You can’t help but appreciate this centurion. He cared about his dying servant. He loved the nation of Israel. He paid for the construction of the synagogue in Capernaum. He didn’t consider himself worthy to come to Jesus personally to make his request, so he sent some Jewish elders on his behalf. And it bothered him when he learned that Jesus was taking His valuable time to visit his house, and so he sent some friends to tell Jesus that it wasn’t necessary; all he wanted Jesus to do was to speak the word so that his servant might be healed.

Jesus was certainly impressed with this Gentile’s faith. He “marveled at him” (7:9), declaring that his faith was greater than any Israelite He had yet encountered. Quite a compliment. When I read such stories, I always wonder what we’re missing out on because of our lack of faith. Why do some professing Christians bristle when it is suggested that lack of faith might be the reason they are failing to receive what God has promised?

I love this story of Jesus’ raising the widow’s dead son at Nain. It was a major miracle, and the news of it spread far and wide. Can you imagine seeing someone come back to life at his funeral? But Jesus was doing many other miracles besides this one. Everyone in Judea was talking about Him. God was testing hearts.

Have you ever heard my Latin song titled Everything Changes that includes a verse about this miracle of the widow’s son? If not, why not? You owe it to yourself to download the MP3 here! Please pardon the vocalist and enjoy the lyrics.

A few of my remaining Calvinist friends have told me that I’ve been too hard on Calvinists in this daily commentary. I do confess that picking on Calvinists is a weakness of mine. But today I’ve decided to lay down my arms. I will resist the temptation to point out the fact that Luke wrote that “the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John” (7:30). Out of sheer kindness, I will not mention how obvious it is that God’s purpose for all of them was to repent and be saved, but they resisted God’s grace in salvation, a grace that Calvinists claim is irresistible. (Oops! I guess the devil made me do it!)

How was a woman able to wet Jesus’ feet with her tears, wipe them with her hair, kiss His feet and anoint them with perfume as He was eating a meal with others around a table? The answer is that in Jesus’ day, people ate their meals lying down, propped up on one arm, and fed themselves from food at a center table with their free hand. Thus the expression: “They reclined at table” (7:36).

If Jesus was only a “good man” or “a great moral leader,” as some say, He would not have allowed this woman, or anyone for that matter, to worship Him. Good people don’t allow other people to worship them, as they know only God is worthy of worship. And that is precisely why Jesus didn’t stop her from worshipping Him.

Contrasted with the worshipping woman, Simon the Pharisee did not believe Jesus was the divine Son of God, evidenced by how he treated the Lord. In fact, he treated Jesus as being undeserving of even the common courtesies that would have been extended to any invited guest, such as having His dusty feet washed. Again we see that inward beliefs are revealed by outward actions.

Simon judged that Jesus was not a prophet, and judged the worshipping woman to be “a sinner” (7:39), probably because he knew she was a harlot. But both his judgments were wrong. Jesus knew much more about the worshipping woman than he did. Jesus knew that she had repented, and He had already forgiven her. She was no longer a sinner, but saved (7:5). Beyond that, Jesus knew what Simon was thinking, which is why He told him the parable of the two debtors. In God’s eyes, Simon was the sinner! The harlot was a saint! Amazing grace!

Why were Jesus and the disciples going through someone else’s fields and eating his grain? Isn’t that stealing? Under the Law of Moses, it was not. God said in Deuteronomy 23:25: “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.” Notice that the Pharisees were only angry that Jesus was picking the heads of wheat on the Sabbath.

Like any itinerant preacher or teacher, Jesus repeated Himself from place to place. What we’ve read today is not the “Sermon on the Mount,” but a sermon on a plain (6:17). I suspect that Jesus repeated these same concepts scores of times as He ministered in different places.

Surely Jesus’ sermons were relevant to the people to whom He spoke. Thus it is safe to assume that Jesus’ followers were suffering some persecution, just as He was. Because He told them that they were blessed when they were hated, ostracized and insulted, it seems logical to conclude that at least some of them were experiencing those very things. Note that Jesus also told them what to do when they were cursed, mistreated and hit on the cheek. He wasn’t talking about “those persecuted Christians in other countries.” He was talking to His contemporary followers.

