38 Paul’s Journey to Rome, Part 2 Malta to Rome
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It is a foundational biblical truth that obedience brings God’s blessing, disobedience His chastening. In Luke 11:28, Jesus said,
28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
James reveals that it is the
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
In Deuteronomy 11:26–28, Moses exhorted the Israelites:
26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today,
28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.
Because of his obedience, King Uzziah
15 In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.
16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
For that act of disobedience God struck him with leprosy, and he lived in disgrace the rest of his life.
One way God blesses those who obey Him is by granting their desires. In Psalm 21:1–2, David wrote,
1 O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
Psalm 37:4 promises,
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
while Psalm 145:19 declares,
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.
Proverbs 10:24 contrasts the disobedient with the obedient:
24 What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
The apostle Paul had desired for many years to visit Rome. In Acts 19:21 he said,
21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”
He repeatedly expressed that desire to the Roman Christians:
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you,
At long last, the time had come for God to grant His faithful servant’s desire. After years of waiting, two years in a Roman prison, a terrifying two-week-long storm at sea, and his fourth shipwreck, Paul would at last see Rome. This climactic passage records the story of the apostle’s arrival in the imperial capital.
Acts 28 opens with Paul on the Mediterranean island of Malta. He had left Caesarea more than two months earlier, bound for Rome to have his appeal heard by the emperor. In a risky attempt to reach a more favorable harbor on Crete to winter in, the apostle’s ship had been caught in the dreaded Euraquilo. That violent storm had driven the vessel for fourteen terror-filled days across the Mediterranean to Malta. There the crew attempted to beach the ship, but it ran aground and was destroyed by the pounding surf. Miraculously, all 276 persons on board managed to reach the shore safely. God had promised Paul that although the ship would be destroyed, no lives would be lost (27:22). He had also promised that the ship would run aground on an island (27:26). Both promises were fulfilled when the ship reached Malta.
The events of Acts 28:1–16 unfold in five scenes: pagan hospitality, potential harm, public healing, the promise honored, and private housing.
PAGAN HOSPITALITY
PAGAN HOSPITALITY
1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta.
2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.
Having made it safely through the breakers to the beach, the people from the wrecked freighter, huddled wet and exhausted on the shore. It was only then that they found out that the island they were on was Malta. Although some of the crew had probably been to Malta before, they had never seen St. Paul’s Bay. They would have stopped at the main port, called Valletta.
Malta, located fifty-eight miles south of Sicily, is about seventeen miles long and nine miles wide. Since it is not a large island, it would not have taken the sailors long to discover where they were. They may have found out from the nearby inhabitants. Those inhabitants were of Phoenician descent, and the name Malta meant, appropriately, “a place of refuge” in the Phoenician language. Malta became a British possession early in the nineteenth century and didn’t gain its independence until 1964.
Luke’s use of the term natives to describe the people of Malta does not mean they were primitive or uncivilized. Barbaroi (natives) denotes people whose native language was not Greek or Latin; it is not necessarily a derogatory term.
The reaction of the Maltese to their unexpected visitors proves that they were anything but uncivilized. Luke records that they showed extraordinary kindness, beyond what would normally be expected. They did not murder or enslave the victims of the shipwreck, as sometimes happened in the ancient world. Instead, Luke says, because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all. Exhausted from their long ordeal, soaked from their swim to shore, drenched by the driving rain, and chilled by the cold November wind, they welcomed a fire to warm themselves.
God requires Christians, both church leaders (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:8) and all believers (Rom. 12:13; Heb. 13:2; 1 Pet. 4:9), to show hospitality. That the pagan Maltese exhibited it illustrates an important theological truth. One aspect of God’s general revelation to all people is the moral law written on their hearts. Although the specifics may vary, every culture holds some things to be right and other things to be wrong. Paul sets forth that truth in his letter to the Romans:
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
Because God has so revealed Himself, all men are without excuse:
1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.
3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
God can justly condemn those who never hear the gospel because they fail to keep the moral standards they impose on others. Because
11 For God shows no partiality.
12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
POTENTIAL HARM
POTENTIAL HARM
3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.
4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.
