Commentary - Acts 28:23-29

Bird's-eye view

The book of Acts does not end with a bang, but with a line drawn in the sand. Here, at the very heart of the Roman Empire, the Apostle Paul conducts one final, marathon session of gospel preaching to the leadership of the Jewish community. The scene is a microcosm of Paul's entire ministry, and indeed, of the apostolic proclamation to Israel. He lays out the case for Jesus as the Messiah, grounding everything in the Law and the Prophets. The result is precisely what it had always been: a division. Some are persuaded, and others remain locked in unbelief. This division precipitates the final, solemn word of the book. Paul, speaking as a prophet in the power of the Holy Spirit, quotes the prophet Isaiah to pronounce a sentence of judicial hardening upon the covenant people who have rejected their King. This is not a fit of pique, but a formal declaration of a covenantal reality. Because they would not see, now they cannot see. The consequence is immediate and historical: the salvation of God, this great gospel message, is officially pivoted to the Gentile world, who, Paul declares with confidence, will listen. The book thus concludes not with Paul's personal fate, but with the fate of the gospel: it is unhindered, triumphant, and moving out to conquer the world.

This passage is the capstone of Luke's argument. The kingdom of God has been offered to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. But the persistent rejection by the former leads to a decisive shift in redemptive history. The curtain falls on the old covenant order, and the stage is now set for the fullness of the Gentiles to be brought in. It is a moment of profound sadness and glorious triumph, all at once. Israel's tragic unbelief becomes the very mechanism by which the riches of salvation are lavished upon the nations, all according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

Outline

Context In Acts

Acts 28 is the culmination of a long and perilous journey. Paul has finally arrived in Rome, the capital of the Gentile world, albeit as a prisoner. The entire book has tracked the explosive expansion of the gospel "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Luke has meticulously documented how, in city after city, Paul followed the same pattern: he went first to the synagogue to proclaim Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. Invariably, this led to a split, with some Jews believing and many others rejecting the message, often violently. This rejection by the Jews consistently became the impetus for Paul to turn his focus to the Gentiles, who often received the word with joy. This final scene in Rome is the ultimate enactment of that pattern. After being rejected by the official Jewish leadership in the capital of the world, Paul makes a final, formal declaration that the gospel will now go to the nations. The book ends, not with the conclusion of Paul's life, but with the demonstration that the Word of God is not chained and its advance is unhindered, setting the stage for the rest of church history.

Key Issues

The Gospel's Unstoppable Trajectory

The end of the book of Acts can feel abrupt to modern readers. We want to know what happened to Paul. Did he get a hearing before Caesar? Was he released? Was he martyred? But Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is not writing a biography of Paul. He is writing a history of the initial advance of the kingdom of God. The central character of the book of Acts is the Holy Spirit, and the central plotline is the triumphant march of the gospel. From its explosive beginning in Jerusalem, it has now reached the nerve center of the pagan world. Paul is in chains, yes, but the gospel is not. The final scene shows us why the gospel will continue to advance. It advances because it is the power of God, and it will accomplish His purposes. When one door closes, God opens another. The rejection of the gospel by the Jews in Rome is not a defeat for God's plan; it is the fulfillment of it. It is the very event that formally launches the mission to the whole world, a mission that continues to this day. The book ends on a note of absolute confidence. The King has established His beachhead in the capital of the enemy, and from there, His reign will extend to the ends of the earth.

Verse by Verse Commentary

23 And when they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly bearing witness about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.

Here we see the apostle in his element. Though under house arrest, his lodging becomes a preaching station. The Jewish leaders come in force, and Paul gives them the full treatment. Notice the content and the method. The subject is twofold but utterly unified: the kingdom of God and the person of Jesus. To preach one is to preach the other; there is no kingdom without the King. His method is entirely scriptural. He doesn't appeal to his dramatic conversion story or his apostolic authority. He goes to their book, the Hebrew Scriptures, and reasons from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. This is not a short Bible study; it lasts from morning until evening. Paul is patiently, painstakingly connecting the dots, showing how the entire Old Testament storyline points to Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah and King. He is persuading, reasoning, appealing to them to see what is plainly written in their own sacred texts.

