The Miraculous Months on Malta
Acts 28:1-10
1 And
when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. 2
And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a
fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of
the cold. 3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid
them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand,
they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he
hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5 And he
shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6 Howbeit they
looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after
they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their
minds, and said that he was a god. 7 In the same quarters were possessions of the
chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us
three days courteously. 8 And it came to pass, that the father of
Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and
prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. 9 So when this
was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed:
10 Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed,
they laded us with such things as were necessary.
Outline:
I. The First Miracle on Malta - Paul Unharmed by Viper
Venom (28:1-6)
II. The Second of Many Miracles on Malta - Healing of
Diseases (28:7-10)
Transition:
It could be worse!
I’m so far down even down looks like up to me!
I gotta look up to see the bottom of your shoes!
“It is Joe Btfsplk, from Al Capp’s L’il Abner,”
See Brian Cronin, “Comic Book Legends Revealed #407” (22 FEB 2013), on Comic
Book Resources at http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2013/02/22/comic-book-legends-revealed-407/3/
[accessed 10 MAY 2015]; and Wikipedia
at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Btfsplk
[accessed 10 MAY 2015].
“Gloom, despair, and
agony on me
Deep, dark depression,
excessive misery
If it weren't for bad
luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and
agony on me
We figured she was rich,
loaded to the hilt
And we figured she had
class like the Vanderbilts
'Cause we had heard for
years how she was so well reared
How was we to know they
meant the way she was built
Gloom, despair, and
agony on me
Deep, dark depression,
excessive misery
If it weren't for bad
luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and
agony on me”
Buck Owens & Roy
Clark, “Gloom, Despair And Agony On Me”
From the TV Show
"Hee-Haw" (1969 -1992); on YouTube
at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXysRO11Xi8
[accessed 10 MAY 2015].
I. The First Miracle on Malta - Paul Unharmed by Viper
Venom (28:1-6)
1 And
when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. 2
And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a
fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of
the cold. 3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid
them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand,
they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he
hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5 And he
shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6 Howbeit they
looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after
they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their
minds, and said that he was a god.
The island’s name is Malta, not Melita, but the ancient
Greek word when transliterated is “Melita.” There is a reason why that is used
to refer to the island so neither the older nor the more modern translations
are necessarily in disagreement on when the shipwreck occurred.
The hospitality of the Maltese is noted here in verse 2,
and later in verses 7 and 10.
The term translated “vengeance” in verse 4 may be capitalized
and understood as a false divinity referred to as either “Nemesis” or “Justice.”
Mk. 16:15-18 — 15 And he said unto them, Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that
believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new
tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and
if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on
the sick, and they shall recover.
Lk. 10:19 — Behold, I give unto
you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Ps. 91:13 — Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion
and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
It is no coincidence that the viper latched onto Paul,
and there may be symbolic significance in the viper’s attempt to get out of the
fire, and then being cast back into the fire by Paul.
Num. 21:6-9 — 6 And
the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and
much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and
said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee;
pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed
for the people. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and
set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten,
when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of
brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had
bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Jn. 3:14-15 — 14 And as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be
lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
eternal life.
Rom. 16:20 — And the God of
peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you. Amen.
Modern snake
handlers
CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/16/us/snake-salvation-pastor-bite/
[accessed 9 MAY 2015].
“The "snake
handling" pastor of a small Pentecostal church in Kentucky died after
being bitten by a rattlesnake during a weekend church service.
Jamie Coots, the
pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro, Ky., was
handling a rattlesnake during a service when he was bitten on his right hand
Saturday night. But when the ambulance arrived at 8:30 p.m., the EMS team found
that Coots had gone home, according to a statement from the Middlesboro Police
Department.
Middlesboro
Police Chief Jeff Sharpe told ABC News that, according to people at the church,
Coots verbally refused treatment at the church. He said Coots was unconscious
when he got to his house. When the ambulance crew arrived at Coots' home, his
wife Linda Coots signed a form declining medical treatment, police said.
