A Study of Acts: Paul Summons the Jewish Leaders to Meet with Him
Acts 28:17-22 - Our hope in God’s gift of His Son is the most vital ingredient for our lives. Don’t hope for fulfillment in this world, but look to the next.
“Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.” They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.””
Acts 28:17-22 NIV
Only three days after arriving in Rome, Paul calls the local Jewish leaders together. He has never given up on wanting to bring the Gospel first to his Jewish brethren. He also wanted to explain the circumstances of his arrival in Rome. He once again says that he has done nothing against their people or against the customs of their ancestors. In spite of that, he was arrested in Jerusalem and turned over to the Romans. The Romans wanted to release him because they did not find him guilty of any crime deserving of death. The Jews objected, so Paul was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar.
Paul never intended to bring any charges against his own people in retaliation. He wanted to see these Jewish leaders in Rome and talk with them. It is because of the “hope of Israel” that he is bound to this chain (referring to his confinement to the house he is occupying with a soldier as a guard until he can go before Caesar). Here’s what John MacArthur says about the “hope of Israel”, specifically related to the resurrection of believers, as quoted in Precept Austin:
That hope was firmly grounded in the Old Testament. It is expressed in the ancient book of Job: "Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see and not another" (Job 19:26-27). Isaiah prophesied, "Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits" (Isa 26:19). In Daniel 12:2+, Daniel was told, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt." (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Acts).
The leaders respond to Paul that they have not received any letters from Judea regarding Paul; none of the people coming from there have reported or said anything bad about him. But they want to hear his views because people “everywhere” are talking against this sect (Christianity). Enduring Word has interesting commentary about this response to Paul:
a. We neither received letters from Judea concerning you: This demonstrates that the religious leaders who accused Paul in Jerusalem and Caesarea knew their case was hopeless. They made no effort to send ahead documents confirming their case against him.
b. Nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you: Paul wanted to know what they heard from Jerusalem about him. The Jewish people of Rome had not yet heard anything about Paul.
c. We desire to hear from you what you think, for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere: Though they did not know anything about Paul, they had heard that Christianity was unpopular among some, being spoken against everywhere. They should be complimented on wanting to hear the story from Paul himself.
If the leaders in Jerusalem were so adamant about eliminating Paul, you would think that they would have written to the Jewish community in Rome with their case against him. The Roman Jewish leaders want to hear from Paul directly about his beliefs, which is a point in their favor. It’s interesting how the language used is that the “sect” was being spoken against everywhere. That exaggeration reminds me of the quote attributed to New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael after Richard Nixon was re-elected President in 1972. The best and probably most accurate version of the quote is from Commentary magazine in 2011:
“I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they [those voters] are I don’t know. They’re outside my ken. But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel them.”
When you live in an echo chamber, like the closed conditions among the Jewish leaders in their synagogues who would look askance at something new like Christianity, then it would seem like the negative reactions are universal. But as Ms. Kael also found out, Nixon was re-elected in a landslide victory by many people outside her “ken”, which was her little provincial and “special” space surrounded by like-minded thinkers in a very liberal city. But sometimes she could “feel” these others, whom she could never understand, when she was in a theater.
Before ending this devotional, I wanted to share this marvelous thing about the Hope of Israel, from Chuck Swindoll quoted in Precept Austin on our blessed hope:
"(Hope) is something as important to us as water is to a fish, as vital as electricity is to a light bulb, as essential as air is to a jumbo jet. Hope is basic to life… Without that needed spark of hope, we are doomed to a dark, grim existence. How often the word "hopeless" appears in suicide notes. And even if it isn't actually written, we can read it between the lines. Take away our hope, and our world is reduced to something between depression and despair… hope is more than wishful thinking.
Hope is a vital necessity of life--a gift that God wants to give to you. And in a world that regularly writes dreams off as foolish and drains the hope from the heart with dark pessimism" (Biblical hope) "is a voice crying in the wilderness… a word of enthusiasm for life in the midst of any difficult situation you are in… If you want to smile through your tears, if you want to rejoice through times of suffering, just keep reminding yourself that what you're going through isn't the end of the story… it's simply the rough journey that leads to the right destination… Solid, stable, sure hope. Hope to press on. Hope to endure. Hope to stay focused. Hope to see new dreams fulfilled" Charles R. Swindoll in his book "Hope Again: When Life Hurts and Dreams Fade."
The author of the Precept Austin commentary collections, Bruce Hurt, has this to say about hope:
The world says…
I hope… this or that will happen… this type of "hope" is why the lottery system is thriving in many states!
Hope identified as cultural hope is merely an optimistic desire that something will be fulfilled. This hope is not a guaranteed hope because it is subject to changeable people and circumstances.
And so often when we use the word "hope" in casual conversation, it has a wavering, uncertain sound. (cf Lk 23:8, Acts 24:26 - neither Herod's nor Felix's hope materialized). Most people live in hope that things will improve for them and that they will finally be satisfied.
One of the frightening observations of our day is that there are so many, particularly the young, who have no hope. Suicides are on the increase annually, and a recent poll said the majority of teens in our day have no hope for the future. And so we see so many of our young living recklessly hoping to find satisfaction in the present moment. Our society is characterized by a pervading sense of hopelessness.
Unfortunately the Church is not immune to this hopeless feeling. Many who claim to be born again believers in Jesus Christ are searching for fulfillment in life. The truth of Scripture is that we were not made for the present, and the present was never intended to satisfy us. "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied" (1Co 15:19)
My next devotional will conclude Acts 28. I will examine Acts 28:23-31 - Paul addresses the Jewish leaders, has mixed results, and tells them to go to the Gentiles to see His salvation. Paul continues to live in Rome for two years. I will then summarize the things that we can learn from Acts before plunging into the great book of Daniel.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and His death for my sins and His Resurrection, creating my hope beyond this life. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Precept Austin was accessed on 2/25/2025 to review commentary for Acts 28:17-22; this commentary had links to materials on Biblical hope.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
Love the Swindoll quote on Hope!