Acts 28:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

NIV: Therefore I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!'

NASB: Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.'

CSB: Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen."

NLT: So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.'

KJV: Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

NKJV: “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!”

Paul is dismissing the Jewish leaders who have rejected his evidence that Jesus of Nazareth fulfills the prophecies of the Jewish Messiah. His proof was clear: the Jews have no scriptural reason to reject Jesus. Perhaps they are clinging to their positions of influence in the synagogue. Or it's possible they've only recently returned from Rome after being evicted by Emperor Claudius (Acts 18:2). Something in the world has a tighter hold on them than the God they claim to serve (Acts 28:23–27).

Paul has met Jewish leaders like this in all his travels starting in Damascus, the city where he first came to faith in Christ (Acts 9:20–25). From the beginning, Jesus told him he would share His message with Jews and Gentiles (Acts 9:15), but Paul seems to have very different expectations of the two groups. Jews are God's chosen people. They worship God as a nation. As a nation, they are called to provide and present the Savior of the world (Genesis 22:18; Isaiah 11:10). They have detailed Scriptures that describe the Messiah. If Jews as a nation—or at least Jewish religious leaders—refuse to accept that Jesus of Nazareth fits those descriptions, it is because of their hard hearts (John 5:39–40), not because of any misunderstanding (Acts 28:26–27).

So, when Paul presents his evidence in synagogues, he expects all the Jews to accept it; he doesn't expect this of Gentiles. God has had to show Paul repeatedly that his primary mission is to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46; 14:27; 18:6; 22:21). Still, it breaks Paul's heart when Jews reject their Messiah (Romans 9:1–5).

God is not finished with the Jews, however. In the church age, He provides salvation to Gentiles and Jews and joins them in the church (Ephesians 4:4–6). In the end times, God will call back Israel as a nation to know and follow Him (Jeremiah 31:31–34). In fact, the purpose of the inclusion of the Gentiles into God's people is to make the Jews jealous for their God (Romans 11:11).

Some manuscripts include a verse after this one: "And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves" (Acts 28:29, NKJV). It is probably not original to Luke's text, but it neither adds nor subtracts from the passage. In fact, it reiterates Acts 28:25.

In Acts 28:17–29 Paul finally receives his heart's desire: to witness to the Jews in Rome. Rome is a strategic city and if the Jews there accept Jesus as their Messiah, they will legitimize Jesus-worship to the other Jews in the Empire. As in every city Paul visits, however, some accept Jesus and others don't. Paul becomes frustrated and redoubles his efforts to reach the Gentiles. He spends two years under house arrest but with the freedom to write and to speak with whomever chooses to come through his door.

Acts 28 records Paul's three-month stay on the island of Malta and two-year house arrest in Rome. On Malta, God empowers Paul to perform healing miracles which endear him to the locals. Once he reaches the shores of Italy, many other believers accompany him on his last leg to Rome. In Rome, he finds the Jews just as accepting of Jesus as elsewhere; some believe, but many don't. Paul reaffirms his mission to the Gentiles and spends his time preaching while under house arrest.

Acts 28 is the end of Luke's story of the witness of Jesus' story (Acts 1:8). After his wrongful imprisonment in Caesarea Maritima, Paul appealed his case to Caesar (Acts 25:1–12). He, Aristarchus, and Luke survived a raging winter storm before finally reaching Rome (Acts 27). Again under house arrest, Paul is able to share Jesus' offer of forgiveness with any who wish to visit. While there, he writes the letters Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. After two years, Paul is released; tradition says he takes one more evangelistic tour before being arrested and eventually martyred around AD 67.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.