of it: he may escape the sea, he may escape the viper, he may escape the wilderness, he may seem to make fortunes out of other men’s ruin; but, at the last, the sword will strike him, and the fire of heaven will utterly destroy his place. We did not need a revelation to tell us that: somehow we felt that if a wall was built out of plumb, it must fall. We learn a great deal from the history of idolatrous and instinctive religions. These so-called barbarians were theologians in their way: they said, “We do not see everything.” This was not a spontaneous or extemporaneous thought just struck off at the moment: behind this utterance lay a wonderfully large induction of facts. The Punic people had observed though unable to speak Greek or Latin in the high and refined sense, which would have relieved them from the stigma of being called barbarians that there was a Ruling Power; that the Ruling Power was on the side of right; that human life, widely and deeply read, was itself a religion, was itself a revelation. That is the corner-stone of a great argument on the Christian side. Read human life, study human ways, take in the great breadth of human history; do not judge by isolated incidents or solitary facts, but take in what you can of the horizon of things, and though you may not come to say the hated word “God,” you will be constrained lo say “Mystery,” “Secret,” “Force,” an “Unknowable Quantity,” whilst Christian men say “Our Father which art in heaven.” We prefer the latter position: it justifies itself to our reason, and it enters our hearts with all the cordiality and sufficiency of grace.
Here is also a point of progress in the religion of these barbarians. They who could not understand a sermon could comprehend the treatment of a viper, and reason upon it. They were observant people: they made religious deductions from ordinary facts. “They looked when” Paul should have become inflamed red as fire, or when he should have “fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.” What was this? A direct contradiction of so-called experience. Here was the greater law setting itself in noble sovereignty over the common daily law; and the people, observing it, paid homage to it. They were a frank people; they had attained a very high point in education, in being able to shake out of the mind lessons and prejudices which opposed themselves to the startling fact which immediately appealed to their vision. If we could persuade Western nations to act in the same way, we should have no unbelievers in all these Northern and Western quarters. If every viper shaken off the hand proved the nobleness of the character so destroying it, and led to the higher reasoning that such a character is a Divine creation, we should have no controversy amongst us as to many spiritual questions and mysteries. All Christian history may be summed up in this one line: that the Christian hand has always shaken off the viper and flung it into the fire. That is what the Church is always doing; that is what the individual Christian is always doing; that is what the growing part, undergoing the process of sanctification, is always doing. It is part of the great original mystery: the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent. We belong to that lineage, by grace Divine. The viper is on us now; the bite is sharp and deep, the poison has touched the red current of the blood; but, by the grace of Christ, we will shake it off, and it shall be burned and destroyed. Do I speak to some poor sufferer who feels the viper at his heart? It is not in poor human strength to render the bite innocuous. Is it an unseen viper that is piercing you and poisoning the inner veins of your soul’s life? Then the mystery of deliverance will be as secret, but that mystery can culminate in perfect deliverance from the agony and the sorrow. Flee to the Saviour in humble, earnest crying and prayer. Is it a public viper a viper clinging to the hand that everybody can see, that even barbarians can look upon and even barbarians can mock? The Lord will not leave his chosen ones that is to say, his trusting and loving ones long in that misery. Blessed are they whom the viper has seized only by the hand! It is an external difficulty; it is a matter that can be dealt with directly and simply. I am more concerned about the viper at the heart the inner serpent, the venomous beast that is biting the soul. O thou who didst come from Bozrah, clothed with garments dyed, like blood, thou art mighty to save; tear out this venomous beast and set thy foot upon his head!
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXXII
FROM CAESAREA TO ROME
Acts 27-28.
In all literature there is not such an accurate description of a voyage as this given by Luke. Indeed, the book of Acts can be tested as to its accuracy on more points than any other book in the whole Bible. If it were not a true narrative, in a thousand places proof would be abundant of its falsehood. But the fact that on every point it is proven to be exactly accurate, is the highest demonstration of its historical value. Virgil, in his Aeneid, in describing the voyage of the Trojan fleet over a great many of the same places of the Mediterranean Sea, is generally exact in his references to the winds and to the navigation of that sea. Homer, in his Odyssey, while giving many important points, is not so accurate as Virgil. In the corresponding chapters of Conybeare and Howson on this voyage of Paul will be found about as good a thing as anybody can say about the journey in these two chapters, though there are some fine things in Farrar’s description of Paul’s voyage.
In the navigation of that day they had no regular passenger ships like we have. We have the great liners that run from New York to Liverpool, and to Hamburg and other points. They had no passenger ships. Even the emperors, when they didn’t go in their war galleys, took a merchant vessel. They had no compass to steer by. The compass has been invented since that time. They had no charts, and hence we can understand a number of things in this chapter that vessels that had no compass and no chart, and indeed no rudder such as we now use only two paddles that they used and what conditions these people would be in if they couldn’t see the sun or moon or stars for many days.
While these ships were inferior in build to the ships of modern times, their merchant vessels were large vessels, and for a part of this voyage Paul was on one of those big merchant vessels. He was not on the same ship all the voyage. He was on three different vessels in making this voyage, and the second one was a big merchant vessel an Alexandrian ship carrying wheat. The Romans themselves were no sailors, and when they fought on sea, they fought as land troops. The sailing of the sea was mainly in the hands of the Greeks. Alexandria, the coast of Asia Minor, the Peloponnesus, and the Aegean Islands, and some of the ancient Phoenicians were still great in commerce. There was a steady line of trade from Alexandria to Rome, carrying wheat. Rome was dependent upon the bread or wheat that came from the valley of the Nile. There was a steady line of commerce that came over the Isthmus of Suez brought by Arabian ships to that point, and after crossing the isthmus it was brought across the Mediterranean in Greek ships. The Greek ships also brought all of the trade from Middle and Western Asia.
Hence we find that when they start to send these prisoners, there being no regular line of passenger ships, they wait for the merchant ships, and the first available one wasn’t going on straight across to Rome at all. It was going to Adramyttium, on the coast of Asia Minor, and they took that vessel, and when they got nearly to their destination they found an Alexandria ship going to Rome, and they were transferred to that ship, and when that ship was wrecked on the Island of Malta (Melita it is called in our text), a third ship took them to that point where they went by land to the city of Rome.
The salient incidents of this voyage are as follows:
1. The first incident is that in taking a merchant vessel they had to go to the southern coast of Asia Minor in order to fall in with an Alexandria ship.
2. The second is that as soon as they got on this big Alexandrian merchantman, the weather became very bad, and remained so until the ship was wrecked.
3. In the terrible storm, many days and nights no sight of the sun or stars, Paul had a vision. An angel of God came to tell him that the ship would be lost, but that he, all the sailors, the soldiers, and the prisoners would be saved.
4. The next incident is the shipwreck itself. The ship, striking before it got clear to the coast line, 276 people, every one of them without exception got safe to land, a thing that doesn’t occur more than once in ten thousand cases.
5. The inhabitants of that island were very kind to them. Paul is bitten by a viper, and fulfilling the prophecy given in the latter part of Mark’s Gospel that the bite of deadly serpents should not harm them, he escaped, and then came the miracles that he wrought in that island, the great favor that came to those shipwrecked people where they remained for three months till the winter passed. Then there was a ship there, that had wintered there, that took them on to Rome, and when they got to Puteoli, the brethren there met him, and at the Appii and the Three Taverns the brethren out of Rome came and met him, and so they got safely to Rome.
On this voyage Paul came to the front. It doesn’t make any difference how he started out as a prisoner and little regarded before he gets there he is going to boss the whole crew. Long before that journey is over, he is the head man. It is Paul that saved them; it is Paul that secured them comfortable quarters in that island, and kept them three months. It was not Jonah that they had along.
The time consumed in this voyage was several months. They were three months wintering on the island of Malta. Many days were consumed in getting there, and more than a week after that; so it was a long time from Caesarea to Rome. They got there about A.D. 62. They passed Scylla and Charybdis, the famous celebrities, proverbial for danger, after leaving Melita, or Malta. Scylla was a dangerous rock just under the edge of the water, and off to the side and somewhat in front of or opposite, was Charybdis, a very dangerous whirlpool in that strait of the Mediterranean between Sicily and Italy, and hence the old Latin proverb, “He who shuns Scylla must beware of Charybdis.” We must not go out too far in trying to avoid Scylla or we will come into the dangerous whirlpool, Charybdis, and we must not go too far away from Charybdis lest we strike Scylla. During the earthquake in Sicily in 1909, those two places, both the whirlpool and the rock, disappeared from the strait, and are no longer there.
A part of the journey was by land. The record says that they came to Puteoli and met some brethren there, and then came to the Great Appian Way. This was a way leading to the Imperial City, Rome, and was the most beautiful street that earth ever saw. It was laid off for many miles, running down the Tiber, following the river’s course, like a broadway, and the whole length of that broadway was paved with broad sidewalks so that footmen would never come in contact with teams, or chariots; everywhere there were the most finished works of art all along the side. Sometimes, when Rome decreed a triumph to a consul, the great parade would come up that way. The people in the city would take their evening walks down that way, and in the moonshine would go miles down that beautiful way. Great men, world-illustrious, were buried in imposing sepulchers along that way. An American city would think that it was next to heaven if it had such a street.
The Emperor of Rome at this time was Nero, the infamous, the most bestial man that ever occupied a throne. His persecution had not commenced. It commenced soon after Paul’s imprisonment expired. Indeed, it commenced in A.D. 64, but Paul is loose and gone by that time. There was what is called the Ghetto, that is, a suburb set apart for the Jews on one of the banks of the Tiber, and there were a good many of them there a little before Paul’s time. Ten thousand of them had signed a petition with reference to some affray that occurred over in Judea. I recommend Jews of the Roman Empire, by Brice, which sets forth clearly the conditions of the Jews in that great city.
Two years after Paul got there, Nero burned Rome. He played his harp while it was burning, and then to escape the indignation of the people, he attributed it to the Christians, and then came the bloodiest persecution of all time. This is the way he fixed it up: He laid off a street about like the Appian Way, and instead of putting statuary all along the way, he put iron pillars, and to each pillar he chained a living Christian, and then had oil and tar poured over him and set him afire, and that constituted the light; then Nero drove up and down in the light of the burning Christians. Paul had just gotten away before that came, however.
There are several proofs of Paul’s mild imprisonment. We can see from the fact that the Christians went down that Appian Way a long ways, two bands of them, to meet him, that they were under no restraint, and when he got there that he was allowed to talk in the synagogue, to have an interview with the Jewish people, and then he lived in his own hired house, and there was chained to him a soldier, and the soldiers, one fast succeeding another, so that Paul was able to preach to nearly all of that famous Praetorian Guard of 10,000. His friends visited him from every part of the world. All that goes to show that the letters of Festus and of Lysias had made their proper impression on the mind of the emperor. Paul’s case might not come up soon, because from every direction of the world prisoners were being sent in whose cases Caesar adjudicated, not that Caesar paid any attention to them, but he appointed some delegate of his to examine all those cases of appeal, and it was two years before they got to Paul.
The centurion that had charge of Paul had charge of the Augustan Cohort, and he was certainly a noble fellow. Whenever we see such expressions as Italian Band or Augustan Cohort, we may know that this detachment is off in some foreign country. It belongs to that famous Praetorian Guard the emperor’s body-guard. They could not be sent to a foreign field except under peculiar circumstances when the emperor would detach portions of it. Three legions garrisoned Judea like the five legions in Syria, and the many legions on the Danube, all of whom would recruit from the natives, and in a Roman legion might be found men from Britain, men from the forests of Germany, and Gaul and Jews, and people from every nation under heaven, but that Praetorian Guard of 10,000 were all Italians. Now it chanced that a cohort of this Praetorian Guard was over in Judea, and quite naturally a centurion of that Judean garrison would take charge of these prisoners.
QUESTIONS 1. What is the scripture, and the theme of this chapter?
2. What can we say of Luke’s description, of this voyage, and what of navigation at that time?
3. What are the salient incidents of this voyage?
4. How does Paul come to the front?
5. What is the time consumed in this voyage?
6. What famous celebrities, proverbial for danger, did they pass after leaving Melita, or Malta?
7. What part of the journey was by land?
8. Who was Emperor of Rome at this time, what his character, what his history, and what of the Jews in Rome?
9. Had the persecution of Christians commenced at this time?
10. What are the proofs of Paul’s mild imprisonment?
11. What is meant by the “Augustan Band”?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.
Ver. 1. And when they were escaped ] Some of them escaped perhaps as narrowly as did Sir Thomas Challoner, who when he was young, served under Charles V in the expedition of Algiers; where being shipwrecked, after he had swam till his strength and his arms failed him, at the length catching hold of a cable with his teeth, he escaped, not without the loss of some of his teeth. He was afterwards knighted for his valour at Mussleborough field, and died A. D. 1566. (Camd. Britan.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1. ] The whole course of the narrative has gone to shew that this can be no other than MALTA. The idea that it is not MALTA, but Meleda , an island off the Illyrian coast in the Gulf of Venice, seems to be first found in Constantine Porphyrogenitus, de Adminiculis Imperii, p. 36 , . . , . It has been adopted by our own countrymen, Bryant and Dr. Falconer, and abroad by Giorgi, Rhoer, and more recently Paulus. It rests principally on three mistakes: 1. the meaning of the name Adria (see above on ch. Act 27:27 ), 2. the fancy that there are no poisonous serpents in Malta ( Act 28:3 ), 3. the notion that the Maltese would not have been called . The idea itself, when compared with the facts, is preposterous enough. Its supporters are obliged to place Fair Havens on the north side of Crete , and to suppose the wind to have been the hot Sirocco (compare Act 28:2 ).
Further notices of this question, and of the state of Malta at the time, will be found in the notes on the following verses. Observe, their previous state of ignorance of the island is expressed by the imperf. ; the act of recognition by the aor. [ch. Act 27:30 ].
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 27:1 to Act 28:31 .] PAUL’S VOYAGE TO ROME AND SOJOURN THERE. I cannot but express the benefit I have derived in my commentary on this section, from Mr. Smith’s now well-known treatise on the voyage and shipwreck of St. Paul: as also from various letters which he has from time to time put into my hands, tending further to elucidate the subject. The substance of these will be found embodied in an excursus following the chronological table in the prolegomena.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 28:1 . , see on Act 27:43 . Used by Josephus of his own shipwreck and escape, Vita , 3, and in Xen. and Thuc. of coming safely to a place. .: not imperfect as in Act 27:39 ; here denoting the immediate recognition of the place after they had once gained safety (Weiss, Rendall, C.H.). St. Paul’s Bay is several miles distant from Valetta, the harbour which the sailors doubtless knew previously, see also Breusing, p. 190, Vars, p. 243, and J. Smith, pp. 140 and 148, 4th edition. , see critical note; Malta, cf. Diod. Sic., v., 12, Strabo, vi., 2, Ovid, Fasti , iii., 567, Sicula Melita as distinct from Melita Illyrica ( Meleda ). There is no need here to refute the view that the latter, in the Adriatic Sea on the coast of Dalmatia, is meant. This view depends chiefly upon the narrow view of the meaning of the Adria Act 27:27 , see also below on Act 28:2-3 . It was first put forward in the tenth century by Constantine the Porphyrogenite, and was advocated in the last century by a Dalmatian monk, Padre Georgi, himself a native of Meleda, no doubt jealous for the honour of his birthplace and his monastery. Its chief champion may be said to be W. Falconer, in his Dissertation on St. Paul’s Voyage , 1817, republished in 1870 by his nephew, Judge Falconer. This last was an unsuccessful attempt to controvert the arguments of J. Smith in favour of Malta, who may be said to have established his case to demonstration (see for a candid description of Falconers view “Adria” (Dickson), Hastings’ B.D.). More recent nautical authorities have most decisively confirmed the view of J. Smith, cf. Breusing, p. 190, and Vars, p. 242. Quite apart from the strong local tradition in favour of Malta, and the testimony of the Apocryphal Acta Petri et Pauli in favour of ( Gosso-Malta ) (for references to Lipsius’ edition, Wendt and Zckler, in loco ), it is not too much to say that Meleda could not have been reached without a miracle under the circumstances of weather described in the narrative, cf. Dean Howson’s “Melita,” B.D. 1 , ii., pp. 315 317, and Zahn (in answer to Mommsen), Einleitung , ii., p. 422.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Acts Chapter 28
The land to which they escaped they subsequently learnt to be Malta. This ought to be beyond controversy. Yet it has been contested even to our own day. The first who argued for the islet in the Gulf of Venice called Meleda seems to be Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who hazarded this opinion in his work on the Administration of the Empire, one of the Byzantine historians and of weight in what he personally knew. But he, like the few who adopted his view of the scene of the apostle’s shipwreck had not duly considered the revealed account, any more than the actual facts of the two places as fitting in with that account. The direction of the wind favours Malta, as it blew them from Crete and Clauda toward the dreaded Syrtis. This could not have driven toward the north of the Gulf. Nor is there any need to narrow the Adriatic to that gulf; for it is well known that in ancient usage, and by such careful writers as Claudius Ptolemy, the famous geographer, it comprehended the open sea where the ship really drifted to Malta, and considerably farther. Then again there is nothing in the local features, soundings, anchorings, ‘rough’ or rocky places, creek with a beach, place with two seas, which can apply to Meleda as to Malta. And the argument founded on ‘the barbarians’ is quite invalid; for the Romans like the Greeks applied the term to those who were, not savages, but speakers of a language strange to themselves. Nor am I aware of any proof, even if the word meant ‘savages’, that this then applied to the inhabitants of Meleda more than to those of Malta, though it is difficult to suppose that that insignificant isle would have such residents as Publius, his father, and those that honoured Paul and his friends with many honours and kind supplies, to say nothing of the universal kindness to the soldiers and ship’s company. Malta, from its position and value from of old to this day, has been an important island, never Meleda.
Scaliger and Bochart with their usual discernment and massive learning had no hesitation in refuting the mediaeval mistake, and vindicating the claim of ‘St. Paul’s Bay’ in Malta as the true scene of the wreck and the escape. Bryant’s reasoning, and later still S. T. Coleridge’s pleas in behalf of Meleda against Malta, have no real ground-work.
‘And when got safe we then ascertained that the island was called Melita. And the barbarians [or, natives] showed us no common kindness; for they kindled a fire-heap and took us all in because of the then rain and because of the cold. But when Paul gathered a certain quantity of sticks and laid [it] on the fire-heap, a viper came out through the heat and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the beast hanging from his hand, they said one to another, Certainly a murderer is this man, whom though got safe from the sea, justice refused to let live. He, however shook off the beast into the fire and suffered no harm. And they expected that he would be inflamed or fall down dead suddenly; but when they were long expecting and beheld nothing amiss happen, they, changing their mind, said that he was a god’ (vers. 1-6).
Mr. Smith has well explained that there is no difficulty in understanding how the crew and the officers failed to make out the locality, even if ever so familiar in a general way as an Alexandrian ship with the great harbour of the island. They had drifted there in the dark, and there is no such definite landmark on the adjacent coast as to make identification easy; and whatever peculiarity may be there, they only discovered when they got close in before the ship ran aground. But the barbarians, or men of a foreign tongue,1 behaved with unusual philanthropy, which puts to shame what has too often been experienced on British shores and other coasts alas! since Christianity. They lit not a ‘fire’ merely, but one so large that the term employed is one usually applied to a funeral pyre (), as indeed would be needed to meet the urgent need of such a dripping crowd with rain falling heavily, and severe cold.
