Project 119: Acts 28:1-10

 |  Project 119  |  Amy Hirsch

In fictional tales, shipwrecks don’t always turn out well, do they? I feel like every story I’ve read or movie I’ve watched involving a shipwreck ends with the crew finding themselves on a unfamiliar island with unfriendly natives, who see the foreigners as a threat. After such a harrowing journey and subsequent shipwreck, we might expect that Paul and his company would end up in such a situation. But instead, Luke, who was with Paul on the island of Malta, reported that the natives showed them “unusual kindness” (Acts 28:2). They started a fire, welcomed the shipwrecked crew, and tended to their needs.

We see the hand of God in this shipwreck; the Lord was determined that Paul will make it to Rome unscathed. He even protected Paul after he received a serious snake bite from a viper (Acts 28:3). But perhaps God also had plans for the crew to end up in Malta so that His goodness might be made known among those people. Luke tells us that many, including the father of the Roman governor Publius, were healed. The Lord used the topsy-turvy trip and even the shipwreck to bring His witnesses among these natives for three months!

We don’t have any written accounts in Acts 28 of the Maltese natives coming to faith, but it’s hard to imagine that Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus could have remained there for three months without giving witness to the gospel, even as people were being healed. Jesus’ miraculous physical healings, as well as the other healings in Acts, were often accompanied by the hope of spiritual healing. Even though Luke doesn’t include this in his account, it’s hard to imagine that Paul wasn’t preaching the gospel as people were healed, because that is who he was, and his desire was to make the gospel known wherever the Lord took him.

Physical healing and spiritual healing can sometimes go hand-in-hand, and this is such a good reminder for us as we think about evangelism and missions in our community, country, and world. Our desire is to care for people holistically, providing for their physical needs while also being aware of their spiritual needs and pointing them to their ultimate need, hope in Christ. And Paul is an example for us; while there are no recorded salvations in Malta in the book of Acts, no doubt Paul’s witness impacted the natives and planted seeds. We often don’t know what our impact on others might be, and we may never see the fruits of our labor; our call is to be faithful to share the gospel and love others with His love wherever He has placed us.  

Acts 28:1-10 (ESV):

 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.