August 30th, 2012
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

A Snake and Kindness

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Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, You have created me to “soar on wings like eagles” (Isa. 40:31). Lord, I want to soar today.

Read Acts 28:1-16

[1] Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. [2] The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. [3] Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. [4] When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” [5] But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. [6] The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. [7] There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. [8] His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. [9] When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. [10] They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed. [11] After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island-it was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. [12] We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. [13] From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. [14] There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome. [15] The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged. [16] When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“To encourage, to lift, to offer the tonic of praise, to stand at the side of another person in need of help is a Christ-like service” (John N. Gladstone). How true that is!

Think Further

We thought yesterday about the perils of speculating that what has happened to us is (or is not) part of God’s particular providence to us. The reaction of the Maltese to Paul and his fellow sailors shows a confused mixture of over-reactions.

First of all, they were kind (2). A large number of people from the shipwreck appear on their shores, and their first reaction is to welcome them, to warm them, and then to offer hospitality (7). Note the “us” which indicates once more that Luke was there, too. Then, there is the curious incident of the snake. The islanders obviously had some idea of divine justice (4), and this agrees with the thinking of Paul in the first two chapters of Romans, where he argues that the attributes of God are plain to all (Rom. 1:19; 2:11,12). Luke seems to think it is ironic, if not pitiful, that they lurch from thinking of Paul as a murderer to his being a god. As Howard Marshall points out, there was an intermediate class of divine beings in the ancient world view. Luke makes it clear that he wasn’t one of those, either; however, the next section shows Paul as a healer in the manner of Jesus, healing the father of his host and then others on the island. Unusually, we hear nothing of Paul preaching to the Maltese (which doesn’t mean he didn’t, of course). Once again, we see Paul matching his ministry to the capacity of those to whom he ministered.

And so we come to the climax of the book, Paul’s arrival in Rome, where it seems the greetings and hospitality of established Christian believers alleviates some of the inconvenience of living under guard.

Apply

Many people have distorted or half-grasped notions of what being a Christian involves. How can you and other Christians help clear those confusions through words and actions?

Closing prayer

Lord Jesus, I know many people really don’t understand what it means and how great it is to follow You. May my life show that more clearly.

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