1 Their tongue was then Punic fundamentally, as springing from Phoenicia, the great source of eastern enterprise and commercial marine. So it was in Carthage also. But Malta has seen radical changes, and in nothing more than its race of inhabitants and consequent language, which is now and has long been an Arabic patois, however much they flatter themselves on their descent from the Phoenicians.
This gave occasion to the incident related so graphically in verses 3-6. The apostle, with his usual earnestness and lowly love, gathers a faggot of sticks near the spot and laid it on the fire-heap, when a viper, no doubt before this dormant in the neglected wood, was roused as well as irritated by the heat and seized on the hand of Paul. It was ordered of God to verify the promise of the Lord Jesus (Mar 16:18 ), and as a sign to the kind heathen, and so much the more as they quite mistook its import at first by leaving out God as unbelief habitually does. For when they saw the noxious creature hanging from his hand, they were assured that he must be a murderer, escaped from the sea, only to meet a just retribution. But when he shook off the serpent into the fire without suffering anything out of the way, and they looked long in vain for either virulent inflammation or sudden falling dead, all was changed, and they called him a god. Such is the worth of human opinion outside its own sphere. Little could they conceive that he was a man of God, a prisoner in heathen hands because of the deadly hatred of God’s people, the Jews, and this really because of the good news of Christ he preached to the Gentiles. But moral enigmas in this world are more surprising than the greatest of intellectual difficulties. Of one thing we may be sure, that the natural man is here invariably astray.
Nor was this all. The signs of Christianity are characteristically beneficent, samples of that power which in the age to come will banish the evil one and chase away the dire effects of sin, when mankind as a whole, and pre-eminently Israel, shall sing, ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, Who heareth all thy diseases’ (Psa 103:2 , Psa 103:3 ). That day has not yet dawned on Israel and the nations, but meanwhile for the inauguration of the gospel and in honour of Him Who was crucified by men but now exalted of God in heaven, there was, wherever it seemed fitting, a display of the powers of the coming age, not only over a vanquished enemy, but in pity for his poor victim, suffering man. Thus another of the signs to follow those that believed was soon after added: ‘they shall lay hands on sick persons, and they shall be well’ (Mar 16:18 ).
‘Now in the country surrounding that place were lands belonging to the chief1 of the island, by name Publius, who received and entertained us three days courteously. And so it was that the father of Publius lay ill of a fever2 and dysentery; unto whom Paul came in and laid his hands on him with prayer, and healed him. This then being done, others also that had sicknesses on the island came and were cured; who also honoured us with many honours, and on sailing put on board [or, laded us with] things for our need’ (vers. 7-10).
1 There is good reason from more than one ancient inscription to regard ‘the first’, or ‘chief’ as a title and not a vague distinction.
2 Fever is in the Greek plural, being a malady of renewed attacks. No writer in either the Old or New Testament abounds in such medical technicality as Luke; and nobody has so elaborately evinced this fact as Dr. W. K. Hobart in his Medical Language of St. Luke, an interesting volume of the Dublin University Press Series.
Here then we have the gracious healing power attached to the Lord’s name, but no pretentiousness on the apostle’s part. He prayed and laid his hands on the sick man. The healing of one so prominent arrested attention. Many others in the island came with their sicknesses and were cured also, for grace is no respecter of persons. Nor did Paul or Luke decline their attentions and kind offerings, though assuredly they sought nothing at their hands. Indeed it is of all consequence that the Christian, while valuing as our Father does even a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple, should render a simple and true testimony that the gospel, the grace and truth of Christ, has everything to give; it is never to gain what self seeks in this world. God is a Giver Himself, the Giver of the best and indeed of all good, and He loves that His own keep up the family character in this respect as in all others (2Co 9:7 ). On the other hand, it is very far from the ways of Christ to cherish a narrow, hard, and unappreciative heart where kindness is meant, especially because of His word and work. It is only the Holy Spirit keeping Christ before the eye of faith that can enable us to discern the path in the midst of difficulties and dangers on all sides.
‘And after three months we sailed in a ship of Alexandria after having wintered in the island, with Dioscuri3′ for a sign. And landing at Syracuse we tarried three days; and thence having gone round we arrived at Rhegium, and after one day when a south wind sprung up we came on the second day unto Puteoli, where we found brethren and were besought to tarry with them seven days; and so we came unto Rome. And thence the brethren having heard about us came out to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Tres Tabernae, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage’ (vers. 11-15).
3 These were Castor and Pollux, the fabulous patrons of seamen among the heathen, as is familiar with those who have read the Greek and Latin poets.
We have seen how the Lord attracted hearts by His gracious power to that truth which is for heaven and eternity, but received here only by faith, and here productive of good and holy and godly fruits to His praise, the comfort of love among His own, and no small testimony to His name among those that are not His, if peradventure they might be won and called out of darkness into His marvellous light.
In the early spring they took ship again, this time also of Alexandria that had escaped the storm which had wrecked their former ship because the master and crew had slighted the warning of the apostle. We do not hear of preaching, though we may be sure that the grace of Christ and the love of souls did not slumber in the hearts of His servants. But we see the place given to them, and to Paul in particular, by their past experience rising more and more as God saw fit to use each occasion where man’s wisdom or power was unavailing.
Syracuse, a famous city of Sicily, was soon reached, but after a stay of three days they compassed the coast and came to Rhegium and the next day to Puteoli. The former was in the south-west extremity of Italy, a port of Bruttium on the sea. The latter, in the Bay of Naples, was celebrated for its thirty-three mineral wells which indeed gave it its name, as well as for its earth valued even to this day for its uses.
Here brethren were found who entreated that the apostle and the rest should remain with them seven days, the old term of a visit so natural among Christians who valued, above all, the joy of fellowship on the Lord’s day and at His Supper, along with the manifold opportunities of edification, prayer and the word, meanwhile. ‘Then we went unto Rome.’ What a contrast with the great ones of the earth, victor or vanquished, who had so often taken the same road! ‘His be the Victor’s name’ was their life-song and brightest triumph – His Who ‘trod all our foes beneath His feet By being trodden down.’ His servants tread in His footsteps, though it was His alone to suffer for sins.
But ere they reached the metropolis of the world, a fresh witness of love greeted the apostle and his company. How refreshing to his spirit! From Rome, when the brethren heard of their arrival in Italy, ‘they came out to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Tres Tabernae’. The former was less than forty miles, the latter more than thirty miles from the great city. Neither place enjoyed a good repute even in heathen eyes. A classic poet has left a lively record of his passing through the more distant of the two with its low yet extortionate taverns and squabbling bargemen. How different the meeting of the apostle of the Gentiles with those saints of Rome to whom he wrote not long before he was taken prisoner! He was nearing brethren he had longed to see that he might impart some spiritual gift for their establishment, or, as he humbly and beautifully put the matter, that he with them might be comforted in them, each by the other’s faith, both theirs and his.
And now two companies had come forth to welcome him; for this is made plain by the mention of places distant by a few miles, but no short way from Rome in days when travelling was far from so easy as it is now. None of these was troubled by the badness of the water, nor complained of mosquitoes or marsh-frogs or bantering slaves or lazy boatmen; no elation in the company by great friends or good cheer, still less by the wordy wars of buffoons while they dined. But debtor to Jew and Greek he that prayed for fruit to God’s glory through Christ the Lord gave Him thanks and took courage when he saw those whom love in the truth had brought from Rome to welcome him. And what a joy for men delivered from the false glitter of the world and their selfish profit from its grinding tyrant, the many-headed Beast, to recognize by grace in Paul the prisoner the most honoured servant of the Lord, the inspired writer to them of an Epistle yielding to none in depth and comprehensiveness of treating and enforcing the foundations of a saint’s relationship with God, and the walk and service proper to it now!
It will be noticed that there is not a trace of Peter either now or subsequently, any more than in the Epistle more full of personal notices in its last chapter than any other in the New Testament. How unaccountable if the great apostle of the circumcision were then at Rome in any capacity whatever, still more if he there held the position assigned by some traditionmongers! And if Peter did not found the church in Rome, certainly no other apostle had a hand in it. Indeed, Paul near the beginning and before the end of his Epistle to the Romans, gives us two statements irreconcilable with that ancient fable. In Rom 1:13 he evidently regards the head of Gentiledom as falling within his province, no less than heathen lands east of it, whilst the Epistle itself from the first chapter to the last is the fullest proof of a large number of saints already there, even both Jews and Gentiles. Then again, in the chapter before the last, he lays down what was the regular and constant aim of his ministry – his labours where Christ was not named and his avoidance of building upon another man’s foundation. For, as already noticed, there was a lack in Rome of what an apostle could best supply (Rom 1:11 ), which it is inconceivable to suppose asserted if Peter or any other apostle had visited the city before Paul wrote or went. We may therefore dismiss absolutely what Eusebius states in the Armenian text of the Chronicon, followed as it is in the main by Jerome (Catal. 1) and by heaps of Romanists, that Peter visited Rome as early as A.D. 42! and stayed there twenty years! (Jerome et al. say twenty-five years): a statement as impossible to stand with what scripture tells of Peter as with what we learn there of Paul.
Yet we do see Paul needing to take courage, as he drew near the city he had so longed to visit in the Lord. He seems as deeply conscious of weakness and fear and trembling as when preaching at Corinth years before. His experience of the Lord’s gracious care on the last perilous voyage and wreck, also the proofs of His power accompanying him with their effects on all at Malta, did not hinder this. Indeed it is in weakness that the Lord proves the sufficiency of His grace, as He had taught the Corinthians after no less real experience of delivering power in Ephesus (2Co 1 and 12). And here the Lord works not by such a vision as had sustained Paul when in danger of yielding to depression (Act 23:11 ) but by the faith and affection of the brethren from Rome. For it would seem that the delay at Puteoli, due to brethren there who would have him stay a week in their midst, gave occasion for the tidings of his arrival in Italy reaching the saints in Rome and of their coming to meet him. And no difficulty, it is clear, was interposed by the authorities, who held him a prisoner, such was the moral respect inspired among the Roman officials, and not least in the centurion who had witnessed his ways and words all the journey from the east to the west.
But how sweet and wondrous the dealings of grace to know from indisputable authority that the saints he was going to help so mightily were used of the Lord for the cheer of the apostle himself on the road: the best comment on his own words written to them beforehand – his desire to have mutual comfort among them, each by the faith that was in the other, both theirs and his!
How practical is the truth that the body of Christ is one, and has many members set each one in the body even as it pleased God! ‘And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay much rather, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary: and those parts of the body which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness, whereas our comely parts have no need. But God tempered the body together, giving more abundant honour to that part which lacked, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it’ (1Co 12:19-26 ). Such is the church, called to be on earth the answer to Christ in heaven. Oh, how soon the declension, how far the departure, and how universal the ruin! Do we feel it, judge ourselves, and seek His will?
Thus the apostle comes to the metropolis of the world a prisoner. Such was the will of God. There were saints in it then, as we know from the Epistle written to them from Corinth (Rom 16:3 ). Many assemblies were apostolically founded, not that in Rome. So did God anticipate by condemning the pride of man which later on indulged in this tradition, as groundless as are most others. The chief city of the Gentiles, which lay within Paul’s province, not Peter’s (Gal 2:8 ), could boast truthfully of no apostle as its founder. But more, there the greatest witness of the gospel came in bonds. So was the gospel to fare even more bitterly in the torture and at the stake when the pagan Babylon became the mystery of impiety, the papal Babylon. Yet the word of God was not bound, any more than crueller fiats consumed it later, even when a pseudo-Christian priest sat on the throne of the Caesars, and men masqueraded in the garb of the Lamb’s followers who were ravening wolves, and really heathen in heart and unbelief.
‘And when he came to Rome [the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the praetorian guard, but]1 Paul was allowed to remain with the soldier who guarded him. And it came to pass that after three days Heb 2 called together those that were chief of the Jews; and when they were come together he said unto them, [Men] Brethren, I, though having done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, was delivered a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans; who, after examination, wished to release me because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spoke against [it], I was constrained to appeal to Caesar, not having anything to accuse my nation of. For this cause therefore did I call for you to see and to speak with, for on account of the hope of Israel am I bound with this chain. And they said unto him, We neither received letters from Jud?a concerning thee, neither did any of the brethren on arriving report or speak anything evil concerning thee. But we beg [or, think well] of thee to hear what thou thinkest; for concerning this sect it is known to us that it is everywhere spoken against’ (vers. 16-22).
1 The most ancient copies do not recognize the bracketed clause.
2 The Text. Rec. wrongly reads ‘Paul’ here on insufficient evidence.
Two things appear in the apostle: entire superiority to the rancour that had hitherto pursued him from the Jews, and also untiring zeal to seek that they should hear the truth, and not judge themselves unworthy of eternal life. Nor was there the least underhand work. He invited their chief men, not the less informed, and he explained that, without wrong to the Jews or to their hereditary customs, he was a prisoner from Jerusalem among the Romans, who after examination were minded to acquit him but for the opposition of the Jews, which forced his appeal to the emperor. But he points out the real offence – his stand for the hope of Israel. He might have exposed their conspiracy to murder him when in Roman hands, a fact which, if published in Rome, would have as completely served himself as blasted the Jews. But not a word escapes him, save of unselfish love, saying he had no charge against those that had so persistently sought his death. It was truly for the hope of Israel he wore the chain – for the Messiah fraught with blessings of every kind, never to wane, for Israel. And if Jews turned a deaf ear, those sure mercies (before which Israel one day will melt in true repentance) must find suited objects, if not in the favoured land, in the barren wilderness where open outcasts now live to God’s glory, the objects of the grace of Jesus
Of this grace to Gentiles, however, which had roused the hate of Jews elsewhere, the apostle does not yet speak, but simply of the fact that it was for the Christ, the hope of Israel, that he was a prisoner.
The fact is that the Jews, having failed, with successive governors, and even with king Agrippa, were shrewd enough to apprehend the folly of carrying their complaints of Paul to Caesar. They had no true criminal charge. And what would a Roman emperor care for their religious accusation? The Jews therefore replied that neither letters nor visitors had laid any formal complaint before them against Paul, but that they wished to hear what he had to say of the sect so universally spoken against as Christians. This was precisely what the apostle’s heart desired.
‘And having appointed him a day, many came unto him into the lodging, to whom he expounded, testifying the kingdom of God, and persuading them1 concerning Jesus, from both the law of Moses and the prophets from morning till evening. And some assented to the things that were said, and some disbelieved. And being disagreed one with another they left, Paul having said one word, Well spoke the Holy Spirit through Isaiah unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people and say, With hearing ye shall hear and in no wise understand, with seeing ye shall see and in no wise perceive. For the heart of this people became gross, and with [their] ears they became dull of hearing, and [their] eyes they closed, lest they should see with [their] eyes and hear with [their] ears and understand with the heart, and return, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you that this2 salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles: they also will hear’ (vers. 23-28). Verse 29 in the Text. Rec. as represented in the Authorized Version is not found in the ancient Greek MSS. To cast out an innovation is the reverse of innovating.
1 The Text. Rec. adds ‘the things’.
2 The Text. Rec. inserts ‘the’: ‘this’ is the reading of AB, good cursives, and many of the most ancient versions.
Thus God gave His servant an open door to the very people whom he loved so well and whose brethren’s malice made him a prisoner, and so much the longer because there was no one to lay a definite charge. It was a moment of exceeding solemnity to the apostle’s spirit, as there in Rome he laid bare the truth of God’s kingdom and of the Person of Jesus from the law and the prophets for one long day; and with the result that some were persuaded of the things that were said, while others disbelieved, a stronger expression than their simply not believing. The word of God in the light of Jesus comes to put them to the proof, as it does and is intended to do.
But if disagreeing among themselves they took their leave, Paul reiterated the long suspended sentence, already pronounced by the Judge Himself in Joh 12:37-41 seven centuries and more after Isaiah was inspired to utter it from the vision in the temple in the year when king Uzziah died (Isa 6 ). What a witness of divine patience as well as of sure judgment on His own people! Jehovah, the God of Israel, sent His prophet with the message originally. Then Jehovah-Jesus toward the close of His rejected testimony of love and light in their midst departed and hid Himself, after having done so many signs which manifested the Father and the Son at work in grace. Yet they believed not in Him, according to Isa 53 , yea more, they could not believe, for the judicial spell was taking effect, fruit of despising every word and proof of God Himself, the Son, on earth
‘These things said Isaiah, because he saw His [Christ’s] glory, and he spake of Him’ (Joh 12:41 ). Such is the comment of the inspired Evangelist. Now the word is again cited by Paul, only with this emphatic reference – ‘Well spoke the Holy Spirit.’ He Who of old gave the prophet to see, hear, and write, was now sent down from heaven to make good Christ’s glory, and is declared to be the One Who then and thus spoke. The Spirit had been rejected by the Jews as the witness of the glorified Son of man, as truly as the Son on earth had been, and Jehovah as such of old On the ground of responsibility all was over with the chosen people, who, having failed in righteousness, abhorred sovereign grace in the gospel. But the mercy they despised will be their only ground in the latter day, when the last empire of the Gentile rises up to oppose the returning Lord at His appearing in glory, in alliance with the Antichrist in the land of Israel. These are the Beast and the False Prophet of the Revelation.
Meanwhile the Jew is finally cut off, and before the apostasy is come and ‘the man of sin’ revealed, the gospel goes forth on its errand of heavenly mercy to the Gentiles. ‘They also will hear,’ said the messenger from his bonds in Rome. And so it has been; so it is; though the shadows deepen as the end of the age draws near. Then an ungrateful Christendom will cast off the faith, and more and more return to naturalism, in love not only of present things but of idolatry, and in man set up as true God, that wrath may come to the uttermost on all, whether Jew or Gentile, who spurn grace and bow down to the creature lifted up to destruction by Satan in the despite and denial of the Father and the Son.
But meanwhile ‘this salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles.’ For the grace of God goes down to the lowest when the light of the knowledge of His glory shines, as now in the gospel it does in the face of Jesus at His right hand. Thus Israel is cast off, the Gentiles hear and the apostle was in bonds. So the history ends.
But the apostle, a prisoner in Rome, sent thence to the Jews the deepest message they ever received from God, as also Paul sent to the saints at Ephesus and Colosse the fullest words on the body and its Head, and on Christian experience to the Philippians, and personally to Philemon: so fertilizing was the stream that flowed through him in his captivity.
‘And he remained two whole years in his own hired lodging, and received all that came unto him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, with all boldness unhinderedly’ (vers. 30, 31).