Emergency
personnel left about 9:10 p.m. that night. When they returned about an hour
later to check on Coots, police said he was dead from a venomous snake bite.
The
snake-handling pastor's son Cody Coots said his father had handled the snake
that bit him many times before.
"The snake
that bit him, we've been carrying him to the church for about four
months," Cody Coots told CBS affiliate WYMT in Hazard, Ky. "It's been
carried hundreds of times, handled all kinds of times but now when it's your
time to go, it's just your time to go."
It's estimated
that 125 churches in the United States use poisonous snakes during services
today, with many clustered in the South. In tiny churches tucked away in rural
Appalachia, "snake handling" is a long-standing tradition, one that
took root in this region more than a century ago.
These pastors
believe that to "take up serpents" is a form of religious expression.
In the King James Bible, Mark 16:18 says, "They shall take up serpents;
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them."
Coots and his
followers believe that God calls upon them to handle venomous serpents and to
drink other poisons. Even if they are bitten, they will refuse medical
treatment because they believe that they are worthy of God's faith, and that
their fate is in God's hands.”
Note: This was also reported on ABC News at http://abcnews.go.com/US/snake-handling-pentecostal-pastor-dies-snake-bite/story?id=22551754
[accessed 9 MAY 2015].
2012 incident:
ABC News (30
MAY 2012) at http://abcnews.go.com/US/serpent-handling-west-virginia-pastor-dies-snake-bite/story?id=16459455
[accessed 9 MAY 2015].
“A "serpent-handling" West Virginia pastor died
after his rattlesnake bit him during a church ritual, just as the man had
apparently watched a snake kill his father years before.
Pentecostal pastor Mark Wolford, 44, hosted an outdoor
service at the Panther Wildlife Management Area in West Virginia Sunday, which
he touted on his Facebook page prior to the event.
"I am looking for a great time this Sunday,"
Wolford wrote May 22, according to the Washington Post.
"It is going to be a homecoming like the old days. Good 'ole raised in the
holler or mountain ridge running, Holy Ghost-filled speaking-in-tongues sign
believers."
Robin Vanover, Wolford's sister, told the Washington Post
that 30 minutes into the outdoor service, Wolford passed around a poisonous
timber rattlesnake, which eventually bit him.
"He laid it on the ground," Vanover said in the
interview, "and he sat down next to the snake, and it bit him on the
thigh."
Vanover said Wolford was then transported to a family
member's home in Bluefield about 80 miles away to recover. But as the situation
worsened, he was taken to a hospital where he later died.
Jim Shires, owner of the Cravens-Shires Funeral Home in
Bluefield, told ABC News that Wolford died Monday. Wolford's church, the
Apostolic House of the Lord Jesus in Matoaka, will host a viewing Friday and a
funeral service Saturday morning. Wolford will be buried at the Hicks Family
Plot in Phelps, Ky.”
See also the following:
“A look at the snake-handling
churches of Appalachia” (17 JUL 2013), on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBVcsWYJd8
[accessed 9 MAY 2015].
“CNN's
Gary Tuchman takes you inside the snake-handling churches of Appalachia.”
The Wall Street
Journal at http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/09/10/snake-salvation-inside-the-world-of-christian-serpent-handlers/
[accessed 9 MAY 2015].
Holiness Snake
Handlers at http://holiness-snake-handlers.webs.com/
[accessed 9 MAY 2015].
Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_handling
[accessed 9 MAY 2015].
II. The Second of Many Miracles on Malta - Healing of
Diseases (28:7-10)
7
In the same quarters were
possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who
received us, and lodged us three days courteously. 8 And it came to
pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to
whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. 9
So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island,
came, and were healed: 10 Who also honoured us with many honours;
and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary.
The most barbaric, or primitive, the most Gentile of the
Gentiles, often extended the greatest hospitality, and were the most receptive
to the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. This was not always the case, as in Ephesus, but it certainly was here
in Malta.
The hospitality of the Maltese is noted in verses 2, 7,
and 10.
