April 3rd, 2022

This Sunday is the Fifth Sunday in Lent, and next Sunday will be Palm Sunday. And during our Lenten journey, we have been looking at St. Paul’s extremely important journey at the end of the book of Acts, and we are getting extremely close to the end of that journey. St. Paul will stand before Caesar and be a witness in Rome (see Acts 23:11). After the terrible storm that Paul and his companions endured in Acts 27, they find themselves safe—saved, as it were—and they find out where they actually are. Next week, we will be looking at their arrival into Rome. But this week we find St. Paul coming up against what might be called a slight problem; he is called both a murderer and a god.

What follows is a somewhat-literal translation from Acts 28[:1-10], starting at the point where St. Paul and all the other people in the ship made it safely to land. Now this is just a reminder that the angel of God said to Paul: ‘God has granted to you all the ones sailing with you.’ But what about Paul himself?

And having been thoroughly saved, then we knew thoroughly that Melita the island is called. And the barbarians showed not the ordinary philanthropy to us; for having fastened a fire, they took in all of us because of the rain standing over and because of the cold.

And Paul, having gathered together a certain number of sticks and putting them on the fire, a viper, having come out from the heat, fastened on the hand of him. And when the barbarians saw the beast hanging from the hand of him, to one another they were saying: “Certainly a murderer is this man, whom, having been thoroughly saved from the sea, the justice did not allow to live.”

Therefore, he, on the one hand, having shaken off the beast into the fire, he suffered no evil. They, on the other hand, were expecting him to be about to swell up or to fall down suddenly dead. And for much they were expecting, and beholding nothing unusual happening to him, having changed their minds, they were saying him to be a god.

And in around that place, were lands to the prominent one of the island, by name, Publius, who, having received us, three days friendly lodged.

And it happened, the father of Publius, by feverish attacks and dysentery being afflicted, lying down, to whom Paul, having entered and having prayed, having put on the hands to him, cured him. And this happening, the rest in the island, having illnesses, came up and were healed, who also with many honors they honored us, and putting us out [to sea], placed on us the things for our needs.

Another litotes (a double negative) comes near the beginning of this section when the group’s extraordinary kindness is mentioned. And this double negative (‘not the ordinary’) helps us so that we do not focus too much on these people. It certainly becomes easier not to focus on this particular group when they are called ‘barbarians’, but that may simply be a designation for a group of people who do not speak the Greek language. (How biased is that?!)

God granted to St. Paul the rest of the people on the ship. But what about Paul? It was necessary for Paul to stand before Caesar. This was a promise that Paul would visit Rome when he was still alive, since he would STAND before Caesar. How Paul actually gets the rest of the way will be slightly unusual, and we will look at that next week.

Earlier in the book of Acts (14:11-18), St. Paul had the same problem of people calling him a ‘god’, so this is nothing new. And Paul will have none of this. Much was probably said by him to the people of Melita, and it probably is quite similar to what was said in Acts 14. He certainly does not want people to focus on him (see especially Acts 14:15).

Within this section of Acts 28 there is a great contrast between being saved and being killed. And God is intimately involved with that contrast. If we are not to focus on the ‘barbarians’, or on St. Paul, what we have left is a gracious God who keeps his promises. He is also a God who kills and makes alive with his law and his gospel.