Such is the simple, solemn, and dignified close of inspired ecclesiastical history. Some speak of it as abrupt, because it does not tell us of the subsequent imprisonment of the apostle and his death. It is the same spirit of unbelief which complains of the two Gospels that do not set before us the ascension scene, as if God did not know best how to reveal His own truth. Paul is a prisoner, yet not so as to hinder the going forth of the truth even in Rome. To know more of the apostle we must read closely the word; yet even so nothing is there to encourage curiosity, superstition, or hero-worship, but everything that God in all things may be glorified by Jesus Christ.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Acts
AFTER THE WRECK
Act 28:1 – Act 28:16
‘They all escaped safe to land,’ says Luke with emphasis, pointing to the verification of Paul’s assurance that there should be no loss of life. That two hundred and seventy-six men on a wreck should all be saved was very improbable, but the angel had promised, and Paul had believed that it should be ‘even so as it had been spoken unto him.’ Therefore the improbable came to pass, and every man of the ship’s company stood safe on the shore. Faith which grasps God’s promise ‘laughs at impossibilities’ and brings them into the region of facts.
Wet, cold, weary, and anxious, the rescued men huddled together on the shore in the early morning, and no doubt they were doubtful what reception they would have from the islanders who had been attracted to the beach. Their first question was, ‘Where are we?’ so completely had they lost their reckoning. Some of the inhabitants could speak Greek or Latin, and could tell them that they were on Melita, but the most part of the crowd that came round them could only speak in a tongue strange to Luke, and are therefore called by him ‘barbarians,’ not as being uncivilised, but as not speaking Greek. But they could speak the eloquent language of kindness and pity. They were heathens, but they were men. They had not come down to the wreck for plunder, as might have been feared, but to help the unfortunates who were shivering on the beach in the downpour of rain, and chilled to the bone by exposure.
As always, Paul fills Luke’s canvas; the other two hundred and seventy-five were ciphers. Two incidents, in which the Apostle appears as protected by God from danger, and as a fountain of healing for others, are all that is told of the three months’ stay in Malta. Taken together, these cover the whole ground of the Christian’s place in the world; he is an object of divine care, he is a medium of divine blessing. In the former one, we see in Paul’s activity in gathering his bundle of brushwood an example of how he took the humblest duties on himself, and was not hindered either by the false sense of dignity which keeps smaller men from doing small things, as Chinese gentlemen pride themselves on long nails as a token that they do no work, or by the helplessness in practical matters which is sometimes natural to, and often affected by, men of genius, from taking his share in common duties.
The shipwreck took place in November probably, and the ‘viper’ had curled itself up for its winter sleep, and had been lifted with the twigs by Paul’s hasty hand. Roused by the warmth, it darted at Paul’s hand before it could be withdrawn, and fixed its fangs. The sight of it dangling there excited suspicions in the mind of the natives, who would know that Paul was a prisoner, and so jumped to the conclusion that he was a murderer pursued by the Goddess of Justice. These rude islanders had consciences, which bore witness to a divine law of retribution.
However mistaken may be heathens’ conceptions of what constitutes right and wrong, they all know that it is wrong to do wrong, and the dim anticipation of God-inflicted punishment is in their hearts. The swift change of opinion about Paul is like, though it is the reverse of, what the people of Lystra thought of him. They first took him for a god, and then for a criminal, worshipping him to-day and stoning him to-morrow. This teaches us how unworthy the heathen conception of a deity is, and how lightly the name was given. It may teach us too how fickle and easily led popular judgments are, and how they are ever prone to rush from one extreme to another, so that the people’s idol of one week is their abhorrence the next, and the applause and execration are equally undeserved. These Maltese critics did what many of us are doing with less excuse-arguing as to men’s merits from their calamities or successes. A good man may be stung by a serpent in the act of doing a good thing; that does not prove him to be a monster. He may be unhurt by what seems fatal; that does not prove him to be a god or a saint.
The other incident recorded as occurring in Malta brings out the Christian’s relation to others as a source of healing. An interesting incidental proof of Luke’s accuracy is found in the fact that inscriptions discovered in Malta show that the official title of the governor was ‘First of the Melitaeans.’ The word here rendered ‘chief’ is literally ‘first.’ Luke’s precision is shown in another direction in his diagnosis of the diseases of Publius’s father, which are described by technical medical terms. The healing seems to have been unasked. Paul ‘went in,’ as if from a spontaneous wish to render help. There is no record of any expectation or request from Publius.
Christians are to be ‘like the dew on the grass, which waiteth not for man,’ but falls unsought. The manner of the healing brings out very clearly its divine source, and Paul’s part as being simply that of the channel for God’s power. He prays, and then lays his hands on the sick man. There are no words assuring him of healing. God is invoked, and then His power flows through the hands of the suppliant. So with all our work for men in bringing the better cure with which we are entrusted, we are but channels of the blessing, pipes through which the water of life is brought to thirsty lips. Therefore prayer must precede and accompany all Christian efforts to communicate the healing of the Gospel; and the most gifted are but, like Paul, ‘ministers through whom’ faith and salvation come.
The argument from silence is precarious, but the entire omission of notice of evangelistic work in Melita is noteworthy. Probably the Apostle as a prisoner was not free to preach Christ in any public manner.
Ancient navigation was conducted in a leisurely fashion very strange to us. Three months’ delay in the island, rendered necessary by wintry storms, would end about the early part of March, when the season for safe sailing began. So the third ship which was used in this voyage set sail. Luke notices its ‘sign’ as being that of the Twin Brethren, the patrons of sailors, whose images were, no doubt, displayed on the bow, just as to-day boats in that region often have a Madonna nailed on the mast. Strange conjunction-Castor and Pollux on the prow, and Paul on the deck!
Puteoli, on the bay of Naples, was the landing-place, and there, after long confinement with uncongenial companions, the three Christians, Paul, Aristarchus, and Luke, found brethren. We can understand the joy of such a meeting, and can almost hear the narrative of perils which would be poured into sympathetic ears. Observe that, according to what seems the true reading, Act 28:14 says, ‘We were consoled among them, remaining seven days.’ The centurion could scarcely delay his march to please the Christians at Puteoli; and the thought that the Apostle, whose spirit had never flagged while danger was near and effort was needed, felt some tendency to collapse, and required cheering when the strain was off, is as natural as it is pathetic.
So the whole company set off on their march to Rome-about a hundred and forty miles. The week’s delay in Puteoli would give time for apprising the church in Rome of the Apostle’s coming, and two parties came out to meet him, one travelling as far as Appii Forum, about forty Roman miles from the city; the other as far as ‘The Three Taverns,’ some ten miles nearer it. The simple notice of the meeting is more touching than many words would have been. It brings out again the Apostle’s somewhat depressed state, partly due, no doubt, to nervous tension during the long and hazardous voyage, and partly to his consciousness that the decisive moment was very near. But when he grasped the hands and looked into the faces of the Roman brethren, whom he had so long hungered to see, and to whom he had poured out his heart in his letter, he ‘thanked God, and took courage.’ The most heroic need, and are helped by, the sympathy of the humble. Luther was braced for the Diet of Worms by the knight who clapped him on the back as he passed in and spoke a hearty word of cheer.
There would be some old friends in the delegation of Roman Christians, perhaps some of those who are named in Rom 16:1 – Rom 16:27 , such as Priscilla and Aquila, and the unnamed matron, Rufus’s mother, whom Paul there calls ‘his mother and mine.’ It would be an hour of love and effusion, and the shadow of appearing before Caesar would not sensibly dim the brightness. Paul saw God’s hand in that glad meeting, as we should do in all the sweetness of congenial intercourse. It was not only because the welcomers were his friends that he was glad, but because they were Christ’s friends and servants. The Apostle saw in them the evidence that the kingdom was advancing even in the world’s capital, and under the shadow of Caesar’s throne, and that gladdened him and made him forget personal anxieties. We too should be willing to sink our own interests in the joy of seeing the spread of Christ’s kingdom.
Paul turned thankfulness for the past and present into calm hope for the future: ‘He took courage.’ There was much to discourage and to excuse tremors and forebodings, but he had God and Christ with him, and therefore he could front the uncertain future without flinching, and leave all its possibilities in God’s hands. Those who have such a past as every Christian has should put fear far from them, and go forth to meet any future with quiet hearts, and minds kept in perfect peace because they are stayed on God.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act 28:1-6
1When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta. 2The natives showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all. 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 itself on his hand. 4When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” 5However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.
Act 28:1 “they had been brought safely through” This is the term sz (cf. Act 27:31) with dia prefixed. It was used regularly for someone reaching safety (cf. Act 23:24; Act 27:44; Act 28:1; Act 28:4). Luke even uses it for physical healing in Luk 7:3.
The aorist passive participle shows that Luke attributed the safety as being provided by God (passive voice) according to His word (cf. Act 27:21-26).
“Malta” The Phoenician sailors also called this island Melita, which was a Canaanite term that meant “refuge.” This was originally a Phoenician colony. It is located between Sicily and North Africa. It is only eighteen miles long and eight miles wide, but its location afforded great maritime commercial value. It has several good harbors.
Act 28:2 “natives” This is literally “barbarians.” This is not a derogatory title, but simply refers to anyone who did not speak Greek or Latin.
NASB”extraordinary kindness”
NKJV, NRSV,
NJB”unusual kindness”
TEV”were very friendly”
This intensified phrase has the term philanthrpos, which is literally “lover of men” as in Act 27:3. The specific care and provision given by the natives was because they saw Paul’s miraculous encounter with a serpent on the beach. This, and other miraculous acts (cf. Act 28:7-10), opened the door for evangelism! Paul always had a mind toward gospel proclamation (cf. 1Co 9:19-23).
Act 28:3 “Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks” This really shows Paul’s humility. He worked along with all the others. No elitism since the road to Damascus!
“a viper. . .fastened itself on his hand” This term’s basic meaning is “to attach.” It can mean “a bite” or “coiled around.”
Act 28:4 “the creature” This term for “creature” became the medical term for poisonous snakes (cf. Act 10:12).
“justice has not allowed him to live” “Justice” or “Fate” was the name of one of their gods. They were expressing the irony of the situation, similar to Amo 5:19. Act 28:6 shows that the native islanders were superstitious polytheists.
Act 28:6 These islanders had personal experience with the snakes on the island. Their radical change of attitude is similar to the pagan reactions to the miraculous in Act 14:11-13.
“to swell up” This is one of many medical terms used by Luke (cf. Act 28:8). It is found only here in the NT.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
when they were = having.
escaped. Greek. diasozo. Same as in Act 27:43, Act 27:44. See Mat 14:36.
they. The texts read “we”.
knew. Greek. epiginosko App-132.
island. Greek. nesos. See Act 27:26.
Melita = Malta It was in the jurisdiction of the Praetor of Sicily St. Paul’s Bay, the traditional scene of the shipwreck, fulfils all the conditions.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1. ] The whole course of the narrative has gone to shew that this can be no other than MALTA. The idea that it is not MALTA, but Meleda, an island off the Illyrian coast in the Gulf of Venice, seems to be first found in Constantine Porphyrogenitus, de Adminiculis Imperii, p. 36- , . . , . It has been adopted by our own countrymen, Bryant and Dr. Falconer, and abroad by Giorgi, Rhoer, and more recently Paulus. It rests principally on three mistakes:-1. the meaning of the name Adria (see above on ch. Act 27:27),-2. the fancy that there are no poisonous serpents in Malta (Act 28:3),-3. the notion that the Maltese would not have been called . The idea itself, when compared with the facts, is preposterous enough. Its supporters are obliged to place Fair Havens on the north side of Crete,-and to suppose the wind to have been the hot Sirocco (compare Act 28:2).
Further notices of this question, and of the state of Malta at the time, will be found in the notes on the following verses. Observe, their previous state of ignorance of the island is expressed by the imperf. ;-the act of recognition by the aor. [ch. Act 27:30].
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Tonight we’d like to just go through the twenty-eighth chapter of Acts and finish this book so that next Sunday night we move into the first two chapters of Romans. That’s your reading assignment for next week, the first two chapters of Romans. But tonight, this fascinating, interesting final chapter to the story of the beginning of the church and the ministry of Paul the apostle.
You remember last week, we were left in a very exciting and dramatic place. Paul was on the ship that was being torn up by the waves. Those that could swim went first to shore, the rest of them grabbed logs or planking that was being torn off the ship and they floated on into the beach. As Paul had declared, “All of the souls would be saved, though the ship would be destroyed” ( Act 27:22 ). Verse one,
And when they were escaped ( Act 28:1 ),
That is, from the ship that was being destroyed by the waves.
then they knew that the island was called Melita ( Act 28:1 ).
Or the island known today as Malta, which is south from Sicily. The ship finally ended here at the island of Malta having been driven by the storm for fourteen days.
And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness ( Act 28:2 ):
This translation “barbarous” is unfortunate because of our use of the word today “barbarian.” The word is “barbar” and the Greek called anybody who couldn’t speak Greek a “barbar” because your language sounds so funny. It isn’t the beautiful flowing Greek language, and so if you spoke English you were a “barbar.” It was their slang term for someone who didn’t speak Greek, thus was not cultured, and thus, he was known as a “barbar” or a barbarian as came to be known, or here translated the barbarous people. But really just the natives of Malta, the native people on Malta. They were not really barbarians, but just native people of Malta. “Showed us no little kindness:”
for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold ( Act 28:2 ).
There was still this storm raging that they had been enduring for fourteen days and fourteen nights. And now they’ve had to come through the surf. It’s wintertime. The Mediterranean is cold. They came up on the beach, some of them holding on to planks, some of them swimming to shore. And so the natives there built a fire for them so they could warm themselves and dry out.
And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks ( Act 28:3 ),
This gives us, I think, a very interesting insight into Paul. He is the kind of fellow who just couldn’t sit still. He had to always be doing something. Paul was a doer. So they’re building a fire, so he, rather than just letting the people gather and build the fire for him, he has to join in and go out and gather a bundle of sticks to throw into the fire. He was just the kind of a guy that had to always be doing.
and he laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand ( Act 28:3 ).
That would be a poisonous snake.
And when the barbarians saw the poisonous beast hanging on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet vengeance [or the gods] will not allow him to live ( Act 28:4 ).
Paul, gathering the wood, throwing it into the fire, the viper jumps out and fastens itself onto Paul’s hand. And immediately the natives, recognizing that poisonous viper, figured this guy must really be a murderer, some serious crime. The gods are not allowing him to live.
And so he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm ( Act 28:5 ).
Again, insight into Paul, he didn’t start screaming and yelling for help. Just shakes the thing back off into the fire and makes no big deal over it.
Howbeit as they stared at him when he should have swollen up, or fallen over dead suddenly: but when they had looked for a long time, and they saw that no harm had come to him, they changed their minds and they said, This man is a god ( Act 28:6 ).
It, to me, shows how foolish it is for us to seek the fickle adulation of the world. They may look at you in one moment as a murderer and the next moment as a god, or it can be the other way around. They can look at you as a god, as a hero, but then the next day as a goat.
Some of the greatest sports heroes, when they go into a slump, find how fickle is the adulation of the crowd. And they get up to bat and they’re used to hearing the cheers and the whistles and the screaming of adulation. Let them go into a prolonged slump, and every time they step up they hear the boo’s and the hisses of the crowd. How fickle is the glory of the world.
The scripture exhorts us not to seek the glory of man, the approbation or the approval, but let’s really seek the glory of God, His approval.
In the same place [there in Malta] were the possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us for three days courteously ( Act 28:7 ).
It is interesting to me again how that the Lord is watching over Paul. True, he is a Roman prisoner, but the centurion took an immediate liking to Paul, the one who was in charge of bringing him to Rome, and showed him many favors. Now he is shipwrecked on the island and the natives treat them with great kindness. And now the leader, the headman of the island, receives them into his house and treats them very courteously.
And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux ( Act 28:8 ):
Luke is a physician, and so he is giving you a diagnosis of the fellow’s illnesses.
to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed: who also honored us with many honors; and when we departed, they loaded us down with such things as were necessary ( Act 28:8-10 ).
The treatment that they received on the island of Malta was very good, and God worked among the Maltese people His healing powers through Paul the apostle.
Now after three months ( Act 28:11 )
They spent then the rest of the winter months there on the island of Malta, but after three months,
we departed in a ship of Alexandria ( Act 28:11 ),
Another one of these wheat ships that took the grains from Egypt to Rome. They caught another ship of Alexandria,
which had wintered there in the island, whose sign was Castor and Pollux ( Act 28:11 ).
The twins.
And so we landed at Syracuse, and there we stayed for three days. And from there we fetched a compass, and we came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind was blowing, so we came the next day to Puteoli ( Act 28:12-13 ):
Which was the major cargo port from the east to Rome. North of that was the harbor of the Roman navy which could be seen from Puteoli. And Paul was probably impressed with the Roman naval, might as he could see those ships from there.
Now when we found brethren there, and they desired to stay with them for seven days: and then we went toward Rome. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as the Appii Forum, and the Three Taverns ( Act 28:14-15 );
The Appii Forum was forty-three miles from Rome, and the Three Taverns is thirty-three miles from Rome.
whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage ( Act 28:15 ).
No matter where you go in the world, if you can find a body of believers, suddenly you feel at home and you feel strengthened and encouraged. My wife and I have had the privilege of traveling into some pretty remote places, but whenever we gathered together with believers, we just suddenly feel at home. There’s just a warmth of God’s love and you realize that we’re among friends; we’re among the family of God.
We went out into a village in New Guinea near Ukarumpa, and in this village, the village chieftain had prepared a marvelous feast for us of their native foods, which we found, for the most part, quite delightful. There was some that was sort of unpalatable, but for the most part it was quite delightful. It was quite interesting because only the dignitaries were allowed within the fenced yard area where they had dug this pit that they called the “moo-moo” and had cooked this meal for us on banana leaves over hot rocks and covered over with six inches of dirt, and this oven that they had made in the ground and they had a bamboo shoot down inside.
Every once in a while one of the natives would pour a cup of water down in and it would steam it, and the food that came out of it was really delicious. The rest of the village were all outside the fence looking in, watching us as we ate there. Of course, there were some of the natives with these big palms spanning the flies off of the food that was set out on the table, and they gave you a banana leaf and you had to put the food on the banana leaf and you ate it with your fingers. It was quite an experience for us.
At the end of the dinner, the chieftain came up to me and he had some spears in one hand; he had a translation of the Bible in his own language in the other hand. And he said, “Before the white man came and brought us this (holding up his translation of the New Testament), we used to use these to kill men. But now that I have this (holding up again his translation of the Bible), I don’t need these anymore. I want to give them to you.” And he gave me these spears that they had used in their fights to kill one another, not needing them anymore because they had the Word of God now.
I tell you, my heart was bonded to that primitive chieftain. We embraced each other, and just cultures apart, yet there was a bond between us. “For there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free: but Christ is all, and in all” ( Col 3:11 ). There was this bond between us, and my heart was bonded to him as I could feel his heart bonded to me. It was just a beautiful experience. I felt right at home among these people because I realized they’re all a part of the family of God.
And so here is Paul on his way to Rome, a prisoner of the Roman government, and yet, as he meets the brethren who came all the way out from Rome on the Appiian way, his heart was warmed. He was comforted when he saw the brothers. “I’m at home among the family of God.”
Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was allowed to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him ( Act 28:16 ).
Paul was allowed to dwell in his own house. He was able to pay his own way, and there were soldiers that were with him constantly and chained to him. He was in bonds, and yet, he was not put in the common prison in bonds, but was allowed a certain amount of freedom. Only always chained. As much freedom as you can have chained to a Roman soldier.
