The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Kingdom” it comes from the Greek Word “basileia” which means “kingdom, royal rule.”
After shipwreck, a snakebite, and years of imprisonment, Paul finally reaches Rome. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Acts 28.
Safely ashore on the island of Malta, the shipwrecked travelers are shown “no little kindness” by the local people, who build a fire in the rain to warm them. As Paul gathers sticks for the fire, a venomous snake fastens itself onto his hand, and the islanders initially assume he must be a murderer whom justice refuses to let live, even after surviving the sea. When Paul simply shakes the snake into the fire and suffers no harm at all, they change their minds entirely, now assuming he must be a god. Paul goes on to heal the father of Publius, the chief man of the island, along with many other sick people there, and the islanders honor them generously before their departure. Arriving finally in Rome, Paul is allowed to live by himself under guard, and after three days, calls together the leading Jews of the city to explain his situation, insisting he has done nothing against his people or their customs, and is bound with this chain “for the hope of Israel.” Many come to hear him on an appointed day, and Paul testifies about the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets, from morning until evening. Some believe, while others do not, and as they depart disagreeing among themselves, Paul quotes Isaiah’s prophecy about spiritual blindness, declaring that “the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.” Acts closes with Paul remaining a full two years in his own rented house, receiving everyone who comes to him, “preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” The book ends on this remarkably open note, not with a dramatic conclusion, but with the gospel continuing to spread freely and boldly, right at the very heart of the Roman Empire itself.
Acts ends without a neat, tidy conclusion, Paul still under guard, the gospel still spreading, the story still clearly unfinished. That open ending fits the whole book’s spirit perfectly. The mission that began with a handful of frightened disciples waiting in Jerusalem was, by this point, already reaching the ends of the known world, with no sign of stopping.
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