Acts 28

1. Background

At this point in the narrative, Paul has already appealed to Ceasar and is on his way by prison transport to Rome.  The boarded a ship rather late in the season and so met disaster at sea.  A strong wind blew their ship towards an island where they were shipwrecked, but all lives were spared when they listened to Paul’s advice.

On the island, they learned it was the island of Malta.  Natives greeted them and provided their needs and kept them warm by kindling fires.  Luke records a poisons serpent bit Paul’s hand and calmly shook it off into the fire.  The natives saw this and supposed karma was catching up to Paul, however, when he went on unharmed, they supposed he was a god, vv3-6.

As they wintered there, Paul healed many of their sick miraculously.  In the spring the peopled greatly honored them and saw to all their needs as they set sail.  Arriving in Italy, the men were met by Christian brothers who received them and saw to their needs. Once in Rome, Paul was granted special permission to live in his own hired house rather than being imprisoned with no freedom.

Paul’s day in court arrived quickly which allowed him to explain the Gospel to the entire court.  Many Jews believed the Gospel while others did not.  Because of the rejection of the Gospel by the Jews, Paul quoted Isaiah 6:9-10,

 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.

Paul applies this prophecy to what has happened in recent times showing a shift of focus from Jewish ministry to Gentile ministry.  In other words, the door is wide open to preaching the gospel to mainly gentile nations, vv28.

Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

Thus ends the book saying Paul is in Rome preaching the kingdom of God, “no man forbidden him” from his own hired house, yet a prisoner for the Gospel’s sake.

2. What Can We Learn About God?

The moving forward of the Gospel proclamation is ensured by God’s power.   This theme has been repeated since the Jewish leaders condemned Christ to death. Death will not stop the King, and persecution will not delay the Kingdom.  This is not the appropriate place to dive deeply into “the kingdom” and its place in Gospel preaching. But suffice it now to say that when kings and rulers move to persecute the Gospel message, they are putting their hand against God’s Kingdom.

But as Acts has been showing us, that God uses His power and wisdom to ensure the Gospel’s spread in spite of the enemy’s devices.  This theme is culminated in the last statements of the book, that no man forbid Paul to preach even though he was a prison for Christ’s sake.   The enemies of the Gospel put their hand to Paul to imprison him and kill him, but through their own devices, the Gospel has reached unto the palaces of Rome and was preached freely there.

The book ends as if to say, the Gospel will continue on this trajectory until the kingdom comes in fullness.  It is a message to all servants of the Gospel to continue to trust God in spite of the enemy can do.

3. How is the passage fulfilled in Christ?

The Gospel continues today because it’s King does also.  Paul preached from morning to evening the historical trues that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.  It did not matter that some rejected it.  It does not matter if King Agrippa rejected, or even Ceasar himself.  The risen King is the fact of the ages and is the central point of our faith.

From that center, we continue on with Christ’s commands to preach the gospel to all the gentile nations and to teach the coming Kingdom of God.  If Christ was not raised, then such preaching would be insanity rather than reality.  Everything a citizen of God’s kingdom holds relies on the testimony of Jesus Christ.

4. Application:

Much of the Bible cannot be understood by the reader if there is no application of the reading.  In our American culture, we live our days in relative peace and comfort without putting our hands to the plow in any significant way.  As I write this today, I’ve learned new of our brothers in China being sentenced to 4 years in prison for distributing gospel tracts.  Will this stop the Gospel in China?

Meanwhile, I must think about my own place in the world.  How will I use the time left to me to preach the Gospel and advance the kingdom of God?  There is no stopping God’s kingdom from coming.  Even if every Christian were to commit their lives the lazy boy, the Gospel, and the Kingdom would still find its way around the world in spite of laziness or indifference.   Like Paul, I will ask God to open the doors to preach the Gospel knowing the price that needs be paid is worthy of Christ who paid it all for me.