Or, Melita.

Or, barbarians (so also in v. 4); those who spoke neither Greek nor Latin but were not necessarily uncivilized.

Lit., beast. Medical writers used this term to denote poisonous snakes. (The same word is used in v. 5.)

Gk. Dike, perhaps a reference to the goddess in Greek mythology, who was in charge of meting out justice.

The apostle was not a god, in contrast to what the curious natives believed in their superstition. Rather, in his living and ministry he expressed the very true God, who in Jesus Christ had gone through the processes of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, and who, as the all-inclusive Spirit, was then living in him and through him.

On the sea in the storm, the Lord had made the apostle not only the owner of his fellow voyagers (Acts 27:24) but also their life-guarantor and comforter (Acts 27:22, 25). Now, on the land in peace, the Lord made him furthermore not only a magical attraction in the eyes of the superstitious people (vv. 3-6) but also a healer and a joy to them (vv. 8-9). All during the apostle's long and unfortunate imprisonment-voyage, the Lord kept the apostle in His ascendancy and enabled him to live a life far beyond the realm of anxiety. This life was fully dignified, with the highest standard of human virtues expressing the most excellent divine attributes, a life that resembled the one that the Lord Himself had lived on the earth years before. This was Jesus living again on the earth in His divinely enriched humanity! This was the wonderful, excellent, and mysterious God-man, who lived in the Gospels, continuing to live in the Acts through one of His many members! This was a living witness of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and God-exalted Christ! Paul in his voyage lived and magnified Christ (Phil. 1:20-21). It is no wonder that the people honored him and his companions with many honors (v. 10), that is, with the greatest respect and highest regard! An ambassador sent by God should be treated by men with such respect and regard.

Gk. Dioskouroi, the twin sons of Zeus, Castor and Pollux, the guardian deities of sailors. A figure of these two was affixed to the stern.

I.e., Rome.

The warm welcome of the brothers from Rome and the loving care of those in Puteoli (vv. 13-14) show the beautiful Body life that existed in the early days among the churches and apostles. This life was a part of the heavenly kingdom life on the Satan-darkened and man-inhabited earth. Apparently, the apostle, as a prisoner in bonds, had entered the region of the dark capital of the Satan-usurped empire; actually, as the ambassador of Christ with His authority (Eph. 6:20; Matt. 28:18-19), he had come into another part of the participation in the Body life of Christ's church in the kingdom of God on earth. While he was suffering the persecution of religion in the empire of Satan, he was enjoying the church life in the kingdom of God. This was a comfort and an encouragement to him.

A place more than 40 miles from Rome.

A place more than 30 miles from Rome.

This indicates that the apostle was quite human. Although he had been encouraged by the Lord directly (Acts 23:11) and was very courageous throughout his voyage (Acts 27:22-25, 33-36), he still took courage at the brothers' warm welcome. It was in his uplifted humanity with its human virtues that Christ with His divine attributes was expressed during his voyage. He magnified Christ continually in his adverse situation (Phil. 1:20).

More dignified and solemn than simply "brothers."

See note Acts 1:3⁴.

God the Father spoke this word to the stubborn children of Israel in Isa. 6:9-10. God the Son quoted this word to the rejecting Jews in Matt. 13:14-15. And now God the Spirit through the apostle repeated this word as He spoke to the hardhearted people. This indicates that in all the moves of the Divine Trinity the children of Israel were disobedient to the God of grace. Thus, He turned to the Gentiles for the carrying out of His New Testament economy in the spreading of His kingdom for the building up of the churches through the propagation of the resurrected and ascended Christ (v. 28).

I.e., dull.

Many MSS omit this verse.

During this time the apostle wrote the Epistles to the Colossians (cf. Col. 4:3, 10, 18), Ephesians (cf. Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 6:20), and Philippians (cf. Phil. 1:7, 14, 17), and the Epistle to Philemon (cf. Philem. 1:1, 9). In Phil. 1:25; 2:24 and Philem. 1:22, he was expecting to be released from imprisonment. Probably after these two years he was released and visited Ephesus and Macedonia (1 Tim. 1:3). In addition, he visited Crete (Titus 1:5), Nicopolis (Titus 3:12), Troas, and Miletus (2 Tim. 4:13, 20). See note 2 Tim. 4:6^2b.

I.e., received by welcoming, as in Luke 8:40.

This was the end of the apostle's fourth ministry journey, which began in Acts 27:2.

The kingdom of God is one of the matters emphasized in this book. Luke's writing here both begins (Acts 1:3) and ends with the kingdom of God.

This book was not actually ended; rather, it was left open that more may be added. The reason for this must have been that the work of the Holy Spirit in preaching Christ for His propagation, multiplication, and spread through the believers of Christ was not yet completed and needed to be continued for a long period of time. Such an evangelistic work for Christ's propagation, multiplication, and spread is according to God's New Testament economy for the producing of many sons for God (Rom. 8:29) that they might be the members of Christ to constitute His Body (Rom. 12:5) for the carrying out of God's eternal plan and the fulfillment of His eternal will. This is revealed in detail in the twenty-one Epistles and the book of Revelation, which follow this book. The church produced by Christ's propagation and multiplication is the sphere in which God is expressed and in which He reigns in Christ; hence, the church becomes the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God, along with Christ's propagation and multiplication, grows out of and spreads from God's life. Acts is a record of the spreading of Christ; it is also a record of the kingdom of God, because the kingdom of God is the expansion of Christ. The gospel that is widely preached in this book is the very Christ as the gospel (Acts 5:42), the gospel of Christ, and it is also the kingdom of God as the gospel (Acts 8:12), the gospel of the kingdom of God. The preaching of such a gospel will continue and advance until the whole earth becomes the kingdom of Christ (Rev. 11:15).

In the four Gospels God was incarnated, passed through human living, died, and resurrected, thus completing Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9). In Acts this embodiment of God, as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), spreads Christ into His believers, i.e., works the processed Triune God into His chosen, redeemed, and transformed people to make them the constituents of the church, through which God may be expressed. The ultimate issue of the church will be the New Jerusalem in eternity future as God's full and eternal expression, which will also be God's eternal kingdom as the sphere in which He reigns in His divine life in eternity forever and ever. This should be the reality and goal of all gospel preaching today.