Daily Thoughts from Acts: The World Has Yet to See (Acts 28:11-31)

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. Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. 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. There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. 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. And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.

After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.  But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”

When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

“‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”  For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.  (Acts 28:11-31 ESV)

Luke ends his account with Paul in jail, guarded in a private abode at Paul’s own expense, with freedom to have visitors and using it to speak to all who would hear him.  He has already written to the church at Rome about his plans to come there and his defense of his gospel preaching.  So believers along the route to Rome are familiar with him.  And finding other believers in Italy on the way is very encouraging. 

As was his custom, Paul connects with the Jewish community first and preaches from his confinement for hours.  But the Jews are divided on his message and he once again pronounces a judgment on them from Isaiah and indicates that he is free to speak to Gentiles in this country now that they have heard and had their opportunity to respond.

The ESV Study Bible note says this about what Luke does not tell us: This situation continued for two whole years (a.d. 60–62), at which time Luke’s account ends. Information as to what happened beyond that time comes from extrabiblical sources and from hints in the last few of Paul’s letters. First Clement 5.7 (written a.d. 95, perhaps the earliest known orthodox Christian writing after the NT) speaks of Paul preaching in “the limits of the west,” which probably indicates his fulfilling his desire to preach in Spain (see Rom. 15:24). That would point to his release from the first Roman imprisonment. The church historian Eusebius, writing in a.d. 325, cites the tradition that Paul was freed from confinement and carried on a further ministry until he was arrested and placed in a second Roman imprisonment, at which time he was martyred (Ecclesiastical History 2.22). In God’s sovereignty, Paul’s time in prison was not wasted, for it was during his Roman imprisonment that he wrote the letters to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. The time after Paul’s release from his first imprisonment (mid-60s) would be when he wrote 1 Timothy and Titus. He probably wrote his last letter, 2 Timothy, during his second imprisonment, as he awaited execution (cf. 2 Tim. 4:6–8).

It is hard to overestimate the importance of Paul’s ministry.  Dwight L. Moody famously said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him.  By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”  In a Christianity Today article, The World Has Yet to See…, Mark Fackler (Issue 25) writes that Moody first heard this statement from a fellow minister in England, Henry Varley, who did not remember saying it to Moody.  But for Moody the words had power.  He told Varley,

“Those were the words sent to my soul, through you, from the Living God.  As I crossed the wide Atlantic, the boards of the deck of the vessel were engraved with them, and when I reached Chicago, the very paving stones seemed marked with ‘Moody, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him.’  Under the power of those words I have come back to England.”

It seems the apostle Paul lived those words and that the same challenge must be taken up by us.  What could God do through us if we give ourselves totally to Him?  Why would we be afraid to find out?