Enforced Stopover and Paul’s Ministry

“Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold…There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably. His father was sick in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. They honored us in many ways and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed. –Acts 28: 1-2; 7-10 (NIV. Read Acts 28:1-10).

Shipwreck on the island of Malta (called Melita in the King James Version) was not a time of idleness for Paul. Malta was located some 50 miles southwest of Sicily. Looking at a map of the missionary journeys of Paul, it is easy to locate this small island, a tiny dot of land in the Mediterranean Sea. The natives showed unusual kindness to the 276 people who had survived the shipwreck. Victims, they were cold from the sea water and the storm. The islanders built a fire. Paul himself, ever the practical person, gathered driftwood to help kindle the fire. A viper (snake), warmed by the fire, came out of hibernation in the wood and attached itself to Paul’s arm. The islanders, being extremely superstitious, thought the snake was punishment for Paul, the prisoner, who must be a murderer or worse. But when he did not die from the viper’s attack, they then wanted to declare Paul a god and worship him. But Paul would have nothing of this hero-worship. Instead, he had work to do for God while they were on the island.

The ruler of Malta was a man named Publius who extended hospitality to the shipwrecked entourage and entertained them royally for three days. It is not clear whether Publius had been appointed to his rulership of the island by the Roman government or else had been placed in his role by the natives. At any rate, he extended hospitality and made the victims of shipwreck feel welcome. And his kindness was reciprocated. When Paul learned that Publius’s father was sick, as Dr. Luke diagnosed, “with recurring fever and dysentery,” Paul prayed, laid his hands on him, and he was healed. That news spread, and many others sick on the island came for Paul’s prayers, touch and healing. And when the shipwrecked visitors were ready to leave for Rome, the islanders honored them by gifts and provisions for the remainder of their journey. Kindnesses done in the name of the Lord are never lost. The time on Malta was rich with the blessings of God poured out on the people. Let us, like Paul, use even the interims of life to do good to others.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Sunday, May 16, 2010