Acts Chapter 28
Expository Thoughts and
Considerations
Verse 1: Once safely on shore, we found out
that the island was called Malta.
• They must have ascertained the name of the
island from the natives they found upon landing.
•While they were on the ship they had no way of
knowing what the land was called.
•There is little reason to doubt that the Greek
here MELETA is in fact the island now known as
Malta
•Verse 2 -- The islanders showed us unusual
kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all
because it was raining and cold.
•The NIV chooses the word “natives” to translate
the Greek BARBAROI – sometimes translated
“barbarians”.
•The word indicated those who spoke a language
different than Latin or Greek (or Hebrew).
•The word was not to indicate that the islanders
were uncouth or uncivilized. They prove to be
just the opposite.
•The islanders are quick to respond to the 276
men suddenly shipwrecked on their shore.
•Luke calls their hospitality “unusual” or some
translate it, “extraordinary”.
•Remember it is near the day of atonement, so
around late October or early November.
•The rains and cold continue as they land on
shore and the islanders quickly begin to help
them to get warm and dry.
Verse 3 – 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.
• Paul is not adverse to laboring to help. He joins
in the collecting of firewood.
•The word translated “brushwood” indicated a
bundle of sticks. The island is devoid of timber
now, but might not have been during Paul’s day.
•However, the word could mean any combustible
material sufficient for firewood.
•The viper was very likely unmoving, because of
the cold.
•As it warms, however, it flees the fire and
encounters Paul, placing wood on the fire.
•The Greek echidna means a very poisonous
snake.
•Arguments state that vipers do not latch on to a
hand, but strike and recoil. Here, though, is an
opportunity for the Lord to immediately single out
Paul for the natives and fasten all eyes upon him.
Verse 4 -- 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, Justice has not allowed him to live."
•It is clear to the islanders that Paul is a prisoner.
Whether in chains or otherwise, the Roman guards
would be carefully watching the prisoners again.
•Justice was a mythological goddess who assured
that the guilty were properly punished for their sins.
Verse 5 -- But Paul shook the snake off into the
fire and suffered no ill effects. 6The 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.
•The venom of Mediterranean families of
serpents is among the deadliest in the world. Yet
Paul suffers no ill effects.
•The islanders decide he is a god.
•Some point to this verse and Mark 16:18 to
insist that true disciples cannot be harmed by
poisonous snakes.
•This verse only affirms that Paul was not
harmed by the serpent.
•Mark 16:18 does not appear in the oldest known
manuscripts of the Bible and is likely a scribal
addition to the original gospel of Mark.
Verse 7 -- There was an estate nearby that
belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island.
He welcomed us to his home and for three days
entertained us hospitably.
•Malta was a part of the province of Sicily.
•Publius was doubtless under the procurator of
Sicily, and therefore the “head man” of the island.
•It is not necessary for us to decide that Publius
entertained all 276 men – but probably only a
select few, of which Paul and Luke were a part.
Verse 8 -- 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.
•The NAS translates the ailment as “recurring
fever”, based on the plural nature of the Greek.
•The Greek dusenteria is well documented in
medical writings to refer to dysentery.
•Paul prays – some suppose to seek whether or
not God will provide for a miraculous healing – and
then lays his hands on the man and
instantaneously heals him.
Verse 9-10 – When this had happened, the rest
of the sick on the island came and were cured.
10They honored us in many ways and when we
were ready to sail, they furnished us with the
supplies we needed.
•The Lord provides for all the sick on the island
to be miraculously healed.
•So glad was the island by Paul’s healing, they
completely re-supply the ship so that it can sail.
Verse 11 – 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.
•This would make it late February or early March
of 61 A.D. That is the earliest that the winds
would have cooperated with continuing the trip.
•They board an Alexandrian ship which was
forced to winter in Malta as well.
•Castor and Pollox were mythical figures
supposedly translated to heaven by Zeus to
become the constellation we know as “Gemini”
Verse 12-13 – We put in at Syracuse and stayed
there three days. 13From there we set sail and
arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind
came up, and on the following day we reached
Puteoli.
•The ship sails first to Syracuse – which is NE of
Malta.
•From there the ship sailed to Rhegium, now
known as the town of Reggio. It is on the toe of
the boot of Italy.
•Finally, they arrived at Puteoli – which is modern
day Pozzuoli, located on the northern shore of
the Bay of Naples.
Verse 14 – There we found some brothers who
invited us to spend a week with them. And so we
came to Rome.
•We learn here the exciting news that there are
Christians at Puteoli. Where they came from we
don’t know – except that Christians are carrying
their faith all over the world.
•The Lord’s bringing Paul to Rome was not so
that Christianity could be established there – it
was already there. But rather to prove the gospel
to those who might have doubts.
Verse 15 – The brothers 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 men Paul thanked God
and was encouraged.
•The Forum of Appius was about 45 miles from
Rome, and the Three Taverns about 30 miles
from Rome.
