Acts 28:29

And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him.

Two whole years ... Luke had just revealed that no letters or charges of any kind had been received from Judaea; and, as any case before the emperor which was not prosecuted in two years was judged to be defaulted, this indicates an air of expectancy that the release might come any day.

His own hired dwelling ... Here again the question of Paul's undeniable financial ability comes to mind, but we have no certain solution. Luke may very well have been wealthy; or Paul himself, as Ramsay believed, might have inherited wealth. The extreme and unusual courtesy extended to Paul could not have come about except, partially at least, through the favorable report of Festus, the same fact giving the falsehood to the notion that "the papers were lost in the wreck." The papers would have been preserved in spite of the wreck.

Received all that went in unto him ... Paul preached to all comers; and there soon were "saints in Caesar's household." Intended by the Jews as a frustration of Paul's efforts, keeping him imprisoned two years without charges, his imprisonment actually helped the gospel. Paul himself said, "The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the progress of the gospel" (Philippians 1:12).

Preaching the kingdom of God ... MacGreggor said, "This comes near to being a synonym for the Christian church";[28] but, in context, the expression is not "nearly" a synonym for Christianity, but exactly so! Many New Testament passages use "church" and "kingdom" interchangeably, as here. See my Commentary on Hebrews under Hebrews 12:29.

With all boldness, none forbidding him ... Safe from any efforts to assassinate him, Paul preached fearlessly and boldly to all who came near; and, in addition to those who came to him, he had a new prospect every three hours, every time the guard was changed.

This brings us to the end of this magnificent sacred history. "The narrative ends as it does, because it has caught up with history, and at the moment there was nothing more to report."[29] Like all conservative scholars, we think that "From 62 to 65 A.D., Paul was a free man, visiting Crete and points around the Aegean Sea (Titus 1:5; 2 Timothy 4:13,20), possibly even fulfilling his desire to go to Spain."[30]

During the two full years mentioned here, Paul wrote "the epistle to the Ephesians, the epistle to the Colossians, and those to Philemon and the Philippians,"[31] according to Hervey; and it may also be assumed that he gave Luke some help on the book of Acts. How strange it is that Luke did not mention any of Paul's writings. If Acts were all that we had, we would not even know that Paul was an author, despite the fact that his writings "have moved the world of mind and spirit more than all the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and Bacon all combined."[32]

The sacred authors are unlike any others. How strange, for example, that there is no mention of the virgin birth of Christ in Acts; and if we did not also have the gospel of Luke by the same author, the radical critics would be screaming to high heaven that "Luke knew nothing of it!" Nothing? Well, read Luke, second chapter. This teaches Christians to be on guard against deductions based upon the silence of the Holy Scriptures.

Long, and patiently, we have labored in these studies in Acts; and it is with a certain reluctance that we have come to the end of so profitable and delightful a pursuit. We shall honor the immortal J.W. McGarvey by repeating his final words on Acts, thus:

We bid Paul adieu until the resurrection morning, well pleased that the course of the narrative on which we have commented has kept us for so long a time in his company.[33]

[28] G. H. C. MacGreggor, op. cit., p. 348.

[29] Everett F. Harrison, op. cit., p. 490.

[30] Ibid.

[31] A. C. Hervey, op. cit., p. 325.

[32] Ibid.

[33] J. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 292.