His contrast between righteous believers and evil unbelievers, and their ends, seems to underscore this even more. On one side were the rich, well-fed, laughing (mocking?), and popular, while on the other side were the poor, hungry, weeping and despised. Is it possible that Jesus’ followers had already found themselves facing economic hardships due to their decisions to follow Him? Certainly it was, as indicated by His instructions to them of what to do in the event that someone would forcibly take their possessions (6:29-30). According to the book of Hebrews, some of the early Christians “accepted joyfully the seizure of their property” (Heb. 10:34).

Although it costs us now to follow Christ, in the end it will be worth it. Those who take the easier path of not following Christ will in the end regret it. God will repay everyone according to his or her deeds. Everyone will ultimately reap what they have sown, positive or negative. Knowing this helps motivate us to love those who hate us during this age of temporary grace, when God is giving sinners an opportunity to repent and be forgiven. We hope that our love will shame them and influence them to turn from their sin, as we did, while they still have a chance. One day God’s mercy towards them will cease, and His wrath will begin. As Paul wrote:

For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (2 Thes. 1:6-9).

Jesus expects His followers to be lenders who aren’t concerned if they are paid back, which is more like being a giver than a lender (6:34-35)! Jesus’ contemporary followers were not lending money to help people buy luxuries, but necessities, and the borrowers would not have been borrowing had they not been poor. This principle should guide us in our lending as well.

There have always been false believers, even when Jesus was physically on the earth, which is why He asked professing followers, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (6:46). Then, just as now, people called Him their Lord, but by their actions denied Him. Good trees bear good fruit (6:43). The only people who are truly building their lives on the rock are those who hear and obey Jesus’ commandments. That is salvation through faith!

Just for your information, the Lake of Gennesaret (5:1), the Sea of Chinnereth and the Sea of Galilee are all the same body of water. It is rather small, about eight miles wide and thirteen miles long.

This story of Peter’s catching so many fish illustrates that it always pays to trust the words of Jesus in spite of the circumstances. Peter and his companions had worked all night and hadn’t caught a single fish. The reason they worked all night is because they knew from experience that night was the time to catch the fish they were after. Now it was morning. They were tired and ready to go home after an unprofitable night’s work. Plus, they had already washed their nets. However, their obedience to Jesus paid off.

It is sometimes pointed out by prosperity preachers how Jesus blessed Peter’s business with abundance after borrowing his boat. These same preachers, however, rarely point out that Peter left all those fish on the beach (along with everything else) to start following Jesus, which of course was Jesus’ original intention. Jesus isn’t blessing people so they can have lots of stuff for themselves.

May I also ask: As Peter and his companions frantically worked to get every fish they could into their boats to the point of sinking them, all under the calm and holy gaze of Jesus, what was going through their minds? Could Peter suddenly have realized that his actions revealed his heart? Could he have realized that his frantic attempt to fill the boats to the point of sinking was a revelation of his greed? That he was only thinking of profits while he was standing in the midst of a miracle, and that his excitement was wrongly directed at the fish instead of the Miracle Worker? Could that have been why he then fell at Jesus’ feet saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”? (How do you suppose Jesus would have reacted if Peter had announced that he was seeking speaking engagements for his new sermon series, “Secrets for Divine Prosperity?”)

When Jesus called Levi (Matthew) the tax-gatherer, he “left everything behind” and began following Him (5:28), just as Peter, James and John left everything to follow Him (5:11). When Jesus calls us to follow Him, anything that hinders us should also be left behind.

Israel, as you know, was under Roman authority during the time of Jesus. Roman officials sold the right to collect taxes in certain areas to the highest bidder, and that person would then become the chief tax collector. He, in turn, would hire others to help him collect the required sum. Tax collectors, however, would assess taxes at a rate that greatly exceeded what Rome required, pocketing the difference. They were looked upon as cheats and traitors by the average Jew. So that puts Matthew’s reception for Jesus in perspective. Only wicked people, Matthew’s friends, would have attended. So we can sympathize with the Pharisees when they complained to Jesus’ disciples about attending a reception hosted by Matthew.

It was, however, an evangelistic opportunity from Jesus and Matthew’s standpoint. Jesus came to save sinners. The only way to do that is to talk with them. The only way to talk with them is to be with them. The only way to be with them is to go where they are. I always cringe when I see Christians protesting against some sinful group of people, and verbally battling with them as they clash on the streets. Jesus had a better method. But He didn’t compromise the truth. You can be sure that there were some convicted tax collectors at Matthew’s house, as Matthew held the reception in Jesus’ honor. I think we can assume that Matthew told all his cronies about Christ that evening.