•This shows the eagerness the brethren have to
meet Paul and welcome him to Rome. It is a
matter of sweet fellowship.
Verse 16 – When we got to Rome, Paul was
allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard
him.
•Why this leniency?
•Paul was a Roman citizen without formal
charges
•The letter from Festus and possibly a good
word from Julius doubtless work in his favor.
•He is guarded by a single guard and allowed to
live in his own quarters.
Verse 17 – Three days later he called together
the leaders of the Jews. When they had
assembled, Paul said to them: "My brothers,
although I have done nothing against our people
or against the customs of our ancestors, I was
arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the
Romans.
•Paul keeps his usual tradition of preaching to the
Jews first.
•He presents a defense which claims complete
innocence of any wrongdoing.
Verse 18-20 – They examined me and wanted to
release me, because I was not guilty of any crime
deserving death. 19But when the Jews objected, I
was compelled to appeal to Caesar—not that I
had any charge to bring against my own people.
20For this reason I have asked to see you and
talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel
that I am bound with this chain.“
•Paul assures his listeners that he does not have
any charge to file against the Jews before
Caesar’s court.
Verse 21-22 – They replied, "We have not
received any letters from Judea concerning you,
and none of the brothers who have come from
there has reported or said anything bad about
you. 22But we want to hear what your views are,
for we know that people everywhere are talking
against this sect."
•It is surprising the Jews from Jerusalem have
filed no charges in Rome.
•Paul is treated cordially – but guardedly – until
they can hear more.
Verse 23 – They arranged to meet Paul on a
certain day, and came in even larger numbers to
the place where he was staying. From morning till
evening he explained and declared to them the
kingdom of God and tried to convince them about
Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the
Prophets.
•Paul is given the better part of half a day to
preach and teach. He proves to them from
scripture that Jesus is the Christ, using the
Pentateuch and the prophets.
Verse 24 – Some were convinced by what he
said, but others would not believe. 25They
disagreed among themselves and began to leave
after Paul had made this final statement: "The
Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers
when he said through Isaiah the prophet:
•As expected, some believe and others do not.
The gospel always divides people, as Christ said
it would.
•Paul will quote from Isaiah 6, verses 9 and 10
Verse 26-27 – " 'Go to this people and say,
"You will be ever hearing but never
understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving."
27For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'
Verses 28-31 -- "Therefore I want you to know
that God's salvation has been sent to the
Gentiles, and they will listen!"[b]
30For two whole years Paul stayed there in his
own rented house and welcomed all who came to
see him. 31Boldly and without hindrance he
preached the kingdom of God and taught about
the Lord Jesus Christ.
•Verse 29 is not found in the oldest, most reliable
texts and so is put in the footnote of translations
like the NAS and NIV.
•Verse 29 as it appears in late texts states, “and
when he had spoken these words the Jews
departed, having a great dispute among
themselves.
•Paul is allowed rented quarters, but there is no
reason to believe that he is not still guarded
constantly.
•He is held there for two years, after which Luke
records no more.
•He spends his time preaching and teaching
boldly in the name of the Lord.
•It was during these two years that Paul wrote the
epistles of Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians,
Philemon and if he is the author, Hebrews.
•EPILOGUE:
•In 63 A.D. Paul was released from prison, as he
anticipated in the Pastoral epistles.
•Tradition tells us Paul visited Spain, though this
cannot be proven.
•He did travel to Hieropolis, Colossae, Ephesus,
Laodicea and Crete.
•This took place over a five-year period of time.
•He was then arrested again, probably at
Nicopolis and was in prison from 67-68 A.D.
•EPILOGUE, cont.:
•Tradition states that Paul was beheaded in the
last year of the reign of Nero, 68 A.D.
•Tradition also states that Paul and Peter were
tried and condemned together. Paul, because of
his Roman citizenship, was killed quickly.
•Peter, however, was supposedly crucified on the
Hill of Janiculum. He requested that he be
crucified upside down, because he did not
consider himself worthy to suffer as his savior
had suffered.
•EPILOGUE, cont.:
•Tradition likewise states the deaths of the
following:
•Matthew – put to the sword in Ethiopia
•Mark – dragged by horses and killed in
Alexandria, Egypt.
•Luke – hanged for his preaching in Greece
•John – the only apostle to die of natural old
age, though was banished to the Isle of
Patmos for a time after having been boiled? in
a pot of hot oil.
•EPILOGUE, cont.:
•Tradition likewise states the deaths of the
following:
•James, leader in the Jerusalem church, was
supposedly thrown off the pinnacle of the
temple, surviving the fall to be beaten to death
by clubs.
•Bartholomew was supposedly beaten to death
with a whip for preaching in Armenia.
•Andrew was supposedly crucified in Patros,
Greece, where he preached for two days
before finally expiring.
•EPILOGUE, cont.:
•Tradition likewise states the deaths of the
following:
•Barnabas was supposedly stoned to death.