MIRACLES ON MALTA

Posted by Angella Diehl, Webmaster on October 4, 2023 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: October 4, 2023 from Acts 28:1-10

Theme: God knows how to use our trials to form relationships for the spread of the gospel.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Today, we begin looking at the final chapter of the Book of Acts. It’s a chapter in which the promise that God had made to His appointed apostle was fulfilled. In Acts 23:11, the Lord Himself told Paul;

“Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome” (Acts 23:11).

The journey to Rome was not an easy one, though. Acts 27, after all, tells us the story of the shipwreck along the way. And much of what we find in this chapter tells us more about the difficult journey. But the lesson that we learn at the beginning of the chapter—in verses 1-10—teaches us how much we can trust in the sovereignty of God over those difficulties. It teaches us that our mighty God knows how to use our difficult trials in such a way as to form relationships that further the gospel.

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Now; this story begins where the last story ended—that is, with a shipwreck on an island in the midst of the sea. Just before the shipwreck occurred—that is, while the ship was still tossing and turning helplessly upon the waves—the apostle Paul spoke to all on board of how the Lord gave him assurance of a good outcome. In 27:22-26, he told them;

“And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island” (27:22-26).

The good news was that God had heard the prayers of Paul; and had given him his request that the lives of all on board would be saved. We can probably safely assume that—in the course of things, after people looked back on all the events—many souls were also ‘spiritually’ saved too. But the Lord also let Paul know two things. First, that there would be the complete loss of the ship in the process … and this happened in 27:41-44. Second, they would run aground on an island … and this is what we read about now in 28:1-10.

So; notice the first thing we find in the story of this ‘island adventure’. In verses 1-2, we’re told about …

1. THE HOSPITABLE WELCOME (vv. 1-2).

As the ship was breaking apart, and after everyone either swam to the shore or floated on boards and parts of the ship, we’re told;

Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta (v. 1).

Malta is a beautiful vacation spot today. But apparently, in the ancient world, this island was known as Melita—and that, in fact, is how its name appears in most ancient Greek texts of the Book of Acts. It’s the largest of a group of islands that are found about sixty miles south of Sicily. It’s a relatively small island compared to its surroundings—just under 18 miles by 10 miles in area. And it’s found in a remarkably obscure spot in the midst of the sea. It was truly the providence of God that the ship—tossed about so helplessly in the storm—ended up upon its shores.

The people who lived on the island were under Roman rule at the time. But these ‘natives’ (as they are called in verse 2) lived as ‘islanders’ would live. In the original language, Luke refers to them as barbaros—that is ‘barbarians’. This doesn’t mean that they were savage or uncouth people. The name “barbarian” is mainly a reference to the fact that they spoke a different language than the cultured Greek of the day. The word barbaros was a play on the fact that a foreigner’s tongue would sound like “bar-bar-bar” to a Greek-speaking person. (You can see this in 1 Corinthians 14:11; where Paul was writing about people who spoke in unknown tongues. He said, “If I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner [literally, a barbarian] to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner [a barbarian] to me.”)

But praise God that when it comes to the ‘new man’ in Christ—as it says in Colossians 3:11—“there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.” Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is equally available to all. And we’re told of how the hospitality of these ‘barbarians’ led to an encounter with the appointed preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 2 tells us what happened as all of the survivors of the shipwreck swam or floated to the shores of Malta and made their way to the land:

And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold (v. 2).

What a mercy this was! What a relief it would have been to the poor, shivering, exhausted passengers of that lost ship! And there’s a lesson for us as believers in the story of this welcome. We shouldn’t assume that—just because someone hasn’t yet heard the gospel or hasn’t yet believed on the Lord—that they are not kind and compassionate and morally sensitive people. Abraham once made that mistake—and it was a terrible embarrassment to him. He lied and told the ruler of the land of Gerar that his wife Sarah was his sister—thinking that the ruler would otherwise kill Abraham and steal his wife away. When confronted by the ruler about this, Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place …” (Genesis 20:11). He was wrong … and he ended up insulting the ruler of that land.

An aspect of our common humanity is a shared sense of compassion for those in need. These islanders proved that the presence of that compassion by showing “unusual kindness” in welcoming those in trouble and in need. God used that compassion to comfort Paul and his traveling companions. And in the sovereign hand of God, that shared sense of human compassion eventually became a bridge over which the good news of the gospel traveled.