Jesus summed up His ministry with the words, “I have come…to call sinners to repentance” (5:32). Why has that simple truth been lost to so many in Christendom? True Christians are former sinners who repented, and who now live to please God.

Before Jesus could begin His public ministry, two things had to take place. First, He needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Up until that time, Jesus had no special anointing for ministry. If Jesus needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit before He began His ministry, it would seem reasonable to think that we, too, would need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit before we begin in ministry.

Second, Jesus had to be tested. Notice that it was the Holy Spirit who led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (4:1). Similarly, every believer goes through times of testing. God only promotes those whom He can trust. If we prove ourselves faithful in small things, then He knows He can trust us with bigger things. Jesus, of course, passed His forty days of testing with flying colors. He never sinned.

In Mark’s Gospel we read of the unbelief Jesus encountered during His second visit to His hometown of Nazareth—unbelief that prevented Him from doing any miracles there except healing a few people with minor ailments (Mark 6:5). Luke’s Gospel gives us details of Jesus’ first visit to His hometown. He began by reading a text from Isaiah that actually spoke of Himself and how He was anointed by the Holy Spirit for supernatural ministry. According to Isaiah, the Messiah (which means “anointed one”) was anointed to preach, to bring deliverance, and to heal. He wanted the people of Nazareth to believe that He was God’s anointed. If they had, they could have received the benefits. But they would not believe.

Jesus had already performed quite a few miracles in Capernaum, and the news had no doubt traveled to Nazareth, only about 25 miles away. They had been waiting to see their “hometown boy turned miracle-worker” perform some tricks for them—not with expectancy, but with skepticism. Jesus told them a prophet is not without honor except in His hometown, and then He proved His point with two biblical examples. God used Elijah to supernaturally provide for the needs of a non-Jewish widow of Sidon even when there were many widows in Israel then who also needed help. Additionally, Elisha was used by God to cleanse a heathen leper even though there were plenty of Israelite lepers in his time.

In both cases, God used His prophets in gifts of the Holy Spirit. Gifts of the Holy Spirit operate as the Spirit wills (1 Cor. 12:11). They did not operate as Elijah and Elisha willed. Both of those prophets obviously would have used their gifts, if they could have, to help their own Jewish countrymen rather than Gentiles. Jesus was apparently under the same limitations as they were. Although He was divine, in His ministry Jesus operated as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit. Thus Jesus faced two major limitations to His effectiveness. First, He was limited by the faith or lack of faith of the people to whom He ministered. Second, He was limited to the Holy Spirit’s will in manifesting gifts of the Holy Spirit. For some reason the Holy Spirit didn’t will to manifest any of His gifts when Jesus was in Nazareth. (Perhaps unbelief was the reason?)

Jesus’ audience, who initially were so pleased with His message, wanted to murder Him by the end. (I know the feeling.) They didn’t like hearing how God passed up Israelites to bless Gentiles. This incident gives us insight into what Paul was up against from Jews as He preached the gospel to Gentiles. Incidentally, Jesus’ escape from the murderous crowd must have been supernatural.

I’ve been blessed to visit, on several trips to Israel, the ruins of Capernaum along the sea of Galilee, and the supposed foundation stones of Peter’s house there. A Roman Catholic church has been built there that looks somewhat like a flying saucer, and it is suspended directly above where Peter’s home was supposed to have been. Peter would be shocked to see it today, and even more shocked to see what goes on inside that church every Sunday! If you’d like to see a one-minute video of me at that very place, click here.

According to Luke, John the Baptist “preached the gospel to the people” (3:18). Yet how different was John’s gospel compared to what is often called the gospel today. John not only told his audience that Jesus was coming, he warned them of God’s wrath and the fires of hell (3:7, 9, 17). He preached the necessity of works, warning fruitless persons that they would be cast into hell (3:9). He called his listeners to repentance, a repentance that was much more than just remorse, but a change of lifestyle (3:8-14). He revealed a Messiah who was coming to judge them, one who would separate the wheat from the chaff and then burn the latter (3:17).

So what’s the good news in all of that? Only a small portion of what John said could actually be considered purely good news, and that is that the Messiah will “gather the wheat into His barn” (3:17). That’s it. Everything else John said could be considered very bad news, but bad news that makes the good news so good! Unless the bad news is understood, the good news makes no sense.