And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem to the hands of the Romans: who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spoke against it, I was constrained [or I was forced] to appeal to Caesar; not that I had anything to accuse my nation of ( Act 28:17-19 ).
Paul is wanting to assure the Jewish leadership in Rome that he is not there to speak against the nation of Israel. That is not his purpose. He is there because of this political situation and he had to make his appeal, but he wants to assure them that he’s not going to be making any derogatory accusations against the nation.
For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because it’s for the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain ( Act 28:20 ).
The hope of Israel, of course, was the hope of the coming Messiah. That is still the hope of Israel that the Messiah might come. “And it is for this hope,” Paul said, “I am bound with this chain.”
And they said unto him, We did not receive letters from Judea concerning you, and neither any of the brethren that came showed us anything about you or spoke any harm against you. But we want to hear from you what you think concerning this sect, which we know that every where it is spoken against ( Act 28:21-22 ).
What do you think about this sect, this Jesus that they’re talking about?
And so Paul appointed them a day, and many came to him to 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 ( Act 28:23 ).
A great number of the Jews gathered together at Paul’s lodging there, and Paul began to go through their scriptures, pointing in their scriptures to the promised kingdom, pointing in their scriptures to the promised King. For you cannot have a kingdom without a king. And he, no doubt, showed to them those many prophecies not only relating to the kingdom of God and the glory of that kingdom of God, but of the King that would come and reign over the kingdom of God.
For that King was to be born in Bethlehem. “And thou, Bethlehem, though thou be little among the provinces of Judah, yet out of thee shall come he who is to rule my people Israel; whose going forth have been from old, even from everlasting” ( Mic 5:2 ). And so the eternal One would come to rule over the people of Israel, and He would be born in Bethlehem.
He would be born to a virgin, because God said in Isa 7:1-25 , “I will show you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” ( Isa 7:14 ). But at His birth there will be great mourning by Rachel because her children have been killed; even as Herod ordered the death of all of the children two years old and under, attempting to destroy Jesus.
And then he went on, no doubt, to tell them the other scriptures that this child that was born was actually God’s Son that was given to man. “For unto us a child is born, but unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, to order it, and establish it in righteousness and in judgment from henceforth even for ever” ( Isa 9:6-7 ). “A Son is given, His name to be called the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He shall sit upon the throne of David.” Paul rehearsed to them the kingdom of God and that King that was to come.
In Daniel, the angel said unto him in chapter nine, “There are seventy sevens determined upon the nation of Israel, but from the time that the commandment goes forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto the coming of the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven sevens, and sixty-two sevens [or four hundred and eighty-three years]” ( Dan 9:25 ). And he probably pointed out to them that it was four hundred and eighty-three years from the time that Artaxerxes gave the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, coming as Zechariah said He would, riding on a donkey. “Rejoice, O daughters of Jerusalem; shout for joy, for behold, thy King cometh unto thee: but he is lowly, he is sitting on a colt, the foal of an ass” ( Zec 9:9 ).
And then he probably went to show them how that He would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, for as Zechariah said, “And they measured thirty pieces of silver, a good price of which I was priced of them. And I said, Cast it to the potter in the house of the Lord” ( Zec 11:13 ). And Paul again pointing out their scriptures and then sought to persuade them that Jesus was the King that was promised. He fulfilled all of these prophecies.
He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem. Herod ordered the death of the babies at that time. And on down the line. He was betrayed. He was “numbered with transgressors in His death. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” ( Isa 53:3 , Isa 53:12 ). And Paul, going down their scriptures, sought to persuade them that Jesus was the King.
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not ( Act 28:24 ).
Always that’s the result of the preaching of the Gospel. Some believe, some believe not.
Tonight as we have gathered here, we gather together in two companies–those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, as the Lord and Savior, as the King that God had promised, and those who believe not. But “as many as believed, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to those who believed upon his name” ( Joh 1:12 ).
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him” ( Joh 3:36 ). So what I believe is important. My destiny hangs upon it according to the scriptures. “And some believed, and some believed not.” It might be well if you ask yourself the question, “In which of the two categories do I stand?”
They were all exposed to the same truth, the same proofs. Some of them believed; some of them believed not. I am not really free to speculate why they did not believe, but most often people do not believe because of pre-suppositional prejudice. They do not honestly evaluate the evidence, but look at it through the biased mind of pre-suppositional prejudice. They have heard so long the critic, the skeptic, as they assailed the person of Jesus that without making an honest evaluation of the evidence, they have drawn their conclusions. All they have listened to really are the enemies of Jesus Christ.
If you want to know the truth about me, the ones to ask would be my wife and my children. My wife is very frank and very honest, and she’ll tell you the truth about me. I’m probably really not the person that you think I am. So many times people look at the person who stands behind the pulpit and somehow you get a perfect kind of a, look at that perfect. But she’ll tell you different.
But there are those who, for their own reasons, dislike me. And I’ve heard all kinds of interesting stories about me from people who, for some reason or other, didn’t like me. I’ve heard some pretty wild stories, stories for which there is no foundation of fact whatsoever.
Some guy was actually going around the country a while back telling people that the Illuminati had given me eight million dollars to start Maranatha Music so I could corrupt Christian young people, and that he was a witch of the, one of the high thirteen grand council of witches, and he was the one who delivered the money to me. My wife went up to Pasadena one night where he was speaking in church when he started off in this wild tale. As I told you, my wife is straightforward. She stood up in the church, she said, “That’s not true. You never did give Chuck Smith that money.” And the guy looked rather startled and she said, “I know because he’s my husband.” And everybody sucked in their breath in the church that night. He then began to fumble around and he said, “Well, I gave it to his assistant.” I always figured there was something with Romaine that he wasn’t telling me, because somehow it never got from Romaine to me.
But listening to a person’s enemy is not the way to discover truth. You should listen to what their friends, their close associates have to say about them. If you want to know the truth about Jesus, you should read the gospel of John. You should read the gospel of Matthew. These men who spend three days with Him almost twenty-four hours a day continually over a three-year period. Find out what they have to say about Him, their attitudes towards Him, their observations of Him, and there you’ll get a more honest report.
It’s sad that people have made their determinations on the basis of false evidence or incomplete evidence without thoroughly examining for themselves. That is why some believe not. They haven’t really made a thorough evaluation, but their minds were already made up beforehand. They had already formed their conclusions before examining the evidence. And thus, they only looked at the evidence with a biased mind, not with an open mind. And so they believed not because they have chosen to believe not. Not because there isn’t ample evidence to prove, but because I’ve chosen not to believe.
It is sad that people have made that choice without examining evidence. I would encourage you: examine the evidence. It can stand up to close scrutiny. I have examined the evidence, and I’m of that class that believe. And some believed, and I believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ is indeed the King that God promised would come and that He fulfilled those prophecies of the Old Testament that spoke of the servant of God being despised and rejected, wounded for our transgressions. But that those other prophecies of the King who will come and establish the kingdom of God and will bring God’s kingdom to the earth. And we will see the earth restored as God intended it to be. We will see the deserts becoming a lush garden, roses breaking out in the desert, streams in dried places. We’ll see the abolishing of war and of crime. We’ll see the end of suffering and pain. We’ll see the end of physical handicap as the lame will leap for joy and the dumb will be singing praises unto God. I believe that that King is coming again, and I believe that it is very soon. And I believe it is the very same Jesus who was prophesied of the scriptures, “The stone which the builders set at nought, the same is become the chief cornerstone” ( Act 4:11 ). And when He comes again, He will indeed be the chief cornerstone, and the Jews and the Christians will be united together in their worship of the Messiah. There are not two Messiahs coming, there is One Messiah coming and He is coming to reign over the earth and we shall live and reign with Him in His kingdom.
And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one further word, Very well did the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the prophet say unto our fathers ( Act 28:25 ),
Notice here that Paul recognizes that the Holy Spirit is indeed the inspiration behind the scriptures. He, writing to Timothy later, said, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for rebuke, for reproof” ( 2Ti 3:16 ). Now here Paul recognizes the Holy Spirit as the author of scripture. “Well did Isaiah speak by the Holy Spirit,”
Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing you will hear, and will not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them ( Act 28:26-27 ).
Paul then said unto them, having quoted from their own prophet Isaiah,
Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. And Paul dwelt for two whole years in his own rented house, and received all those that came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him ( Act 28:28-31 ).
We see some interesting things here that we must make note of. Number one: Paul being cast up on the island of Malta, no doubt God’s hand was in that because God wanted to bring the message of salvation to those on the island of Malta. To Paul it looked like a great tragedy being shipwrecked, having to swim to shore. The peril of his life. But yet God was using that disaster to bring His truth to these people.
Paul, while he is here in Rome sitting in this prison for two years, spent his time witnessing to those that came to him, but also writing some of his New Testament epistles. Had it not been for this imprisonment, we today probably would not have the epistle to the Ephesians, which Paul wrote from this prison cell. Or the epistle to the Philippians, or the epistle to the Colossians, or the little epistle to Philemon. For Paul wrote all of these during this two-year imprisonment time in Rome.
The book of Acts closes about the year sixty-three. Paul wrote II Timothy in the year about sixty-six. So Paul was probably freed after his appearance to Nero. In writing his second letter to Timothy, just before he was back in prison in Rome in 66 A.D., he makes mention that he left Trophimus sick at Melita. When Paul was returning to Jerusalem before this particular imprisonment, Trophimus was with him and went with him from Melita to Jerusalem. In fact, it was Trophimus who was with Paul in the temple when the Jews got excited and said, “This guy has brought Gentiles into the temple.” It was Trophimus that was with Paul there in the temple at the time of Paul’s arrest by the Romans and being beaten by the Jews.
Writing to Timothy, it must be that Paul went back to Ephesus, back to Melita, and that time when he left Melita, had to leave Trophimus there because he was sick, as he mentions in his last letter, the second epistle to Timothy, chapter four.
It would be well for you with this background of Paul in jail in Rome, the last chapter of Acts, it would be well for you to this week read the epistles of Ephesians, Colossians and the Philippians. Paul talks about a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. He talks about a prisoner for your sake and he speaks much about his bonds. And yet he speaks of the rejoicing, the glorious rejoicing always in the Lord. It would be well to read Paul’s prison epistles that were written during this time.
Why is it that Luke stopped his record here? Why didn’t Luke tell us of the future of Paul? Why is it that we have to look to men like Eusebius and other early historians to find out what happened to Paul after this imprisonment?
If you go back in the book of Acts to chapter one, as Jesus is promising the Holy Spirit to the apostles, He said, “You will receive power, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you: and you shall be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth” ( Act 1:8 ).
Paul is now come to Rome, the heart of the world; and from Israel, one of the uttermost parts. And so the fulfillment of the prophecy of Christ is complete, and Luke did not see any necessity of carrying the record any further than just here in Acts. Words of Christ have been fulfilled and the Gospel, which began in Jerusalem, spread through Judea, and then by Philip into Samaria, and then by Paul and Barnabas to others, to the uttermost parts of the earth, has been fulfilled at this time. And Luke feels that that is sufficient. We’ve covered the story of the spreading of the Gospel into the world during that first century of the church’s history.
This comes to the end of church history from a biblical standpoint, except that as we get into the book of Revelation later on, we’ll find John writing at a later period of history. Some almost thirty years after these events and the close of the cannon of New Testament scriptures.
Again I encourage you, along with Romans one and two for next Sunday, do read Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and the little epistle of Philemon to get a picture of Paul and some of the attitudes and all during the time of this Roman imprisonment as he used this time to minister unto the church.
Father, we thank You again tonight for the privilege of having Your Word, of studying Your Word. And Lord, we’re so excited as we see Your Word fulfilled. As we see those prophecies fulfilled by Jesus Christ. And as we see the prophecies of the temple that is to be built in our days or in the last days, if we live to that, Lord, we’re so excited to see men who have upon their hearts that yearning for the temple to be rebuilt. A place of worship restored. And Father, we just thank You for again the confirmation of Your Word in the hearts of men. We ask Your blessing and Your peace upon Jerusalem, Lord. In these difficult times with the highly volatile situation that exists, Lord, we pray that You would bring peace to this troubled area. And as the nation now, Lord, is sort of stunned by the resignation of Prime Minister Begin, we ask, Lord, that You would just really bring into office that man that You please. Lord, I pray for Prime Minister Begin. I ask that You would minister strength to him, encourage his heart, lift him up, Lord. I thank You for the courage and the strength and the guidance that this man brought to Israel. And Lord, I do pray that You will hand-pick His successor, that You might lead these people in these perilous times and in these momentous decisions that are being made for the future and the security of that land, Lord. We know that that which You have purposed shall surely come to pass. And if there is anything, Lord, that You would have us to do in the fulfilling of Your purposes, speak to our hearts, lay it upon our hearts that we might be obedient, Lord, unto You. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
We request that you pray for us the next couple evenings as we’re up in Seattle, and that God would work in a very special way as we meet with the people up there. That God will just anoint our hearts, put His Word upon our hearts for those people, and that it might be a time of spiritual blessings for them as we bring them the Word of God.
God bless you, give you a glorious week, surround you with His love, fill you with His Spirit and cause your heart to overflow with His joy. In Jesus’ name. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Act 28:1-3. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks,
It must have been a fine sight to see the great apostle of the Gentiles gathering a bundle of sticks to put on the fire. But the men who can do great things are usually the men who do not disdain to do little things.
Act 28:3-5. And laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
Was not this a fulfillment of the Masters words concerning the signs following faith in him? They shall take up serpents. Whether this viper had bitten Paul so as to really fill his veins with venom, we do not know, and it is an equal miracle whether it had done so or not. Whether the sting had already poisoned him or not, his life was preserved, and that was sufficient.
Act 28:6. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
Those who saw what had happened to him regarded it as so marvellous that they thought he must be one of their heathen deities who had come down to the earth. He was not a god, however; but he was a man of God, and God had preserved him in the hour of peril.
Act 28:7-10. In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed: who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary.
Happy island of Melita to have such a missionary driven on its shore, to heal the sick, and preach the gospel to the people. The calamities of ministers are often a benediction to the people. The shipwreck of Paul resulted in blessing to that island which otherwise it might have missed. Let us, as Gods servants, leave ourselves in his hands, and believe that he can sometimes use us better by means of a shipwreck than if he had given the winds and waves charge concerning us to bear us safely to our desired haven.
Act 28:11-13. And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli:
Those who have ever been there regard the spot as almost sacred where Paul set his foot on his way to Rome. It is a place where there is an abundance of hot springs, a place which of old was frequented for healing; I have stood there with intense delight: We came the next day to Puteoli:
Act 28:14. Where we found brethren,
There were some Christians there. See how soon the gospel had spread as far as to this sea-port town; probably some Christian sailors carried it there. Blessed will it be when the ships of Tarshish shall bear not only men specially set apart as missionaries, but when every sailor shall be a missionary for Christ. We came the next day to Puteoli: where we found brethren,
Act 28:14. And were desired to tarry with them seven days:
So they were able to have one Lords day together. They were probably only a very small company of poor Christians, but what a joyful privilege it was for them to have the beloved apostle with them for that memorable week in their lives!
Act 28:14. And so we went toward Rome.
Now it was a matching band of soldiers taking them as prisoners to appear before the emperor at Rome.
Act 28:15. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and the three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.
It must have cheered his heart to see that there were some who loved him sufficiently to make a weary tramp along the Appian Road, to meet him, and salute him in the name of their common Lord.
Act 28:16. And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.
This was a great favor, no doubt, but do not forget that he had to have his right hand chained to the left hand of the soldier day and night and that was not very pleasant either for him or for the soldier. Yet he thus had an opportunity of personal intercourse with the soldiers of the Pretorian guard, and as they were continually being changed, Paul no doubt had opportunities of conversation with hundreds of them, and thus the gospel was spread in a very unlikely quarter. Would you like to be chained to a soldier day after day, and month after month? There are some who would not have that experience for half an hour without putting the gospel plainly before the soldier so that he should at least know what it is, even if he did not accept it. That is a wonderful way of preaching, man to man; when they were chained hand to hand, there was no getting away from what Paul had to say.
Act 28:17. And it came to pass, that after three days
That was quick work; he had only got into his house three days when he began to work: After three days
Act 28:17. Paul called the chief of the Jews together:
There are said to have been seven synagogues in Rome at that time, so the apostle sent for a number of the chief men in the various congregations.
Act 28:17-20. And when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had aught to accuse my nation of. For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
They were all looking for the Messiah, for there was at that time a general expectation of his coming.
Act 28:21-22. 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. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.
Although men did not understand it, they spoke against it. This is often a blessing. This is the kind of advertisement that helps the gospel, for if men will only be sufficiently interested in it to speak against it, they will be likely to come and hear it, and some of them will be almost certain to receive it. The truth never spreads so fast as when men oppose it.
Act 28:23. 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
It was a long and blessed day, a grand opportunity for Paul thus to be able hour after hour to expound the gospel. But see the result, the result which always seems to follow the faithful preaching of the truth:
Act 28:24-28. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Oh, blessed confidence of the apostle! If some reject the gospel, others will receive it.
Act 28:29-31. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ,
What a subject Paul had to preach about, the kingdom of God, and those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, and how faithfully and fearlessly he proclaimed this great theme!
Act 28:31. With all confidence, no man forbidding him.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Act 28:1. ) then at last.-) So the most ancient authorities read. [154] is the reading of the more recent copies, from ch. Act 27:39. The sailors did not know the land, says Luke, sooner than all the rest of us.-) Melita, below Sicily: comp. ch. Act 27:17 (the Syrtis, off Africa); nor is the Act 28:27 there an objection (up and down in Adria), for the name of the Adriatic Sea was used in a comprehensive sense among the ancients, extending towards the Ionian Sea.
[154] is read by ABC Vulg. both Syr. Memph. Rec. Text has without any very old authority.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Act 28:1-10
THREE MONTHS IN MELITA
Act 28:1-10
1 And when we were escaped,-When the crew and all the passengers were safely on shore, they learned that the island was called Melita. No doubt the sailors would have recognized the island had they approached it in the usual way. This island is now known as Malta; it is located about sixty-five or seventy miles south of Cilicia or Sicily; it is nine miles wide and seventeen miles long; it now belongs to Great Britain. At one time it was thought that the shipwreck was near the island of Meleda, but that view is no longer held. The island of Malta fits the description in every way, and was on the direct route to Syracuse and Rhegium.
2 And the barbarians showed us no common kindness:- Barbarians is from the Greek barbaroi, and is a word used by the Greeks who called all men Barbarians who did not speak Greek (Rom 1:14), not barbarians as meaning rude or uncivilized ; it simply meant foreign folk. The term originally meant uncouth repetition, Greek, barbar, not understood by others. (1Co 14:11.) Paul used the term with Scythian in Col 3:11, and here it meant that they were not Christians. The inhabitants of the island showed no common kindness to the stranded crew and passengers. They were very kind to the strangers; they kindled a fire, received us all, made no distinction between the different classes represented in the company. It was cold, and the natives showed due consideration for the unfortunate ones who had been shipwrecked. The shipwrecked were wet from swimming to land, so the natives made a fire to warm and dry them.
