ALL FOR JESUS
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Opening Prayer
Mighty God, thank you that there is nothing for which I cannot trust you. Use your Word to show me your faithfulness and strengthen my confidence in you.
Read ACTS 28:17–31
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Paul Preaches at Rome Under Guard
17 Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. 18 They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. 19 The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. 20 For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”
21 They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. 22 But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.”
23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. 24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. 25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:
26 “‘Go to this people and say,
“You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
27 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
28 “Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” [29] [b]
30 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!
Footnotes
- Acts 28:27 Isaiah 6:9,10 (see Septuagint)
- Acts 28:29 Some manuscripts include here After he said this, the Jews left, arguing vigorously among themselves.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘Consider him [Jesus] who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.’1
Paul spends three days being encouraged and blessed by the brothers and sisters. After all the heartache and suffering he has gone through at the hands of the Jews, he needs encouragement! He then arranges to see the Jewish leaders in Rome. There is a finality to his interaction with the Roman Jews, whom he longed would ‘understand with their hearts’ (v. 27) that Jesus is Lord. It seems astonishing that after all the trouble the Jerusalem Jews have taken to eradicate Paul as a threat, they have not bothered to communicate their concerns about Paul to the Jews in Rome. Perhaps they only cared that he was out of Jerusalem and Israel. This, however, gives Paul a fresh opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus. It is good to see that they are prepared to listen and take what he says seriously, but there is something ominous in the phrase ‘people everywhere are talking against this sect’ (v. 22, emphasis added).
It is wonderful to read that some of the Jewish leaders were convinced by Paul’s teaching on the fulfillment of prophecy and the kingdom through Jesus, but Isaiah’s prophecy about the stubbornness of Israel’s heart is also fulfilled here.2 Paul’s ministry was bittersweet—it put him at variance with his fellow Jews but led him to bring many brothers and sisters—both gentile and Jew—into the kingdom of God. The book of Acts does not end on a bitter note, however. Paul’s ministry is flourishing and the kingdom of God is growing. Luke spares us the ending of Paul’s story (and his own), so we will finish with some apt words of Paul’s: ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.’3
Apply
This cloud of witnesses surrounds me—Peter, John, Paul, Lydia, Phoebe, Cornelius, Luke. May I run the race with perseverance, fixing my eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.4
Closing prayer
Father, help me to run the race with perseverance, fixing my eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of my faith.4
1 Heb 12:3. 2 Isa 6:9, 10. 3 2 Tim 4:7. 4 See Heb 12:1, 2.
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