I was going to leave out the last day’s devotional writing as a way of reminding ourselves that the book of Acts is an unfinished book; that we are to carry on our life with the understanding and attitude that we are actively partaking in the history of Christianity and the Church of Christ … But I don’t want to be mistaken as ignorant.
Day 60 – To be continued … (28:1-31)
“He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance” (28:30-31)
It is very puzzling to see this well-structured book with carefully research details ended in such an abrupt manner. What happened to Paul after the two whole years? How did his appeal go? The abrupt ending makes the readers feel incomplete.
The book of acts was likely written years after Paul’s appeal. Luke should have known of Paul’s fate.
According to historical accounts and traditions, Paul’s appeal was successful and he was released. He then went on to preach the Gospel to as far as Spain, which was considered “the end of the known world” at the time. Thereafter, a major persecution of Christianity erupted during Emperor Nero’s reign. Paul would be imprisoned again and was beheaded.
Why would a methodic Luke choose to ignore these significant details?
It is believed that Luke wanted to convey a very important message to his readers. It is that the acts of the Holy Spirit and the history of the furthering of the Kingdom of God on earth, and thus, the building up of the Church of Christ is an ongoing process. The history continues to unfold. You and I are all to partake in the formation of this history.
We are all called to be disciples of Christ and to partake in the business of making disciples of Christ of all nations. But not everyone will respond to the call as it is clearly depicted in this book.
Some of us would respond to the call to minister the Gospel to the people sharing the same cultural background of ours, like Peter and James.
Some of us would respond to the call to minister the Gospel to people far away and of different cultural background, like the evangelist Philip and Paul.
Majority of the people, however, would choose to reject the Gospel and continue to live in sin, like the many Jews who had welcomed Paul at Rome and listened to his preaching but chose to ignore him (28:25-27).
Some would even become antagonists to the Gospel and thus, become enemies of Christ and His Church.
Why would we respond so differently to the same Gospel message?
That is because we are all given a choice to make our decision and the choice whom to follow; we may choose to follow Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, or we may choose to find confidence in our own understanding and to follow our flesh and the world.
Jesus said, “Many are called, but few chosen” (Mt 22:14)
Jesus has called; his voice can be heard through His Word in the Bible, through the preaching of his disciples, through the love and sacrifice he has shown, and through the transforming grace revealed in his true followers.
Unfortunately, not everyone will listen attentively and hear with understanding and respond obediently. “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed” (28:27a)
As the book is not meant to end at Paul’s imprisonment, we must take heed that our life is not to end at our physical death.
Life will go on and we are given the opportunity and the responsibility of how to live our life to either be pleasing to the eternal God or to face his wrath.
Questions to Ponder:
– Do you agree that the history of Christianity and the Church is still unfolding? How does it feel that you are part of the history in the making?
– Do you realize that we are all called and how does that make you feel? How have you been responding to the call and can you identify yourself with any characters written in the book of Acts; how may the reading of this book shape your worldview when you put things in the eternal and Kingdom perspective?