Now; after the hospitable welcome of Paul and his traveling companions had occurred, we’re then told about …

2. THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE APOSTLE (vv. 3-6).

It must be that Julius—the Roman centurion who had charge of Paul—felt a sense of profound gratitude to Paul. After all, it was in answer to Paul’s prayers that everyone came to the shore alive. Most likely, Julius trusted Paul and gave him a large measure of freedom on the island. And right away, Paul used that freedom to serve. He was a preacher who wasn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty. He was helping with the gathering up of sticks to build the fire to warm the others.

But then comes another seeming disaster. Verses 3-4 tell us;

But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live” (vv. 3-4).

These islanders would certainly have known that the bite of such a viper would have meant quick death. They had probably seen it happen many times. And not only did they have a sense of human compassion, but they also had a sense of divine justice. In fact, many scholars believe that the word that they used for “justice” or “vengeance” (dikē in the original language) was the name of a mythological goddess—the virgin daughter of Zeus—who, it was believed, sat beside him and informed him of acts of human injustice. They knew that Paul was being escorted as a prisoner; and they assumed that he had committed such a great crime that—even though he survived the shipwreck—“Justice” (as a proper name) would not allow him to live.

Just how composed Paul might have been—with a deadly viper dangling from his hand—isn’t told to us. (You can ask yourself how composed you’d be!) But we can assume that he remembered the promise of the Lord Jesus—that he would, indeed, stand before Caesar. He knew that he could not die until Jesus’ promise had been kept. And so, we’re told in verses 5-6;

But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god (vv. 5-6).

We shouldn’t think of this as an example of how fickle people can be. Given their knowledge of the deadliness of that bite, they would have—rightly—perceived this as a miracle. They may have wrongly concluded, however, that he (perhaps like ‘Justice’?) was a god. But we can be sure that Paul would have set them in the right direction—just as he did in Lystra some 18 years or so before. The people of Lystra came and made offerings to him and Barnabas; but the missionaries tore their clothes and ran out among the people and told them;

“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them …” (Acts 14:15).

We can be very confident that Paul turned this moment into yet another opportunity to declare the true God to them—and to declare to them the message of how to have a relationship with Him through faith in His Son.

So; Paul’s reputation would have begun to grow among the people. They would know that he was just a man; but that he also bore a message to them about the one true God. And that led to yet another opportunity to serve; and to show forth to the islanders …

3. THE POWER BEHIND THE MESSAGE (vv. 7-9).

In verse 7, Luke tells us;

In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days (v. 7).

This man’s name—Publius—is believed to have been derived from the Latin word populus (“popular”); and was very possibly an official name rather than a birth name. He would have been a leading official under the governor of Sicily. What’s more, he was a prosperous man who held ownership of land. Perhaps having heard the story of Paul’s role in praying for the lives of all the passengers on the ship—and also having heard of the remarkable miracle of the viper-bite—he showed particular warmth, and welcome to Paul and his traveling companions. It would have been a comforting three-day stay; especially after the harrowing trial of the shipwreck!

But Luke—who we should remember was a physician—went on to tell us in verse 9;

And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him (v. 9).

Paul took yet another opportunity to serve in Jesus’ name. It wouldn’t have been Paul himself that healed the man, though. He would have trusted the Lord Jesus to heal the man through his prayers. And once again, we can be sure that Paul would have said something like what Peter had said in Acts 3:12-16;

“… [W]hy do you marvel at this? … The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus … And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all” (Acts 3:12-16).

Luke goes on to tell us in verse 9;

So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed (v. 9).

And knowing Paul, this all became an opportunity for the proclamation of the gospel. There is an ancient tradition (cited in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia), that Publius later became the first bishop of the church on Malta … and later, the bishop of Athens. And if this is true, it would be a testament to the way that the relationship Paul enjoyed with the compassionate natives of Malta resulted in the gospel taking root on Malta in a permanent way.

This leads us—finally—to …

4. THE LOVING DEPARTURE (v. 10).

Luke reports in verse 10;

They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary (v. 10).

According to verse 11, they stayed on the island for three months. And this fond farewell testifies to how the missionaries were well received during that time … and to how the gospel of Jesus had made an impact.

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Sometime later—when Paul wrote his letter to the Romans—he talked about his confidence in the life-changing power of the gospel. And he said something that almost makes us wonder if he wasn’t thinking back on his time on the island of Malta. In Romans 1:13-15, he wrote;

Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also (Romans 1:13-15).

He learned by experience that the gospel reaches all people. Perhaps, as individual believers, God may use a crisis, or a trial, or a need of some kind to put us into relationships with other people that we might not ever have thought to go to. And when that happens, we can be sure that He knows how to use our trials to form relationships that open doors to the gospel.

AE