This is perhaps the greatest flaw in the modern gospel. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” caters to selfish, sinful people, who easily interpret “God loves you” to mean “God approves of you,” which is simply not true for sinners. God so disapproves of those in rebellion against Him that He intends to cast them into hell. And God’s intention to cast people into hell is not exactly “a wonderful plan” for their lives.

“But people will not receive our message if we preach the gospel that John preached!” is often an honest excuse that is proffered by modern preachers. Yet is it better to preach a false gospel that results in false, deceived converts who are all cast into hell in the end, or to preach a true gospel that results in just a few converts? At least it is better for the rejected preacher to walk away, shaking the dust off his feet, knowing that he has no one’s blood on his hands.

How do we know when our gospel is producing true converts? We know when they repent, and when they “bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance” (3:8). What kind of fruit is God looking for? When John’s convicted audience asked what they should do, did John say, “Go to church faithfully every Sunday?” No, the very first things John said was this: “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise” (3:11). John knew that the Lord is going to say to everyone when they stand before His judgment throne one of two things, either, “I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat” or, “I was hungry and you did not give Me anything to eat.” He will say either, “I was naked and you clothed Me” or, “I was naked and you did not clothe Me” (Matt. 25:31-36, 41-43).

If we aren’t caring for the poor in Jesus’ spiritual family, we really have no basis to believe that we are truly born again and on the road to heaven. This is a basic fact of Christianity, but one that is being ignored by much of the modern church.

Notice that most of the other things that John told his convicted audience to do to show their repentance revolved around their stewardship of money. In fact, five of the six specific acts of repentance that John prescribed had something to do with money: (1) Share your food with the hungry, (2) Share your clothing with the naked, (3) Don’t overcharge your customers, (4) Don’t steal other people’s money, and (5) Be content with your wages. If one’s “conversion” doesn’t affect his attitudes and actions regarding money, one is not truly converted.

Finally, Luke’s genealogy of Jesus is actually through Mary. Heli, whom Luke lists as being the father of Joseph (3:23), was only his father by marriage to Mary. Matthew’s listing was Jesus’ genealogy through Joseph, who (of course) was not really Jesus’ father.

The Greek word translated “inn” in 2:7 is the word kataluma, which really doesn’t describe an inn or hotel as we know it. It refers to a temporary shelter where overflow crowds would sleep during times such as Passover when masses of people would come to Jerusalem. For this reason, many think Jesus was born in the Spring, near the time of the Passover, because Jerusalem and nearby Bethlehem would have had katalumas erected to accommodate all of the pilgrims. Also, we know that during Passover there would have been numerous shepherds keeping watch over their flocks on the nearby hills, since thousands of lambs would be needed for Passover sacrifices.

Mary probably gave birth out in the open, in a stable, or in a shepherd’s cave near Bethlehem. The “manger” in which Jesus was laid was an animal feeding trough. It was not a pretty picture. Unlike the Christmas cards in which the wise men, shepherds and animals all smile serenely at the warm, golden glow from the cradle, the true scene would have been heart-rending to most of us. What a way for the King of kings to be born! Jesus suffered rejection from the start.

Joseph and Mary were not wealthy people, as indicated by their offering when they presented baby Jesus at the temple. The Mosaic Law stipulated that the mother of a newborn son should bring a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering, plus a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering. But if she couldn’t afford a lamb, then she could substitute a pigeon or a turtledove (Lev. 12). Jesus was born into a family that lived at a standard that we can find today only in undeveloped nations.

All of the supernatural events that surrounded His birth recorded by Luke should be enough to convince anyone that Jesus was the Messiah. The supernatural conception of His forerunner, the appearance of Gabriel to both Elizabeth and Mary, the prophetic utterances of both of them as well as Zacharias, the virgin birth, the appearance of angels to certain shepherds, the revelations about the Child by godly Simeon and Anna, and Jesus’ remarkable spirituality as a young boy, all indicate that He was a unique person of history. Isn’t it amazing that multitudes of people hear Luke’s account read in churches during Christmas time and remain unaffected? If you believe just what we read today, your life will be radically redirected to serve Jesus with all your heart!