24 And some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others were not believing.

This is the result of every faithful gospel presentation in a fallen world. The Word of God never returns void, but it does not always produce the same effect. It is a sword that cuts two ways. To some, it is the aroma of life unto life; to others, the aroma of death unto death. The seed falls on different kinds of soil. Here, in this room in Rome, the great divide of the human race is on full display. Some hearts are softened by the Spirit to receive the truth, and they are persuaded. Others, hearing the exact same words, harden their hearts in unbelief. It is crucial to see that the division is not caused by a flaw in the presentation. Paul gave them the whole counsel of God, all day long, straight from the Scriptures. The difference lay not in the message, but in the reception.

25 And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,

The disagreement among them becomes an open dispute. As they are breaking up, still arguing, Paul delivers his parting shot. But this is no mere frustrated outburst. This is a formal, prophetic declaration. He speaks one word, a final, summary verdict on their unbelief. And he prefaces it by attributing the words not just to Isaiah, but to the Holy Spirit speaking through Isaiah. This gives his pronouncement the highest possible authority. He is telling them that their rejection is not a new phenomenon. They are acting just as their forefathers did, and the same divine diagnosis that applied to Israel in the eighth century B.C. applies to them now. They are fulfilling a pattern of rebellion.

26 saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

This is the terrifying message of judicial hardening from Isaiah 6. It is a divine sentence upon a people who have had ample opportunity to hear and see the truth but have refused it. God's judgment here is fitting and ironic. Since they refused to use their ears to understand, the function of their ears will be taken away. Since they refused to use their eyes to perceive, the function of their eyes will be removed. The gospel will continue to be proclaimed, the evidence will continue to be presented, but for them, it will be meaningless noise and confusing sights. This is one of the most frightening judgments in all of Scripture: God giving people over to the hardness of heart they themselves have chosen.

27 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; LEST THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I HEAL THEM.” ’

The Spirit, through Isaiah, provides the reason for this judgment. The problem is cardiac. Their heart has grown fat, dull, and unresponsive. They have become spiritually calloused. Notice the active role they play: they have closed their eyes. This is not something done to them against their will. It is the culmination of a long series of choices to look away from the light. And the result is that the path to repentance is now closed off. God says they do this lest they see, hear, understand, return, and be healed. Their rebellion is a willful flight from grace. They are running from the divine Physician who alone can heal their mortal sickness. And so God, in His righteous judgment, confirms them in their chosen path. He gives them exactly what they wanted: blindness, deafness, and a hard heart.

28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles, they will also hear.”

Here is the great pivot. Therefore. Because of this final, definitive rejection by the Jewish leadership in the capital of the world, a new phase of redemptive history is inaugurated. The message of salvation is now formally and officially sent to the Gentiles. This has been happening throughout Paul's ministry, but now it is declared as a settled policy. The natural branches have been broken off because of unbelief. And Paul ends with a statement of confident faith: they will also hear. The Greek is even stronger, more emphatic: "And they will listen!" While the Jews stop their ears, the Gentiles will receive the message with joy. God's purpose will not be thwarted. If those who were invited to the wedding feast make excuses, the king will send his servants into the highways and byways to bring in others, so that his house will be full.

29 [When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.]

This verse, though absent from some of the best manuscripts, accurately describes the scene. Paul's final word does not bring unity; it intensifies the division. The Jews leave, not in quiet contemplation, but in the midst of a "great dispute." The Word of God has done its work. It has separated the precious from the vile, the believer from the unbeliever. And with this image of a divided and departing Judaism, Luke effectively ends his account of the church's early relationship with the synagogue. The gospel is now on a new trajectory, out into the broader world.

Application

This passage at the end of Acts should serve as a bracing and solemn warning to us. The temptation to have a calloused heart is not unique to first-century Jews. It is the default setting of every sinner, and a constant danger even for believers. We can sit in church for decades, hearing the Word preached, and yet become dull to it. We can hear sermon after sermon, and with our ears scarcely hear. We can see the work of God all around us, and yet close our eyes to it. Spiritual dullness is a creeping disease, and the only preventative is a constant, active posture of repentance and faith.

We must ask God to give us soft hearts, ears that are eager to hear His voice, and eyes that are wide open to His truth. We must never presume upon our privileges. These Jews in Rome were the children of the covenant, the custodians of the oracles of God. Yet their privileged position did not save them; in fact, it increased their accountability. We who have Bibles in our homes and gospel-preaching churches on every corner are in a similar position of great privilege. Let us not take it for granted. Let us be like the Gentiles Paul describes, who, when they hear the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, actually listen. And having listened, let us believe, and in believing, find healing for our souls.