Last updated on December 9, 2024
Today’s reading is from Acts 27-28.
Paul has appealed to Caesar, which means that he won’t be sent back to the Jews who are trying to kill him. Instead, he’s going to Rome, where he has hoped to go all along. Two years earlier he thought that his life would end in Jerusalem, but God has spared his life and allowed him to meet the church in Rome as well as to go to the most influential city in the world!
The ship carrying Paul and his friends set sail from Caesarea, where he had been in prison for the last two years. When they got to Crete, Paul encouraged the captain that it would be best if they did not continue on because of the storm just ahead. The captain didn’t listen to Paul.
They eventually ran into the storm, and it was just as bad as Paul had said it would be. The ship was battered, and everyone thought they were going to die. Paul said that an angel had appeared to him and told him that no one would die, but the ship would be destroyed.
That happened when they got to Malta, but as Paul had said, no lives were lost. The natives of the island welcomed these strangers. Paul, while gathering wood, was bitten by a snake. When it didn’t harm him, they believed that he must be a god.
After three months of living on Malta, they set sail once again in a ship that had been wintered on the island.
When they finally arrived in Rome, those in the church greeted them. Paul was immediately placed under house arrest. No trial or anything. The good thing was that he had so much more freedom than he had had the previous two years. He had his own room, with only a soldier there to make sure he stayed put. But he was allowed to have visitors as often as he liked. For the next two years Paul remained under house arrest.
During those two years several things happened that would prompt letters from Paul. Epaphras, who had started churches in Colossae and Laodicea, came to Rome to discuss the issues that these churches were having. He brought with him Onesimus, a slave who had escaped from his Christian master, a man named Philemon. Epaphras hoped that Paul might be able to convince Philemon to not seek retribution. And on the way to Rome, Epaphras and Onesimus had stopped by Phillipi. For the fourth time, they had collected money to send to Paul and asked Epaphras to deliver it. They too have been going through some challenges, and these are shared with Paul once Epaphras reaches Rome.
Luke ends Acts with this statement…”Paul proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ – with all boldness and without hindrance” (Acts 28:31).
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