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Nate Roten Acts Series / Acts 28:17–31
Main Idea
The gospel of Christ will never be contained.
Have you ever tried dropping Mentos in a 2-liter bottle of soda (or maybe you watched the episode of MythBusters when they did it)? What happens when you do that? There is a massive and immediate reaction, isn’t there? The combination of those two things causes an eruption of fizz. Now, what do you think would happen if you dropped the Mentos in and quickly screwed on the cap? It would probably explode out of the plastic container, wouldn’t it? The pressure of the chemical reaction would not be able to be contained, would it?
What are other examples of uncontainable reactions?
- C4 in a car?
- Raging Fire in a home?
- A parent when their child is in danger?
- The power of the resurrected Jesus from the confines of the grave?
Today, we will conclude our study in Acts and confirm one more example of something that cannot be contained that is just as powerful and eternal.
Passage
Acts 28:17–31 ESV
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 examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.” And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”
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. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
“ ‘Go to this people, and say,
“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed;
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
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.
I. Same Play, Different Field
• Circa AD 60.
• Paul has always gone to the Jew first, then the Gentile.
• Because of Paul’s house arrest, he can’t go to the synagogue, so he summons the leaders to him.
II. Testing the Waters
• Paul unpacks the contention between him, the Jerusalem Jews, and the Roman’s view of the skirmish:
• I’ve done nothing against our people
• Yet, I was delivered by our people as a prisoner to the Romans.
• They examined my case and concluded I had done nothing wrong and wanted to free me.
• But, because the Jews persisted in the accusations, I had to appeal to Caesar.
• In a nutshell, Paul says that he has been wrongfully attacked and accused by his people while being acquitted by the people in charge, all because of one message. That is why he says, “For this reason, therefore…” I’ve called you here because, despite my wrongful treatment and current imprisonment, I want to tell you the same good news.
• What is that good news? The hope of Israel.
Paul is taking off his metaphorical sandal and sticking his toe in the water to test its temperature. Are these Jews aware of the drama that unfolded in Jerusalem and around the Empire? Are they seethingly angry at him? Are they going to plot murder as well? Or are they a blank slate in which I can sketch out the gospel without hatred or bias?
In essence, Paul is stepping up to a beehive and is discerning if he will get the stinger or the honey.
This shows great wisdom on his part. As we’ve seen many times before, Paul is assessing who his audience is. He loves the Jews. He wants to introduce them to the hope of Israel, but he will craft his approach based on who he is speaking to and how much they know.
This also shows great boldness on his part. Paul did not hesitate to speak of the hope of Israel, which means he was willing to endure the same vile treatment he received in Jerusalem. Why? Because the gospel of Christ is of higher value than his life.
We, too, have one play to run on different fields. We need to use wisdom and discernment with boldness, as Paul did, but we have one job when it comes to Kingdom expansion—to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, who has the power to reconcile people to God and grant eternal salvation.
And, like Paul, we need to actively seek them out. We live in a world of utter distraction and self-centeredness. We all have our own personal devices (smartphones, tablets, smartwatches…), complete with headphones and earbuds so we can shut out the natural world and the people in it. We all have increasingly busy schedules. We all have our own personal hobbies. Church attendance and interest are on a steep decline. If we are going to win people to Christ, we can’t expect that they will come to us. We must take the initiative to go to them.
III. Tell Me More
• To Paul’s great delight, he got the honey. They were a blank slate.
• No letters were received from Judea, and no vile slander had reached their ears.
• Like the Bereans on Paul’s second missionary journey, they were eager and curious to hear what Paul had to say.
• The only information they had was a negative view of “this sect.”
I have no doubt that Paul was eagerly rubbing his hands together with sheer delight. These Jewish leaders did not have the hardened animosity of the others. Paul was theologically neutral to them, and he would capitalize on their desire to hear him with an open mind.
The only negative lingering in their minds was what they had been told about “this sect.” No doubt, Paul welcomed the challenge to correct their misunderstanding and connect the Hope of Israel with Jesus – the figurehead of Christianity.
IV. Confront Diverse Responses
• When the leaders returned, many more came with them to Paul’s house.
• Paul spent the entire day – morning to evening – unpacking the gospel. He did that by:
• testifying to the Kingdom of God
• convincing them that Jesus was the Messiah, pulling his proof from Moses and the Prophets.
• After hearing, there were mixed responses. Some were convinced. Others disbelieved.
This was a fairly standard response we have seen multiple times throughout Paul’s journeys. However, there is one glaring difference. Notice the lack of teeth-gnashing outrage. Maybe it was because these Jews lived at the center of Hellenistic life and were, therefore, more philosophically curious, or perhaps they were just tamer. Whatever the case was, they were civil in their disagreements. Wouldn’t that be a nice change in our day?
This scene is representative of our witnessing journey. We will rarely convert 100% of our listeners. As we sow the gospel seed, some will fall on hard paths, shallow dirt, rocky soil, and fertile ground. Jesus said it, Paul emulates it, and we must continue the work. We cannot get discouraged when people reject our message. Rarely do they reject us personally (though some will), so don’t take it personally. They are rejecting ‘the Hope of Israel,’ and our love for the lost should provoke perseverance and resilience, helping us to focus our efforts on faithfulness over results. Our job isn’t conversions, it’s seed scattering. Focus on that and let God handle His part. There are eternal souls at stake. The gospel has been proclaimed for 2,000 years because it cannot be contained, and we have the pleasure of keeping that streak alive.
