Day 59 - Acts 28

Paul will eventually make it to Rome and be astonished to find out that no one knows anything about him, other than the local Christ-followers!


Is the Roman government keeping it "hush-hush" or what?


Find out what happens as we conclude Luke's account in the book of Acts. From here we will continue with what Paul has to say to the Christians in Rome in the book of Romans!

Acts 28 (Read it here)

The locals of Malta ran out and welcomed everyone from the tattered ship with a warming fire. (v. 2)  When Paul threw an armload of sticks onto the fire, a poisonous snake came out from under and bit him! (v. 3) As it hung from Paul's hand, the locals believed this signified him as a murderer. They thought he was destined to die, even though he had just survived a shipwreck. (v. 4)

The word that is translated as justice here in verse 4 is the Greek word dike (pronounced dee-kay), which is not a vague reference to equality or fairness, but to a goddess that decided people's fate on the merit of their good and bad deeds.  It would be like Americans saying that God causes karma.  It doesn't really make sense, so that's why the translators just say justice.

Even though Paul shook off the snake (v. 5), everyone waited for him to keel over and die but he didn't. So, I guess the next logical move was to proclaim Paul a god. (v. 6)


That was quick; from a murderer to a god.

The local ruler of Malta invited them (probably just Paul, Luke and Aristarchus not all 267 from the ship) into his estate for three days (v. 7) The ruler's (the reason I'm not using Publius is because that is a title, like prince or governor, not an actual name) father was sick with fever and dystentery. (v. 8) If you've never played Oregon Trail, dysentery is a disorder of the intestine and/or colon that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the feces that is fatal if untreated. You can imagine how terrible it would be to have someone in your family with dysentery in these days without running water and indoor plumbing:/

After Paul prayed for the ruler's father and healed him, then other sick people on the island came and were healed, too. (v. 9)  Because of this, people gave them gifts and everything they needed for their sailing voyage to Rome. (v. 10)

They stayed in Malta for three months, through the winter and left in the spring. Luke mentions that the new ship they were boarding had the castings of the Greek gods Castor and Pollux on the front. (v. 11)

Just in case you're curious, Castor and Pollux were considered the patron saints and protectors of sailors.  Their mother was Leda, queen of Sparta (I do find it funny that the actress' first name who played the queen of Sparta in the film 300 was Lena, pretty close to Leda). But here's where it gets really interesting.  Castor was the human son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus. After being impregnated by Tyndareus, in accordance to Greek mythology, Zeus later impregnated Leda in the form of a swan. (Even I couldn't make this stuff up.) These twin brothers were born at the same time! Castor and Pollux were also the brothers of the famous Helen of Troy. In Latin, Castor and Pollux were known as Gemini, and yes, when Castor died, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his immortality with his brother to keep them together. They were then transformed into the constellation Gemini.

Now that you have your daily lesson on Greek mythology, let's continue with the story.

Again, if you want to follow along with the ship's route, check out this map.
 
After about two weeks worth of stops in Syracuse, Rhegium and Puteoli (Puteoli, interestingly enough means "to stink" in Latin) they finally arrived in Rome. (vs. 12-14)

Believers in Rome had heard they were coming so they met Paul, Luke and Aristarchus at the Forum, which was considered the center of the entire Roman Empire, even though it was about 40 miles south of Rome. Other believers met up with them at the Three Taverns, which was a place known for its three businesses for travelers passing through; a general store, a blacksmith's shop and a restaurant.

You can imagine the relief and thankfulness that washed over Paul as he got time to spend with his fellow brothers and sisters, as well as being blessed to have his own private residence instead of a jail in Rome (vs. 15-16, even though he had to share this place with a guard)!


Even though Paul was under house arrest, he still invited local the local Jewish leaders over to visit him. He told them his side of the story about how he was unjustly arrested and wrongfully accused of ignoring Jewish customs and causing an uproar amongst the people. (v. 17, in fact the mobs of angry Jews were the ones who were causing the uproar) Even the Roman judges who had examined his case agreed that he had done nothing deserving death. (v. 18)

Paul told the Jewish leaders that he had no choice but to appeal to Caesar when his Jewish accusers continued to protest their 'not-guilty' verdicts. (v. 19) The Roman governors didn't want a riot, either, so sending him on to Rome got Paul and the angry Jews out of their hair. This was so effective that even the Jewish leaders in Rome didn't know that Paul was on trial (or was he?). All they knew was that these Christians were denounced everywhere. (vs. 21-22) Paul still wanted to get to know them and tell them about Jesus, the Messiah who has already come. (v. 20)

They set a time in which they would reconvene. At that time a large number of people came to Paul's place! Everyone brought a friend:)  Paul taught all day about how Jesus fulfilled the law and prophets. He didn't leave one part of the Scriptures out. (v. 23)

Some believed, other didn't. (v. 24) This started an all-out debate between the two sides, which Paul saw that wasn't beneficial for either. Right before they all started to leave, Paul left them with the words of Isaiah 6:9-10. (v. 25) Isaiah foretold of how the Jews would hear and see the truth [of Jesus Christ] but not be able to understand it because of their hardened hearts. Because of this they will be separated from God and refuse His healing. (vs. 26-27)

The word heal suggests a return to a previous state.  In other words, the Jews had been right with God through their faith in Him and their observance, not perfect completion, of the law. But now Jesus has replaced the law. Faith is central and essential; the law is secondary, a far second. If the Jews were to turn to Jesus, they would return, or be healed to, a right standing before God.

As I write this I know that my personal Jewish friends would whole-heartedly disagree (and maybe even be angry with me) regarding this idea of "right-standing before God," so I know to a very small degree what Paul was dealing with here.


Paul adds this final little dig in there when he says, "this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.” (v. 28)

For two years Paul supports himself in Rome. (v. 30) Either the charges from Judea were never forwarded to Rome or Paul was not a priority to Nero.  That would change in the future, though. But for the time being, Paul had many visitors come to house curious about Jesus, he preached to each and every one of them boldly and no one tried to stop him. (v. 31)


Questions

1.) Earlier I described as justice from God and karma as being different. How is that? Or do you see them as being similar or even the same? Why?

2.) Paul quotes Isaiah in saying that the Jews are too hard-hearted to understand and follow Jesus. Studies suggest that only 1 out of every 250 Jews are Christ-followers. Do you believe that people can be too smart or sophisticated to adhere to faith in Jesus Christ? Do you know of people like that, not necessarily Jews? If so, how do they respond to the claims the Bible makes about Jesus being the Messiah?

3.) I'm saving the most controversial set of mini, power-packed questions of all for last.  With this question, I am opening up several cans of worms, for sure. 

God (through Isaiah and Paul) assures that the Jews would be healed if they would accept His son and Messiah, Jesus Christ.  What would this "healing" have done?  If they would've accepted Christ, does that mean the Jews wouldn't have been exterminated during the Holocaust (If so, then what about the Armenians who were the victims of genocide? They were mostly Christians.) or land-locked in an epic religious/cultural war with many surrounding Muslim nations who want them gone? Or does this "healing" have a more soul-centric, personal meaning?  Are the negative events that have happened to Jews in the past and present because of the evil acts of evil leaders (Even that question assumes that the Jews are completely innocent of instigation, which is not true, in my opinion)?