Paul: In Prison, but ‘Proclaiming Without Hindrance’

“He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”  -Acts 28:30-31 (ESV)

Luke ends his account of Paul’s life with the close of Acts, seeing him in his ‘own hired house,’—that is, living at his own expense—but still guarded and a prisoner.  This period was from 60 through 62 A. D.  The beauty of this arrangement was that he was free to proclaim and teach with boldness and without hindrance, either from the Roman authorities or the Jews, the marvelous message of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We know from examining the epistles of Paul that he wrote several of them while he was a prisoner.  Those definitely written from Rome were Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, and II Timothy (this latter after his second Roman imprisonment). 

Other information gleaned about Paul comes from extra-biblical writings.  First Clement 5-7 (ca. 95) relates that Paul ‘preached in the limits of the west.’  Church historian Eusebius wrote in 325 A. D. that Paul was freed from his first Roman imprisonment and was able to continue his ministry until he was arrested again under the Roman persecution (date ca. 67 A. D) and was martyred.  Paul’s time in prison was not wasted.  Younger ministers and missionaries were often with him, hearing his teachings and being mentored by him.  Among them were Luke and Aristarchus whom we have mentioned; Timothy, Thycicus, Epaphroditus, sometimes Mark.  Paul wrote to the Philippian church:  “All this has fallen out for the furtherance of the gospel” (Philippians 1:12).  Even though he was in his own house, he was guarded night and day by a member of the Roman Praetorian Guard (see Phil. 1:13).  Think of how the teacher/preacher/evangelist Paul would not have wasted any time in telling them of Jesus.  We don’t know how many of them might have become Christians.  The Greek word translated “boldness and without hindrance” in the New English Version is “without let and hindrance” in the Barclay translation (based on Moffatt, Weymouth and Williams).  This one-word Greek term indicates a cry of victory. 

Why did Luke not tell us what happened to Paul so we would not have to wonder?  The fact is that the purpose of Acts is to tell the progression of the gospel as it went out after Jesus commanded at His ascension:  “”You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world” (Acts 1:8)  With Paul’s sojourn in Rome, even though a prisoner, that task had then been accomplished.  Through preaching, teaching, witnessing and his letters, he had fulfilled that mission, as had others who had not traveled as extensively with the gospel as had Paul by his death.  The noted English preacher Rev. Charles Spurgeon once wrote:  “What was begun with so much enthusiasm ought to be continued with ardent zeal since we are assured that the same Lord is mighty still to carry on His heavenly designs.”  From Paul and other faithful servants we have a great legacy of the faith.  As we say in sports, “The ball is now in our court.” Certainly the gospel came to us on its way to someone else.  Let us be faithful in teaching, preaching, praying for its furtherance, and witnessing to its power.  Since April 15 we have gone day-by-day through the exciting account in Acts.  This has been 57 days in a walk through the Acts of the Apostles and early church history.  I pray that these devotionals have blessed your heart even as the Holy Spirit has blessed mine as I have studied, researched, prayed and written out my very heart in these pages.  God bless you and may we all bear witness every day to the “power of God unto salvation to all who believe.” Our job is to faithfully sow the seeds of His word; the Master gives the increase in a harvest of souls. 

Paul Appeals to Jews in Rome

“After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them ‘Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans…When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers.  From morning till evening he expounded to them testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus, both from the Law of Moses and from the prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved…Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”  -Acts 28:17-18, 23-24, 28 (ESV.  Read Acts 28: 17-28).

As was Paul’s custom, into each town where he went he first called together the Jews to speak to them about Jesus and the Way.  Upon his arrival in Rome, three days after settling in, he called a meeting of the Jews, inviting them to his own quarters since he was not free to go to the synagogue as he normally did.  The local leaders were probably the elders of all the synagogues in Rome, of which there were a goodly number.  He first stated his own case:  He was in Rome because of accusations from the Jews in Jerusalem.  Although the Roman authorities in Palestine had declared him innocent of any crime, the Jews were not willing to free him.  He told them of his appeal to Caesar and of why he was now in Rome in chains.  The Jews in Rome had not been notified about Paul the prisoner.  They asked to hear further from him about his beliefs and “the sect…everywhere spoken against.”