6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
Wood needed to be added continually to the bonfire to keep it from going out. It is a measure of Paul’s character that he humbly stooped to perform such a menial task. Humility is essential to true leadership. “Even the Son of Man,” Jesus said, “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). He gave the classic illustration of humble service by washing the quarrelsome disciples’ feet in John 13.
Having gathered a bundle of sticks, Paul laid them on the fire. Unfortunately, one of the “sticks” was alive, and a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. Startled from its lethargy by the sudden heat, the venomous reptile immediately bit Paul on the hand.
Critics have charged that this is a fictional attempt by Luke to glorify Paul, or that Luke mistook a harmless snake for a poisonous one. They raise those objections because Malta today has no poisonous snakes. But that does not prove that there were none there nineteen centuries ago. They have disappeared due to the progress of civilization on Malta since Paul’s day.
As a trained physician, Luke would be unlikely to mistake a harmless snake for a poisonous one. Sir William Ramsay notes that “a trained medical man in ancient times was usually a good authority about serpents, to which great respect was paid in ancient medicine and custom.” But the most convincing proof that this was in fact a poisonous snake comes from the reaction of the islanders, who fully expected Paul to die after being bitten.
4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
The greek word Luke used here is thērion. Scholar A. T. Robertson points out that “Aristotle and the medical writers apply that word to venomous serpents, and the viper in particular.
Here is another illustration of the truth that all cultures have a sense of justice. The islanders had no doubt from the presence of Roman soldiers that Paul was a serious criminal, likely a murderer, and as such would not escape his fate. Although he had been saved from the sea, justice would not allow him to live. Now I believe they were probably refering the Dike the Greek god of Justice, the pagan Maltese had a clear sense of right and wrong;
Romans 2:15 (ESV)
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts ...
Although once disposed to killing Christians, Paul, since his conversion, was no murderer. He merely shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. The apostle’s calmness was conspicuous; most people bitten by poisonous snakes panic. But Paul had absolute faith in God’s repeated promises that he would see Rome. Therefore, he knew he would not die on Malta. As always in Acts, God used this miracle to authenticate His message and His messenger.
The islanders, however, were still expecting Paul’s hand to swell up from the bite, or that he would suddenly fall down dead. But when 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. Obviously they had been mistaken; this was no victim of their goddess but a god himself, they thought. Such divine beings were, they believed, impervious to such trivialities as snakebite. This was not the first time Paul had been mistaken for a god, and he no doubt quickly set the islanders straight.
PUBLIC HEALING
PUBLIC HEALING
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 hospitably for three days.
8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him.
9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
11 After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead.
Not far from St. Paul’s Bay were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius. As his title the leading man of the island indicates, he was the Roman governor of Malta. Inscriptional evidence confirms Luke’s use of that title. Publius graciously welcomed all 276 persons and entertained them courteously for three days until they could make arrangements for winter quarters.
Publius extended hospitality even though his father was lying in bed afflicted with recurrent fever and dysentery. The recurrent fever was likely the gastric fever, caused by a microbe found in goat’s milk, which was common on Malta. Dysentery, often resulting from poor sanitation, was also common in the ancient world.
God often rewards acts of kindness to His people, and Paul was able to repay Publius for his hospitality. He went in to see Publius’s father, and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him. Paul’s prayer acknowledged his dependence on God’s power; his laying on of hands affirmed that God was working through him.
Not surprisingly, after this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to Paul and getting cured. Although Luke does not mention it, Paul undoubtedly preached the gospel to the Maltese, since the purpose of miracles was to authenticate Paul as God’s messenger. Given Julius’s lenient treatment of him, and their three-month stay (v. 11), Paul would have had many opportunities to preach. According to tradition, the church on Malta dates from this time, with Publius as its first pastor.
Verse 10 also implies that a church was founded at this time on Malta. Luke records that the islanders honored Paul and the others with many marks of respect; and when they were setting sail, supplied them with all they needed. That outpouring of love suggests that at least some of the Maltese were receptive to the preaching of the gospel.
