Following the shipwreck in Acts 27, Paul and the passengers
discover that they are now on the island of Malta. Malta isn’t a big island
(316 sq.km). It is located in the
Mediterranean, not far from the island of Sicily, located ‘on the toe’ of the
boot of Italy. It is thought that Malta
has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of
the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance with a
succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the
Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Sicilians,
Spanish, French, and the British.[1]
The fact that they came safely ashore (all 276 survived this – cf. 27:37—28:1) is a miracle. They were helped by the native people
of Malta. The Greek word for native here is “barbaroi”, from which we get our word “barbarian”. The Greeks used
the word for anyone who didn’t speak Greek. Luke says that these native
people ‘showed us unusual kindness
for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain
and is was cold’ (28:2).
Three miraculous things happen in this passage:
1.
Paul and the
passengers all escape certain death
after being shipwrecked
2.
Paul escapes a potentially fatal snakebite
3.
Paul heals many
Because of these things, I wanted to ask a question. Should
we expect signs and wonders in our own day? This is not an easy question, and
there is no easy answer. Let’s try though, but before we do that,let us
consider the story as it unfolds at face value.
Paul escapes the fatal
consequence of a poisonous snake bite (28: 3-6)
In the process of lighting this fire, Paul also assists and
as he takes a supposed stick, he actually
grabs a viper –evidently a poisonous
viper. I checked the internet. There are four species of snakes found in
Malta today, but none of them are poisonous. But this was 2000 years ago. It is possible that this species could have
become extinct. There are islands in the
Mediterranean that were once known to have been infested with such venomous
snakes[2]. What is significant in our text is that the
islanders knew this kind of snake. It’s so poisonous that they expected Paul to
swell up and die. And what is even more
interesting is that they were assuming that this was happening to him because
he had done something bad. This is the kind of thinking that many people engage
in today. Why does this happen to him? He must be a murderer or something of
the kind. The gods will not allow him to get away with this. But they are equally capable of turning it
around, so that when Paul doesn’t die from this snake bite, they ‘changed their minds and said that he was a
god’ (28:6). This is not the
first time this has happened to Paul. In 14:11,
in Lystra, Barnabas and Paul were proclaimed gods after healing a crippled man,
and very soon after this they stoned Paul. This is the fickleness of the human
heart. The Hallelujah’s of today very
quickly become the ‘crucify him’ of tomorrow.
Paul heals Publius’
father and many people of the island (28:7-10)
Publius[3]
the prōtos, the “chief official” of the island
is most likely the Governor of Malta. We are not told why he offers them hospitality. Maybe he offers hospitality to Julius, the
centurion in charge of Paul and his group, an officer of the elite Imperial
Regiment (27:1), and so has to take
care of his prisoners as well. Maybe Paul is known to be some kind of
celebrity. Maybe his fame has preceded him. Whatever the case may be, while Paul is
staying with Publius his celebrity status will increase. He discovers that Publius’ father is ill with “fever and dysentery”. Some commentators believe this to be the “Malta Fever”. Apparently, this disease was
common in Malta, Gibraltar and other Mediterranean islands. A micro-organism,
which was finally traced in 1887 to the milk of Maltese goats, caused the
problem. It causes a fever which can last for an average of four months, and
can persist up to three years.[4]
Whatever the case may be, when Paul
found out, he prayed and laid hands on the sick man, and he was healed immediately.
News of this spread quickly and soon everyone else who was sick on Malta came
to Paul and they were all healed (28:9).
All this leaves us with questions about such signs, miracles
and wonders today. Should we expect signs, wonders and miracles today? One thing is for certain. The book of Acts, at
large, leaves us breathless and excited, and we often wished that church was as
exciting in our day as it was then. The
question is this. Can it be now, as it was then? The evangelical world is divided on this
issue. Some say that signs and wonders of this magnitude were limited to the apostolic age and others say that signs and wonders ought to be the norm
today. The one
view is called ‘cessationism’, whereas
the other view is known as ‘continuationism’.
Let me give you a very brief synopsis of how both positions would argue their case before we return to our text in conclusion.
1.
Signs and Wonders Limited to the
Apostolic Age (Cessationism)
This view does not say that miracles don't happen. It just
means that they are not normative. The miraculous ministry of Jesus and the
apostles was unique. Signs and wonders were not done by Christians in general,
but they were the signs of the apostles, and of an apostolic age. When the
apostles were gone, this ministry ended. It seems as if signs
and wonders were not the common domain among Christians in general. They were
limited to the special ministry of Jesus
and the apostles. Texts which are quoted in support are,
….With respect to Jesus: Acts
2:22, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man
attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did
through him."
…With respect to the apostles:
· Acts 2:43 "Fear came upon every soul; and many
wonders and signs were done through the apostles" [not through the Christians in
general].
· Acts 5:12 "Now
many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the
apostles" [not by the hands of all the Christians].
· Acts 14:3, "So they [Paul and Barnabas] remained for a long time, speaking boldly
for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and
wonders to be done by their hands."
· Acts 15:12, "And
all the assembly kept silence; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they
related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the
Gentiles" [and not by other Christians].
All these texts would indicate that signs and wonders were done by Christ and the apostles, and that in the beginning stages
of the church. These were needed to authenticate the ministry of Christ, the
apostles and the early church.
