Acts - Week 14 / Thursday

Reading for today: Acts 28:11-31

Three months after the shipwreck they set sail again for Rome. This time they make good time, and it's a safe journey. Paul is encouraged when some believers come to meet him, and accompany him to Rome. The fact that there were believers in Rome did not surprise Paul. He had already sent his letter to the Romans well in advance of his arrival, in fact three years before.

Paul is put under house-arrest in Rome, where he is free to receive visitors. He calls for the Jewish leaders to come to him, and he tells them how he came to be in Rome as a prisoner, emphasizing his innocence.

Three days later the Jews came back to Paul's apartment to hear more from Paul. As he always did in the synagogues, Paul uses the books of Moses and the prophets to teach the gospel and to try to persuade them that Jesus is the Messiah.

Some believed, and some didn't. Those in disagreement began to leave, but not before Paul would quote Isaiah 6:9,10 and let them know the gospel was for the Gentiles as well.

While Paul waited at least two years for his trial to take place, he used the time well, writing the four letters of the New Testament that we know as the Prison Epistles---Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

We know from Paul writings in Philippians 4:22 that some of Caesar's (Nero) household were converted, possibly as a result of Paul's witness to the soldiers that made up the palace guard. Whatever the case, we know that Paul did not sit around bemoaning his situation. He used the time well, influencing anyone and everyone he could about the reality of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow: The final wrap-up