Contrary to Roman Catholic theology, Mary was not sinless. According to Simeon, as a result of Jesus’ coming, “a sword” would pierce even her soul (2:35), indicating that she, too, would be confronted with Jesus’ piercing words and be brought to a place of decision. And you may recall that within her “Magnificat” which we read yesterday, she said, “My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (1:47). Mary needed a Savior. How special it was for her, though, to have Jesus living in her! Don’t forget, if you believe in Him, He now lives in you, too (by the indwelling Holy Spirit). You are actually more privileged than Mary, because she had baby Jesus in her, but you have Him grown up in you!

I’ve often wondered what Jesus was like during His younger years. It is hard to imagine a sinless kid! Mary and Joseph obviously considered Him responsible enough at age 12 to watch out for Himself, because they didn’t check to make sure He was with their relatives when they departed from Jerusalem. In fact, they didn’t know He was missing until they had already traveled “a day’s journey” (2:44). Jesus must have considered Himself responsible enough at age twelve to stay by Himself in Jerusalem for three days and then make the sixty-five-mile journey back to Nazareth alone.

No doubt Mary and Joseph never had any trouble with Jesus, except in this one case where He remained in Jerusalem after the Passover. He was not rebellious during His teenage years, didn’t spend any time sowing wild oats as a young man, and was a model older brother to his younger siblings. Hard to imagine, I know!

We now turn the clock back about 68 years on our chronological journey through the New Testament, to the events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist. Interestingly, however, we’re not changing authors, as we’ve been reading Luke’s other book for the past 21 days, the book of Acts.

Luke was writing to someone named Theophilus (1:3), whose name is derived from the words Theo, meaning “God,” and philo, meaning “love.” So Theopilus means “lover of God,” which leads us to wonder if Luke was actually addressing his Gospel to everyone who truly loves God. Luke was not one of the twelve original apostles and probably was not born again until after Christ’s resurrection. So he did not write from first-hand knowledge about Christ’s life, but from his careful investigation (1:3) over three or more decades.

Luke is the only Gospel-writer who gives us details about the birth of John the Baptist. We learn that John was born of godly parents. Luke writes that they were “righteous,” but their righteousness was much more than just a legal stamp of forgiveness that had nothing to do with how they lived. According to Luke, they were “walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord” (1:6).

By Jesus’ day, there were thousands of descendants of Aaron, and they took turns fulfilling the priestly duties in the temple. The occasion of Zacharias’ going into the holy place to burn incense was a once-in-a-lifetime event. I suspect that he was nervous, but imagine how he felt when he met an angel whom no one had seen since Daniel’s time, about 600 years earlier! Gabriel informed Zacharias that the Elijah promised by Malachi 400 years before (Mal. 4:5) was about to arrive on the scene, and he would be Zacharias’ son! Of course, John the Baptist was not Elijah reincarnated, but he came in Elijah’s spirit and power (1:17).

Zacharias’ discipline was clearly the result of his unbelief. We should learn from his error. It’s better to say nothing at all than to speak words of doubt!

I always get a zing in my heart when I read Gabriel’s words to Mary regarding Jesus: “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (1:33). In a world of growing uncertainty, there is something we know about the future that is certain. Jesus will one day be ruling the earth, and from then on through eternity, everything will be secure. No reason to worry then! Therefore, there’s no reason to worry now!

Scoffers will also scoff at the idea of a virgin birth, saying such a thing is impossible. I wonder how they explain even a normal conception and birth. There must be at least 10,000 miracles associated with the conception and development of every baby, so how difficult was it for God to add one more miracle to have a baby conceived without the aid of an earthly father? The most amazing thing in all of this was not that the virgin Mary had a baby in her womb, but that the baby in her womb was God.

There are so many wonderful phrases contained within Mary’s prophecy, commonly referred to as the “Magnificat,” but I want to highlight just one phrase that the Holy Spirit spoke through Mary about the works of God: “He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed” (1:53). If God “sent away the rich empty-handed,” that means the rich came to Him at a time of great need, when their riches were gone, and when they found themselves lacking food. But because when they were rich they ignored the plight of the hungry, God then ignored their plight. They reaped what they had sown, just as God promised in Proverbs 21:13: “He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.” Oh if people believed that God is just and that He will indeed repay every person according to his deeds! They would repent! Rich people (like all of us) who repent start caring for the poor and feeding the hungry.

Isn’t it amazing that Luke, who was with Paul on this journey and authored the book of Acts, never mentioned himself a single time? A very humble guy indeed.