After spending the three months of winter on Malta, Paul and his companions were finally able to leave. With sea travel beginning again, Julius was able to arrange transport to Italy for his soldiers and prisoners on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead. The Alexandrian ship was probably another in the imperial grain fleet. Luke’s note that it had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead serves to identify the specific ship on which they traveled. The Twin Brothers were Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus in Greek mythology and viewed as the gods who protected sailors.
THE PROMISE HONORED
THE PROMISE HONORED
12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.
13 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.
14 There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.
15 And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.
Leaving Malta, the ship put in at Syracuse, 100 miles away on the southeastern shore of Sicily. According to tradition, Paul founded a church in Syracuse during the three days the ship stopped there. After their short visit, the travelers sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, on the southern tip of the Italian peninsula. There they waited for a favorable wind to take the ship through the Straits of Messina (which separate Sicily from the Italian mainland). The next day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day after leaving Rhegium, the ship arrived at Puteoli. Puteoli, modern Pozzuoli, was the most important commercial port in Italy. Although almost 150 miles from Rome, it was the capital’s chief seaport. Located on the bay of Naples near Neapolis (modern Naples) and the doomed city of Pompeii, Puteoli in Paul’s day was a city of 100,000 people. It is thought to have been the chief port for the Egyptian grain fleet.
Not unexpectedly in a city of that size, Paul and his companions found some brethren (Christians) in Puteoli. Those believers invited the travelers to stay with them, and, with Julius’s permission, they stayed for seven days. From there, Luke notes with dramatic understatement, we came to Rome.
Luke then fills in, briefly, the details of their journey along the Appian Way from Puteoli to Rome. The brethren (Christians) of Rome, when they heard about us (undoubtedly from the Christians of Puteoli), came from there as far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us. Some walked as far south as the Market of Appius, forty-three miles from Rome; others, possibly getting a later start, met Paul ten miles closer to Rome at the Three Inns. Deeply moved by their visible demonstration of love for him, Paul thanked God and took courage.
THE PRISONER HOUSED
THE PRISONER HOUSED
16 And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.
Paul’s lenient treatment by Roman officials continued. After the apostle and his party entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with a soldier guarding him. That soldier (probably several in turn) was chained to Paul’s wrist. A captive audience for Paul which we will look at in two weeks.
This passage reveals several ways in which God blesses His faithful servants.
First
First
He surrounds them with kindness. Julius showed Paul kindness by allowing him to go ashore in Sidon. The Maltese also showed him kindness after the shipwreck.
Second
Second
God meets their needs. Publius provided Paul with a place to stay on Malta, as did the Christians at Puteoli.
Third
Third
God encourages them. During the terrifying ordeal of the storm at sea, God sent an angel to hearten Paul. And the apostle was greatly encouraged by the Roman Christians, who eagerly met him well outside the city.
Fourth
Fourth
God delivers them from harm. He delivered Paul from a storm, a shipwreck, and a snakebite.
Fifth
Fifth
God blesses their influence. Paul greatly affected those who survived the storm and shipwreck. And through his ministry, a church was most likely begun on Malta and possibly at Syracuse.
Sixth
Sixth
Finally, God fulfills their desires. Paul had yearned for many years to see Rome; so God sent him to Rome. He wanted to be encouraged to know that the Christians loved him, they encouraged him. God met his desire and gave Paul what he needed.
What am I saying here today? Listen, we see a faithful man exhibiting all the qualities of a faithful leader in turn we see God blessing him. Proverbs 28:20 sums it up in the promise
Proverbs 28:20 (ESV)
20 A faithful man will abound with blessings...
Why? Because we are so good that we deserve it? No. We receive blessings because God is a faithful God. He rewards those who faithfully serve Him.
Let’s Pray
Father, we are thankful for just another example of Paul and his marvelous faithfulness. How grateful we are to see this kind of example to see You put to the test. You said You would bless all who fear you.
You said You would give the desires of the heart to those who delight in You. O, how we see it in Paul, everything he needed, every dream he dreamed all came true. Father, thank You for such manifestation of Your great faithfulness. may we believe it. May we be willing to be the kind of people You want us to be know You are the kind of God You claim to be. You are the God who will fulfill all Your promises. We pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.
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