Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #48 - 28:17-31)
XXII. 28:17-31 PAUL'S MINISTRY AT ROME
A. 28:17-28 JEWS AT ROME REJECT THE GOSPEL
1. 28:17-22 PAUL INTRODUCES HIMSELF TO JEWS AT ROME
a. 28:17-18 PAUL RECOUNTS HIS RECENT PAST TO JEWS AT ROME
E-GEne-to de, meTA heMEras treis sun-kaLEsas-thai auTON tous ONtas ton IouDAIon PROtous:
And it came to pass, after three days he called together those that were the first among the Jews:
su-nelTHONton de auTON, Ele-gen pros auTOUS,
and when they were come together, he said unto them,
E-GO, ANdres a-delPHOI, ouDEN e-nanTIon
I, men and brethren, though I had done nothing
poiEsas to laO, e tois Ethe-si tois paTROois [3871],
against the people, or the customs of our fathers,
DESmi-os [1198] ex Ie-ro-soLUmon pa-reDOthen [3860]eis tas CHEIras ton 'RoMAIon:
was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans:
HOIti-nes, a-naKRInanTES [350] me, eBOUlon-to [1014] a-poLUsai [630],
18who, when they had examined me, intended to set me free,
diA to me-deMIan aiTIan thaNAtou huPARchein en eMOI.
because of death no cause was in me.
b. 28:19 PAUL EXPLAINS HIS PLIGHT BECAUSE OF JEWISH CONTRADICTION
an-ti-leGONton [483]de ton IouDAIon, a-nagKASthen [315]e-pi-laLEsas-thai [1941]KAIsa-ra;
But when the Jews contradicted, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar;
ouch hos tou ETHnous mou Echon ti ka-te-goREIN [2723].
not that I had anything of which to accuse my :nation.
c. 28:20 PAUL EXPLAINS THE TRUE REASON FOR HIS CHAIN
diA TAUten oun ten aiTIan pa-reKAle-sa [3870]huMAS iDEIN kai pros-laLEsai [4354]:
For this cause therefore did I invite you to see and to speak with me:
EIne-ken gar tes elPIdos tou Is-raEL ten Alu-sin [254]TAUten paRIkei-mai [4029].
for because of the hope of :Israel I am bound with this :chain.
d. 28:21 THE ROMAN JEWS: KNEW NOTHING AGAINST PAUL
hoi de pros auTON EIpan, HeMEIS OUte GRAMma-ta peRI sou e-deXAme-tha [1209]aPO tes IouDAIas,
And they said unto him, WE neither received letters from :Judea concerning you,
OUte pa-ra-geNOmeNOS tis ton a-delPHON aPEGgei-len [518]e eLAleSEN ti peRI sou po-neRON.
nor did any of the brethren come here andreport or speak any evil of you.
e. 28:22 THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST EVIL SPOKEN OF
a-xiOUmen [515] de paRA sou aKOUsai ha phroNEIS [5426]: peRI men gar tes haiREse-os [139]TAUtes,
But we deem it proper to hear of you what you think: for as concerning this :sect,
gnoSTON heMIN es-tin HOti pan-taCHOU antiLEge-tai [483].
it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.
2. 28:23-28 JEWS FULFILL PROPHECY BY REJECTING GOSPEL
a. 28:23 PAUL EXPOUNDS THE GOSPEL TO THE ROMAN JEWS
TaXAme-noi [5021] de auTO heMEran, ELthan pros auTON eis ten xeNIan [3578]PLEIon-es;
And when they had appointed him a day, quite a number came unto him to the lodging;
hois e-xeTIthe-to [1520], di-a-mar-tuROme-nos [1263] ten ba-seLEIan [932]tou TheOU,
to whom he expounded, testifying the kingdom of :God,
PEIthon te auTOUS peRI tou IeSOU,
and persuading them concerning :Jesus,
aPO te tou NOmou Mo-uSEos kai ton pro-pheTON, aPO proI HEos heSPEras.
both from the law of Moses and the prophets, from morning till evening.
b. 28:24 And some consented to the thingsspoken, some however disbelieved.