From my calculations using Google Earth, a ship being blown in a westward direction in the Mediterranean Sea has about a 1 in 17 chance of landing on Malta as it crosses the same longitude as Malta. But it would seem that providence, rather than chance, was the determining factor in the Malta shipwreck we’ve just read about. God was working in the storm. God is always working in your storms as well.

In this same vein, note that the spiritual awakening on Malta started as a result of something else that was bad but which God turned to good. Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake that would have killed anyone else. In this case, however, Paul had not one, and not two, but three promises from God upon which to stand. First, Jesus had promised him he would testify in Rome (23:11). Second, an angel had promised that he would testify before Caesar (27:24). Third, Jesus promised that one of the signs that would follow believers is that they would “pick up serpents” (Mark 16:18). Paul had nothing to worry about.

May I also point out that Paul, the same one who had voluntarily served food on the ship the day before (27:35-36), was also the one who helped gather sticks to build a fire to warm everyone who just came out of the sea. Poor Paul! He didn’t know, as do so many modern “apostles,” that apostles are too high for such humble tasks. Paul didn’t know any better but to believe that in God’s eyes, the greatest people are the servants!

Like every other spiritual awakening that we read about in the book of Acts, the one on Malta was spawned by Spirit-given miracles. The healing of a well-known man really got the ball rolling (28:8-9). It would seem safe to conclude that Paul left behind a congregation of believers in Malta, and he took another congregation with him on the ship to Rome. May I also point out that Paul was only on Malta for three months. When he left, he must have left behind church leaders, that is, elders/pastors/overseers. Obviously, none had spent years in Bible School or seminary. It doesn’t require years of training to make disciples and oversee biblical churches.

Paul finally made it to Rome and waited for his trial before Nero. He was not “languishing in a dark, damp, Roman prison cell,” as some mistakenly say when they speak of the condition under which Paul penned some of his letters from Rome. Rather, he stayed in his own rented quarters, under house arrest, where he was given liberty to preach and teach. Apparently he did have a chain attached to his leg and a single guard at all times (28:16, 20, 30). It was indeed from Rome that Paul wrote a few letters that we are scheduled to soon read, namely, Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon.

True to his practice, in Rome Paul first attempted to win Jews, but as was so often the case, they rejected their own Messiah. So he turned to the Gentiles, of which there was no shortage in Rome.

It is assumed that Paul was ultimately acquitted before Nero and released around A.D. 61, as he indicates from some of his letters written from Rome that he expected to be released soon. After that, his life and ministry is mostly mystery. I think there is little doubt that he continued his travels within some of the regions where he had planted churches, and he likely also reached Spain (Rom. 15:24, 28). Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote in the fourth century, states that Paul was beheaded during the reign of Emperor Nero. This event has been dated either to the year 64, when Rome was devastated by a fire, or a few years later, to 67. Just before he died, Paul penned his final letter to Timothy and then made his final journey—to heaven. There he received his reward and is still enjoying it today!  

It was now A.D. 59, and Paul had been a Christian for 24 years. He was no stranger to travel by ship, having already endured three shipwrecks, one of which required him to stay afloat for “a night and a day in the deep” (2 Cor. 11:25). But his premonition that he was about to experience his fourth shipwreck was more than just a suspicion. The Lord was revealing it to him. Of course, Paul knew he would make it to Rome, because the Lord had already personally appeared to him and assured him of that (23:11).

Notice, however, how the Lord revealed to Paul that another shipwreck was on the horizon. Paul said, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives” (27:10). Jesus did not appear to him; nor did he hear an audible voice. Rather, Paul simply “perceived” what was going to occur. He had an impression in his spirit. Normally, that is how God leads us. When God chooses to lead us by more spectacular means, it is generally because He knows we will need the extra assurance that accompanies such spectacular guidance.

An example of that more spectacular guidance, given when it was very much needed, is found in today’s reading. When everyone had given up hope of survival, an angel appeared to Paul and spoke to him saying, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.” He also told Paul that, although the ship would be wrecked, there would be no loss of life, and that they would “run aground on a certain island” (27:26). I love Paul’s words in 27:25: “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God, that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.” God’s promises are fear extinguishers.