3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks-We see Paul here making himself useful by helping as he had done along the journey before the shipwreck. It appears that he and other prisoners helped to throw overboard some of the cargo to lighten the ship. A poisonous serpent had hidden itself in the driftwood that Paul gathered, and when the wood was placed on the fire, this viper, which was in a state of torpor because of the winter season, came out and fastened on Pauls hand. The serpent was warmed into activity by the heat and bit Paul. It is claimed by some that Lukes record is not true, since there are no poisonous reptiles there now. However, the fact that there are no poisonous vipers on Malta now does not prove that Lukes statements are false. The island now has a larger population than it had at that time. Such animals are driven away and destroyed by civilized man. Many sections of our own country were infested with dangerous animals and poisonous serpents at one time, but now the present-day civilization has driven them away, and many species have even become extinct.
4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous creature-The natives on the island were superstitious; they could see that Paul was a prisoner, and they naturally suspected that his crime was no small one; they concluded that he was a murderer, and though he had escaped death in the sea, yet Justice hath not suffered to live. They personified Justice, and expected Paul, as a condemned man, to fall down dead. They reasoned that Paul had fortunately escaped drowning in the sea, but now justice had overtaken him. They knew the bite of a viper would produce death.
5 Howbeit he shook off the creature-There is nothing in the Greek to represent venomous as used in verse 4, and the translators did not repeat it in verse 5. Creature is from the Greek therion, and the ancient medical writers applied the word to venomous serpent, and especially to vipers. The Greek therion has an interesting history. Treacle means molasses, and comes from theriake, and means an antidote made from the flesh of vipers. Paul shook off this viper into the fire and felt no harm from its bite. Paul was not excited, but had perfect composure, because he recalled the two promises: (1) that of Christ to his disciples concerning serpents (Mar 16:18; Luk 10:19); and (2) the promise that he should preach the gospel in Rome; therefore, he would not die before he reached that city.
6 But they expected that he would have swollen,-In their superstitious minds and the conclusion which they had erroneously reached, they expected Paul to fall down dead. As seen above, they had concluded that he was some notorious criminal. However, when Paul suffered no harm from the venomous viper, they went to the other extreme in their reasoning, and said that he was a god. They waited long enough for the poison to take effect, and when it did not, they easily jumped to the extreme position that he was a god. They expected Pauls hand or body to have swollen; this was the usual effect of the bite of a viper, making itself apparent in a very short time. Swollen is from the Greek verb pimpremi, which means to blow, to burn, to inflame, to cause to swell. They also expected Paul to fall down dead. The two common results of the vipers bite were a swollen body and death. Paul did not suffer either one, so they changed their minds.
7 Now in the neighborhood of that place-Near the place where the shipwrecked crew and passengers landed was the chief man of the island; he was called Publius. Publius is called Protos, which was the official title of the ruler of the island. He received Paul and his companions, Luke and Aristarchus, and showed great favor to them by entertaining them. It is not known whether Julius, the centurion, or the other officials were invited. They were entertained for three days courteously. Some think that the entire company was entertained by Publius; it is very likely that he would invite Julius, as Paul was in his charge as a prisoner.
8 And it was so, that the father of Publius lay sick-Publius father lay sick of a fever. Sick is from the Greek sunechomenon, which means held together; fever is from the Greek puretois, and means intermittent attacks. Dysentery is from the Greek dusenterioi, and is another medical term which Luke uses; these two diseases are commonly found together. Paul went into Publius father and prayed, and laid his hands on him and healed him. Paul followed the same course as Peter in the case of Tabitha. (Act 9:36-43.) Paul was given miraculous power on this occasion to heal Publius father. Luke, who was a physician, was with Paul, but nothing is said of his prescribing anything for the sick man. This is another fulfillment of the promise made by Jesus in Mar 16:18.
9-10 And when this was done,-The fact that Paul had cured Publius father was speedily made known throughout the island. Nothing is said about Pauls preaching the gospel; that is taken for granted, and the miracles which he performed confirmed his words. His preaching and working miracles went together. As the people learned that there was one who could heal all these diseases, they brought the afflicted and diseased to Paul and he cured them. Naturally the ruler of the island and the people would bestow great honors on one who had such power as to heal instantly the disease. They showed their honors in a very substantial way, for when Paul and the others sailed from the island, they put on board such things as we needed. It should be remembered that the shipwreck had lost everything in the sea; not only Paul and other Christians received help from the natives, but all who needed help received clothing and provisions. These tokens of respect showed the kindness and appreciation of the natives. The good things which came to the soldiers and sailors came because of Paul. Naturally, the gospel would be commended to all, as Paul took no honor or credit to himself; he always gave his Lord honor and credit for what he taught and did.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
On land new perils threatened. While gathering sticks for a fire, a viper fastened on the apostle’s hand. Shaking it off, he was unharmed. This convinced those who watched that he was divine, and they sought to worship him. Necessarily, Paul refused such homage. Three months Paul and his companions sojourned there, during which time they received kindness from the inhabitants, and Paul wrought healing, beginning in the house of the governor.
After this long and tedious journey was accomplished, interest naturally centers in the actual arrival at Rome. It may be interesting here to group some statements which cover the movement. “I must also see Rome” (19: 21) ; “So must thou bear witness also at Rome” (22: 11) ; ‘Unto Caesar shalt thou go” (25: 12) ; “So we came to Rome” (28: 14).
Met by some of the brethren outside Rome, Paul thanked God and took courage. Then presently he was actually in Rome, and his great opportunity had come. The apostle seems to have had no consciousness of being a prisoner, or, at any rate, he knew that he was “a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ.” When Paul reached Rome a great day dawned for the Gentile world. It is arresting to see Paul’s loyalty to his brethren after the flesh. Unable to visit the synagogue because of his chains, he called together the elders, and spoke to them of their Messiah, declaring that his chain was worn for “the hope of Israel.”
The ending of the Book of Acts is characterized by a lack of finish. Nevertheless, it is illuminative. The apostle dwelt in his own hired house, thus suggesting the Church’s independence of all the patronage of the nations of the earth. The burden of his preaching was the Kingdom of God. The closing words are historic and prophetic, “none forbidding him.” They tell the wonder of how the overruling Lord made a prisoner in the imperial city for two years an apostle of the King and city yet to be manifested.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Kindness Richly Repaid
Act 28:1-10
It is pleasant to read of the kindness of these Maltese. In humanity everywhere there are kindly traits, and often there will be ready help for the really destitute.
Accidents are not punishments. The clinging of the viper to Pauls hand was not an evidence of the anger of God, but was permitted in order to give these simple-hearted people an evidence which they would appreciate of Gods care for His own.
How changeable is human opinion, shifting in a moment from the highest to the lowest estimate of our fellows, and basing that estimate solely on the favorable or unfavorable aspect of outward circumstances! Let us not judge by appearance, but righteously. Because Paul cast off the viper, they accounted him divine; if he had died, they would have thought him a felon. Let us also shake off temptation. We cannot prevent its attacking us, but we need not take the viper into our heart.
Pauls unfailing influence for good shows what a blessing even one Christian man can be wherever he goes, if he lives in the power of God.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
In the first ten verses of Acts 28 we have the account of Paul and his companions as they were shipwrecked on the island of Melita or, as we now say, Malta. The Spirit of God has seen fit to draw our attention to the barbarous unlearned people, who lacked the culture and refinement of many in the Roman Empire, yet they showed to this weary company no little kindness. God always recognizes every kindness done to His own, and so He has put it on record here.
We can imagine the shipwrecked company gathered about the fire trying to dry out their clothes after the terrible experience they had just gone through. Notice that Paul was not afraid to get his hands dirty. As the men gathered firewood to build the fire, Paul was out with them doing his part. As he picked up a bundle of sticks he saw what looked like a piece of firewood but when he laid it on the fire it turned out to be a viper, a serpent dormant from the cold. As it warmed up from the heat it fastened itself to Pauls hand.
And then we see how easy it is to jump to wrong conclusions. The Melitans assumed Paul to be a murderer on whom vengeance was sought. I think the editors of the King James version should have capitalized the word vengeance here, for the Melitans I believe were thinking of Vengeance as the name of a god. They were saying in essence, This man has escaped shipwreck, but the god Vengeance, knowing that he is a murderer, is not going to allow him to live, and so this viper has fastened itself onto his hand. And they expected that any moment he would fall down dead, but he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
It is never safe to depend on snap judgments. People do that so frequently. Half the scandal that goes around among members of the church of Christ is simply the result of jumping to conclusions.
Not long ago I read a little article in a church bulletin in which the pastor explained that he had been greatly troubled by a rumor that was circulating. The rumor was that his wife had attended a meeting of some heretical group and that he had gone there in great indignation and dragged her out by the hair of her head and brought her home and beat her. He undertook to explain that he had not dragged his wife out of that meeting, that he had never at any time dragged her about by her hair, that he had never beaten her, also that his wife had never attended such a meeting, and finally that he was a bachelor and had never had a wife! We are so ready to pick up bits of gossip and make so much out of them.
So these barbarous people said, There is no question; it is evident that he is a murderer and Vengeance is not going to suffer him to live. But when Paul shook the serpent into the fire, they went to the other extreme, saying he was a god. That conclusion of course was just as wrong as the other. These people really did not understand the circumstances. Paul might have explained to them that when the Lord Jesus authorized His apostles to go out to preach His gospel in a hostile world, He even told them that they could pick up vipers and not be harmed. This was one instance of the fulfillment of that promise.
Then we see how Paul was able to return the kindness of those barbarians.
In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux; to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid hands on him, and healed him.
Now observe we are not told that this man was saved. We are not even told that Paul first preached the gospel to him and brought him to Christ. But he saw the man in his deep need and he went in and prayed and laid hands on him, and the Lord graciously answered.
As news of this spread, others who were sick came to be healed. When after three months the apostles company left they were showered with gifts.
Verses 11-16 give us the rest of the journey to Rome, part by water and part by land. We read that when the Christians in Italy heard that Paul had arrived on the Italian mainland, they came out to meet him: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage. One can understand something of the blessedness of that meeting and what it must have meant to the apostle after all the trials, the shipwreck, the suffering he had passed through, after all the false charges that had been lodged against him, and knowing that he was going on to be tried before Caesars judgment throne! So it must have been a great joy to find that these Christians at Rome, hearing of his coming, cared enough to go all the way out to Appii forum, a town midway between Rome and the port where he had landed, and convey to him their expression of Christian love and fellowship. Paul was greatly encouraged.
When we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. Of course he was still a prisoner, but he was not cast into the common prison. He was allowed to pay for more comfortable quarters where, although under guard, he had a certain measure of liberty and his friends were permitted to visit him.
The next section of Acts 28 (verses 17-22) tells us of Pauls first interview with the Jews in Rome. A great many of them were living there, and Paul felt it would be wise to send for their leaders first and explain something of the circumstances that had led to his arrest, of his appeal to Caesar, and of his coming to Rome for trial. If these Jews at Rome were fair-minded, they might be able to defend him, instead of persecuting him, or at least they might take a neutral position.
Notice Pauls attitude as he spoke to the Jews. He ever recognized the fact that he himself was by birth and by religion originally a Jew. Though now a Christian, his heart went out in love to his Jewish brethren; he never sought to influence anyone against them, or to hurt them in any way. Not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you; because [and I think I see him holding up his manacled hands as he speaks] for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. What did he mean by the hope of Israel? It was the coming of Messiah-that Messiah who was to be crucified and rise from the dead. As a true Jew, Paul looked for the coming Messiah. When Jesus came and was crucified and buried and rose again, Paul did not at first realize that He was the Messiah. He was a persecutor of those who followed His way, but now he had been brought to see in Christ the hope of Israel. He believed in the resurrection of the dead, toward which all his people looked forward, except the materialistic Sadducees. It is because of this, he said, that I stand here a prisoner before you.
Notice that they are very much more fairminded than the Jews were in Jerusalem. They seem to have been quite unprejudiced. That of course is the only right attitude when listening to one who brings a message he professes to be of God. These Jews in Rome said in essence, Paul, we are ready to listen to you, to hear what you have to say, although we have heard certain things about this Christian sect that make us very suspicious as to its being worthy of our adherence.
We next read of Pauls controversy with the Jews. Let us consider this for a moment: He expounded and testified the kingdom of God. We need to distinguish carefully between the two terms-the kingdom of God and the church of God. When some of our friends tell us that we are not to preach the kingdom of God in this dispensation, but only truth concerning the church of God, we point them back to a passage such as this and many others. For we find in the very beginning of this book of Acts that during the forty days of our Lords sojourn on earth after His resurrection He instructed His disciples in things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Then throughout all the book we notice first the twelve and then the apostle Paul preaching the kingdom of God right through to this last chapter.
By expounding the kingdom of God, Paul was saying that God is the rightful ruler of the universe, but the world is in revolt against Him. Satan has become the prince of this world. Man has foolishly allowed himself to follow him. But everywhere the servants of God go, they are called on to tell men that God Himself is earths rightful King, then bid them repent and bow at His feet, acknowledging His divine authority. But more than that, it is our business to tell them that God has sent His own Son. Men have refused Him. They have said, We have no king but Caesar. We will not have this man to reign over us. So the messenger of Christ is to go out and proclaim to men that God raised Jesus from the dead and has set Him at His own right hand, and that some day that blessed One is to rule in righteousness as the Fathers representative down here. Men are called to give allegiance to Him, to bow at His feet in repentance, and to acknowledge His authority. We read, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. It is as we preach this that we are proclaiming the kingdom of God.
What a wonderful discourse Paul must have presented. How I would like to have been listening to it all, hearing the inspired apostle opening up the glorious truths of Gods way with men, particularly setting forth the mystery of the gospel. I think it would have been better than any course in theology in any seminary that men have built.
Paul had a double kind of response: And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. Many of these thoughtful, openminded Jews compared scripture, listening attentively to what Paul, a Hebrew Christian had to say to them, and finally were convinced. They believed that Jesus was God their Savior and Messiah. Others, who did not believe, opposed him.
As Paul continued he was evidently divinely guided to quote the words from one of their own prophets. He referred them back to a book they revered as divinely inspired, and that rightly so. He read to them what Isaiah said concerning them (verses 26-27). If he had made such charges himself they might have been indignant. They might have asked, Well, is this the way to accuse your brethren, the Jews? But instead of that, Paul gave them Gods own Word from one of their own prophets. And then he added: Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Some think this passage marks a distinct dispensational break, but it is not that at all. It is just the same thing that had occurred before when Paul was in Antioch of Pisidia, as recorded in Act 13:46. He first preached the gospel to the Jews, and when many of them refused it he said to them, Lo, we turn to the Gentiles. That was his method wherever he went-to the Jew first, then to the Gentile. And so it was here. Some of the Jews had received his message, but others refused. Very well, Paul said in effect, now I have been faithful with you. I have given you an opportunity. Now I shall turn to the Gentiles. Of course he had been preaching to the Gentiles for thirty years, but he meant those in Rome. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had great reasoning among themselves.
The next two years of Pauls life are compressed into the last two verses of the book of Acts:
And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
Here Lukes record closes. How we would like to have the additional account of what took place afterwards, but we will never know that until we get home to Heaven. It is true that historical records have come down to us from early days, telling us that after these two years Paul appeared before Caesar and was cleared of the charges of sedition brought against him in Jerusalem. He was set free and, for some three to five years afterward, went about ministering the Word of God, going first to Spain, and some say even as far as Britain. Then he returned to the Near East, visiting some of the assemblies where he had labored before. This is attested by his letter to Titus, which was written at that later time. After Paul had finished his final testimony, he was brought back to Rome and there martyred for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What I want to emphasize in closing is this: Up to the last Paul preached exactly the same message that he had carried throughout the world during the thirty years before. No new revelation came to him after he got to prison. It was not then that he received the revelation of the one body. He received that revelation on the Damascus road when, at the very beginning, the Lord had said to him, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest At that time he understood that to touch the feeblest saint on earth, was to touch the Head in Heaven. It was there the mystery of the one body was revealed- Christ the Head of His body. Doubtless this teaching was opened up to him more fully when he went into retirement in Arabia. But he did not proclaim this to the unsaved. Rather this is a message to the church of God, members of that body on earth. That was one of the mysteries kept secret from the foundation of the world.
We have seen as we studied this book of Acts how in the very first chapter the Lord Jesus Himself outlined His program. He said, Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. We have noted that in the beginning Peter and the rest of the twelve bore witness in Jerusalem. That witness went out into Judea and there for a time it stopped. There seemed to be a peculiar unreadiness on the part of the apostles to continue the rest of the program. They had no difficulty in going to their Jewish brethren, but they hung back from carrying the message to the Gentiles. It was not an apostle, but a deacon-Philip-who finally had faith enough to go to Samaria and witness there. When word came to the Christians of a mighty work of God being done in Samaria, they sent Peter and John to investigate. They continued the work begun there. But it was some time before the message went out to the Gentiles. God had to give Peter a special revelation-the sheet let down from Heaven, which was full of all kinds of beasts and creeping things. The message was, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. Directed by God Peter went down to Caesarea to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, and preached Christ. All that heard believed, and the Holy Spirit fell on them with the same power as on Jewish believers at Pentecost. Thus Peter opened the door to the Gentiles as in Jerusalem he had opened the door to the Jews.
At this point God laid His hands on Saul of Tarsus. He gave him a vision of world-wide evangelization and sent him out to carry the message to the ends of the earth. From that time on we find the river of grace ever broadening and deepening, reaching to the utmost bounds of creation. Before the apostle himself passed off the scene he could speak of the gospel that had been preached in all creation under Heaven. We know from secular history that the rest of the apostles later left Jerusalem and obeyed the Lords command. So the gospel was carried into all the world. Today the stream of grace is still flowing on and on and on. We are to follow in the steps of the apostles and go to all men everywhere, warning them to repent, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, for whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
From a merely literary standpoint, the book of Acts seems to be unfinished. Doubtless this is intended to teach us that until the fulfillment of the angels prophecy that this same Jesus shall return even as He went away, the work of evangelization for this age will not be completed. We are to heed the injunction-Occupy till I come.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Act 28:14
We have here:-
I. The accomplishment of a long-cherished purpose by the Apostle. From an early date in his ministry his heart had been set on visiting the imperial city. Take heart then, my brother. No matter what may be the Rome on which you have set your desire, if it be but to bless and benefit your fellows and honour Christ, be sure that for you, too, there will come a day when you will be able to sympathise with Paul and Luke when they say, “So we went toward Rome.”
II. We have in these words something that reminds us that Paul’s purpose was not attained precisely in the way in which at one time he had expected it would be realised. One cannot read his letter to the Romans without feeling that when he wrote its chapters the Apostle did not dream of entering the imperial city as a prisoner. Now, many among us could tell of similar things in our own histories. We set our hearts on some enterprise of benevolence, or on the attainment of some post of usefulness, and we get it ultimately, but it comes to us accompanied with something else of which we had at first no thought. It is to keep us through all our efforts at the feet of Jesus, and to impel us, from first to last, to depend entirely upon Him.
