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Acts 28:7–10
“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. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured” (vv. 8–9).
Malta proved to be a good place for Paul and the nearly three hundred other men on the boat to be shipwrecked, for as we have seen, the native people showed the stranded passengers hospitality. These people engaged in a bit of speculative theology when they concluded from Paul’s viper bite that he must have been a murderer fleeing divine justice. Yet when the Apostle was not killed by the serpent, they drew a new conclusion, albeit one also marked by error. These people believed that Paul’s survival meant that he must have been a god come to visit them (Acts 28:1–6; see 27:37).
Paul would have ample time to instruct the native people, for he and the soldiers, sailors, and prisoners who had been shipwrecked stayed on Malta for three months (28:11). In today’s passage, Luke gives us a brief summary of their time on the island. First, we see that the “chief man of the island,” Publius, received Paul and the other men and showed them hospitality. Publius is a Roman name, which indicates that he was a part of Roman culture. Many inhabitants of Malta, we noted yesterday, were regarded as barbarians, but not all of them. Luke does not tell us why Publius was the chief man of the island, but that he owned several “lands” may indicate that he was Malta’s chief landowner. He may have even been its governor (v. 7).
While Paul and the others stayed with Publius, the Apostle learned that the father of their host “lay sick with fever and dysentery” (v. 8). The condition was one that could last months or even years, so it is possible that the man had been ill for quite some time. Paul laid his hands on the man and prayed for him, and he recovered. News of this apparently spread, and others came to the Apostle to be healed as well (vv. 8–9). Paul likely never expected to land on Malta, but he made good use of his time by ministering where God had brought him. Matthew Henry aptly comments, “A good man will endeavor to do good wherever the providence of God casts him.”
Given what we know about the Apostle Paul, it is inconceivable that he failed to evangelize the people whom he healed or to preach to the people on Malta when he had opportunities. He was driven to bear witness to Christ, as he confessed in 1 Corinthians 9:16: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” May we likewise be zealous to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
It is right for us to seek to do good wherever the Lord has placed us, and those who have been redeemed by Christ will certainly do good works in gratitude for their salvation (James 2:14–26). The most good that we can do is to bear witness to the truth of Jesus Christ. Let us look for opportunities to share the gospel wherever the Lord has placed us.
For further study
- Deuteronomy 22:1–4
- Ecclesiastes 3:12
- Matthew 4:23–25
- Hebrews 2:1–4
The bible in a year
- Joel 1–3
- Revelation 4