Acts 28 Devotional

The Word Without Chains

“Boldly and freely he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.”Acts 28:31 (BSB)

The shipwrecked travelers are welcomed on Malta with unusual kindness. A viper fastens onto Paul's hand, and the islanders decide he is a murderer, then a god (28:3-6). He is neither. He is a servant of Jesus, and through his prayers the sick of the island are healed (28:8-9). At last he reaches Rome, and believers come out along the road to meet him. Seeing them, Paul thanks God and takes courage (28:15).

The book does not end with Paul's trial. It ends with Paul under guard in a rented house, teaching about the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, boldly and without hindrance (28:30-31). Some of his hearers believe and others refuse, and Paul reads their refusal in light of Isaiah's warning about hearts that grow dull (28:24-27). But the word goes on. Paul later writes that his chains could not bind God's word (2 Timothy 2:9). Acts closes with a door left open, because the risen Jesus is still at work, and his story is not finished yet.

To think about: How might your own life be part of the story Jesus is still writing after the last page of Acts?