Last week, we got a lesson in 1st-century sailing and how ship captains navigated the Mediterranean Sea to deliver cargo and passengers. Since Paul left late in the sailing season, he met storms on his way to Rome. The storms became so bad that, as Paul had predicted, they would become shipwrecked. And that’s where we find Paul, Luke, Aristarchus, and the rest of the ship’s crew and passengers.
The ship wrecks
Read Acts 27:39-41
- That the ship’s crew doesn’t recognize the shoreline or landmarks says what about their location?
- How does the ship’s crew “go for broke,” realizing that this is their best chance to survive?
Read Acts 27:42-44
It was common Roman practice to execute the guards that let their prisoners escape.
We see this in Acts 12, after an angel rescued Peter from prison. “When Herod had searched for [Peter] and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered that they should be put to death” (Acts 12:19). That’s why the Philippian jailer tried to kill himself when he thought his prisoners had escaped (Acts 16:27). Thus, we can understand why the Roman guards planned to execute all the prisoners after the shipwreck.
St. Paul’s Bay, Malta. Tradition has this as the location for the shipwreck in Acts 27.
On Malta
Read Acts 28:1-4
Natives: Luke used the standard Greek term to denote those who did not speak Greek, barbaros, from which we get our word “barbarian” (see also Romans 1:14 and Colossians 3:11). Here, Luke uses the word without its normal negative connotation, simply stating that they were not Greek-language speakers. At that time, native Maltese spoke a dialect of Phoenician, which was related to Aramaic.
- How did the native Maltese treat those from the ship?
- What do they conclude about Paul based on what happened to him?
Justice: The Greek word for Justice is dike (pronounced dee-kay). This feminine-gendered word did not refer to justice in a general, philosophical sense, but to the goddess of retribution. The direct article (“the”) precedes dike, “the Justice.” If one wanted to bring out the specificness of the “the” and the feminine gender of dike, “Lady Justice” would be a good way to express that. In Greek mythology, Justice was the Zeus’ daughter, who meted out the revenge that one deserved.
Read Acts 28:5-6
Luke 10:19: See, I [Jesus] have given you [those whom Jesus had sent, “apostled”] authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you.
- What did the Maltese now conclude about Paul?
Read Acts 28:7-10
- What takes place when Paul stayed with Publius?
Note: refer to Lessons 3, 8, 13, and 21 on excurses dealing with signs and wonders, the laying on of hands, miracles, and healings in the Apostolic Church.
- How do the Maltese respond to what God did for them through the Apostle Paul?
Traveling again to Rome
Read Acts 28:11-14a
The three-month stay: The shipwreck took place in late October or early November. The ancient Greek historian Pliny says that the sailing season for the Mediterranean Sea began on February 7. That helps explain why they had waited three months (besides having a ship available to board).
Castor and Pollux: In Greek mythology, they were the twin sons of Zeus and Leda. Popular piety revered them as the gods of sailing.
“Made a circuit”: This was zig-zagging (tacking) back and forth because the wind direction was not blowing in the ideal direction to bring them to their destination.
- What did Paul find in Puteoli?
What Luke writes matches what Paul wrote in the book of Romans. Before his arrival, many Romans had already become Christians and their faith was “spoken of throughout the world” (Romans 1:8). Christian tradition put Peter in Rome nearly two decades before Paul first set foot in the city.
Finally in Rome!
Read Acts 28:14b-16
- What had the Christians around Rome become aware of before had Paul arrived?
The Forum of Appius and Three Taverns: Three Taverns was about 33 miles south of Rome; the Forum of Appius was about 43 miles south of Rome. Both were near the western coast of Italy.
- How did Paul’s treatment as a prisoner show how the Roman authorities viewed him?
Paul speaks to the Jews in Rome
Read Acts 28:17-20
- As was Paul’s usual habit when visiting a city for the first time, with whom did he meet?
Read Acts 28:21-22
- What did the Jews in Rome know about Paul?
- Because of that, what were they willing to do?
Read Acts 28:23-24
- What takes place with the Jews?
Read Acts 28:25-28
- How does Paul chastise some of the Jews?
Isaiah 6:9-10: Paul quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 from the Greek-language Septuagint. The Masoretic text has, “Make the heart of this people insensitive…” The Septuagint has, “The heart of this people has become insensitive…” Why did Paul quote the Septuagint for the Jews at Rome? First, it shows how the Septuagint had become the de-facto Old Testament for Jews outside the Jerusalem Temple. Second, it placed the responsibility for not believing on the people. (In the Old Covenant, God told Isaiah that God would make the heart of the people insensitive to allow their exile to bring them to repentance.)
Read Acts 28:30-31
- What does Paul do while awaiting the outcome for his appeal to Caesar?
Paul’s imprisonment was from about 60 to 62 AD. Luke doesn’t tell the outcome of Paul’s case before Caesar because he had finished writing the book of Acts while Paul was still under house arrest. The 4th bishop of Rome, Clement, tells us in 96 AD that Paul “taught righteousness to the whole world, having reached the Western boundary [Spain]” (1 Clement 5:7).
