A Time to Heal

Acclaimed by many as the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates became the first to declare publicly that diseases occur from natural causes, not because of evil spirits or punishment from the gods and, as a result, spent twenty years in prison for separating medicine from religion. Rather than aggressively diagnosing and treating diseases, where sometimes the cure was worse than the disease, he believed in the body’s natural ability to heal itself. As a result, he would prescribe immobilization, cleanliness, soothing balms, and plenty of rest. He believed in giving the body both time and opportunity to heal.

Four centuries after Hippocrates, Luke accompanied Paul on his harrowing journey across the stormy Mediterranean. As a physician himself, Luke would approve of the time Paul would spend on their island refuge, what King Solomon would have called, “a time to heal” (Ecclesiastes 3:3). Yet in our “enlightened” culture today, in spite of the advances in medicine far beyond the knowledge of Hippocrates and Luke, we have so little room for a time for people to heal. We want people to hurry up and “Get over it.” The person who struggles with lingering illness, weakness, or loss for which there is no “quick” diagnosis, powerful remedy or speedy recovery, can feel trapped and misunderstood by others, even hearing from some, “Snap out of it!” or “Get with it!” Hippocrates opened his work Precepts with this simple bit of wisdom: “Healing is a matter of time, but it sometimes is a matter of opportunity.” He was right. It takes time to heal. It is, indeed, a matter of opportunity, which few today want to offer.

The three-month rest Paul received before pushing on to Rome was most welcome. But more than his personal health and rest would be affected in Malta—God would choose to use Paul to bear witness by healing many on the island. Times of physical, emotional and mental healing, whether miraculous or the result of normal processes, offer an opportunity to express and reflect on the compassion and redeeming power of the gospel in one’s spiritual life. This time would ready Paul for the next stage of his journey.

I. A Time of healing for Paul - from shipwreck and snakebite, 28:1-6.

(Verse 1)This island called Malta (Melita). Melita was the name given by the Phoenician seafarers, the name meaning “refuge.” Luke may have been emphasizing that the island was well-named (See F. F. Bruce’s commentary) considering their very recent, harrowing experience.

Malta was about 500 miles W. of Crete, 58 miles S. of Sicily, and 180 miles N. of Libya. The island itself was about 18 miles long and 8 miles wide. It was part of the Roman province of Sicily.

(Verse 2-3) The native Maltese were largely descendants of Phoenicians, their language a Phoenician dialect. They were regarded by both Greeks and Romans as “barbarians” (the word translated “natives” in NASB), which really meant people who spoke a foreign tongue. Because they were a Roman province, there would be some who would have knowledge of Latin or Greek. They demonstrated true, warm hospitality (“kindness;” Greek word from which we get philanthropy) without conditions. They took care of the people and their immediate needs. After 14 days of storm, cold and wet, soaked to the skin, dripping on the shoreline, what would feel better than a blazing hot fire. Probably multiple fires which smaller groups could gather around, and all get warm faster; after all, there were 276 persons who needed this care.

(Verse 4) Luke tells us that Paul had gathered sticks for the fire. Even in his own condition, Paul still was serving others, making himself useful by gathering sticks to keep the fire going. Inadvertently, Paul was bitten by a snake (Greek word translated “viper” in NASB refers to almost any kind of poisonous snake). In cold weather snakes are more lethargic but the heat from the fire probably caused this one to be alert. Possibly as Paul was throwing the sticks onto the fire, the snake saw Him as intruding within his area and lashed out to bite him on the hand. However, the behavior of the snake in latching onto Paul’s hand was not common. Snakes usually strike, then escape, slithering quickly away. This snake’s actions may have been due to its lethargy from the cold, wet conditions.

This whole incident is used by some to reject this Scripture because today there are no poisonous snakes on Malta. Well, why should there be? The residents have had two thousand years to kill them all!

(Verse 5-6)The residents’ interpretation of what has happened to Paul is that he is getting the justice due him. They assumed that Paul had committed a crime that has gone undetected or unpunished by human authorities; however he could not escape Justice; a reference to the goddess Dike, daughter of Zeus, who in the 1st century AD was viewed as the goddess of punishment and revenge. She was the goddess who would execute judgment from her place in the underworld.

Paul just shook off the creature hanging from his hand. Luke said he suffered no harm. The residents of Malta who were present knew the effects of the snake bite well; they expected to see the signs that Paul would be dying soon. But just as God saw Paul safely to Malta, so He would miraculously heal His servant to enable him to complete God’s purpose for Paul to bear witness of Christ Jesus in Rome. They waited a long time—they knew how long it would take for death to set in from experience as well as personal observation, yet when nothing unusual happened to Paul, they changed their assumption; i.e. they started saying he was a god. We can make an educated guess at this point, even though Luke moves on to another topic, that Paul did just what he did earlier in Lystra as recorded in Acts 14:8-20—he would deny that he was a god and proclaimed to the Maltese the living and true God. He is not a “divine man” here, as will be seen in Luke’s next section.