V. Challenging Spiritual Blindness
They must have disagreed openly at Paul’s home because their banter evoked a response from Paul.
He told the unbelieving Jews that the Holy Spirit was right when he spoke to their fathers, saying (quoting from Isaiah 6:9-10):
Acts 28:26–27 ESV
“ ‘Go to this people, and say,
“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed;
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
Paul used the same verse as Jesus in Matt. 13:14-15 to the same effect, which was two-fold:
1. It was a rebuke of willful disbelief in God’s revelation. “Lest” signifies their ability to turn to God for understanding and healing, but they had apprehensions. Their dulled hearts prevented them from doing so.
2. It was confirmation of God’s eternal decree to include the Gentiles in His redemptive plan.
3. As a bonus point, this would have also reinforced the new faith of the convinced Jews, having their newfound belief grounded in their scriptures.
I pray that you never reach this point of apprehension, where you could attain another level of spiritual growth, but you refuse. I pray that you will always have a spirit of seeking. I pray that you are consistently open to being filled with the Spirit and have an open heart that will alert your eyes and ears to the glories of knowing Christ.
VI. Continue with Courage
• Paid rent under house arrest for two years
• During that time, Paul, in all boldness, was:
• welcoming all who came (just like Jesus)
• proclaiming the Kingdom of God
• teaching about Jesus (what took Jesus a single stroll to Emmaus took Paul 2 years to unpack)
• wrote Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, & Philemon
• And he went unhindered. The Jews in Rome didn’t fight back like the Jerusalem Jews.
• Paul planted gospel seeds in the heart of the Roman Empire. All good stories have the hero venturing into or striking at the heart of the enemy camp (Star Wars – shooting the power core at the heart of the Death Star or Frodo taking the ring of power into the heart of Mount Doom).
God is a master storyteller. The core difference is that while we create fictional stories with climactic moments like these, God weaves them into human history. Not only were gospel seeds being planted in the hearts of people, but they were also being planted into the heart of the dominant global superpower during a time when her ruler was becoming increasingly unhinged. The past few years were lived under a “golden age” of Nero’s rule, but now, his moral decay would spill over onto the Christian population.
For now, however, the chained apostle would freely proclaim a gospel that can never be bound. It is a stronger force than mentos in soda, a raging house fire, or a block of C4. Like Christ rising from the grave, the gospel is a perpetual, unstoppable force that will bring about God’s redemptive plan throughout the entire world.
VII. The End?
At the end of Luke’s account, Paul is under house arrest with a thriving ministry and preaching with incredible boldness, but that isn’t the end of Paul’s story.
We must piece together the remainder of his story from bits of his writings and extrabiblical accounts from writings such as Clement of Rome and Eusebius (a church historian), which show that Paul was released from prison and traveled again (to Ephesus, installing Timothy there (1 Tim 1:3), installed Titus in Crete while he wintered in Nicopolis (Titus 1:5; 3:12), and possibly traveled to Spain (Romans 15:24) before Nero lit the fire of Christian persecution (and Rome) in 64 AD.
During this time, Paul wrote the pastoral letters of 1 Timothy and Titus (which would make sense because he left them in charge of the churches at Ephesus and Crete).
But that freedom would be short-lived. Paul’s final letter of 2nd Timothy describes that he is again a prisoner in Rome and does not expect to live much longer.
According to Eusebius, Paul was beheaded as a martyr in Rome on the Ostian Way. If the account of Paul’s freedom and travels is accurate, this would put Paul’s death at circa 67 AD.
Takeaway
Acts ends in multiple ways:
1. The book follows the unfolding life stories of Peter and Paul, but the real name for the book could be The Acts of the Holy Spirit. The real story is how He has empowered the church to grow and expand throughout the earth.
2. The beginning of Acts begins with Jesus (his resurrection decree), and it ends with Jesus (the unhindered proclamation of His gospel).
3. Paul is in chains, yet the gospel goes forth without hindrance and is unchained (2 Tim 2:9). What will God do through your limitations?
4. Though Paul’s story continues, Luke ends the book with a faithful servant standing before a field ripe for harvest, which almost begs the reader to put themselves in Paul’s shoes (minus the chains). The work of Acts 1:8 continues. The work is not yet done. What is your role in bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth?
Questions to Consider
1. How does the conclusion of Paul’s story in Acts connect with a broader theme of the book about the Acts of the Holy Spirit within the church?
2. What does the conclusion of Paul’s story in Acts teach us about the church’s ongoing mission and believers’ role in spreading the gospel message?
3. What can we learn from Paul’s approach to assessing his audience before sharing the gospel message? How can we apply this in our own evangelism efforts?
4. How can we maintain a spirit of seeking and openness to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we witness to others?
5. How can we apply the principle of actively seeking opportunities to share the gospel rather than waiting for people to come to us?