Paul and the other survivors on the Island of Melita

After their harrowing experience in the storm, Paul and his fellow travelers are blessed to be alive.

But, without quick action, they would be in danger of further trouble.

They needed to figure out where they were.

They needed to find a way to get out of the elements.

Just because they were on land it didn’t mean they were out of the storm.

Soon they discovered they were on the island of Melita.

Melita is the same as modern day Malta.

Malta is a small island about 122 square miles.

Compare that with Tulsa county which is 586 square miles, and you can see that the chances of them landing on this island are pretty small.

The island is only 50 miles from the coast of Italy.

It was not long also before the inhabitants of the island made themselves known.

It is very easy to get the wrong idea about the inhabitants of the island.

We think about a shipwreck on an island and we think of Gilligan or the Swiss Family Robinson.

When we read Luke’s description of the people as barbarous, we start to think of uncivilized or cannibalistic people that had never been touched by people from off the island.

None of these pictures are accurate however.

The only thing that separates the people of the island from the shipwreck survivors is their language.

Luke uses a common descriptor of their day to describe someone that did not speak greek or latin.

Barbarous did not have the same connotation that we apply to it today.

The inhabitants of Melita are known to have been descendants of the Phoenicians.

They immediately went about helping the strangers that had washed up on their shore.

They built a fire to keep the men warm.

Luke says that they were all wet and cold.

Just for reference the average low in this area was 50 degrees for that time of year.

When you’re soaking wet, 50 feels pretty cold.

I’m sure the survivors were surprised and grateful at the hospitality of the Melitians.

Hospitality wasn’t the only surprising thing that occurred on that beach.

In verse 3, we see Paul gathering sticks to help feed the fire.

Though Paul is still a prisoner, he is not your normal prisoner.

He has proven his value to the expedition.

He has gained the respect and gratitude of Julius, the centurion, and the entire crew.

He refuses to leverage his standing to get out of participating in the mundane task of gathering sticks for the fire.

Paul is a man that could have been the most stuck-up do-gooder that you ever met.

He could have had the most unpleasant superiority complex of any Christian that ever lived.

I’m sure there were some who thought this of him.

Thanks to Luke, though, we get to see the man that few others got to see.

What we see is a humble man.

What we see is a man that was unafraid to do the work that nobody else wanted to do.

In this case, as everyone else is huddled by the warmth of the fire, Paul leaves this spot of comfort to go and gather sticks.

He is willing to forego his own needs in order to minister to the needs of others.

As Paul tosses another pile of sticks into the fire, everyone is shocked to see a viper shoot out and latch onto Paul’s hand.

In verse 4, the inhabitants of recognized this snake as a venomous species.

There are now no venomous snakes that are native to the island of Malta.

There may have been during that time 2,000 years ago.

The islanders watch this happen and confer among themselves that the goddess of justice has taken judgment upon Paul.

Though he had escaped the sea, he must have been a murderer or something because he would now surely die.

Paul shakes the snake off into the fire and continues on with his work.

The islanders watch him, I imagine, as he continues to pick up sticks.

They expect him to drop dead on the beach suddenly.

They inspect his hand as he drops load after load into the fire, and yet there is no swelling or sign of harm to Paul.

So they change their mind about him.

This man is not a criminal, he must be a god.

They were, of course wrong in both assumptions about Paul.

The contrast here between what others thought about Paul and how he viewed himself are amazing.

Criminal, god, or common man.

This is not the only occurrence on the island during the three months that the crew would have remained there.

Luke also tells us about a run-in that Paul has with the chief man of the island.

This seems like a strange title for a person in charge.

Inscriptions from the island of Malta prove that this was indeed the title that they gave to the Roman official placed in charge of the island.

This man’s name was Publius.

Publius invited the Paul and others to come stay with him for three days.

This was a great courtesy, most likely extended to Julius first of all.

Julius then included Paul and his companions.

After their arrival, Paul became aware of the fact that Publius’ father was sick.

Luke describes his sickness as a fever and a bloody flux.

Historically, Malta was known to be a place with a high concentration of dysentery.

This came from a microbe in the goats milk that they drank on the island.

The effects could last for a long time.

Paul goes in to see Publius’ father.

Without asking or putting any prerequisites on his actions, Paul lays hands on the man and prays for him.

Immediately, the fever left him; immediately his stomach stopped churning.

The man was healed.

As you can imagine, the word spread quickly about what Paul had done.

This is aided by the testimony of Julius about what Paul had done during the sea voyage.

Also, it wasn’t a big island so there wasn’t far to go.

Before they knew it, all of the sick on the island were being brought to Paul.

One by one, God used Paul to heal all of them.

The people of the island were all so appreciative of what had transpired that they conferred many gifts upon Paul and his companions.

So much so that Luke says they were laded down with gifts.

What do you see that is missing from this account.

Something that Paul always seemed to include in his visits to new places.

There is no record of any presentation of the gospel.

There are a couple of reasons this may be.

It simply wasn’t recorded.

No one responded so there was nothing to say.

Language barrier.

Whatever the case we see another lesson in ministry.

Not only was Paul humble, but he also wasn’t focused on just the results.

I’ve heard people say, “if just one person gets saved, then it was worth it.”

What if no one gets saved though?

What if this year we send out 70+ missionaries and $100,000 but not one person gets saved?

Is it still worth it to make the effort?

I believe the answer is yes.

We are not responsible for generating increase.

That’s God’s job.

Paul knew this when he wrote that God giveth the increase.

Paul demonstrates for Luke’s readers the proper way to minister through life by maintaining humility and reliance on God.