III. While Paul’s entrance into Rome was not quite what he at one time expected it would be, yet it really accomplished all he desired. The Jews, indeed, would not receive the truth at his lips, but he found a rich harvest among the Gentiles. And what forum even could contain the myriads to whom Paul has preached in his noble letters? And who may attempt to reckon up the millions who will yet read them in future ages, when the discourses of today shall have passed into oblivion? Yes, it is true, prisoner as he was, Paul went to Rome in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
W. M. Taylor, The Limitations of Life, p. 264.
Reference: Act 28:14.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 45.
Act 28:14-15
Seeds of Life.
I. The words of my text describe very simply St. Paul’s entry into Rome by the Appian Way, a prisoner, nearly two thousand years ago. How much has risen and fallen in those two thousand years? Millions upon millions of men and women have come into the light of our sun and passed away also; but this fact of St. Paul’s entry into Rome does not pass away. We know that he was a life-seed, carrying life; we know that that life has wrought these great changes; that life is our inheritance and lives in us, and will never die. This we know now. The clever foolishness of the most foolish knowledge-worshipper of modern times acknowledges St. Paul to have been a great power. But-how was it then at the time? how looked the seed which had so mighty a growth?
II. I have often thought St. Paul’s last ten miles into Rome the most fearful contrast this world ever saw, the most splendid triumph of life matched against force and impossible mountains of evil. There is something terribly real in that single man going into the gorgeous pit of hell, which was Rome, in the sunny spring day, down the flowery slopes of the Alban hills and along the great street, and matching his spirit calmly and quietly against the crushing magnificence of temples, palaces, fortresses, legions, and empires. Truly this was a seed of life, an immortal germ, living now and ever growing, though Rome has perished and many an imperial city since 1 But then, it was only one poor prisoner. When we see any one like St. Paul, distinctly labouring for others and the good of life, we see a seed of life, and can never calculate the greatness it may be. Each and every one of us can be a seed power, can be a life able to sow itself, as part of the life of God on earth.
E. Thring, Uppingham Sermons, vol. ii., p. 353.
References: Act 28:14, Act 28:15.-Good Words, vol. iii., p. 255. Act 28:15.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 9.
Act 28:20
If we turn to inquire historically what were the elements in the Christian faith by virtue of which chiefly it worked and spread in the early days after the death of Jesus, we find one at least of the most important to have been the conviction among His followers that in Him the hope of a Messiah was fulfilled. Rather, I should say, this was the central belief round which others are grouped, either supporting it or belonging to it as consequences. Even a belief so fundamental and so influential as that in the resurrection of Jesus seems to have been viewed chiefly as proving or confirming His Messiahship. That was the aspect of the significance of the resurrection which especially struck men in the first age of the Church.
I. Many thoughtful men at the present day feel that it is impossible to find any sure basis for Theism itself, apart from belief in Christianity. And there is an unquestionable tendency now for doubters who are logical thinkers to assume purely an agnostic position. Hence the supreme importance of establishing the historical truth of the great facts of Christianity, even for the sake of belief in the existence of God. The agnostic is bound to face the question how he will account satisfactorily for the existence of Christianity. For if the gospel narrative is true, we have in this a direct proof of the existence of God and manifestation of His character.
II. What were the predominant characteristics in the conception of the Christ, which were seized upon in the faith that Jesus was the Christ, and retained still as the most essential features, even though by the fact of being applied to Jesus they were marvellously transformed? First, to say that Jesus was the Christ was to assert that in Him the heart’s yearnings would find their final satisfaction. If He was the Christ, there was no need to look for another. The long vista of expectation was closed with His form. The conception of the Messiah and His reign took different shapes. Especially there is the important distinction between the representatives of portions of the Jewish Apocalyptic literature, in which He is invested with something of a supernatural glory, and the times of His coming connected more and more with a last judgment and the beginning of a new age, and on the other hand the simpler anticipations of a King who would restore the kingdom of Judah and Israel to more than the glory of the days of David and Solomon. Again, the Messiah would be in a sense altogether special, the God-appointed Saviour to deliver the nation from their enemies, their internal dissensions and sins; a King to rule over them in righteousness and peace. The stamp of God’s authority would be visibly on Him, the favour of God would be manifestly with Him. Hence it was that the Jews called the Messiah “the Son of God.” With this we must combine the thought of the kingdom over which He would rule. The restored and glorious kingdom of Israel and Judah was even a more universal object of hope than the Messiah. There were periods in Jewish history, such as that of the Maccabees, when there seems to have been no expectation of a personal Messiah; but even at such times the kingdom was looked for, though under another form of government. But when the expectation of a Messiah flourished, as in the time of our Lord’s earthly life and before, His coming was necessarily connected with the setting up of the kingdom, and the expected character of the kingdom illustrates His character. The Kingdom of God it was called, and the Kingdom of Heaven. “The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” It would be the final dispensation of Him who rules all things, permanent, sure to prevail over all human opposition. Thus to say that the work of Jesus was the bringing in of the Kingdom of God was above all to say that His work was founded upon the will of God the Eternal, strong with the strength of heaven.
V. H. Stanton, Oxford and Cambridge Journal, Dec. 4th, 1879.
References: Act 28:24.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix., No. 516; R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 1st series, p. 146.
Act 28:28
The Churches Warned.
Note in what points, if in any, we may claim affinity with these representatives of Judaism at the eventful epoch of its dying struggle with the infant Church.
I. They, like us, had long been in possession of exclusive privileges, and accustomed to survey without emotion the great mass of mankind deprived of them.
II. Note the influence of long-continued and exclusive privileges on the opinions and the doctrinal belief of those enjoying them. It is curious, yet melancholy, to observe, with what facility advantages possessed by a few for the good of many may come to be regarded as prerogatives belonging to the few to the entire exclusion of the many. If the Jews, with an unfinished revelation and a heavy ceremonial yoke upon their necks, could dream of an exclusive right to God’s compassions, what may not we, without preventing grace, infer from our unclouded light and our unshackled freedom? And if this grand error had a tendency to vitiate their whole view of divine truth, what security have we that an analogous effect may not be realised in our experience?
III. If we are conscious of inadequate exertions and of cold affections in the great cause of missions, let us think of Israel according to the flesh, and of what he was and what he is-remember that such revolutions are still possible-that if we do not value Christianity enough to share it with the heathen, they may yet become possessed of it at our expense-nay, that while the glorious gospel is so commonly neglected and despised among ourselves, the word of this salvation is already sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it-are hearing it.
J. A. Alexander, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 195.
Reference: Act 28:28.-Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxv., p. 316.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 28
1. In the Island of Melita (Act 28:1-10).
2. The arrival in Rome (Act 28:11-16).
3. Paul calling the chief of the Jews and his message (Act 28:17-29).
Melita, which means honey, is the island of Malta. It was even then a prominent place for navigation where many vessels wintered. Luke calls the inhabitants Barbarians, a term used by the Greeks for all peoples who did not use their language. The wrecked company was not plundered by the people of the island, but instead received much kindness and were made comfortable in the cold rain which fell.
It was God who moved the hearts of these islanders to show such hospitality to the shipwrecked company for the sake of His servants. Paul is active even then. The shipwreck and privations must have told on the great man of God physically, yet we see him going about gathering a bundle of sticks for the fire. This labor must have been difficult, since as a prisoner he wore a chain on his hands. A viper, which had been benumbed by the cold and revived by the heat of the fire, fastened on his hand. We doubt not it was a poisonous viper. This is denied by some critics on the plea that poisonous snakes are not found in the island of Malta. However, that is no proof that such did not exist at that time. The inhabitants of the island expected Paul to fall dead. If it had been a harmless snake, why such an expectation? Gods power was manifested in his behalf. It was a fulfillment of the promise in Mar 16:18 : they shall take up serpents and it shall not hurt them. The viper also reminds us of Satan and his fate. As Paul cast the viper into the fire, so Satan will be cast into the lake of fire. Then there was a manifestation of the gracious power of the Lord towards the inhabitants of the island.
And then they reached Rome at last. What joy must have filled his heart and the hearts of the believers in Rome! How often they must have read his words, in the beginning of his letter: I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now, I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that ofttimes I proposed to come unto you (but was hindered hitherto), that I might have some fruit among you also, even as the rest of the Gentiles (Rom 1:11-13). He had never been in Rome. The Roman assembly was not founded by Paul and certainly not by Peter. The origin of that church is obscure, and the Holy Spirit has not given us a history of the beginning of the church of Rome. And now he whom they all loved, whose face they longed to see, was actually on the way to visit Rome. But in a far different way did he come than he expected when he wrote his Epistle. He came as the prisoner of the Lord. What a meeting it must have been!
And now it is for the very last time in this book, to the Jew first. The first service the great Apostle rendered in Rome was not in the assembly, but he called the chief of the Jews together. He knew no bitterness in his heart against the Jews. In writing the letter to the Romans he had written, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also testifying with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh (Rom 9:1-2). Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for them is, that they might be saved (10:1). And now, after all the sad experience he had made, the treatment he had received from his kinsmen, after he had found out their malice and deep hatred, the same love burns in his heart and the same yearning for their salvation possesses him. In Rome he manifests first of all his loving interest in his Jewish brethren. To these leading Jews he testified once more that he was innocent of any wrong doing. Briefly, he rehearsed his whole case and why he had been compelled to appeal to Caesar. For this purpose–to talk to them about this matter–he had called them. Then most likely he must have lifted his hands, from which the prisoners chain dangled, and said, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. The Jews, however, wanted to hear more from his lips of–what thou thinkest; for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. They knew he believed in Christ.
A great meeting took place a short time later. Many Jews assembled in Pauls lodging. The meeting lasted from morning till evening. Once more he testified the Kingdom of God to a large company of Jews. He also persuaded them concerning Jesus both out of the laws of Moses and out of the Prophets. What a wonderful message must have came from his lips as he unfolded the prophetic testimony concerning the Messiah in the power of the Spirit of God! But what was the result? Some believed and some believed not. They did not agree amongst themselves. The end of Gods gracious way with the Jews is reached. We repeat, for the last time, it was to the Jew first. The final crisis is reached. Judgment must now be executed upon the nation and the blindness is now to come, which has lasted so long and will continue till the fullness of the Gentiles is come in (Rom 11:25). Stephen, whose death young Saul had witnessed and approved (8:1), had pronounced judgment upon the nation, in Jerusalem. Gods mercy had still waited. Marvelous Grace, which took up the young Pharisee, Saul, and made him the Apostle to the Gentiles! Through him, the chosen instrument, the lord still sought his beloved Israel, even after Jerusalem had so completely rejected the offered mercy. We have seen how the Apostles intense love for his brethren had led him back to Jerusalem, though warned repeatedly by the Holy Spirit. And now he is used to give the very last message to the Jews and speak the final word of condemnation.
The salvation of God is now to go far hence to the Gentiles. A prisoner in Rome and yet active. He preached the Kingdom of God (not of heaven, the Jewish, earthly aspect of it), and ever speaking of that worthy name, that blessed and adorable Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The ending of the book is sad and it is joyous. Sad to see the great Apostle a prisoner, shut up in Rome with his God-given Gospel. Joyous because the last verse mentions the Lord Jesus Christ and an unhindered ministry of the Gospel. The Book begins with Jerusalem and ends with Rome. It is a prophecy of the course of the professing church. The book closes in an unfinished way, because the acts of Christ, the Spirit of God, and Satan, recorded in this book, are not finished. We hear nothing more of Paul, though we know that from the prison the Holy Spirit of God sent forth through him the blessed Epistles, in which He has been pleased to give us the highest revelation. And how much more might be written on all this!
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
80. THE RELIGION OF THE NATURAL MAN
Act 28:1-10
In Acts 28 we find Paul and those who had been sailing with him on the Island of Melita. That island today is called Malta. It is found between Sicily and Africa, about 60 miles off the coast of Sicily.
The ship in which they were sailing was torn to pieces in a furious storm. But, according to the promise of God, all 276 men, passengers and crew, were safe on land. The survivors of the storm were drenched, weary, and cold, but they were alive! Divine providence had brought them to the Island of Malta because God was determined to be gracious to the Maltese people. Some of his elect were on the island who must be called by the preaching of the gospel. Therefore, God, who has his way in the whirlwind, directed the path of this hurricane to bring Paul to Malta. Here is another incidental, but marvellous illustration of the fact that “all things work together for good to them who love God (even before they come to love him), to them who are the called, according to his purpose (even before they are called)” (Rom 8:28).
The Maltese people are described by Luke as “barbarians”. That does not necessarily mean that they were uncivilized, though that might also have been true. The word simply means that they were not Greeks, Romans, or Jews. They did not conform to the customs of these three dominant societies and did not speak their language.
It does not appear that God had ever before sent these barbarians a gospel preacher. Yet, they were naturally religious people. Their religion, as we see in this passage, made them both moral and charitable. It had a good effect upon them. They had nothing but the light of nature. But they walked in the light they had. Yet, they were lost, perishing men and women without the light of the gospel and the knowledge of Christ. Their religion restrained and, in measure, outwardly corrected the natural depravity of their hearts. But it could not save them. Natural religion, that which is learned and acquired by conscience and nature, cannot save. In order for lost men and women to be saved they must be brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. As we look at Paul’s encounter with the men of Malta, we are plainly taught six very important lessons.
First, WHEN GOD INTENDS TO SAVE SINNERS, HE ALWAYS SENDS THEM A GOSPEL PREACHER (Act 28:1). There is an elect multitude in this world who must be saved. All who were chosen by God the Father in eternity and redeemed by God the Son at Calvary must be regenerated and called by God the Holy Spirit at the appointed time of love. All God’s elect must be saved (Joh 6:37-45; Joh 10:16; Rom 11:26). Not only has God ordained the salvation of his people, he has also ordained the means by which it shall be accomplished; and God’s appointed means of grace is the preaching of the gospel. Sinners are saved by hearing and believing the gospel of Christ (Joh 6:40; Rom 10:17; 1Co 1:21; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:23-25). God never bypasses his ordained means of grace. If he intends to save a sinner, by one means or another, he will cause that sinner to hear the gospel. There are many illustrations of this fact in the Book of Acts (Act 8:26-27; Act 9:10-18; Act 10:1-48; Act 16:9-15; Act 16:19-34). In Acts 28, we see God’s hand of providence graciously arranging all things to bring Paul to Malta, so that he might preach the gospel to the elect among the barbarians there. Though the inhabitants of Malta knew it not, they were highly favored of God. By sending the hurricane that must have terrified them all, and perhaps killed many of the islanders, God had blessed them above all people. He used that hurricane to plant a gospel preacher in their midst (Isa 52:7). Let us carefully apply this to ourselves. Knowing that God has ordained the salvation of sinners by the preaching of the gospel, every believer ought to make it his business (by personal witness, distributing tracts, tapes, books, etc. and by the support of faithful ministries) to preach the gospel to all. And all who care for their souls should seize every opportunity to hear the gospel preached.
Second, ALL MEN BY NATURE ARE RELIGIOUS (Act 28:2-6). God has by creation given all men a consciousness of his Being, which they cannot escape (Rom 1:18-20). These men of Malta, though they were unlearned barbarians, displayed a certain natural religious creed. They knew that there is a God who governs the world. Their language displayed an awareness of the Creator’s dominion of the universe. They did not know God. But they knew God is! They also knew that God is holy, righteous, and just. When they saw the snake hanging on Paul’s hand, they concluded instinctively that God had judged him. These Maltese barbarians knew that God punishes sin. Though they had never heard or read the Book of God, the law of God was inscribed on their hearts (Rom 2:13-15). They knew that murder was a horrible crime and that no man can escape the justice of God. All men are religious, but…
Third, THE RELIGION OF NATURAL MEN IS ALWAYS PERVERTED. This is the reason why no one can be saved without the preaching of the gospel. No matter how sincere a man is. Without the revelation of Christ in the gospel, he gropes about in the blindness of his own depraved heart and the darkness of religious superstition, idolatry, and will worship. The men of Malta ignorantly supposed that those who suffer evil things are evil people. They presumed that a person’s acceptance with God is determined by his own personal goodness. Free-will, works religion is the religion of all lost men. It is the religion of the depraved, fallen sons of Adam. It is always fickle because it is ruled, not by the Word of God, but by emotion and experience (Act 28:5-6).
Fourth, IT IS EVIDENT FROM THIS PASSAGE THAT ANYONE WHO WALKS IN THE LIGHT GOD GIVES HIM WILL BE GIVEN MORE LIGHT. These men had nothing but the light of nature. Yet, they honestly walked in that light which God had given them. At his own appointed time, God gave them the light of life. Evangelist Rolfe Barnard used to say, “God won’t send honest people to hell.” And he was right. If a person despises the light God gives him, the light he has will be turned into darkness (Mat 6:23). But if a person walks in and obeys the light God gives him, God will give him greater light (Isa 2:5; 1Jn 1:7). No one will ever seek to know God and perish in ignorance of him!
Fifth, another thing evident in this passage is the fact that ANY MAN CALLED OF GOD TO PREACH THE GOSPEL WILL BE MANIFESTLY DISTINGUISHED BY GOD AS HIS MESSENGER. God’s servants do not promote themselves, or call attention to themselves. Paul was not looking for snakes to handle. He was gathering firewood. If he could not serve the souls of men by preaching to them, he was glad to serve their bodies. By his condition as a prisoner, Paul was the most contemptible man in the crowd. But God providentially distinguished him from the others and caused men to pay attention to him. The Lord often uses two-legged snakes, who are determined to destroy the influence of his servants, as the very means by which he increases their usefulness; just as he used the viper that bit Paul to open the door of utterance before him.
Sixth, this passage exemplifies the fact that THOSE WHO HONOR GOD WILL BE HONORED BY GOD (Act 28:7-10). It appears that after hearing Paul preach the gospel, a very prominent man, Publius, believed on the Lord Jesus. He graciously received Paul and his companions into his house and lodged them. Having received a prophet in the name of a prophet, he received a prophet’s reward (Mat 10:41). When his father came down with a deadly fever, there was a prophet in his house with the power of God to heal him and all others who had need of healing. Those who faithfully served Paul were faithfully served by Paul. But, more importantly, those who honored and served God’s servant were honored and served by God himself (1Sa 2:30). All who are wise will apply to themselves the exhortation Paul gave in this regard (1Th 5:12-13).
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
the island: Act 27:26, Act 27:44
Reciprocal: Phi 1:12 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
WE STILL SEE the protecting hand of God stretched over Paul and his companions when they had landed on Malta. Though the inhabitants were barbarians according to Roman thoughts, they showed exceptional kindness to the shipwrecked party, and things were so over-ruled that they soon discovered that one of the shipwrecked visitors was no ordinary person. Paul was busily engaged, doing what he could to help, when a viper fastened itself on his hand. The superstitious islanders placed their interpretation on this, but when the expected did not follow they changed their minds, jumping to the opposite conclusion. Superstition never comes to right conclusions. To Paul doubtless it was a very minor happening, seeing he had been through the long list of adventures which he catalogued in 2Co 11:23-28. And when he wrote that list it was still unfinished. He had not, for instance, been through the shipwreck of which we have been reading. He had been shipwrecked three times before this happened. There are not many who have survived four shipwrecks, we venture to think, even if professional sailors, which he was not.
