Acts 28:1-10 Snake Bites for Sinners
Good morning! Turn with me to Acts 28:1-10, page 937 in the pew Bibles. Last time we examined Paul’s journey across the Mediterranean Sea in a storm that lasted two weeks. The 276 passengers had traveled over 600 miles in the storm and had finally run aground off an unknown island and swam to shore floating on pieces of the battered ship. Every soul on the ship made it safely to land just as had been promised to Paul by the Lord Jesus.
Let’s pick up the story on the beach of that, as of yet, unnamed island.
After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
Let’s pray.
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say, and have even said myself, “Everything happens for a reason.” This is often a very nebulous statement that people who don’t follow Jesus don’t usually argue with or will at least let Christians get away with saying. And though the statement is technically correct, everybody, believer or otherwise, is relatively safe in continuing to believe whatever they want about the sentiment.
As we look at this brief account we may wonder why these two circumstances, the snakebite and the healing of Publius’ father, are included in Luke’s account of their time on the island of Malta.
But unlike whatever bad thing we try to ease the edges on by saying, “everything happens for a reason,” these two things happen because Jesus said they would and it’s recorded in Scripture.
Mark 16:15-20 says, 15 And [Jesus] said to [the disciples], “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs. That’s exactly what was happening on Malta.
Look at verse seven. 7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
Paul didn’t heal Publius’ father just because he wanted to. This healing was an accompanying sign that confirmed the gospel. And while Luke doesn’t record any sermons from Paul on Malta, in fact he doesn’t mention any evangelistic efforts at all, I think we can all agree that from what we’ve learned of the apostle that there is no way he went for three months on this island full of people without telling anybody about Jesus!
Paul and his companions stayed with Publius for three days and during that time Paul learned that Publius’ dad was sick. We can so often read these quick accounts and not think much of the details but what Paul did has significance and there are principles here for us to learn and apply.
Look at Paul’s order of operations with this man. Starting in verse 8.
Paul visited him and prayed.
Sometimes what we say isn’t what we say, it’s what we say by saying what we say. Make sense?
When Paul visited the sick man he prayed. We don’t have the words of his prayers recorded, we don’t have any idea what Paul said to the Lord in his prayer. But what we do know is that by praying Paul submitted the matter to the Lord and the Lord did the work of healing the man.
When we pray, our prayers ought to be prayers of submission to the Lord’s will.
1 Peter 5:7 says to cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.
This is an echo of Psalm 55:22, Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
When we pray rightly in faith we are declaring our powerlessness and the Father’s powerfulness.
And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him.
Paul put his hands on the man, as a servant of the Lord, as His instrument, and the man was healed instantly.
Once word of this event got around all the sick people on the island were brought to Paul and his companions for help.
An interesting little nugget here is that two different words are used to describe the healing of Publius’ dad and the curing of those who had diseases. One word describes instant healing just as you might have imagined in the case of Publius’ father, but the other word was more long term. Don’t forget that Luke was a doctor, and they spent the next three months tending to the needs of the sick on the island.
So, we can see demonstrated for us compassion, hospitality, submission, service, and generosity.
Cool. But what about the snake bite? That’s why you all came today isn’t it?
2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
This was kind of the opposite experience of the time Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra where the people said they were Zues and Hermes but then changed their minds and tried to stone them to death. This time the people decided that Paul was so evil that though he had escaped the sea, justice wouldn’t allow him to live.
Paul was gathering firewood like everybody else except the pile of sticks he brought to the fire had a snake in it. No surprise the snake didn’t like being thrown in the fire and bit Paul on the hand.
The natives believed that what goes around comes around. Bad things should happen to bad people. They knew he was a prisoner, but he must have been a murderer because the universe didn’t want him to live.
If we say it in the right tone it sounds ridiculous, except we act like it’s true all the time.
JP Lange wrote, “The further man departs from the truth, the more easily he falls into extremes.”
The natives assumed the snakebite was a judgment against Paul just as people still often assume what we perceive to be negative is some form of judgment from God.
In this case, Paul was living out Jesus’ words in the great commission from the gospel of Mark, “they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them…”
This was an accompanying sign, to give the people all the more reason to listen to what Paul would have to say to them.
Now when they saw that he didn’t fall down and die or swell up and pop like a balloon they changed their minds about him and thought he was a god. 0 for 2 so far for these folks.
But what about Paul? He shook off the snake like it was nothing. I’m sure that if he screamed like a little girl Luke would have recorded that for us. He shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.
What reason would Paul have to fear? Like we talked about last time, Paul knew he had to get to Rome as the Lord had said. He knew that a snakebite was not going to kill him, he had no reason to fear, he had to make it to Rome.
Well good for him. That brings me to two questions: One, is that the only reason Paul had to not fear, the promise of a trip to Rome? And two, what about us?
I think the answer to both questions is the same.
If the Lord wants you to die by snakebite, you will get bit by a snake and die.
If the Lord wanted Paul to die by snakebite, he would have gotten bit by a snake and died.
But he didn’t, and so far at least, you haven’t either because the reverse is also true, if the Father does not want you to die by snakebite, you won’t get bit by a snake and die just like Paul.
As kooky as this may sound, the truth behind it is that the Lord knows exactly what He wants from you and for you, and if you trust in Jesus you are in the palm of His hand so you have absolutely no reason to fear.
John Calvin wrote, “Though faith doesn’t quite take away the feeling of evils, it does temperate the same, lest the godly be more afraid than is appropriate; that they may always be bold and have good hope.”
Paul was able to be bold and have good hope, not just because the Lord said that he had to preach in Rome, but because he knew that the Lord loved him and was always at work in his circumstances just like he is for us.
Paul wrote in Romans 8:31-39,
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