It should be remarkable to us, that Paul makes such a startling
impact during his months on this island. The remarkable aspects of this stage
of his journey are the following:
1) Paul is a prisoner from beginning to end;
2) Paul had just been shipwrecked after weeks of
frightful sailing in the worst season for the central Mediteranean Sea;
3) Paul wants to be in Rome, and had no plans to come to
this island; and,
4) There is no mention of any preaching or response to
the Word of the Gospel among the Maltese, or if there were any language
barriers.
One thing is for sure, the Maltese will never forget
Paul, and any missionaries who follow up on this visit will receive a warm
reception once their connection to Paul is made known!
On 4 above see especially the following:
David G. Peterson, The
Acts of the Apostles, in The Pillar
New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), pp. 700-701.
John B. Polhill, Acts,
Vol. 26 in The New American Commentary,
gen. ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, Publishers,
1992), pg. 533.
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts,
Vol. 5 in the Zondervan Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament, gen. ed. Clinton E. Arnold (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2012), pg. 1053.
Conclusion:
Would you rather be where you are right now or:
a prisoner?
in a shipwreck?
on an unknown island in the middle of nowhere instead of
where you really wanted to be?
bitten by a poisonous snake and determined by that to be
deserving of death?
None of the above?
Some of the above?
All of the above?
What if that was precisely where God wanted you to be?
What if that was exactly what God wanted you to
experience?
Complete outline:
I. The First Miracle on Malta - Paul Unharmed by Viper
Venom (28:1-6)
II. The Second of Many Miracles on Malta - Healing of
Diseases (28:7-10)
[Sermon preached 10
MAY 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown,
PA.]
Appendix 1 — Resources
on Acts
G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of
the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), pp. 513-606.
Paul Barnett, The
Birth of Christianity: The First Twenty Years, After Jesus, Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 2005).
Darrell L. Bock, Acts,
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New
Testament, eds. Robert W. Yarbrough and Robert H. Stein (Grand Rapids:
Baker Academic, 2007).
F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text
with Introduction and Commentary, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1951, 1952).
Dennis E. Johnson, The Message of Acts in the History of
Redemption (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1997).
I. Howard Marshall, Acts:
An Introduction And Commentary, Vol. 5 in Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. Leon Morris (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980; 2008 reprint).
David G. Peterson, The
Acts of the Apostles, in The Pillar
New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009).
John B. Polhill, Acts,
Vol. 26 in The New American Commentary,
gen. ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, Publishers,
1992).
Richard Belward
Rackham, The Acts of the Apostles: An
Exposition, Oxford Commentaries, ed. Walter Lock (London: Methuen & Co., 1901), on Google Books at https://books.google.com/books?id=T4f9C9sTl9cC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 25 APR 2015]; and on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/actsapostlesane01rackgoog [accessed 25 APR 2015]; 8th ed., Westminster
Commentaries, ed. Walter Lock (London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1919) at https://archive.org/details/actsofapostlesex00rack [accessed 25 APR 2015].
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts,
Vol. 5 in the Zondervan Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament, gen. ed. Clinton E. Arnold (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2012).
W. C. van Unnik, “The ‘Book of Acts’ the Confirmation of
the Gospel,” in Novum Testamentum 4:1
(OCT 1960), pp. 26-59; reprinted in The
Composition of Luke’s Gospel: Selected Studies from Novum Testamentum,
compiled by David E. Orton, Vol. 1 of Brill’s
Readers in Biblical Studies (Leiden: Brill, 1999), pp. 184-218.
William H. Willimon, Acts,
in Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for
Teaching and Preaching, series ed. James Luther Mays, New Testament ed.
Paul J. Achtemeier (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010).
Appendix 2 — Resources on Paul
Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural
Studies in 1 Corinthians (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011).
F. F. Bruce, Paul:
Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1977).
D. A. Carson, The
Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1996), pp. 496-501.
W. J. Conybeare and J. S. Howson, The Life, Times and Travels of St. Paul, 2 vols. in 1, unabridged
American ed. (New York: E. B. Treat U Co., 1869); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=Bn1CAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 12 FEB 2013].
