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OPEN BOOK – HINTS FROM THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS: MALTESE HOSPITALITY

Malta

BRUCE C WEARNE, in his series on Acts, looks at what happened after Paul and the shipwrecked crew arrived in Malta…

Having escaped, we learned that the island was called Malta. And the natives extended an unusually kind welcome to us, kindling a fire to receive us in the rain and cold. Paul went gathering sticks to put on the fire, and then, because of the heat, a viper came out and fastened itself on his hand. When our local hosts saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man must be a murderer. He has escaped from the sea, but justice has finally got him.” He, however, shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting with some expectation that he would swell up or suddenly collapse but after waiting for some time they saw that no misfortune came his way. And so they changed their minds saying he was a god. – Acts 28: 1-6

Malta

LANDED: A scene from Malta as it looks today. PICTURE: Adam Grabek/Unsplash

 

IN A NUTSHELL
The island’s people happily welcomed the storm-tossed travellers. Once more, Paul became the focus for pagan attention. 

Luke writes as a doctor who, with sufficient detachment from Paul’s experience with the viper, knew that it wasn’t deadly. But in the meantime, his keen eye and ear also recorded for us how the local people understood the world. Here we read how Luke identified the mythological world-view of the Maltese natives. They are called “barbarians” in the original Greek, which means they spoken a non-Greek language. However, they still lived with a world-view with roots in Greek mythology. Nemesis – having failed to administer justice (DIKE) by the sea – now emerged as a poisonous snake. Or so they thought.

But when Paul survived, the local people reconstructed their myth – a god had visited them. Paul had previously been ascribed divine status when he and Barnabas visited Lystra during a pagan festival. On that occasion it was said he was Hermes. On this occasion we do not learn which god they supposed Paul to be, but Luke’s account helps us understand how the Gospel moves around God’s world.

Seasons still come and go. Tides rise and fall. And people still offer hospitality. The Maltese “barbarians” went out of their way to welcome the half-drowned 276 passengers from the ship-wreck. Such hospitality is to be received with thanks. Sometimes it just appears, like it did on this occasion, and, in response, Jesus’ followers thank God and receive it with thanks.

And there was Paul, the man chosen by Jesus to carry the message of salvation, out there collecting sticks to put on the fire. Such a menial task was not beneath him. In fact, it showed just how grateful he was to God for being saved. It demonstrated his thanks to the locals for their hospitality. When he didn’t die from the viper’s bite they viewed him as a god. But do gods do menial tasks? Do gods collect sticks for the fire? 

 

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