The chief man of the island taking a kindly interest in them in their need, Paul was enabled to repay him by prayer and the healing of his father. We do not read of any testimony that Paul rendered, yet his praying must have shown to all that the healing power he wielded was not his own but connected with God. The islanders, finding that the power of God was in their midst, were not slow to seek it for their bodies, and seeking they found it. All this, in the providence of God, led to a time of comfort after the fortnight of terrible testing, and even to a time of honour, and this lasted for three months. The Apostle has put on record, I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound (Php 4:12). These three months proved to be a time of abounding.
The same might be said of the rest of the journey, when it was resumed. All went favourably and arriving at Puteoli, and finding brethren there who begged Paul might be with them for a week, the visit was happily arranged. By this time evidently the centurion in charge had taken the measure of his prisoners, and was disposed to accord him remarkable liberty. On the overland journey too, brethren came to meet him, having heard of his approach, and this was a great cheer to Paul. Spiritual man though he was, and thoroughly in touch with God and dependent upon Him, he was not above thanking God and taking courage from the love and fellowship of saints, whose spiritual stature may have been much beneath his own. It is striking to see this, and very encouraging for us. Let us be very careful not to despise, or even underestimate the value of the fellowship of saints.
Thus Paul arrived at Rome. His circumstances were very different from those that he had visualized when he wrote in advance of what he purposed to do (see Rom 15:22-32), but he did come to them with a certain measure of joy by the will of God, and he was marked by the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Gods hand was still over him, for though a prisoner he was permitted to dwell by himself under guard, and this gave him a measure of liberty for service and testimony.
Only three days after his arrival he was able to call together the chief of the Jewish colony in Rome and lay something of his case before them. He made it plain that he had no wish to be an accuser of his nation, but that his whole offence in Jewish eyes was connected with the. hope of Israel; that is, the long promised Messiah. The Jews on their part professed ignorance of his case, but they knew of the Christ whom Paul preached, and to be a Christian meant to them belonging to a sect… everywhere… spoken against. Everywhere, be it noted; not only amongst the Jews but amongst Gentiles also. Genuine Christianity never has been popular, and never will be. It cuts too deeply across the grain of human nature.
Still they professed a desire to hear what Paul had to say; and so a day being fixed, many came, and for a whole day he was able to expound and testify and persuade. His theme was the kingdom of God and Jesus, as the
One in whom that kingdom is centred and established; and all that he had to say was based upon the law of Moses and the prophets, for there all had been typified and foretold. The three verbs are worthy of note. First he expounded the Sacred Writings, showing what they had to say and making their force plain. Then he testified of Jesus, relating doubtless what he knew personally of His glory in heaven, and showing how exactly He had fulfilled all that the Scriptures had said concerning His advent in humiliation. Lastly he set himself to persuade his hearers of the truth of all he advanced. Paul did not preach what has been called a take it or leave it Gospel, but laboured with loving zeal to reach the hearts of those who listened, and secure a response in faith from them. Let us see that we imitate him in this, for we have to remember that though nothing short of the working of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men is effectual, the Spirit is frequently pleased to work through the persuasiveness of servants of God, who are filled with love and zeal.
It was so in this case. The record here is that while some remained in unbelief, some believed the things which were spoken. When the Word is preached it is nearly always thus. Only in the Acts-when Peter preached to Cornelius-do we find everybody converted; but that is not the usual thing, for at the present moment God is calling an election out from both Jew and Gentile.
To the unbelieving Jews, ere they departed, Paul spoke a final word, quoting the passage from Isa 6:1-13, which the Lord Himself quoted in Mat 13:1-58, and John quotes in chapter 12 of his Gospel. This sad and terrible process of hardening and spiritual death had set in even in the days of Isaiah some seven centuries before Christ. It was far more pronounced when Christ was on earth; and now the final stage was reached. Paul pronounced these words, realizing that during this Gospel age Israels day as a nation was over. Nationally they are blinded and without understanding in the things of God, though very acute as to the things of the world. This does not of course conflict with the fact that God is still calling out a remnant according to the election of grace, as Rom 11:1-36 states.
It is worthy of note that in quoting this passage Paul says, Well spake the Holy Ghost. If we turn to Isa 6:1-13, we find the prophet saying in regard to this message, Also I heard the voice of the Lord, referring to Jehovah of Hosts; and turning to Joh 12:1-50, we find the comment, These things said
Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him, and we have only to look at the preceding verses to discover that the His and Him refer to Jesus. How plain it is then that Jehovah of hosts is to be identified with both Jesus and the Holy Ghost-three Persons, yet one God.
Verse Act 28:28 gives us the last words of Paul, as recorded in the Acts. They are very significant, as giving us the point to which the book has conducted us. He proclaims as a definite message from God that His salvation is now sent to the Gentiles as the result of the blindness and hardness of the Jew; and he adds they will hear it. This does not mean that all of them will do so, but rather that in contra-distinction from the Jew, a hearing ear is going to be found there. This, thank God! has proved true throughout the centuries.
When the Lord spoke to the Syro-Phenician woman about the children and the dogs, the poor woman, seeing the point, took the place of being but a Gentile dog, and yet claimed that God was good enough to permit that there should be some crumbs of mercy for her. She was right: the Lord called her faith great and honoured it by granting her desire. But here we find something more wonderful still. The children having despised and rejected the good things provided, not the crumbs merely but the whole meal is sent to the dogs. As Paul himself puts it in Rom 11:1-36, the fall of them is the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles… the casting away of them… the reconciling of the world. This does not mean that all the world is definitely reconciled, but that God has now turned in favour towards the world, offering His salvation to all men.
Paul was still a prisoner, yet he was allowed to hire a house and dwell there and receive all who wished to see him. Thus he had opportunities for testimony, and the word of God was not bound. As far as this book is concerned we take leave of him spending two whole years preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ without any restraint. His trial was delayed in the providence of God, and a door of utterance was thus opened to him. During this time Onesimus was converted and doubtless others also; some of his Epistles also were written.
Closing the Acts, we finish apostolic history: passing to Romans we begin apostolic doctrine. It is the doctrine which enables us to understand the significance of the history; while the history enables us to appreciate the authority and weight of the doctrine.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
1
Act 28:1. Smith’s Bible Dictionary says the following: “Melita, the modern Malta. . . . It is 17 miles long by 9 or 10 broad. It is naturally a barren rock, with no high mountains, but has been rendered fertile by industry and toil.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
St. Pauls Stay of Three Months in MelitaMiracles wrought there by the Apostle, 1-10.
Act 28:1. When they were escaped. The original verb here and in Act 28:4 is the same that is translated save in Act 27:43, and escaped all safe in Act 27:44. See note on the former of these passages.
Then they knew. Probably the true reading is then we knew. St. Luke took an active part, or at least a keen interest, in the inquiry. See note on Act 27:39.
That the island was called Melita. More correctly, is called Melita. The information would be obtained immediately on landing. The island was very well known to traders in the Levant, and it was doubtless quite familiar to the sailors, and especially the captain, in this case, though they were perplexed when they found themselves on a part of its coast which was not familiar to them.
This is the right place for a slight notice (a very slight notice is all that is requisite) of the theory that the island now under our attention was Meleda in the Adriatic. There was in the seventeenth century an animated literary warfare on this subject, which seems to have given new life to certain apocryphal Acts of St. Paul, mentioned in an Excursus at the close of this chapter. It is a curious extinct controversy, but it is now extinct for ever. That the honour of St. Pauls shipwreck should be claimed for the Dalmatian Meleda was natural. At a much earlier period, however, the same claim was put forward by one of the Byzantine Emperors; and in this case, too, it is not unlikely that local ecclesiastical feeling suggested the belief. It is more strange that some modern English writers should have fallen into this old delusion.
We have seen above (Act 27:29; Act 27:41) that irresistible arguments converge to the conclusion that it was on the island of Malta that St. Paul was wrecked. But the following decisive considerations should be added:(a) When St. Paul left this island, he sailed by Syracuse and Rhegium to Puteoli (Act 28:12-13). These are precisely the natural stages for a voyage from Malta, but altogether alien from any reasonable relation with the other island. (b) Rome was the destination of Julius and his prisoners, and from the Dalmatian Meleda the natural course would have been to have gone not by the road leading through Appii Forum and the Three Taverns (Act 28:15), but by a totally different road, (c) We find that a corn ship from Alexandria, bound for Puteoli, had wintered in the island on which St. Paul was wrecked (Act 28:11). The harbour of Malta is a place where we should naturally have expected to find a ship under such circumstances; but at the Dalmatian Meleda she would have been altogether out of her course, (d) Under these circumstances of weather described above, St. Pauls ship could not have reached this Dalmatian island without a miracle. This point is so well put in the MS. notes of Admiral Penrose, that it is useful to quote what he says on the subject:If Euroclydon blew in such a direction as to make the pilots afraid of being driven on the quicksands (and there were no such dangers but to the south-west of them), how could it be supposed that they could be driven north towards the Adriatic? . . . We are now told that the Euroclydon ceased to blow. . . . To have drifted up the Adriatic to the island of Meleda in the requisite curve, and to have passed so many islands and other dangers in ten route, would, humanly speaking, have been impossible. The distance from Claude to this Meleda is not less than 720 geographical miles, and the wind must have been long from the south to make this voyage in fourteen days. See Life and Epistles of St. Paul, chap. xxiii. As to the arguments based upon the mention of Adria, see above on Act 27:27. Other arguments, equally fallacious, based upon what we find in the second and third verses of this chapter, will be noticed in their proper places.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
After a long and dangerous voyage, recorded in the foregoing chapter, the providence of God brought St. Paul and the rest of the prisoners to an island called Melita, where they were courteously received by the islanders; who finding them wet and cold, made them a fire to warm and refresh them: when, behold, a viper that was in the wood, feeling the heat of the fire, leaped out upon St. Paul, and fastened on his hand: which the islanders seeing, instantly concluded that the apostle was some notorious malefactor, whom divine vengeance followed: but the apostle, (according to our Saviour’s promise, If ye touch any deadly thing it shall not hurt you, Mar 16:18) shaking off the venomous beast into the fire, without harm, the people presently changed their opinion, and took him for a god, that was come to them in the shape of a man.
Here note, 1. How it pleased God by a new miracle to confirm the apostle’s authority, and thereby to prepare the hearts of those barbarous people for the receiving of the gospel. God will honour his gospel, and the faithful dispensers of it, wherever they go, by preparing the hearts of the people to receive and entertain it.
Note, 2. That great and manifold dangers and distresses may, and oft-times do, befal gracious persons. No sooner is one affliction passed over and gone from them, but presently another comes on with a fresh assault.
Thus here, St. Paul had no sooner escaped the shipwreck, and gets to shore, but a viper fastens upon his hand: Many are the afflictions of the righteous.
Observe, 3. That the very light of nature suggests, even to the most barbarous heathens, that wickedness shall not go unpunished; No doubt this man is a murderer, whom vengeance suffereth not to live.
Note, 4. That natural agents cannot act or exert their natural powers, without the concourse and concurrence of supernatural providence: this viper, according to its nature, did not, and could not, sting the apostle, being restrained by the overruling providence and power of God.
Note, 5. That the humanity of these barbarous heathens towards those that suffered shipwreck, may justly condemn the inhumanity of them that are called Christians, towards those that are shipwrecked: How do some that live near the sea-coast rejoice in a wreck at sea, in hopes of enriching themselves with the spoils of others! The barbarous were humane here, but the humane are now barbarous.
Note, 6. How prone and ready men are to draw sinful inferences from sorrowful premises; to conclude, that such a man, or such a people, are wicked, because they are wretched; great sinners, because great sufferers. This was the barbarous logic of these islanders. It had been well that it had been confined to that island: When the barbarians saw the venomous beast on the apostle’s hand, they said, No doubt this man is a murderer.
Note, 7. How mutable is the mind of man, and how inconstant are men in their esteem, and opinions of men: the apostle had no sooner shook off the viper into the fire, but the barbarians change their opinions into another extreme; he whom they accounted a murderer before, they called a god now: They changed their minds, and said that he was a god. They are light and lavish in their applauding, as before they were rash and severe in censuring.
Thus, upon changes of providence, many change their opinions of men, sometimes for the better, but commonly for the worse. Lord! help me to esteem myself only by the esteem which I have with thee. Let me never be lifted up with the applaudings, not cast down by the despisings, of men; neither praise nor reproach are much to be accounted of, whilst we are innocent, and make thee our friend.
Question. But why did not St. Paul, that shook off the viper from his hand, shake off the chain from his arm, and set himself at liberty?
Answer. St. Paul was not the author, but a minister or instrument in this miracle, God wrought special miracles by the hand of Paul. Act 19:12
Now, when the deliverance of the apostle from his bonds made most for the glory of God, he was delivered; but, when his bonds would more advance the gospel, God kept him in bonds.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
They soon discovered the island’s name was Malta. The natives, who were descendants of Phoenicia, did not speak Greek, but they did show considerable kindness to those recently shipwrecked. Paul helped gather sticks to lay on the fire they had built. A viper, upon feeling the heat of the fire, latched onto the apostle’s arm. Paul shook it off into the fire. The superstitious islanders believed he must truly have been guilty since a snake bit him after he had survived the sea. When he did not die, they decided he was a god.
They, perhaps meaning the centurion and ship’s officers, along with Paul and his company, were invited to stay at the house of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius. He entertained them for three days, during which time Paul healed Publius’ father of a fever and dysentery by praying and laying his hands on him. Naturally, others who were sick were also brought to the apostle and he healed them. They bestowed honor on the apostle while he was with them and sent the whole company on their way with adequate provisions ( Act 28:1-10 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Act 28:1. When they were escaped, they knew From some of the inhabitants who came to them; that the island On which they were cast; was called Melita Or, Malta. This island, which took its name from the abundance of honey found therein, (meli, in Greek, signifying honey,) lies between Africa and Sicily, about sixty miles distant from the latter country, and is about twelve miles broad, and twenty long. It consists of a chalky rock, having not more than between one and three feet depth of earth, and yet is very fertile, producing much cotton and excellent fruits. The Melitese were originally a colony of the Carthaginians, as appears from several old inscriptions in Punic characters, and from the language of the present inhabitants, the number of whom is stated to be above ninety thousand. The place on the island where Paul and his company were driven on shore is, at this day, shown to travellers, and goes by the name of St. Pauls shore, or haven. His shipwreck here procured a kind of religious veneration to the island among Christian nations; in consequence of which, it was given, in the year of our Lord 1525, by Charles V., emperor of Germany, to the knights of Rhodes, expelled from that island by the Turks, and generally called the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. They are one thousand in number, of whom five hundred always reside on the island. In the year 1798, the French, under Bonaparte, took the island; and, in 1800, being reduced by famine, after a blockade of two years, it surrendered to the English, under whose dominion it still continues.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
XXVIII: 1, 2. (1) And after they had escaped, they knew that the island was called Melita. (2) Now the barbarians showed us no little philanthropy; for they kindled a fire, on account of the rain that was falling, and on account of the cold, and brought us all to it. In calling the islanders barbarians, Luke adopts the style of the Greeks, by whom all nations were styled barbarians except themselves. The term had not the same sense of reproach which it bears now; yet those to whom it was applied were regarded as comparatively uncivilized. Their kindness to the shipwrecked strangers was true philanthropy, being prompted by the simple fact that they were men in distress. It was a most timely relief to the drenched and chilled and exhausted voyagers.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Acts Chapter 28
At Melita we find him again exercising his accustomed power among that barbarous people. One sees that God is with him. Evangelisation does not, however, appear in the account of his sojourn there, or of his journey.
Landed in Italy, we see him depressed: the love of the brethren encourages and reanimates him; and he goes on to Rome, where he dwells two years in a house that he hires, a soldier being with him as a guard. Probably those who carried him to Rome had been given to understand that it was only a matter of Jewish jealousy, for all through the journey they treated him with all possible respect. Besides he was a Roman.
Arrived at Rome, he sends for the Jews; and here, for the last time, their condition is set before us, and the judgment which had been hanging over their heads ever since the utterance of the prophecy (which was especially connected with the house of David and with Judah)-the judgment pronounced by Esaias, which the Lord Jesus declared should come upon them because of His rejection, the execution of which was suspended by the long-suffering of God, until the testimony of the Holy Ghost was also rejected-this judgment is here brought to mind by Paul at the end of the historical part of the New Testament. It is their definitive condition solemnly declared by the minister of sovereign grace, and which should continue until God interposed in power to give them repentance, and to deliver them, and to glorify Himself in them by grace.
We have already marked this characteristic of the Acts, which comes out here in a clear and striking manner-the setting aside of the Jews. That is to say, they set themselves aside by the rejection of the testimony of God, of the work of God. They put themselves outside that which God was setting up. They will not follow Him in His progress of grace. And thus they are altogether left behind, without God and without present communication with Him. His word abides for ever, and His mercy; but others take the place of positive and present relationship with Him. Individuals from among them enter into another sphere on other grounds; but Israel disappears and is blotted out for a time from the sight of God.
It is this which is presented in the book of Acts. The patience of God is exercised towards the Jews themselves in the preaching of the gospel and the apostolic mission at the beginning. Their hostility develops itself by degrees and reaches its height in the case of Stephen. Paul is raised up, a witness of grace towards them as an elect remnant, for he was himself of Israel; but introducing, in connection with a heavenly Christ, something entirely new as doctrine-the assembly, the body of Christ in heaven; and the setting aside of all distinction between Jew and Gentile as sinners, and in the oneness of that body. This is linked historically with that which had been established at Jerusalem, in order to maintain unity and the connection of the promises; but in itself, as a doctrine, it was a thing hidden in God in all the ages, having been in His purposes of grace before the world was. The enmity of the Jews to this truth never abated. They used every means to excite the Gentiles against those who taught the doctrine, and to prevent the formation of the assembly itself. God, having acted with perfect patience and grace unto the end, puts the assembly into the place of the Jews, as His house, and the vessel of His promises on earth, by making it His habitation by the Spirit. The Jews were set aside (alas! their spirit soon took possession of the assembly itself); and the assembly, and the clear and positive doctrine of no difference between Jew and Gentile (by nature alike the children of wrath), and of their common and equal privileges as members of one only body, has been fully declared and made the basis of all relationship between God and every soul possessed of faith. This is the doctrine of the apostle in the Epistles to the Romans and Ephesians. [36] At the same time the gift of eternal life, as promised before the world was, has been made manifest by being born again[37] (the commencement of a new existence with a divine character), and partaking of divine righteousness; these two things being united in our resurrection with Christ, by which, our sins being forgiven, we are placed before God as Christ, who is at once our life and our righteousness. This life manifests itself by conformity to the life of Christ on earth, who left us an example that we should follow His steps. It is the divine life manifested in man-in Christ as the object, in us as testimony.
The cross of Christ is the basis, the fundamental centre, of all these truths,-the relations between God and man as he was, his responsibility; grace; expiation; the end of life, as to sin, the law, and the world; the putting away of sin through the death of Christ, and its consequences in us. Everything is established there, and gives place to the power of life that was in Christ, who there perfectly glorified God-to that new existence into which He entered as man into the presence of the Father; by whose glory, as well as by His own divine power, and by the energy of the Holy Ghost, He was raised from the dead.