The proponents of
cessationism would argue furthermore that a text
like 2 Corinthians 12:12
teaches this. Here Paul is writing to
defend his apostleship at Corinth against the claim that others were the true or greater apostles. He
says, "The signs of an apostle
were performed among you in all patience, with signs and wonders and mighty
works." So again it looks like signs and wonders have had a special
role to play in authenticating the
work of the apostles alone (cf. Rom.
15:19).
The proponents of cessationism also point out that in church
history there has never been anyone that we know of that regularly healed people the
way Jesus and the apostles did—instantly, completely, and always. This is quite a strong argument. The 20th
century Pentecostal and Charismatic movement which claimed to have revived the ancient
apostolic ministry and practise has failed to convince
us that this ministry is indeed normative today. For reasons like these, one
group of evangelicals says that signs and wonders ceased as a normative part of
the ministry when the apostles finished their work.
2.
Signs and Wonders continue today (Continuationism)
This view says that we should see more signs and wonders
today than we do. Continuationists maintain that sign, wonders and miracles are
given both for the blessing of the church and for the spread of the gospel. This view argues that there seems to be a continuity
between Jesus' ministry and the Church's ministry. It was not just limited to
the ministry of the apostles. For instance, in Luke 9:2, when Jesus sent out the twelve, "He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal."
And in Luke 10:9 when he sent out
the 70, he commanded them, "Whenever
you enter a town. . . heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom
of God has come near you.'" So it’s not just the apostles, but also the
seventy! Furthermore, the
preaching of the kingdom seems to be very closely linked with the ministry of
healing. Jesus seems to teach a
continuity between his ministry and the ministry of the church. He does not
say, "Make healing part of the
ministry while I am here, but not after I am gone."
Continuationists furthermore
point out that signs and wonders are done in the
Book of Acts by non-apostles. Two of the deacons,
Stephen and Philip (Acts 6:5) also
do signs and wonders as part of their ministry. "Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and
signs among the people." (Acts
6:8). And in Acts 8:6 it says, "And the multitudes with one accord
gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the
signs which he did."
Continuationists also
appeal to texts like Galatians 3:5: "Does
he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works
of the law, or by hearing with faith?" The point is that God is supplying
his Spirit to the Galatians now, in the absence of the apostles and working miracles among them. So the working of miracles does not seem to be
limited to the ministry of the apostles in the early church.
Furthermore the gifts
of healing and of miracles in 1 Corinthians 12 likewise
seem to indicate that these were
for the church and not just the domain of
the apostles.
What Shall We Say to
These Two Views?
1. God is sovereign in these matters. The
Holy Spirit, the Giver of all gifts is able to give whatever He deems best for
the church at any given moment. God is
able to withhold gifts and give gifts when and as He pleases. The list of
spiritual gifts in the New Testament is not determinative, but illustrative and
always subject to the working of the Holy Spirit, who sovereignly gives gifts
at various times and divers manners and intensities. Pentecostals and
charismatics have erred greatly in that they have made the ‘spectacular’
spiritual gifts something subjective
(i.e. to be asked for subjectively),
when in fact the text in 1 Corinthians 12-14
teaches that the Holy Spirit
always gives the gifts sovereignly, and unasked for. The question, "Should we expect signs and wonders today?" , must therefore be linked to the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. In our church God has done wonderful miracles at our asking in prayer. But we have not seen miracles done at will. They always have been wonderful surprises and occasions for praise and thanksgiving.
2. We need to recognise
the uniqueness of Jesus and the
apostles and of that revelatory moment in history that gave us the foundational
doctrines of faith and life in the New Testament. As such this time is
unrepeatable.
3. We have to be careful to make the Bible say what we want it to say. This rule must apply to both continuationists and cessationists.
Cessationists will often ignore those texts that continuationists would stress
and vice versa.
4. Let us never forget that the greatest
miracle is not a healing per se, but
a soul redeemed from hell and eternal death, now living for the glory of God and the praise of Christ.
The greater works in John 14:12 are in
fact not signs, wonders and miracles per se, but the wonder and miracle of conversion.
Finally, in coming back to
Acts 28 we need to recognise that
the first two miracles (the miraculous escape from the shipwreck) and the
escape of the poisonous viper were
all situational and all necessary
because God wanted Paul to testify
before Caesar in Rome. And so, in that sense we may say again, “We are immortal until our work is done”
(George Whitfield, Diary, p.1). Even
the miracles of the healing of Publius’
father and the many on the island was
ultimately for the sake of Paul getting
to Rome, so that he could complete his work of the gospel there (see 28:10). All things serve God, and if a healing or a
miracle or a sign will help to that end, then so be it. And it will not be
about us. It will be all about Jesus and His glory.
[2] The
island of Melita ( Mljed) was so heavily infested with the notorious horned
viper Vipera ammodytes that a predatory mongoose was introduced on the island
in 1910 to control the snake population. The symptoms of a bite by this viper
coincide with those reported in the Acts; immediate ‘swelling’ due to
hemorrhagic edema, ‘falling down’ due to faintness/dizziness, followed by
circulatory shock, pulmonary congestion and internal bleeding, all of which
would lead to death if not treated properly.
[3] A
Roman name
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