Acts 27-28 - On to Rome

Here the travel narrative ends.  Luke recorded it just as he did any other stop on their journey (Acts 18:11;Acts 18:18; Acts 20:6; Acts 21:4; Acts 25:6; Acts 25:14; Acts 28:12).

Acts 28:30-31

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.

So, it feels unfinished.  It feels like there is more to come.  You want to turn the page.  There is no valediction or other close to the book, which is much like the way Luke closed his gospel account.

Luke 24:50-53

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Luke does not avoid martyrdom having recorded that of John the Baptist (Luke 3:19–20, 9:9), Steven (Acts 7:54-60), and James the brother of John (Acts 12:1-5).  But Luke does not record the final acts of either Peter, Paul, John, or James.  

The temptation for us would be to piece together Paul’s fourth missionary journey to Spain and eventual martyrdom from the evidence within his copious epistles, but that would be a disservice to the ending of this book.

Luke is not documenting the end but rather the beginning of the Church.  With each event, each visit, each conversation, being one more stone in its construction.

James also closes his epistle in this unfinished style (James 5) with a series of admonitions but without any valediction.  One of the last concerns prayer for an ill believer.

James 5:13-15

 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

James encourages us to commit the sick to the will of God in prayer.  Then, God may heal them miraculously in the moment, or over time using the God-designed self-healing mechanisms of the body, or in God’s providence the believer may, in fact, die.  It would be a misreading to understand that this verse guarantees healing.

But regardless of the outcome, the Lord will raise them up.  The Lord will forgive.  James is not pointing us to the surety of healing but rather to the surety of resurrection.  

Why then the oil?  Anointing with oil sets someone or something apart as holy and for a purpose.  The reader is encouraged to search the 25 other occurrences in scripture to confirm this.  We do a disservice then to connect it here with healing.  

But in our humanity, we want something magical and under our power to heal our loved-one, when in fact we simply are being told to set them apart for God’s holy purpose.  That purpose may be present and temporary or future and eternal, but it does not end.

So, then it is fitting that the Acts of the Apostles is left unfinished!

Acts 25-26 - Before Festus and Agrippa

In Acts 26:12-23, Paul relates his conversion experience to King Agrippa.  He includes a phrase that was not recorded previously (though it is found in some manuscripts added to Acts 9:5 KJV) :

. . . in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

A goad was a strong sharpened stick used to drive an ox.  It was strong enough for Shamgar the Judge to have used as a weapon to single handedly kill 600 Philistines (Judges 3:31).  Typically, 6-8 feet in length, fire hardened, and metal tipped.

The image here is that when being driven, if the ox kicked back against the prodding, it would injure itself.  This is a common proverb.

Gamaliel, under whom Paul had studied (Acts 22:3) also warned against this when in council (Acts 5:33-40).  One should not fight against God.

It was an extra message Paul wanted to share with King Agrippa.  Don’t fight against the fact that the prophets, whom the king himself believed, their prophecies have indeed been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Acts 26:27-28
[Paul speaking] “. . . King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” 

The Apostles and the evangelists used goads in their conversations to drive individuals to decision.  

•      Peter often pointed to undeniable miracles (Acts 3:14-20).
•      To his own martyrdom, Steven pointed to scripture (Acts 7:48-53).
•      Phillip used scripture and pointed to nearby water (Acts 8:34-36).
•      Peter argued from fulfilled prophecy (Acts 13:16-43).
•      Paul used compassion and personal sacrifice (Acts 16:27-31).
•      Paul used the words of local poets about Zeus (Acts 17:28-32).
•      Paul used his own testimony (Acts 22:3-23).

We have strong goads and permission to use them.

 

Acts 23-24 - Before Felix

Imprisoned for two years by Felix, the journeys of Paul paused.  Additionally, no letter exists from this period and no miracles are recorded.  Paul’s only ministry was to his visitors and to Felix.  

But Paul had written his magnum opus, the Epistle to the Romans, while in Corinth, during the Third Missionary Journey (See Pauline Epistles).  He concludes Romans with his plans to visit Rome (and Spain) after his trip to Jerusalem (Romans 15:22-29).

While a pause does not fit with the modern first-world lifestyle, it fit God’s plan:

1 Corinthians 3:5-7
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

So, like a farmer, Paul’s efforts paused while the seed in Rome germinated.

But something else was also germinating.  

Impatient after two years, prominent Jews of Caesarea went to Emperor Nero in Rome to complain about Felix (See Josephus “The Antiquities of the Jews” Book XX Chapter 8 Section 9).  It was a complaint for which Felix was almost punished but instead was simply replaced.  The content of the complaint was not recorded, but it can be presumed that it concerned Paul and could be the reason Paul was left in prison.

Acts 24:27
When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

For those that want to follow the drama of Herod the Great’s Family Tree, should take note that Felix was married to Drusilla, the great-grand-daughter of Herod the Great. 

Acts 21-23:11- Paul's Final Visit to Jerusalem

Acts documents three missionary journeys by Paul:

• The first missionary journey started in Antioch, looped through Asia-Minor, and back to Antioch, before finishing in Jerusalem.
• The second started in Jerusalem, went through Antioch, Asia-Minor, went on to Macedonia and Greece, visited Jerusalem, and finished in Antioch.
• The third would start in Antioch and finish in Jerusalem but focused on Ephesus.

As we just read last week, Paul quickly left the elders of Ephesus at Miletus and sailed quickly to Caesarea and on to Jerusalem.  Paul was driven to get there despite being told multiple times not to go.

• The disciples at Tyre tell him "through the Spirit" that he should not go to Jerusalem (Acts 21:3-4).
• The prophet Agebus at Caesarea acts out prophetically how Paul would be bound and led away in Jerusalem (Acts 21:8-12).

Paul pressed on anyway saying "For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13b).  While the Spirit was accurately communicating what would occur, Paul was not being commanded through them not to go.

Paul already had his marching orders.

After coming under the protection of the Roman authorities, while he addressed a riotous crowd, he related his conversion experience and the prophetic word from Ananias, who had restored Paul's sight.

Acts 22:14-15

And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.

Acts records three additional times when Paul would receive a direct word from our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Immediately following his conversion, Paul fell into a trance while praying in the temple and was commanded "Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles."(Acts 22:17-21).  This he did with three missionary journeys.
• On the second missionary journey, having reached Greece, he was told in Corinth “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” (Acts 18:9-10).  This he did as he came under the providential protection of the Romans.
• And after he had testified before the Jewish council in Jerusalem, he was commanded “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” (Acts 23:11).

With these marching orders, Paul ignored the warnings of the Christians at Tyre and Caesarea, and used every possible strategy to achieve that goal:

• He used a plan hatched by James to show people that Paul was still an observant Jew (Acts 21:17-30)
• He used the protection of the Roman cohort as an opportunity to speak and give his testimony (Acts 21:37-22:23).
• He used his Roman citizenship into a second opportunity to speak and demonstrate his love for the Jewish Law (Acts 23:1-5).
• He split the Jewish council down the middle, confounding their efforts to present a unified front against Paul to the Romans (Acts 23:6-10).
• He began to use the command and control structures of the Roman authorities to start his way to Rome under their protection (Acts 23:31-35).

He did not simply wait for the door to be opened, he opened them.