Kai hoi men ePEIthon-to [3982] tois le-goMEnois, hoi de ePIstoun [569].
c. 28:25-27 PAUL QUOTES A WARNING FROM ISAIAH
aSUMpho-noi [800]de ONtes pros alLElous, a-peLUon-to [630],
And when they agreed not among themselves, they were dismissed,
eiPONtos tou PAUlou 'REma hen [HOti], KaLOS to PNEUma to HAgi-on eLAle-sen
:Paul uttering one saying [that], Well spoke the Holy :Spirit
diA E-SAIou tou proPHEtou pros tous paTEras huMON, LEgon,
through Isaiah the prophet unto your :fathers, 26saying,
PoREUthe-ti [4198]pros ton laON TOUton, kai eiPON, A-koEaKOUse-te, kai ou mesuNEte [4920];
Go unto this :people, and say, By hearing you shall hear, and shall in no wise understand;
kai BLEpon-tes BLEpse-te, kai ou me Ide-te [1492]:
And looking you shall look, and shall in no wise see:
e-paCHUNthe[3975]gar he karDIa tou laOU TOUtou, kai tois oSIN baREos [917]Ekou-san,
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, And theirears are dull of hearing,
kai tous oph-thalMOUS auTON eKAMmu-san [2576]; ME po-te IdoSIN tois oph-thalMOIS,
And their :eyes they have closed; Lest haply they shall see with theireyes,
kai tois oSIN aKOUso-sin, kai tekarDIa suNOsin [4920],
And hear with theirears, And understand with theirheart,
kai e-piSTREpso-sin [1994], kai iAso-mai [2390]auTOUS.
And turn again, And I shall heal them.
d. 28:28 THE GOSPEL SENT TO THE GENTILES
gnoSTON oun huMIN ESto, HOti tois ETHne-sin a-peSTAle[649]
Be it known therefore to you, that this :salvation of :God
TOUto to soTEri-on tou TheOU: auTOI kai aKOUson-tai [191].
is sent to the nations: and THEY will hear.
B. 28:30-31 TWO YEARS BOLD MINISTRY AT ROME
E-NEmei-nen [3306] de di-eTIan [1333] HOlen en iDIo misTHOma-ti [3410],
And he lived two whole years in his own hired dwelling,
kai a-peDEche-to [588] PANtas tous eis-po-reu-oMEnous pros auTON,
and received all that went in unto him,
keRUSson [2784]ten ba-siLEIan [932]tou TheOU, kai diDAskon [1321]ta peRI tou KuRIou IeSOU ChrisTOU
31preaching the kingdom of :God, and teaching the thingsconcerning the Lord Jesus Christ
meTA PAses par-reSIas [3954], a-koLUtos [209].
with all boldness, without hindrance.
NOTE: 28:17-22 - See the wisdom of the Holy Spirit through Paul in the introduction of his witness to the leading Jews of Rome. We can profit greatly as we meditate upon his approach to these leaders, for there are times when we too must present our case to others. I well remember in 1944 following my conversion while in the Canadian Navy, how I had this challenge come upon me. My parents came down from Port Alberni on Vancouver Island to Victoria, and had me stay with them in the Empress Hotel. I had great trepidation in my heart as a young man of 20 to face them, for I knew I would undergo a grilling. But just before leaving my Naval Base to go downtown to Victoria, God gave me a dream, and in the wisdom of that, I was enabled to meet with them, and have the opportunity to clearly and winsomely present the Gospel to them which I had just so recently experienced. Within but a short time - my father, my mother and my brother all came into God's Kingdom also - in a true and living way! All the praise and thanksgiving goes to God!
Paul knew that whenever he faced his fellow-Jews, and especially their leaders - that he was in for a time of confrontation and division.
In 28:23-28 we read of the normal division amongst Jews when the Gospel of the Kingdom was clearly presented to them! Paul then felt led to give a word from Isaiah that wouldn't make it easier on them. At the conclusion of this warning, he clearly informed them that their division and rejection gave him clearance from God to turn from the Jews, and present this Gospel to the nations - the Gentiles - who wouldreceive.
In the following decades and centuries, the church changed from being composed primarily of Jewish believers - to a church primarily composed of Gentiles. Paul's word of wisdom in Romans 11 - tells Gentile believers of the wisdom of God in blinding the Jews to God's Kingdom message, so that this very thing would happen - Gentiles would enter the Kingdom and the church in multitudes for the next 1900 years. But as Gentiles prayed for the Israel into which they had been grafted, Israel itself at the return of the Lord would be as a nation born in a day - and preceding that - a goodly number of Messianic Jewish believers - a remnant - would enter in as a firstfruit.
Paul's imprisonment in Rome then - gave him opportunity to witness to his own people, to Caesar, and to open-hearted and hungry Gentiles!
Notice - the Book of Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles - doesn't end with chapter 28. It is stillbeing written today after 1900 years. Perhaps your name and mine are recorded in current chapters! J.A.W.