Acts 28:1-16 You Have Life and Breath!

Acts 28:1-16  Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.  The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.  Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.  When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.”   But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.  The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.  There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island.  He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days.  His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery.  Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.  When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured.  They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.   After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island—it was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux.  We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days.  From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli.  There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them.  And so we came to Rome.  The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us.  At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged.  When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.  

In the above focus we see Paul ending his journey to Rome, a journey of about 2,000 miles from Caesarea.  He should have been able to complete this journey in less than a month’s time, but it took him much more time than one month to arrive in Rome.  After the shipwreck on Malta, he stayed there for three months.  After Malta, he had to sail three more times to arrive in Italy.  After he landed in Italy, he walked 170 miles on the Appian Way to Rome.  In his journey to Rome, Paul experienced many difficulties.  While his ship was being battered to pieces on the shoals of the island of Malta, he swam to shore, escaping death in the sea.  However on the island of Malta, he was bitten by a venomous snake.  He survived this snake bite, making many who saw him being bitten think he was a god.  HIs journey to Rome was not easy, taking a toll on his body and strength.  Nothing on this journey was easy.  He knew the Mediterrainean was a dangerous sea so late in the year, but he had no authority to keep the ship, the Alexandria, from sailing.  He was but cargo on the ship, something to carry to Rome.  It seemed that Paul’s journey was too filled with danger to be considered in God’s perfect will for him.  How could Paul’s own words be valid in this harrowing journey to Rome.  We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  In Rome, still under guard by the Romans, he proclaims, Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. (Philippians 1:12–14)  He affirmably states that all he has experienced on the way to Rome and in Rome were under God’s perfect will for him.  My circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.  Because of my imprisonment, Christians have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.  The gospel of Christ was being spread more rapidly and clearly because of Paul’s journey and imprisonment.  In Rome he would write the letters of Ephesians, Philippians, and Galatians.  These letters would proclaim clearly that Jesus is the Son of God and that trust in him and his work on the cross would give people right relationship with the only true God.  Paul’s journey and imprisonment were a necessity in the spreading more widely to the world the gospel of redemption through Jesus Christ, the Lord.  Paul's persistence in following God’s will for him no matter what it cost to him or where it leads him has brought millions into the kingdom of God.

The disciples carried this persistence in their ministry of the Good News. They were beaten, flogged, and imprisoned for preaching the Good News. James was beheaded by King Herod. The Good News was hated by the authorities. These unlearned men who were espousing that Jesus is the Lord were despised by the leaders of the Jewish society. Everywhere they went, people were aroused to beat them, imprison them, to kill them. The disciples had a target on their backs wherever they preached, but they were compelled by the Holy Spirit to minister that Jesus is the Lord and that people could know him through faith in the works of Jesus Christ. The disciples poured out their lives for the will of God. Paul relates this truth to Timothy about his own life in serving God. He, as the disciples before him, persisted in following Jesus through thick or thin. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8) Are we today longing for Jesus’ appearance? Are we persistent in following God’s will for our lives? These are important questions when dealing with a world that is chasing after the myth of the world that material things will satisfy the longing for the God of Creation. In this season of Christmas we see materialism as the prominent theme in celebrating Christmas. Paul knows this struggle between good and evil will continue as long as the world exists. He knows that Timothy must endure much hardship to preach the Good News of eternal life. He tells Timothy to serve God with persistence no matter what the cost. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5) In the day of AI, the composite of all human knowledge and wisdom, we Christians should be steady in season and out of season, placing our lives in the hands of our Lord. No other way of living will satisfy our eternal need of knowing God through Jesus Christ: the fountain of all knowledge and wisdom. God was with Paul on that ship that was doomed for destruction. He told Paul through an angel that the ship would be destroyed, but that Paul would live. As we live here on earth, our destiny lies with God. This earth is but a garment that will be folded up eventually and discarded, but God will endure forever and so will we endure forever in God’s presence. “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (Hebrews 1:10-12) We have a crown of righteousness waiting for us who persist in faith. We will wear that crown of Jesus’ perfect righteousness in heaven, being forever known as the children of God. All of this honor is ours if we persist in our walk IN CHRIST on this frail, finite earth.

How wonderful to read about Paul healing Publius' sick father and curing all on the island who came to him to be healed. Paul spread the Good News to people who served many gods, healing often accompanied ministry of the Good News. Paul does not only tell them about the Lord being the Savior of all mankind, he also demonstrates the power of God by healing people. Of course these people were under Roman’s influence, and the religion of mythology was part of their society and culture. To separate them from their religious beliefs, God’s power had to be evident in Paul’s life. God’s power had to be prevalent in all of God’s disciples as they ministered the Good News to people in darkness. In Peter’s case, People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and ALL OF THEM were healed. (Acts 5:15-16) This mighty power of the Holy Spirit in them demonstrated the difference between Christianity and other religions. These healing were evident, open for all to observe--nothing done behind doors or in secret. The Jews needed a sign to believe, but so did the Gentiles need these miraculous signs of deliverance. So Paul performed many miracles wherever he went. But the Greeks and the Romans were also embedded in philosophy or rational thought, so Paul addressed this need by pointing out their idea of worshipping an unknown God. Paul told the Greeks, this unknown God is the God of creation. In Athens he points out that the Greeks have an altar to the UNKNOWN GOD. THE GOD who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.  He is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything.  Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. (Acts 17:24-25) He approaches the Greeks and Romans with a philosophical mind, convincing them the best he could by rational reasoning that God who is unknown to them is THE GOD OF CREATION. However, the Jews needed a sign because they believed they had a sound philosophy about God, brought to them through the law. When the Jewish leadership questioned Jesus' authority to speak for God, they asked Jesus to perform a miracle for them, so they could believe He really had authority from God. This request disgusted Jesus. He tells them anEvil and sinful people ask for a miracle as a sign, but they will not be given any sign, except the sign of Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away. (Matthew 16:4) Jesus had performed many miracles for them in Israel. Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down.Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. (Matthew 15:29-31) But their hearts were hardened as was Pharaoh’s when Moses did many miracles. We see on Malta Paul performing miracles in the midst of Romans. Surely many believed, for they had never heard about such things from the beginning of time. Paul, the miracle worker, finally ends up in Rome where his letters to the Philippians, the Ephesians, and Colossians will convince many people from all lands that Jesus is the Messiah who has come to save all people from their sins. Paul persisted in all situations to follow God. Dear friends around this breakfast table persist in believing God through all seasons of your life, and you will. Love, Dad and Mom