This does not prevent Gods resuming His ways in government with the Jews on earth, when the church is complete and manifested on high; and which He will do according to His promises and the declarations of prophecy. The apostle explains this also in the Epistle to the Romans; but it belongs to the study of that epistle. The ways of God in judgment with regard to the Gentiles also at the same period will be shewn us in the Apocalypse, as well as in prophetic passages of the Epistles in connection with the coming of Christ, and even with His government of the world in general from the beginning to the end; together with the warnings necessary for the assembly when the days of deception begin to dawn and to be developed morally in the ruin of the assembly, viewed as Gods witness in the world.
Our apostle, when brought to Rome, declares (upon the manifestation of unbelief among the Jews, which we have pointed out) that the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles; and he dwells two whole years in the house he had hired, receiving those who came to him (for he had not liberty to go to them) preaching the kingdom of God and those things which concerned the Lord Jesus, with all boldness, no man forbidding him. And here the history is ended of this precious servant of God, beloved and honoured by his Master, a prisoner in that Rome which, as head of the fourth empire, was to be the seat of opposition among the Gentiles, as Jerusalem of opposition among the Jews, to the kingdom and to the glory of Christ. The time for the full manifestation of that opposition was not yet come; but the minister of the assembly and of the gospel of glory is a prisoner there. It is thus that Rome begins its history in connection with the gospel that the apostle preached. Nevertheless God was with him.
Footnotes for Acts Chapter 28
36: In Romans in their personal position, in Ephesians in the corporate.
37: The word regeneration is not applied in scripture to our being born again; it is a change of position in us connected with our having died with Him and resurrection. It is found twice; once in Mat 19:1-30 it is Christs coming kingdom; and in Titus it is the washing of baptism, as typically bringing out of the old Adam state and into the Christian, but distinguished from the renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament
THE LANDING AND DIVINE HEALING
1. The island of Malta, as they told me when I was there three years ago, is still infested with those venomous reptiles here mentioned, because the prickly pear there abounds indigenous, growing in clusters so dense and producing needles so fine and sharp that they will pierce the flesh far into the bone before one is aware, thus affording both hiding-places and protection for these dangerous vipers, of whose poisonous bite you see here Paul was miraculously healed, convincing the simple natives that he was not a murderer thus suffering divine retribution, but a god, having power over the poison which, without Divine intervention, always proved fatal.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Act 28:1. Melita, now Malta. This island seems to have been inhabited by runaways, for melim, in the language of Carthage, is to escape. It was inhabited by a colony of refugees from Carthage, a people of Phnicia. So Dr. Lightfoot. Others say it was so called from its abounding with honey. It is about twenty miles in length, and eleven in breadth. Julius Csar is said, with great difficulty, to have taken it from the Carthaginians. It was given to the knights of St. John, who were driven by the Turks from the island of Rhodes. Buonaparte treacherously surprised it on his way to Egypt; and it has since been taken by the English, to whom it still belongs.
Act 28:2. The barbarous people, a people of strange language, showed us no little kindness. Perhaps more than the polished Romans showed to the company wrecked with Simonides, the Greek poet. While the passengers were lamenting that they had lost their all, Simonides laughed at their complaints; and said, though almost in a state of nudity, he had lost nothing. He had all his riches about him, his poetic genius being unimpaired. The gentry of Rome hearing of this speech, soon supplied his wants.
Act 28:3. There came a viper out of the heat, a venomous beast, for the Greeks gave that name to reptiles, as well as to beasts of prey. The first thoughts of the Maltese, on seeing him loaded with a chain, and bit by a serpent, were that he was a murderer. The idea of a God of mercy and love, of judgment and equity is ever associated with the moral admonitions of conscience. But when they saw that no harm followed, they thought he was a god; for he sometimes looked like an angel, as is said by the priest of Asia, who wrote the sufferings of Thecla. He had been taken for a god at Lystra, but in the same place was presently stoned by the jews. These Maltese might know the case of Orestes, who had killed his mother, and was bit by a serpent, and died. The jews also have a record in the Gemara, that when Simeon found a manslayer, but had no witness to convict him, he prayed thus, May he who knows the thoughts of men punish thee; and presently a serpent bit him and he died.
Act 28:7. The chief man of the island, whose name was Publius, received us. The Lord turned the bonds of Paul to glory; he stayed here three months, and many were healed and converted to the Lord. The master was with his servant.
Act 28:11. A ship of Alexandria whose sign was Castor and Pollux. , sons of Jupiter and Leda, twin brothers of Helen. Some of the ancients placed them among the celestial stars, whence the constellation Gemini, the twins, which, when seen by the sailors, were thought to be favourable to navigation. The judicious Tertullian calls them phantoms: we know that an idol is nothing. Others have made them gods of the sea, and thought they caused the infinitude of sparks of fire, ever seen in dark nights at the bow of the ship in time of tempests. Perhaps I am solitary in thinking them to be galvanic effects produced by the violence of salt water against the ship, while making a rapid course through the waves.
Act 28:12. Syracuse, the capital of Sicily. It was once very large, having walls about sixteen miles in circumference; the theatre of great revolutions in government and wars.
Act 28:13-14. Thence we came to Rhegium. The city takes its name from the promontory, which exhibits marks of disruption from the Sicilian shore. We came the next day to Puteoli, now Pousol, a city and port eight miles south of Naples, where we found brethren. Peter, Mark, and Barnabas, to say nothing of the thousands that had fled on Stephens persecution, had all preached in Italy.
Act 28:15. When the brethren in the city of Rome heard of us, they came to meet us on the great military road, called the Appian way, as far as Appii forum, fifty miles from Rome on the road to Naples, built by Appius the consul, and near the present town of Piperno. Others waited for us meanwhile at the three taverns, seventeen miles nearer to Rome. This ebullition of brotherly love rejoiced the soul of Paul. Hail, thrice hail, to the day when after the storms and bitter events of life, we shall meet on the heavenly shore. Death will dissolve the chains of earth, and love will give the liberation of heaven.
Act 28:16. When we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; the captain of the prtorian cohort. The guard was a fortified camp in the suburbs of Rome. A wise and regular government will not leave the lives and property of a metropolis to the mercy of an enfuriated and drunken mob, which a spark may kindle to vengeance in a moment. Robbers and murderers must be afraid of the sword, which supports the magistrate in the severer exercises of duty.
But Paul, no doubt in consequence of the good offices of the centurion, who during the whole voyage had acted on a principle of benevolence, was suffered to dwell by himself, kept by a soldier, and bearing a chain. Great grace, that he might preach Christ with the greater interest and power. After three days he called the jews together, and recited his case, adding as follows:
Act 28:20. For the HOPE of Israel I am bound with this chain. Jer 14:8. The Hope of Israel, the Messiah. The fathers having this Hope, served God day and night. But in Babylon they mourned, saying, our Hope is lost. Eze 37:12. Christ, the hope, the blessed hope set before us, the hope of the gospel, is like an anchor, sure and stedfast. Tit 2:13.
Act 28:23. When they had appointed a day, there came many of the principal jews to his lodging. Christ had appeared to Paul, and he was a debtor to all men, to turn them from darkness to light. The more pious jews believed, while the wicked, being hardened, sought to kill him.
Act 28:26-27. Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand. This text is often translated in a very different way from the reading of the LXX, which St. Luke here adopts. He justifies God, and wholly blames the jews for their wilful obduracy. So Dr. Whitby adds. The prophecy of Isaiah here referred to stands thus in our translation. Go, and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Isa 6:9-10. In order to the right understanding of this text, and some others of the like import, it may be proper to take notice, that interpreters and commentators have remarked two rules which translators should be careful to observe.
(1) That a person is sometimes in scripture said to do a thing, when the meaning is that he only declares that the thing will be done, or that it is done already, by those who are capable of doing it. Thus God says to Jeremiah, I have this day set thee over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy: Jer 1:10. But it is evident that it was not the work of a prophet to root out, or pull down, or destroy, but only to declare and foretel what was to come to pass. So likewise the actions here mentioned, not being in the prophets power, it is certain that this order only signified that he was to declare to this people that their heart is fat, that their ears are stopt, and their eyes shut. Hence, where the priest is commanded to make him clean, whose flesh the leprosy had covered all over, so as to be all turned white, our translators have very well rendered it, that he shall pronounce him clean. And so also in other places.
(2) That a thing is often said to be done by a person, who only permits, or at most grants that it shall be done; as may be seen in Exo 4:21; Exo 7:13; Exo 8:19; Exo 9:7; Exo 9:35; Exo 14:8, Isa 63:17, and many other places of scripture. Both which rules may be comprehended in this one, that when a scripture seems to express any thing contrary to right reason, we are to conclude that it must admit of another meaning; and by these we may easily rectify most of the faults which are to be found in all versions; especially those which ascribe to God such actions as are unworthy of him, and incompatible with his holiness, justice, goodness, and the rest of his divine attributes.
The translators make Moses say, in Deu 29:4, that God had not given the Israelites a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear; from which, libertines take occasion to disculpate themselves, and lay all their sins at Gods door. Yet he who but opens the book may find, that God highly upbraids that people for their unbelief, their stupidity, and obstinacy in their sins; notwithstanding all the admonitions he had given them, all the promises he had made of blessing them, if they hearkened to his counsel; the terrible threatenings of giving them over to their enemies, and to utter misery and ruin; and in fine, notwithstanding all the miracles he had wrought in their favour, since the beginning of their Egyptian bondage, to engage them to observe his laws. How then is it possible to imagine that God, after all this, for justifying his dealing towards them, and to convince them of their wickedness, should say that he had not given them a heart to perceive his designs, nor eyes nor ears to consider them. We must therefore reform all the versions in that place, and say with Moses, hath not God given you a heart, &c. There is scarcely any person who can without astonishment read what the translations make Jesus Christ and his apostles say, with reference to the same prophecy of Isaiah, in Mat 13:14. Mar 4:12. Luk 8:10. Joh 12:40. Rom 11:8.
Our Lord spoke in parables, but these versions and interpretations give them a meaning which is quite opposite to the nature and design of a parable, which is a plain and simple way of speaking, proportioned to the understanding of persons of the meanest capacity; an example or comparison borrowed from what the most ignorant can understand, to explain something that might have some difficulty in it. Now it looks very odd, that our Saviour should speak to the multitude in parables, that is, in a plain and familiar way, that they might not perceive or understand him. The true way not to be understood by them, was to speak in mysteries; but the text tells us, that for this very reason he did not speak to them in mysteries, as he did to the disciples, but by parables.
Such translations are contrary to the design of Christs coming into the world, and continuing so long in it; which was, in a great measure, to reform mankind, and to make them wiser and better. Act 10:38. 1Ti 2:4. Tit 2:12. 2Pe 3:9. And as he designed the good of mankind in general, so in a most particular manner he designed the good of the jewish nation, of the lost sheep of Israel, whom these words of Isaiah especially concern. Among them he lived, to them he preached, before them he wrought many mighty works. At the sight of their approaching ruin he wept, for them he prayed, after they had rejected all his calls and invitations, and even when crucifying him, and treating him with all the indignities and injuries that their malice could invent, or their power inflict. To them he first sent his apostles, who did not turn to the gentiles till the jews had proved altogether obstinate and incurable.
Now, how is it possible to imagine, that he could have a design to blind and harden them for whom he had done and suffered so much? Indeed, if this had been true, they might with good reason expostulate with God, as our translators make their forefathers to do. Isa 63:17. Oh Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our hearts from thy fear? At such divinity I shake and tremble. Some philosophers indeed have taken pleasure in expressing themselves obscurely: but far be it from us to attribute any such design to the Saviour of the world, who was no respecter of persons; who adapted his doctrines to all capacities, because he would have all to be saved, and became a propitiation for the sins of the whole world. In short, this hardening does not infer a necessity of doing evil, as appears from what St. Paul plainly declares, concerning the idolatrous heathens, and the stiff-necked jews.
Act 28:30-31. Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house preaching the kingdom of God, till it pleased the Lord to deliver him from the mouth of the lion, having made his bonds subservient to the success of the gospel.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Act 28:1-6. The Inhabitants of Malta.The inhabitants of Malta were of Phoenician extraction; they are called barbarians in Act 28:2, as they spoke another language than Greek; inscriptions in two languages are found in the island. The date of the landing was before the middle of November (Act 27:9; Act 27:27), and the weather was cold, a miserable situation but for the kindness of the inhabitants. For Pauls sentiments on such an occasion, see 2Co 1:4 and that epistle generally, written about a year before this. But all that is told us of him is that he gathered some sticks, and what came out of them (cf. Mar 16:18). Ramsay (Luke the Physician, pp. 6365) identifies the snake as Coronella Austriaca, a constrictor without poison fangs, similar in size and appearance to the viper. It was not the first time that Paul had been taken for a god; cf. Act 14:11 f.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Very soon contacting inhabitants, they found that the island was called Melita, present day Malta. The people are called “barbarous,” which only means they were not Greek or Jewish — not the cultured classes: there is nothing derogatory in the term. In fact they proved themselves most hospitable and kind, kindling a large fire to warm the shivering crowd. Paul, not averse to laboring with his hands, gathered sticks also to supply the fire. When a poisonous viper, springing out of the heat, fastened on Paul’s hand, the natives expected immediate death, and supposed that he must be a murderer whom providence had decreed should die. Paul however paid no more attention to it than to shake the creature off into the fire. When it became evident that it had done no harm, then the natives went to the opposite extreme and decided that Paul was a god. This illustrates how undependable and foolish are men’s superstitions.
They had disembarked near the property of the chief man of the island, his name Publius, who extended the same courteous treatment to them, lodging them for three days. If we have already seen a miracle in the protection of Paul, now we are told of the miraculous healing of the father of Publius through Paul’s intercession, and the resulting interest of others also who came and were healed.
In spite of the pleasant relationships seen here, however, and the outward blessing of healing, there is no record of any conversions to the Lord Jesus, though the people honored them with many honors, supplying them with necessities that arose because of their being shipwrecked. Where they lived after leaving the hospitality of Publius we are not told. Likely there would be a large seaport town where they could find lodging, since they found another ship of Alexandria which had wintered there. But they remained three months in Malta, concerning which we are given no more history
Typically we have reached the point where the testimony of the church has been already shipwrecked. The pleasant circumstances following are surely a picture of the time in which Christianity began to be recognized in the world, when Constantine, early in the fourth century, adopted it as the state religion. Many felt this a wonderful triumph for Christianity, but it was the reverse, for this resulted in mixing worldly principles with the principles of the truth of God and unbelievers with believers, eventually so obscuring the truth as to leave souls in darkness and bondage, with men given honor instead of rightful honor being given to the blessed Lord of glory. Even Paul is given honor, but he is still a prisoner: the truth committed to him has been kept confined in spite of lip-service being given him. Significantly, the real working of the living power of the Spirit of God in souls is not mentioned in Malta.
The next ship they board is no improvement in this regard either, being also of Alexandria, and having the idolatrous insignia “Castor and Pollux.” Christianity, mixing with the world, wilt certainly find itself also mixed with idolatry. Their first landing place was Syracuse (in Sicily), meaning “dragging unwillingly,” indicating that not all consciences of Christians were content with being drawn downward at that time, in the direction of the world and its idolatry. They remained there three days.
Leaving Syracuse, the ship sailed in a circuitous route (for the church has certainly not always taken a straight path toward her destination) to land at Rhegium, meaning “forcing the way through,” for even in the testimony of the church of God men’s forceful wills have too often taken the lead, rather than the principle of faith.
From there they continued by ship to Puteoli, meaning “little mineral springs, a place of at least a little relief from the general tenor of the trip, for they found brethren there, who desired them to stay with them for seven days. Perhaps the soldiers were glad to give Paul liberty for this, since after long sea travel it would afford some respite for them before taking the foot journey to Rome. Accommodations would have to be found for the prisoners, but other passengers of the ship would no doubt have dispersed. Then we are told, “and so we went toward Rome.” The statement is significant as implying the drift of the church publicly at the time here typified, gravitating toward the ritualism that characterizes the church of Rome.
Word of the coming of Paul and company had reached the brethren at Rome, who came out perhaps 30 miles to meet them, an encouragement for which Paul thanked God. Coming to Rome, the centurion allowed Paul to live outside the prison, but in the custody of a soldier, though the rest of the prisoners were committed to prison. Paul was no mere usual prisoner, as their so trusting him indicated. But the soldier was virtually a captive audience for the gospel!
Having been there only three days Paul was able to call the Jewish leaders to visit him, and explained to them the circumstances of his arrest and imprisonment. He declares his innocence as regards any infraction of Israel’s law, but that the Jews of Jerusalem had delivered him to the Romans as a prisoner. The Romans, after due examination, found no charge that could be substantiated, so were inclined to release him, but the Jews being opposed, Paul had appealed to Caesar. He adds, “not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.” He might have accused them of their attempt to murder him in Jerusalem, but he made no issue of this. Now, he says, he desires to speak with them in Rome because it was actually on account of the true hope of Israel that he was a prisoner.
At least their minds had not been poisoned against Paul by letter or by personal contact, but they knew that Christianity was everywhere spoken against, and were interested to inquire about it. This gave Paul an open door, and on an appointed day from morning to evening he fully explained to them the truth of the kingdom of God. Many came to his own lodging to hear him expounding from their own Old Testament scriptures, showing that in the Lord Jesus Christ all their prophecies and types are fulfilled.
Some believed. others refused, but not without the warning of Paul in the language of Isa 6:9-10 that they were fulfilling prophecy in rejecting the word of God sent to them for their blessing. This was refusing God the liberty of healing them. Therefore, he tells them, the gospel of God was sent to the Gentiles, who would hear it.
Verse 29 is not included in the earliest Greek manuscripts. Paul lived for two years in his own hired house, glad to receive all who would come to him. Altogether Paul was kept a prisoner 4 years without a trial! Rome’s judicial processes were apparently as lax as those of present day United States law courts
Yet even under the eye of Rome, God gave Paul liberty to proclaim the kingdom of God — so high above the boasted power of the Roman empire — and to teach the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with fullest confidence, no man forbidding him.
The ending of the book may seem abrupt, specially with no mention of the eventual outcome of Paul’s imprisonment. But God is infinitely wise in the way He presents His Word. Does it not teach us that throughout the entire history of the church Paul remains virtually a prisoner, confined in his ministry? Professing Christianity does not give him full liberty, though it shows him some respect, and we are thankful that the truth is still not bound, but available for all who desire to receive it, though it identifies us with him who calls himself “the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles” (Eph 3:1). Earth holds no satisfactory conclusion for the history of the church. This must await the coming of the Lord.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
28:1 And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called {a} Melita.
(a) That place which we today call Malta.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Paul’s preservation on Malta 28:1-6
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Malta, also called Melita (meaning refuge, which it proved to be for Paul and his companions), lies about 60 miles south of the island of Sicily. It is about 18 miles long and 8 miles wide. It is also about 500 miles west of Crete and 180 miles northwest of Africa. People of Phoenician origin inhabited it in Paul’s day. Luke called them "barbarians" (Gr. barbaroi) meaning people whose culture was not Greek. These people were not savages or uncultured, however, as is clear from their hospitable treatment of the shipwreck victims.