Adolf Deissmann, Paul:
A Study in Social and Religious History, 2nd ed., trans. William E. Wilson
(New York: Harper Torchbooks, n.d.).
F. W. Farrar, The Life
and Work of St. Paul (New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1889); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=RB2KeCSM6KsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 12 FEB 2013].
Bruce N. Fisk, “Paul: Life and
Letters”, in The Face of New Testament
Studies: A Survey of Recent Research, ed. Scot McKnight and Grant R.
Osborne (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), pp. 283-325.
Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.,
"Acts and Paul", 46 lectures (MP3 format), WTS Resources Media Center
on Westminster Theological Seminary
at http://wts.edu/resources/media.html?paramType=audio&filterTopic=5&filterSpeaker=10&filterYear=2005 [accessed 20 MAR 2013].
Frank J. Goodwin, A Harmony
of the Life of the St. Paul According to the Acts of the Apostles and the
Pauline Epistles (New York: American Tract Society, 1895); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=YgpEAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 12 FEB 2013].
Richard N. Longenecker, The
Ministry And Message Of Paul (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971).
Richard N. Longenecker, Paul,
Apostle Of Liberty (New York: Harper & Row, 1964).
Richard N. Longenecker, ed., The Road From Damascus : The Impact Of Paul's Conversion On His Life,
Thought, And Ministry (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).
Richard N. Longenecker, Studies
In Paul, Exegetical And Theological (Sheffield : Sheffield Phoenix Press,
2004).
J. Gresham Machen, The
Origin of Paul's Religion: The James Sprunt Lectures Delivered at Union
Theological Seminary in Virginia (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1925).
Leon Morris, The
Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1955).
John Pollock, The
Apostle: A Life of Paul, 3rd ed. (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 1969,
2012); also published as The Man Who
Shook the World (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1972; originally The Apostle: A Life of Paul, New York:
Doubleday, 1969).
Stanley E. Porter, Paul
in Acts, in Library of Pauline
Studies, gen. ed. Stanley E. Porter (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers,
Inc., 1999; 2001 reprint of The Paul of
Acts: Essays in Literary Criticism, Rhetoric and Theology, in Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen
Testament 115, by Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen).
W. M. Ramsay, The
Cities of St. Paul: Their Influence on his Life and Thought (New York: A.
C. Armstrong and Son; London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1908); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=JryEbmKool0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
W. M. Ramsay, Pauline
and Other Studies in Early Christian History (New York: A. C. Armstrong and
Son, 1906); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=-1ZJAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul
the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, 10th ed. (London: Hodder and Stoughton,
1907); on Christian Classics Ethereal
Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ramsay/paul_roman.html
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
W. M. Ramsay, The
Teaching of Paul in terms of The Present Day: The Deems Lectures in New York
University (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1914); on Internet Archive at http://ia600404.us.archive.org/2/items/teachingofpaulin00rams/teachingofpaulin00rams.pdf
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
A. T. Robertson, Epochs
in the Life of Paul: A Study of Development in Paul's Character (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974).
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul The Missionary: Realities, Strategies
And Methods (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2008).
Udo Schnelle, Apostle
Paul: His Life and Theology, trans. M. Eugene Boring (Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 2003; trans. from Paulus: Leben
und Denken, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co., n.d.).
Thomas R. Schreiner, Paul,
Apostle of God's Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology (Downers Grove, IL:
IVP Academic, 2001).
James Smith, The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul with
Dissertations on the Life and Writings of St. Luke, and the Ships and
Navigation of the Ancients, 2nd ed. (London: Longman, Brown, Green,
Longmans, & Roberts, 1856); on Internet
Archive at https://archive.org/details/voyageandshipwr02smitgoog [accessed 23 APR 2015]; and 4th ed., rev. Walter E.
Smith (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1880); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=IMsNAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 23 APR 2015].
James Stalker, The
Life of St. Paul, (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1885; rev. ed. 2010 by
Kessinger Publishing from 1912 ed.); on Google
Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=vT0HAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 7 FEB 2013].
James Ironside Still, St.
Paul on Trial (London: Student Christian Movement, 1923).