If God could send an angel to that storm-tossed ship to speak to Paul, and if He could preserve all 276 people on board during a shipwreck (and if He could, incidentally, create the universe), why didn’t He simply stop the wind, or cause it to blow in a different direction? That is a question for which I have no answer. I do know, however, that God is obviously motivated to turn people to Himself. He was certainly trying to reach the people on that ship, and after all they had heard and seen, they had no excuse not to seek to know Paul’s God.

God tried to prevent the loss of the ship and the cargo by warning everyone in advance, but they wouldn’t listen. So He let them have their way to face the consequences, as He often does with stubborn people, in hopes that they will see the wisdom in following Him all the time and humble themselves. Surely at least some of those 276 people on the ship with Paul became believers.

We’ll learn in the next chapter that the Lord was also interested in reaching the people of the island on which Paul and his shipwrecked companions landed. In the midst of what seemed to be purely circumstantial, God was working His plan of love to reach the unreached.

I love this entire story. Paul was taken aboard that ship as a prisoner, but in the end he was the captain! Everyone was following his orders (27:30-36). People who are filled with the Holy Spirit ought to rise to the top in every circumstance!

I always groan when I read some theologian who weighs the likelihood of whether or not Paul ever stood trial before Caesar, since the book of Acts closes without telling us. To those of us who believe the Bible, there isn’t any doubt that Paul eventually proclaimed the gospel to Caesar, as the angel who appeared to him on that Alexandrian ship told Paul, “You must stand before Caesar” (27:24). That means, of course, that God would have forgiven Nero for executing his mother and kicking one of his pregnant wives to death (among his many other atrocities) if he would have repented. Amazing grace!

As he defended himself before Agrippa, Bernice and Festus, it is quite clear that Paul had a higher goal than just to prove his innocence of the charges that had been leveled against him by Jerusalem Jews. He seized the opportunity to proclaim the gospel, and his message was incredibly persuasive.

Paul began by recounting his own background, something which could be verified easily. He had previously been a very well-known Pharisee who was more devoted to destroying Christianity than any of his peers. This was an undeniable historic fact. Yet now the persecutor had become the persecuted. Christianity’s greatest antagonist had become its greatest ally. And Paul’s change was not gradual but almost instantaneous. Obviously, something had happened that moved him to promote what he had previously sought to crush. What could possibly have happened that effected such a dramatic change? The catalyst must have been equally dramatic. And of course, it was.

As Paul’s audience heard him recount his experience on the road to Damascus, they had a choice. They could believe that he was lying or telling the truth. If Paul was lying, it would beg the question, “Why was he lying?” His lie had gained him nothing and cost him everything! It was the very reason he was in chains as he stood trial. So there was no logical reason to believe that he was lying. The only logical conclusion was that he had indeed had a divine encounter, and as a result, he was a changed man.

Festus’ response, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad,” reveals that it was Festus, not Paul, who was “out of his mind.” Are people who are greatly educated, as was Paul, more likely to report being knocked down by God, blinded by a bright light, and hearing God’s voice? Do people who are zealously opposed to others, believing they deserve death, generally join those whom they so passionately hate? So we see that in Festus, as is always the case with every unbeliever, that his unbelief was not the result of the lack of convincing proof, but the result of his resistance to the truth.

Agrippa was somewhat more honest than Festus, admitting that Paul’s testimony was very compelling, saying, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian” (26:28). Obviously, if he were open to being persuaded, he would have asked Paul to continue so that he might learn more. But he didn’t want to hear anything more, because what he had already heard was pulling him in a direction he did not want to go. The apostle John described both Festus’ and Agrippa’s attitudes when he wrote, “Men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

Today we learn something that Jesus said to Paul during his Damascus Road experience that we did not previously know. Jesus told Paul that He was sending him to the Gentiles “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in [Him]” (26:18). It is those who turn from darkness and from Satan, and who turn to light and God, and only those, who receive forgiveness of sins. They are sanctified, that is, made holy, by faith in Jesus. Notice it is not faith in a doctrine about Jesus that makes one holy, but faith in the person of Jesus.

The devil believes every doctrine about Jesus. Faith in Jesus implies submission to Him, because He is Lord.

Because of those very things that Jesus said to Paul, he began preaching that people “should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance” (26:20). Poor Paul! Such a legalist! He didn’t know any better than to tell unsaved people to start keeping God’s commandments, when all they really needed to do was invite Jesus into their hearts or accept Him as their personal Savior!