So another date was set for them to meet with Paul, and then a great crowd of Jews gathered (more than just the elders from each synagogue). He spent all day testifying to them of Jesus the Messiah, giving appropriate prophecies from the Law and the Prophets.  Some believed; some did not.  The hostility and the wall of partition remained.  Why was it so hard for the Jews to believe in Jesus?  They had their idea of the Messiah ridding them of the Roman overlords and setting up an earthly kingdom with the Jews back in their glory, much as in the time of David and Solomon.  The lowly man from Galilee who was crucified because He claimed to be the Messiah had no kingdom to show, no freedom for the Jews—earth-wise, that is.  His kingdom was a spiritual kingdom made up of genuine believers who were willing to accept the grace of God for the forgiveness of sins.  This was far removed from their preconceived notion of the restored kingdom of David.  Paul quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 to the Jews gathered at his house to hear him.  The passage is quoted by Luke in his account.  They had ears that would not hear, eyes that would not see, hearts dull and void of understanding.  And because of their stubbornness, they would not come to the Lord.  “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11).  Paul then made the declaration that the good news would be taken to the Gentiles; they would hear and respond.   Dr. William Barclay comments on Paul’s meeting with the Jews in Rome:  “The door which the Jews shut was the door that opened to the Gentiles; and even that is not the end, because some time, at the end of the day (age), there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (The Daily Study Bible. Acts.  New York: Westminster, 1955, p. 211).  For further insight into this view, please read Revelation 7:1-8 and 14:1-4.  It is sad that many of the Jews in Rome and even thoughout the world rejected the message of the Way.  But we rejoice that Paul continued his ministry, even as a prisoner, for from his inspired pen came his epistles that give us depth of theology and doctrine that we follow in our churches today.  To God be the glory.

Paul Arrives in Rome

“There (at Puteoli) we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days.  And so we came to Rome.  And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us.  On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.  And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him.” –Acts 28: 14-16 (ESV.  Read Acts 28:11-16).

The natives of Malta, still extending their kindness to Paul and his companions as well as the other shipwrecked victims, “put on board whatever we needed” wrote Luke in Acts 28:10.  And after wintering there for three months, they set sail (about March, 60 A. D.).  Luke identifies the kind of ship the captain secured to take them on to the seaport of Puteoli in Italy.  It was a ship from Alexandria, Egypt, likely another grain ship, laden with wheat or corn from the fertile fields of Egypt.  The ship had a masthead of the “twin gods,” Castor and Pollux, believed to be the twin sons of Zeus and Leda.  These were held to protect seamen and were common on many vessels of that day.  They went into port at Syracuse on the southeastern coast of Sicily and stayed there three days.  This was a Greek city that rivaled Athens in grandeur.  Probably some of the load of grain was left at that port.  From there they voyaged to Rhegium (modern-day Reggio of Calabria) on the northeastern tip of Sicily and southwestern tip of Italy.  Evidently a narrow ship’s passageway divided Sicily and Italy at that point.  With a favorable south wind, the ship made its way northward to the port of Puteoli where they disembarked.  The remainder of the way would be overland.  The long and eventful voyage from Caesarea to Italy was finished.

Imagine how Paul’s heart was gladdened as “brothers,” fellow believers, came out to greet Paul and they were together seven days.  How did they know Paul would be on the ship that landed at Puteoli?

Luke does not tell us, but we can imagine that an overland mail rider may have taken a message, or else believers from Palestine may have sent notice to watch for Paul.  With the shipwreck and wintering in Malta, the expected entourage may have arrived later than anticipated. “We” (meaning Paul, Luke and Aristarchus) enjoyed a week’s fellowship with believers before having to go on to the city of Rome some 130 miles from Puteoli where they landed.  Along the route, Roman Christians met them at the Forum, or marketplace, of Appius (on the famed Appian Way) 40 miles from Rome, and at Three Taverns 28 miles from Rome.  Imagine the joy in Paul’s heart to see these who had already adopted the Way and were eager to see him.  The church was growing in the Roman Empire, with believers at many of the areas of the nation.  And so they came to Rome, and Paul was allowed, under a soldier guard, to stay ‘by himself.’  Dr. Robert L. Maddox, Jr. writes of Paul’s arrival in Rome:  “No matter that Paul was a prisoner bound for an uncertain future before Roman courts; he was in the hands of God, and the believers were both honored and delighted to meet him and have him in their midst” (Layman’s Bible Book Commentary. Acts. Nashville: Broadman, 1979, p. 139). Ocean voyagers of long ago used to write on their maps of unknown lands:  ‘Here be dragons; here be burning sands.’  Paul could readily state (and write) of Rome to which God had promised to send him, ‘Here be God.  He is with me in this place.’  And thus, Paul the prisoner, came to Rome, bound but free, arrested but protected by the God to whom he had pledged his life and work.  How exciting