II. A Time of healing for Publius’ father – from “Malta fever,” 28:7-8.

(Verse 7) Luke moves his narrative from the shoreline to a nearby residence on Malta. The person who owned these lands, Publius, may well be a procurator, if not merely the chief landowner. The phrase “the leading man on the island” is a term used for a ruler; it refers to “the chief of the island.” Archaeology supports this; a Greek inscription found on the island of Malta, dating to the 1st c. AD, uses the same phrase. Luke’s use of only his Roman forename is unusual. Paul often establishes a relationship with leading figures in a locale; Luke is writing this after these events have taken place.

They—probably just Paul, Luke, Aristarchus and Julius—were invited and entertained for three days by Publius. Why? It is possible that this may have been because the people of the island had just acclaimed Paul as a god, a “divine man.” Another reason may have been revealed in what follows in verse 8.

Luke tells us that Publius’ father was lying in bed, afflicted with intermittent attacks of gastric fever and dysentery. This gastric fever, traditionally called Malta fever (no longer the menace that it once was), was often sourced from a microbe in goat’s milk. Luke’s record of Paul’s actions on the father’s behalf emphasized God’s healing as a result of answering prayer on behalf of the sick person, Paul being the “middle-man.” A “divine person” would be expected to heal with his own power; Paul prayed, God healed, with Paul mediating through the laying on of hands, identifying care and concern for the person being prayed for.

Jesus often healed through the laying on of hands. People expect this as part of the process. God cured Publius’ father through Paul’s prayer for him and laying his hands on him. What did this do? Give validity to the gospel message Paul proclaimed, and hope to those afflicted with disease. Paul the prisoner is still a blessing to those around him, even as he is held unjustly. More proof is found in verse 9.

III. A Time of healing for islanders—from various diseases, 28:9-11.

When word spreads, many on the island who have diseases came to Paul and were cured. The summary here by Luke reminds us of descriptions of Jesus healing (Luke 4:38-44). The Greek verb “getting cured” used here is seen in our word “therapy.” God’s power was still on display, still working through Paul (who was probably still battling some physical exhaustion). Paul healed many, but not all – he himself still struggled with an unspecified health issue and he could not heal Timothy (2 Timothy 4:20). But these healings on Malta also opened the door to point to the One who could heal the deadly disease of sin—the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Verse 10) The first part of verse 10 seems best understood in the sense of financial support and many gifts while they were on the island and when they were going to set sail, they took care of all their needs. Why? Paul’s ministry benefitted the people both physically and spiritually. We see Paul the prisoner serving God, blessing others and now in turn being blessed by others.

(Verse 11) The end of three months was probably mid-February, 60 AD, when shipping would again be safer. The boat they join is another Alexandrian grain ship which had taken winter harbor on Malta, probably at Valetta, the largest port on the island, able to handle a large grain boat.

The details of the boat that Luke points out is an interesting contrast. Its figureheads are the Twin Brothers, i.e. Castor and Pollux, the two Greek gods thought to guard the safety of sailors. It was said when you saw their constellation during a storm, you would have good luck. But Paul and those traveling with him had a Greater Protector who had watched over them through the storms and gave them a time to heal from their ordeal at Malta, as well as a time to offer healing to others.

Wrapping Up:

Very few people in the world have experienced the kind of instantaneous healing the people in Malta received from God through Paul. One touch, and a moment later their symptoms had vanished, and full strength had returned. Usually, however, healing takes time, a process in which there may be setbacks and other times in which absolutely nothing seems to be going on. Then suddenly as dramatic improvement occurs, and surprises everyone. Remember what Hippocrates said: “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.”

If you are healing, let me offer two principles that I hope will bring encouragement. They are applicable to physical healing as well as other types of healing from wounds we may have received such as tragedy, unemployment, infertility, divorce, bankruptcy, depression, or the death of a loved one, to name only a few.

First, the one who takes time to heal should be respected, not resented. When those struggling for healing try to express what they are feeling, the best thing we can do for them is to grant them a lot of grace. They are already feeling guilty, thinking they are a burden to others as they recover, and they suffer even more when family and friends grow impatient with the pain they are experiencing. Encourage them, let them know how much you respect them for continuing the healing process without giving up.

Then, secondly, the one who is healed will be better equipped to help others. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 tells us that God the Father comforts us in all our affliction. To what end? So that we will be able to comfort those who are in every affliction with the same comfort that we ourselves have been comforted by God, and that this comfort is abundant through Christ; it is more than enough because our God is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.

You see, no one understands the loss of a baby like a parent who has suffered the death of a child. Who understands what it means to go through intensive therapy, emerge whole, and then recover self-respect more than a psychiatric patient? Think of the people who run successful divorce care services or addiction services—they are run by people who understand what others are presently going through and are just a little further down the tunnel and know there is light at its end. The difficulties and tragedies that we survive make us real to people suffering what we once suffered and are now healing. So as you may be in the process of healing, consider how you may use today’s painful experience to help others in the future, opening the door to share of the wonderful Healer of our Souls, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.