Acts 28 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Acts 28:1-10

1  Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 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. 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, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.’ 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 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.

7 There was an estate near by that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. 8 His father was ill in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. 9 When this had happened, the rest of those on the island who were ill came and were cured. 10 They honoured us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

A. Find Out:

1. Where were they and how were they welcomed? v.1,2
2. What happened to Paul and what did the people think? v.3,4
3. Yet what happened and what did they then think? v.5,6
4. What then happened? v.7,8
5. What did that then produce? v.9
6. With what outcome? v.10

B. Think:

1. What bad thing happened and how did it produce good?
2. How was Paul able to exercise his ministry yet again?
3. How did that open the whole island up to them?

C. Comment:

Circumstances have been out of their control. They have just been shipwrecked but at least they have safely got ashore. The islanders welcome them and build a fire for them. It is at this point that a potential disaster occurs: Paul is bitten by a snake. In fact this was no quick sting but a strong bite, as the thing hangs on his hand. The islanders naturally expect Paul to die from the bite but to their amazement he has no ill effects. Presumably it was this change of thinking in the islanders that led them to take Paul and the others to the nearby residence of the island’s chief official. Presumably they told him what has happened, and he welcomes them and puts them up for three days.

While they were there, the official’s father grows ill, so Paul goes to him, prays, lay on hands and heals him. Now the interesting thing here is that Luke does not record Paul sharing the gospel with these people, but with all these supernatural openings being given him, we must assume he did. This healing opened the way up for Paul to pray for many others on the island, and presumably share God’s love with them in word as well as deed.

D. Application:

1. The presence and power of God is with us wherever we go.
2. A crisis is simply an opportunity for God to show His power and presence to people. We need to see it like that.

Passage: Acts 28:11-16

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. 12 We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. 13 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. 14 There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome. 15 The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they travelled 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. 16 When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

A. Find Out:

1. How long did they stay in Malta? v.11
2. What other places did they call in at on the way? v.12,13
3. Who did they find on the mainland of Italy? v.14
4. What did they find when they got to Rome? v.15
5. What then happened at Rome? v.16

B. Think:

1. What indications of historical accuracy are seen in this passage?
2. What are we told about the church in this passage?
3. What do you think Paul had been feeling before arriving at Rome?

C. Comment:

The journey is almost at an end. After three months the winter weather has abated, and they were able to take a ship to Rome. The detailing of the ship by Luke, again indicates the historical nature of his writing, noting even minor things that struck him. Note also the place names that Luke has included throughout this whole journey (look them up on a map).

Eventually they reach mainland Italy and there they found some Christians who invited them to stay a week with them. The interesting thing is that Paul is still a prisoner under the guard of a centurion and his soldiers, yet they allow him to stay this time with the local church.

After a week they move on and travel north. Some forty miles from Rome, at the market town called the Forum of Appius, they are greeted by a number of Christians who had come to meet them from Rome. About ten miles further on at the Three Taverns they met some more. These “welcoming committees” along the way who had come to escort Paul the final miles to Rome greatly lifted his spirits. Perhaps he had been wondering what was to face him when he arrived, but the presence of these Roman Christians greatly encouraged him.

D. Application:

1. Fellowship along the way is a real encouragement.
2. Travelling ministries often get tired and the encouragement and hospitality shown can be a great boost.

Passage: Acts 28:17-23

17 Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. 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. 18 They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. 19 The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. 20 For 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.’

21 They replied, ‘We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. 22 But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.’ 23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus.

A. Find Out:

1. What did Paul do when? v.17a
2. What does he tell them? v.17b-19
3. So why had he called them to him? v.20
4. What was their response to what had happened to him? v.21
5. And what did they say they wanted, and why? v.22
6. So what subsequently happened? v.23a

B. Think:

1. How might Paul’s action here be potentially damaging?
2. Yet why do you think he did it?
3. How does this conform to the rest of the book of Acts?

C. Comment:

Paul has been in Rome a few days, and presumably has just got to wait for officialdom to take its time in dealing with him, and so he takes the opportunity to share the gospel with his own people. He may not be sure that he will be allowed to share it with other Romans so he’s going to make sure he gets it to the Jewish community while he’s there. He calls the Jewish leaders to him and explains what has happened to bring him there. They haven’t heard anything from Judea and appear not to be prejudiced against him, but would like to hear his views on this new group called “The Way” who they view as a sect. As a result a large number of Jews gather to hear what he has to say.

This action of Paul’s could, potentially, cause a further riot if they react against the Gospel as many in Jerusalem had done. However, perhaps Paul remembers that when he travelled around Asia Minor it had been to the Jews he had gone first and in fact many of them had believed. Initially the church had been formed with Jewish converts. It was only later that he went to the Gentiles. No, given the opportunity, Paul still goes first to his own people, first to the religiously minded people to share the Gospel. Some may believe and so it’s worth taking the risk. The Gospel is for all men, but Jews first.

D. Application:

1. It’s worth taking risks to share the good news of Jesus.
2. Go first to religiously inclined people. They are already seekers.

Passage: Acts 28:23-31

23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. 24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. 25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: ‘The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:

26 ‘“Go to this people and say,
‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.’
27 For 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.”

28 ‘Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!’

30 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ – with all boldness and without hindrance!

A. Find Out:

1. What was Paul doing with the Jews? v.23
2. What response did he get? v.24
3. What began to happen, when he said what? v.25-27,29
4. So what did he conclude? v.28
5. How long did he remain where, doing what? v.30
6. What did he continue doing, and how? v.31

B. Think:

1. How was Paul’s strategy vindicated?
2. Yet how was the response almost predictable?
3. What do you think seems so amazing about these final verses?

C. Comment:

Paul starts from the Old Testament and teaches the Jews about the promised coming and the prophetic fulfilment of the Messiah. He spends the entire day doing this and a number of the Jews receive the truth. However, it is clear that a number of them have trouble with this, and so Paul reminds them of the Old Testament warning from Isa 6:9,10. This, he says, means that if the Jews won’t hear, God will go to the Gentiles, and this is what he’s been called to do. With this, a number of them start to leave. For some of the Jews, the thought of pagan Gentiles becoming the people of God was just too much.

So it was that the familiar pattern seen in Paul’s earlier journeys is repeated yet again: he goes first to the Jews, some of whom receive him, but when a number reject him, he moves on to the Gentiles and shares the Good News with them. What seems amazing is that for two whole years Paul is allowed to carry on doing this in the privacy of his own rented accommodation. The gospel goes out to all Rome. If we read his letters, we see he touches the very household of Caesar itself (see Phil 1:13). From here he writes some of his deepest letters -Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. This is a place of triumph and victory; this is the place of God’s ordaining!

D. Application:

1. Imprisoned by circumstances? Take the opportunities there!
2. Limited in movement? Write some letters to bless others!