was that prospect?  To God be the glory!

Paul and Shipwrecked Survivors on the Island of Malta

“After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta.  The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.  When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.  When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ‘No doubt this man is a murderer.  Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.  He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm...And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.”  -Acts 28:1-5, 9 (ESV.  Reads Acts 28:1-10.

An interim on the island of Malta (meaning ‘refuge’) brought interesting events to Paul and the shipwrecked survivors.  Scholars agree that the entourage spent the remainder of the winter on Malta.  Let’s look at some of the exciting things that happened.  I admit that I am using my imagination to picture these victims of shipwreck.  By swimming or floating on pieces of the ship’s wreckage, all the people who were on the ship arrived on the island.  It must have been a sight for the natives, seeing the visitors coming out of the sea, near-drowned, wet, and, complicated by the weather on the island, cold, shivering and hungry.  The islanders who welcomed the visitors warmly, no doubt language being a barrier (some translations call them ‘barbarians’—not meaning human flesh-eating individuals but those who spoke ‘bar-bar’ or language unrecognizable to those who spoke the beautiful Greek tongue), soon built a fire to warm them.  When Paul was getting a bundle of sticks to add to the fire, a viper came out and bit him, attaching itself to his arm.  He flung the creature into the fire while the natives waited expectantly for him to swell up and die, suspecting the snake-bite to be some punishment from ‘Justice,’ one of their gods.  Evidently they had detected that Paul was one of the prisoners, and in their minds he might be a murderer.  When nothing bad happened to Paul, they reversed their thinking about him and thought he was a god.  Luke does not tell us how Paul communicated that he was mere man and not a god, but we assume that he was able to clarify their thinking.

Then came forth the chief of that section of Malta, one Publius by name.  His name means “pertaining to the people.”  They were royally entertained at the estate of Publius for three days.  Perhaps this chief could communicate with Paul, for he likely was the Roman-appointed ruler of the island.  He made it understood that his father lay sick of a high fever and stomach ailment.  Paul went to him, laid his hands on him, and the ruler’s father was healed.  This opened the door to further healing, and others on the island who were ill came to Paul to be cured.  Did Paul have opportunity to communicate to them the gospel so that they could understand and respond?  Luke does not make this clear in his account, but if there were a way at all for him to tell that the healing came from Jesus, and that He stood ready to heal their souls as well, we can be assured that Paul preached to them.  Kindness is reciprocal.  When the shipwrecked survivors arrived, the islanders showed kindness by kindling a fire and making them comfortable.  We must remember that the motley crowd from the ship may have survived with only themselves and the clothes on their backs.  Then Paul in his compassion, with the gift of healing from the Lord, gave kindness in return.  As had Peter and John at the temple healed the blind beggar, saying, “I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give to you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” (Acts 3:6), so Paul was able to exercise the spiritual gift of healing for those who came.   Our ministry of healing may be to intercede sincerely for those who are ill.  When our church’s prayer list is in our hands, it is a serious and needful guide to intercessory prayer.  Many can testify to the miraculous effects of prayer.  Recently mothers deeply concerned over grown children with medical emergencies have called me to pray for their children.  Individuals, likewise, have called requesting prayer for one emergency or another.  Sometimes the prayers are answered with miraculous healing.  Again, the miracle is administered through the skills of surgeons or doctors who know an advantageous treatment.  Again, some may die and not be healed this side of heaven.  But as Paul on Malta, and others whom we study about in Acts, our task is to be faithful in diligent prayer on behalf of our friends, trusting the Lord’s will to be done.  Think of Paul on Malta when the shipwrecks of life occur.  With God, there is always hope through the darkest times.