Acts 28:17-31--Paul in Rome

Acts 28:17-31
English Standard Version

Paul in Rome
17 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. 18 When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. 19 But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. 20 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.” 21 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. 22 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.”

23 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. 24 And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. 25 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:

26 “‘Go to this people, and say,
“You will indeed hear but never understand,
    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
27 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.’

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

​30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

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Today marks the end of our study of the book of Acts together.  Next, I'll be returning to the Old Testament to cover much of what we have missed there.  The Old Testament is full of lessons that are still for us as the people of God today, and while the priesthood and sacrificial system we see in it are "old" in that Christ has fulfilled them, there is still much to be learned about who God is and how He wants us to live so that we may experience the blessings of His covenant (which come through Christ) and not the curses of the covenant (which were all put on Christ for those who are in Christ, but for those who remain in sin, they will drink the fullness of the wrath that has been stored up for them).  We will see this not only in the Old Testament but also when we come back to look at the book of Revelation, which is probably one of the last books of the Bible we will study together.

Now to today's passage.  First, Paul makes the case to the local brothers (the Jews that lived in Rome, but clearly not the Jewish Christians because of their response at the end that they wanted to hear more about the gospel).  I would consider this as both practice for Paul as he laid out his legal arguments but also one of "don't believe everything you hear."  These are the facts from my side.

Paul explained that he had to appeal to Caesar because the Jews wished to seek jurisdiction and a change in venue only so they could assassinate Paul either on the way or while he was in their custody.  The only way that he could guarantee a fair trial, especially with his life on the line was to make use of his Roman citizenship to appeal to Caesar.

The Jewish brothers in Rome assured Paul that the Jews in Jerusalem had not sent letters ahead of time telling a different story and they didn't even know he was coming.  It seems like the Jews weren't interested in trying the case in the court of public opinion and they may not even have been willing to put much effort into the prosecution for this case.  Paul leaves his argument with the Jews of them wanting to hear more about what they thought was just a sect of Judaism, the followers of the Way, and how they interpreted the Word of God differently and how they are claiming that it had been fulfilled in the person of Jesus the Christ.  All they have heard about them is that they are spoken against everywhere by the Jewish leaders, but Paul seems to have persuaded them that he is knowledgeable in the Scriptures and sure of what he believes about the gospel.

They set a time and day for them to all come to his house where he was under house arrest and he shared with them from the Law and the Prophets (the entire Old Testament) how Jesus had to be the Christ.  The text tells us that some believed, but others rejected this message.  That's to be expected.  However, Paul spoke through the Holy Spirit to tell these Jews (and all the Jews) that Isaiah was right in what he prophesied about them that their hearts were cold and callused and they didn't hear or see what they didn't want to, and God was going to now cause them to not be able to see, hear or understand the gospel they had rejected and that this very gospel message they rejected that was meant to go to them first was now also going to go to the Gentiles, and they would accept it first and beat many of the Jewish people into the kingdom of God.

This was very upsetting to the Jews, as they imagined their eternal security to be certain because they were children of Abraham and they had done everything within their power to keep the gospel form the Gentiles so that they might stay lost in their darkness and wickedness and idolatry.  They didn't want any of them in the kingdom of God with them, and if the Gentiles were going to be there, the Jews weren't sure they wanted to be there.  That's how much bigotry there was there not just of Gentile against Jew (which we still see today) but also Jew against Gentile.

The book of Acts ends telling us that Paul lived there for two year under house arrest at his own expense (probably working as a tent maker again) and freely sharing the gospel with anyone and everything there in Rome without hinderance.  The text doesn't tell us the end of the story that we would want to know (what happened with the trial before Caesar?), but we find that out from Paul's epistles that he wrote during this time that it became more and more evident to him that he was going to die for the gospel and even the means by which he was to die (beheading) seemed to become more obvious as he was talking of being poured out like a drink offering at the end.  He seemed to know what was coming either by how the trial was going or by the Holy Spirit revealing it to him.  However, it is great to see that God have him two years of unfettered ministry in Rome with the Jews and the Gentiles there, which was one of the greatest desires of Paul's heart.  We know he wanted to go to some other places as well, like Spain, but it doesn't seem like he would ever make it there as it had been his plan to no longer go to the region of Asia Minor or Greece and Macedonia and to visit Rome on his way to Spain, but upon his return to Jerusalem, he was arrested and it seems he was never set free.

As I mentioned in earlier journal entries, it's important for us to realized this is not the end of the story.  This is only the beginning of Church history and you and I are still living today in the midst of Church history unfolding.  The Holy Spirit is still at work today in the Church all around the world and persecution of Christians today is stronger than ever.  Therefore there are many who read this history and immediately connect with it because the gospel is both flourishing and believers are being persecuted as well, just like here in the book of Acts.  I can't say whether there are areas of the world in which the kinds of miracles and signs and wonders that we see in the book of Acts are still taking place.  Part of me says "probably not" because those were usually signs for the Jewish people who God wanted to call to repentance, and we don't see another massive effort to redeem the Jews until the book of Revelation when God actually sends two evangelists from heaven to witness to all of Israel so that there are 144,000 Jews saved who themselves become evangelists and go out to all the world.  God's plan is for His people to understand and receive the gospel and there is some prophecy in the Old Testament that seems to indicate that the end will not come until the Jews recognized who Jesus was and sing "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD," and then the feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled when the Lord Jesus returns for His people and brings in the new year of the LORD's favor.